Editing update #2

We had Mr Corby and Mr Benzie look at what we had done so far and we got some positive feedback. The main concern was the lack of sense it made with direction. Characters would be running one way and then another way the next. We flipped some of the clips over so it was obvious to the viewer that the characters were running in one direction. There was also some talk about the first scene where Clyde smacks Eugene across the face. We were in fear of breaching the 180° rule but with the same idea as before we just flipped over the clips needed for the shots to make sense. I also played around with suitable fonts for titles and credits. For "Fatal Error" I found the font I used for the posters because it is such an iconic font and seems to fit our gritty yet comedic theme.

 

We also got Mr Corby to take a look at our intro as he told us there was an easier way of doing what we wanted to achieve. I liked the idea of the silhouette being an eclipse of the light flare shining through the frame which. We got the effect we wanted and it was much smoother. I added a Lomo Cyan filter over the video to give it a gritty, vintage feel because it was starting to look more like a home movie and I wanted to get a colour scheme that would be different to any of the other film openings. The effect looks really good in some scenes but in others it is not so noticeable but I suppose that is down the the fact that i have spent week upon week sat tirelessly at a computer looking over the clips.

Posters

After our first day of filming I started playing with editing the photos we took behind the scenes to try and capture the theme of the film. I made several posters but decided to choose the one with Clyde opposing Eugene with guns drawn witht the text "FATAL ERROR" in the centre.

I chose this one because the poster of just Eugene is too reminicent of the show "Mad Men" or "The Godfather" and seemed to serious and gangster film. Another one I made had Dave in the standing centre between Clyde and Dave , gaily gesturing a "Talk to the hand" or "Back off" with his hand to Clyde. I may have used this if he had done the same thing to Eugene instead but it made no sense doing it the way he had done. It also gave the impression that he was the protagonist. With the poster I have chosen we can see the title clearly, both the main Antagonist and Protagonist and credits to all the people who worked on the film.

Production Logo

Will came up with the idea to have a silhouette of an archer as our logo and call our production company "Bowman Productions". We are not sure what meaning this has but will has come up with the name for his character and the name of the film and both are great so we have faith in him with this. I guess the message from our production company would be that we are much like an arrow, moving forward and meeting the target perfectly dead centre, or so we should hope to think. Bex went home and designed the logo on her computer then sent it to me to edit into our film. The animation I chose for the intro is a lens flare and radial blur which creates the effect of the archer shadowing the light from infront of it as the frame zooms out from the face of the archer. It then transitions into a still image of our logo and the title "Bowman Productions". We think it fits well and I am glad we did not have to resort to using our combined initials as a Production name.

BBFC

The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) is funded by the film industry and is a non governmental orginisation (meaning they work independantly). They are responsible for the national classification and censorship of films within the United Kingdom.

They give each film they review a certificate rating.The ratings that they use are in the table below...

Our film rating:

We decided our film , 'Fatal Error' falls under the category of 12A due to it's scenes of imitable behaviour with firearms and mild torture in the begining of the film. Some viewers may find some scenes disturbing but undertones of comedy and humour throughout the film is what brings the film down to a 12A.

Here is what follows in our film which should explain why we have given our film a 12A certificate rating.

Our rating does not affect our target audience as we set it primarly for males under the age of 35 with a secondary audience of females under the same age. They would still be able to watch this film providing they were 12 years old or over.

Mise En Scene

Bloopers

I made a short compilation of behind the scenes photos, videos and bloopers we could all look at. Here is what we have gotten up to over our weekend of filming.

2nd day of filming (November 25th)

The crew met up at my house in West Torrington. We managed to get a lot filmed before it got dark and we were already used to using the camera so the day went by smoothly. We decided to re-film the final scene of the film down a narrow passage at a corn dryers plant next door. We did have to change the location of the opening scene due to heavy rain from the night before completley flooding the set.

1st day of filming (November 24th)

We all went to Osgodby to film the various chase scenes and final scene. We got a lot of footage and the location for the film was perfect. The weather wasn't that bad except the rain from the night before meant most of us went home with ruined shoes and drenched trousers. Overall everything went smoothly and we did well to film everything without the camera batteries dying on us.

Editing update #3

After several weeks of editing we have have come to the final stages of finishing our film. Our main concerns have been the music and transitioning. We have a piece of music that fits perfectly with the arrangement of clips we have and the timing is great. Our problem with this though is the rise to the track has a lot of eery horror style synths that make the music seem out of place. I have done my best to cover this up by blending another track over the first few seconds of our song. It seems to fit in much better than it used to. We had some problems when it came to transitioning as we used a lot of fade to black cuts which was very effective at some points but the overall use of them was overkill and we had to tone down the use of fade cuts. We decided we would cut the zipline scene at osgodby completley due to time slots and the fact that it did not suit the film as best as we originally thought it would. Another thing we cut was the wink from eugene that broke the 4th wall. We thought it was too cheesey as well as his ending one liner " Do you know how to spell death?". It seemed like a good idea at the time because it had an inside meaning to us that we found histerical but it seemed like poorley written dialogue to anyone else. So we changed it when we got up to the final scene to " you forgot one thing..." and then Eugene whips his pistol out quickly. George and Will thought it would be a good idea to add black and white freeze frames to introduce the characters in the opening scenes. We went forward with this idea and added them as well as titles that fade in. Eugene's title card shows his name beside him whether as Clyde and Dave show only their actors names as they are not main characters in the film but are crucial to the opening scenes.

Group & Genre

I am in a group of 4 with George Griffiths, Rebecca Scuffam and Will De Ath. We are all friends so I feel comfortable in the group and we like the same kinds of films which is why we have chosen the genre we have.  We have decided on making an action comedy film which is something that is very uncommon when it comes to student films. Films that are typically like what I have gotten inspiration from are "Snatch" and "Hot Fuzz". "Snatch" is seen more as a gangster film but on the broader spectrum of genres it is seen as a comedy action.

I searched for action comedy student films on YouTube  but found nothing. I watched some comedy student films and action student films to pick up what looks good and what looks cliche and cheesy. I understand that to avoid meeting cliches or making it look like some awful ,half-hearted and cheesy action film then we will have to cover each scene thoroughly and look over anything that might make the film look unprofessional.

Action comedies will usually have some black comedy e.g in 'Hot Fuzz' the deaths are particularly gruesome and violent but they're still quite funny anyway. I want to contain elements of action but still have the film opening  as an overall comedy so it doesn't drift off into a completely serious action film.

The typical storyline of an action film will have the protagonist in an equilibrium and then a problem will emerge that they have to overcome. We want to grasp the concept of a character with goals and morals but without revealing too much.

risk assesment

shooting schedule

shot list

storyboard

This was a very early variation of our script and scenes have changed to suit the genre we set it at.



Our opening begins with a panning shot of Eugene (Will De ath) tied to a chair.
Clyde (Kain Stones) then walks up and slaps Eugene in the face.

Clyde then walks in another room

 to talk to Dave (George Griffiths) about Eugene.

 

 

Clyde then walks through to the interrogation room to see that Eugene has escaped

and we see him running across the horizon still tied to his chair.

A quick shot montage of Clyde and Dave is shown before they run after Eugene.
Then we see Eugene running and falling over out of frame.

Eugene emerges from the bottom of the frame as he takes the ropes and tape off himself and sorts his clothes out. we then see a long shot of Clyde and Dave chasing Eugene across the countryside.

A montage of various chase scene shots are thrown together quickly to create a sense of rush and panic. we then see a shot of Clyde looking confused as he stops and stares at Eugene.

Eugene then leaps onto what we think is a huge zipline

above a ravine or gap of some sort.

It cuts to a long shot of Eugene stuck on a childrens zipline at a park.

Dave and Clyde look upon will , confused before they run after him.

 

 

Eugene runs into a dead end and is blocked by Clyde and Dave at gunpoint.

Clyde delivers a threat towards Eugene and awaits his response.

A close up of will is shown and he turns to the camera, pulls down his

glasses and winks at the audience.

The film title then flashes on the screen and fades to black.

Cast and characters.

Eugene (Will De Ath): Is the protaganist in our film played by Will De Ath. He is captured, presumably tortured and pursued by the 2 antagonists "Clyde & Dave". His ability to remain calm in such a difficult and traumatic situation shows he is proficient with his job and the lifestyle that comes with it. His fashion sense is questionable which adds a lot of enigma to the character. He wears a western style hat, Aviator sunglasses, a grey blazer and black trousers. At the end of the film opening we see that Eugene had a trick up his sleeve all along which brings about the idea that he didn't kill them because he was being kind. It brings up the idea that our protaganist may be a dark horse with dangerous potential which sets the tone for character development. It is almost like David Tennant's portrayl of the 10th Doctor in Doctor Who. A kind and professional gentlemen who holds his wrath back as he knows he has sinister and truly dark potential but remains calm until he has no choice.

Clyde (Kain Stones): Is the main antagonist of our  film opening. He is also portrayed by me. He is the most professional villain of the two and it is obvious he gets irritated by his partner's inability to do anything properly. He is a violent person but with a sense of mercy and morality as he lets Eugene live in order to gain the information we are wondering about when the film starts. He wears a smart almost millitary style black jacket, black trousers,black shoes,black jumper and black gloves. This is not because our character has a very strong love for black clothing but it creates the tone that the character is a dark and maybe disturbed individual. I got inspiration from generic bad guys in Guy Ritchie films and also the way Tom Hardy portrayed Charlie Bronson in 'Bronson'. He comes across as a charming guy, quite patronising but has the power to do brutal things if he wanted to.

Dave (George Griffiths) Is played by George Griffiths and is the secondary antagonist in our film. He is the partner in crime to our very serious villain and the comic relief of the film. His childlike personality and goofy charm is the kind one would expect from a secondary protaganist in a 'Buddy Movie' which is unique as he is the secondary antagonist with these qualities.  From what we can see he is very unprofessional and lacks the skills required to do the work he does. It raises the question, why is he there anyway? We are never truly introduced to any of the characters so it could be both the antagonists are forced to work with each other or maybe they are both related somehow. He dresses similarly to Clyde which could show that Dave looks up to him or tries to replicate his fashion sense. Dave wears a smart black jacket, black jeans and brown shoes. He is not dressed profesionally which is another reason for the audience to question how he got into such a dangerous profession. It creates enigma within itself as he might also have qualities we do not see in the opening scene.

target audience profile

Gender: Male

Age:  17

Occupation: Student

·         Loves going to the theatre, the cinema and Performing

·         Loves reading

·         Likes action comedies because it ties the tension of action films with comedic tones for example he likes the film, 'Paul'.

·         Intrigued in the new release, ‘Sightseers’ which is a deeply dark road trip, black comedy which has a lot of graphic violence in it.

·         Poor storylines, script and mediocre acting ruins a film for him.

·         He hates films that are too long.  He believes a good action comedy needs to be gripping and have twists and suspense to keep the audience guessing as well as comic elements.

·         Likes comedy films because they’re entertaining and they make you laugh.  He particularly enjoyed ‘Ted’ and ‘the Inbetweeners Movie’. Also the French film ‘Untouchable’ which is a feel good film with lots of unexpected humour.

·         He also enjoys films that make you question the society that you live in for example ‘Clockwork Orange’ and ‘If’.

·         Enjoys films with a British flavour. He particularly enjoys ‘Gregory’s Girl’ and ‘ Submarine’.

·         Thought ‘Skyfall’ had the best design and direction of any Bond film which was down to Sam Mendes.

Gender: Female

Occupation: Student

Age: 17

·         Into comedies like ‘Hot Fuzz’ and Shaun of the Dead’

·         Doesn’t like when films are too unrealistic

·         Likes explosions and dramatic scenes.

·         Likes James Corden

·         Doesn’t like when films are too complicated to follow.

·         Saw the recently released ‘Skyfall’. She enjoyed it because it wasn’t complicated and there was explosions and had a twist ending.

·         Goes to 'Young Farmers' and watches Rugby.

·         Likes rom coms and comedies equally . She particularly enjoyed ‘Ted’ and ‘Bridesmaids’

This information I gathered has given me a lot to think about. It is now clear to me that most people don't like long action movies with complicated plots. They should have twists to create suspense and keep the audience guessing but nothing that will make the viewer confused.
The two people I interviewed were middle class so it relates to the general public and a much wider audience.

When making our film we need to keep the action gripping and the plot enigmatic but subtle. I think what we forget sometimes is that this is only a film opening and not a film squeezed into 2 minutes. There needs to be a suitable amount of action happening in the opening scene as well as enigma to lead into the rest of the film.

The comedic elements of our film opening needs to suit the genre of the film rather than trying to add elements of standard comedy. The humour must be somewhat dark or in like most guy Ritchie films where the characters bicker and complain like children whilst the nature of the action is still very gripping. Much like 'The Expendables' where the characters tease and wind up each other about their famous film quotes.

I think that our audience is predominantly male depending on how our opening is executed. Women can enjoy action films too but some enjoy films of other genres with comedy elements in it. For example 'Killers' is a very good romantic comedy and I know that it is liked by men and women alike. This is because of the chemistry between the characters, the comedy with a romantic story behind it, all topped off by violence and suspense.

    

Editing update

We began editing our clips together on Sony Vegas which I was happy about as I have had quite a bit of experience with. Because of this experience, editing the clips together, using transitions and video FX effectively was not a problem for me. However getting some parts of the film make sense was more difficult than I had anticipated. I could only polish what we had, not restructure what we had already done which is something the group quickly caught on with and we were all on the right track with what obstacles laid in our path and what we needed to do to overcome said obstacles. Our main priority was to piece the clips in chronological order and then try to get the best match on action that we could possibly get. We noticed that some of the chase scenes in which we are running look slow and unenthusiastic. I found out how to increase and decrease the speed of a clip thanks to Mr Benzie's help. The exaggerated arm flailing from Will , playing Eugene looks hilarious when sped up and it should hopefully add another element of comedy to the piece. The running looks faster and more aggresive thanks to the small movements we make that have been sped up, it's odd to describe but the running looks calm to the characters but is quite rapid and powerful in there body language.

We downloaded some interrogation music for the opening scene which occasionally pops up here and there because of how subtle it sounds. It has a Spy movie type feel but with a sort of modern military film undertone. We found a piece for the quick cut gun montage that fits very well. Bex thought it would be funny if we had a pause in music when Clyde and Dave go to nod at each other and then the music resumes when they look at the camera and run past it. I liked this idea to and so we picked out the right momment to do this and it looks very good in my opinion. Another pause we wanted since the clip was filmed was when George falls over during a running scene unintentionally. We would then have the music start again once he had gotten up. We had a piece of music that was not fast enough to be used in the chase scene but I sped it up using the technique I had used on some of the running clips and the timing of the music seemed to fit in with the scenes we had placed. It was a huge relief that the music fit in perfectly because it meant we wouldnt have to find other music that would set the tone and keep having to blend it in to the previous track. For the final clip we have the title, "Fatal Error" which flashes onto the screen and then flashes again as we spiral slightly through the centre as if to create a warp effect. I know what looks cheesey and I was fairly confident that this type of animation was differrent to others and I am quite proud of it. I had gotten a green screened clip of a bullet flying throught the screen. I chroma keyed it and put it in the end clip as we spiral through the space in the title the bullet comes flying towards the screen. It was then decided that the clip seemed cliche which is what we wanted to avoid in the first place so the added effect was removed and we have stuck to the original clip.

generic conventions

The Conventions of Action comedy films on Prezi

student film analysis

Costumes: The actors in this film are wearing causual clothing to connote modern day fashion. The man chasing the protaganist is wearing sports clothes which could connote athleticism or maybe being a stereotypical lowish class person.

Lighting: All the lighting in this film is natural lighting. It is all filmed outdoors so no artificial light has been used in the opening of this film. Usually a chase scene will not be in a bright setting but instead a gritty or darker setting.

Actors: The actors are young men who are still in college and their acting is a little bit rusty. For instance when the chaser gets pushed over, the fall is so unnatural and the push is weak. Also there is no reason to push him over anyway as he just casually walks away into a building a few steps away. The running is fast paced  and natural which looks better than a forced sprint which looks awful.

Make up: Typically only women would wear notable or subtle make up but these are two men so it would be stereo-typically accurate for the men to have no make up on at all which in this case they do not.

Props: The two props used in this film are the mobile phone and mysterious package which is the main focus of the chase. The mobile phone connotes youth and modern technology.

Setting: The film takes place in a suburban setting to begin with and then ends in what I assume to be the college where the students who made this attend. the suburban setting makes the film seem like it was in a realistic situation as the audience it targets would most likely be middle class average people who may live in areas much like the one seen in the film.

Enigma: We are left wondering what the package was, why the two characters wanted it, who both of these characters are and what happens next. These are good enough questions the audience ask themselves that will secure an audience of people that want to find out more.

Sound: The non diagetic music that has been used is from a common assortment of movie editing sounds which to those who have frequently heard such sound clips may come across as unprofessional. The music used gives an ambient feel of suspense and energy which is what a chase scene has to achieve.

Camera: There is a wide array of different camera shots used in this film opening. For instance there are quite a few 'point of view shots' which give us a sense of perspective and puts us in the character's shoes. It also creates a feeling of chaos and frantic behaviour given off by the characters. There are quite a lot of still panning shots which can make or break a chase scene if not edited correctly. If one scene of the chase is slow and the next is also slow it becomes tiring and boring for the audience.

job roles

Director: The director for our production is Rebecca Scuffham as she contributed most to the initial idea and has a very clear image of how the film should look in her head. She will also be able to oversee each scene as we go along as she has no additional roles, this allows her to focus primarily on each scene.


Producer: I will be the producer for our film as I have a lot of experience with the software we will be using in post production and I have a clear idea of what the film should look like with all once it's finished. I can get the job done fast and use any techniques I have picked up. Even though I will be editing most of it there will  be contribution from the group as to what they want the scenes to look like.  


Camera: Rebecca will be operating the camera now as she is no longer able to act in the film. With her vision as the director she will now be able to get exactly what shots she wants rather than relying on the work of others which benifits the group well. She is also comfortable using the camera and the tripod.


Sound: George Griffiths is in charge of the sound for our film. This means he will be finding the music, and non diegetic sounds to be used in post production to operating the boom mic and working with all the equipment that comes with.


Lighting: We will be relying mainly on natural lighting or common artificial lighting such as standard light bulbs. As most of our scenes are filmed outside we will be relying on the natural light. As the day progresses the lighting of our scenes will decrease due to the passage of time but this effect shows the audience that time has passed. For indoor lighting we will be using standard room lighting but we can always use any spare torches or spotlights if needed.

Target audience research: UK film council

After looking on 'Box Office Mojo', I noticed that the most popular films of each year were mostly action based. This is because people like to watch films with suspense and chaos just being thrown at them. Comedy is the most enjoyed genre of film as shown by this graph from the UK Film Council. The main demographic for comedy is women under 35 and the main demographic for action is men under 35 so we have a well balanced audience for the type of film opening we are doing. Primarily our audience is set for males under 35 and our secondary audience will be females under 35.

This next graph shows the highest grossing genres and it didn't come to me as much of a surprise that comedy would take the #1 spot.

The closest genre to what kind of film opening we are doing is Black-Comedy. Two films that I have gotten inspiration from is #7 best Black-Comedy film, 1 place below 'Kick-Ass' which is another film that uses comedy undertones in a film that is quite dark.

Dark comedy was in its prime in 1999 with the release of 'Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels'. It's one of the most iconic and memorable crime comedies ever. People who watch action comedies will notice that the same actors are used a lot of the time because they portray the roles best suited for them as they have experience. It also brings in a wider audience of people who like a certain actor e.g Bruce Willis.

Script

Script from Bex96


This was the first script we had written up for our film based on our initial ideas. Changes have happened to the film in post production as we felt that our decisions best suited the film. In the final edit we chose not to include the zipwire scene or the scenes including the sniper rifle. We chose to have Eugene(Will De ath) pull a gun out of his pocket and cut to the title. We also changed the name of Clive to Clyde. We also changed his dialogue at the begining after he smacks Eugene to "We can do this all day!" implying he has been roughing Eugene for quite some time. We changed the scene where Eugene breaks free by cutting the ropes he is tied in on something to rip them. Now we have him running towards the camera and tripping over. He gets up loose from the ropes and sorts his clothes out.

our ideas

Will came up with the idea of a man having nightmares and flashbacks of the wars and conflict he fought in. That was the initial template of his idea but we didn't go into it any further as it was a very ambitious idea. Good but hard to be able to make. Rebecca came up with the idea of a chase scene as an opening which we thought was a good idea. We worked on it and thought of location and costume and characters. We spoke about having a female protagonist as it would challenge stereotypes. We talked about having 3 inexperienced or unprofessional antagonists to introduce a comical element to the film. We're not aiming for a slapstick comedy action like 'Johnny English ' but more like 'Killers' or 'Snatch'. I quite liked the matching suits from 'Reservoir Dogs' so I thought Will, George and I could wear black ties, jackets and a white shirt and trousers obviously.



I want to keep the dark gritty feel of action/crime films because the comedy lightens the mood which is how I think films like "Bronson" and "Snatch" did so well. I put some more thought into costume and realised it would be easier if George and I dressed like thugs instead of well dressed mobsters. I looked at the Dark Knight Rises and the clothes worn by Bane. I like the waxed jacket he wears along with the grey combat trousers.

Something like this is hard to acquire because they normally cost around the £100 mark.
I have a jacket which kind of looks like this so that will do just fine. George and I will be wearing these thug type coats so we look intimidating and so that Will looks classier.

the pitch

We pitched our 2 ideas to the class to see what they thought and what feeback we could get from them. They voted in favour of idea 'A' which was our initial idea. As cool as Will's idea was and as cool as I imagine he pictured it to be it would just be quite hard to do well. Same goes for the comedy side of our initial idea. If the comedy is lame and tired out like Adam Sandler films then it's not going to get us the laughs we want. We have to take a step back ,look at what we have and decide what is funny or not.

We were asked if we had thought of actors and we all pretty much wanted to be our own characters but when I look at me I dont think "cockney thug", I think "awkward manboy". So i'm going to have to make myself look the part and dive into the role. But I'm not going to dig too deep and completley explode into the persona of some made up , brutal thug . I'll try and remove the elements of my personality from the character I'll be portraying.

This has given us a lot to think about. Acting, location and scripting. Bad writing will make this look cliched and awful so I'm going to watch a lot of Guy Ritchie films as homework on what kind of dialogue is used in these kinds of films. We need to act to the best of our ability. Even if we can't act we can still try out hardest to pull off a better film. We need to sort out locations and maybe even permission to film in certain places.

target audience interview

This is an interview we got with Mr Mitson to see what he likes in comedy and action films. the target audience for our is split into two demographics as our film opening is a hybrid genre, action comedy. the target audience for the comedy side is women under 35 and the action side is males under 35 but seeing as the genre is enjoyed by a wide audience it's not something to worry about a lot. as long as the action isn't cliche and the comedy is done well , then the film opening should be fine.

He said that plots that are too intrecate bore him as people who watch action or comedy or action-comedies are there to be entertained. If they wanted a story that made you think like donnie darko or inception then they'd be watching those films. Our film opening needs to grab yhe viewers attention fast and keep them hooked throughout.

Conventions of film openings

The opening of any film shows the equilibrium of the world in which the film is set. We are usually introduced to the protagonist or the antagonist for example in the opening to "The Dark Knight" we are introduced to the films antagonist "The Joker".

Usually an event will occur in the first opening scenes which set the tone for the film. In most slasher/horror films the opening scene involves the killer chasing and murdering people without showing people too much about the character or overwhelming the audience. This leaves the audience with an enigma or two. "Who is the killer?" And "why is he killing people".

An enigma leaves the audience with questions in their head that they expect to be answered through the rest of the film.

In psychological films or films that have a very intricate plot that requires the audience to pay attention, the opening scene will not give away too much but will usually be subtle and drip feed information to the audience. Whereas in common genres such as action, comedy or horror the title sequence will be straight to the point and in your face , saying 'this is what the movie is all about'.

The opening of a film may develop plot and or character, it helps us to get to know the character which also goes hand in hand with narration as it gives us a sense of perspective from whom we are listening to.

For example in "Rock'n'Rolla" the film begins with a narration from one of the antagonists/anti-hero ,Archie, who gives us a perspective of the job he does and how the business he is in is run.

A better example would be from "Bronson". The opening scene, much like the rest of the film has famous prisoner, Charlie Bronson talking one on one with the audience as well as narrating parts of his life.

Analysis of a film opening

Brief

The titles and opening of a new fiction film, to last a maximum of two minutes