By Jake Thorne

Pre-Production/Planning for Media A2 Film trailer

Results link: http://www.surveymonkey.com/MySurvey_Responses.aspx?sm=zWU2IZ6FIlIsuG6WpLDDsMHJGXMfU8%2f2BcTckLYSZpc%3d

Following the collection of my results, they have shown me That the best title to use is ‘Blood ‘n’ Bone’ That most people have seen 1-4 British gangster films, so they are aware of come conventions, that they would like to see a car chase, Fighting, Drug dealing, fighting the police & Crime in a british gangster film, that a trailer would make them want to see a film, that they would like to see a British Gangster film with an American twist/influence and that they would like to see violence, crime, drug dealing, mafia etc in gangster films.

This information has proved very useful for the filming & developement of my Media A2 film trailer, as I now know what my target audience – age 14-25 woill wnat to see in a British gangster film & have used most of the idea & questions I have presented in the survey above in my final product.

Survey Monkey Analysis

After receiving the brief for my A2 Media I chose immediately the gangster genre. After researching into this genre – particularly the Brit gangster genre, I also took a look at American gangster films. After collecting the results of my survey, it showed that my target audience would like to see a Brit gangster with an American twist, so instead of following the convention of Guy Ritchie films & having the two big gangster groups & a smaller group who wins, I chose to go with a bit of American style and have three main character & one outside character – like Boyz n the Hood. But this also links in with the Guy Ritchie convention as I have three main character, like the three mains groups and the two smaller ‘less hard’ guys team up to kill the main gangster, which is what happens in most Guy Ritchie films, so this means that my trailer will still be appealing to that large british audience, as well as giving them that American twist to it.

Genre Research

My film starts with panning shots & zooming shot from long shots with the camera & also medium – close ups of fours guys in a car talking about random things & driving around the city, with all of the clips in black and white. After the moving shots from the car, the camera switches to normal colour with a guy – T-Lawson walking up and down the street waiting for his mate B-Dawg, planning to shoot Big-R, then it goes to a long shot of T-Lawson walking down a side street and moves into a medium shot of B-Dawg & him sharing a joint & talking about getting Big-R, & walk off camera, the next clip is at night time & is a medium shot, with the headlights of a car shining across the shot, then a car door opens & u see T-Lawson walk into the shot with a gun out & shout “die slow mother f**ker!” and then fire off some shots, then it switches to a close up of T-Lawson with the end of the gun barrel right in the camera & you hear T-Lawson say “it’s over mother f**ker!” and that bring the trailer to an end.

Synopsis of Film

After taske a close look at a number of different gangster iflm trailers & watching several film, I have found that a convention that most of them follow is a shot that starts off as a long-establishing shot, but which transforms into a longshot, and then zooms through to a medium shot & finally into a close up and sometimes into an extreme close up. In gangster films there is also a lot of panning shots, but a lot of gangster films lack extreme long shots & establishing shots, and tend to focus on closer shots, making the viewer feel tense & as if there a lot of things happening in a small place, which is a good representation to ‘real’ gangster life, and I have tried to replicate these zooming long – close ups & panning shots.

Research into film shots

When looking at a lot of British gangster films, they often have dark dingy lighting, to create a kind of gritty, hard image, showing that these are tough not to be messed with guys. When filming my trailer I decided to film in the winter where it is darker & altogether a lot more sinister, I also chose to film as the sun was going down to create a kind of twilight feeling. This worked well as it gave my footage a that gritty feeling, & the end of my trailer, which I filmed at night, was brilliant, as I used car headlights as a light source, so it casted shadows & made Tim (T-Lawson) look especially sinister & mean.

Lighting research

Story Board

Long shots – to establish the setting & giving the opportunity to zoom in closer

Medium shots, focusing more in specific areas – namely two people talking

Close ups – to focus on a person facial & bodily expressionsExtreme close up – to show movements & emotion in the

face – particularly the eyesPanning – to gives a wide range of the surrounding areas &

to be able to set a scene whilst moving or to following someone/something whilst moving.

Zoom – to move in close from farther away shots like long shots – to follow things if they are moving towards or away form the camera

Shot list

Bodmin TownASDA (Bodmin)Priory park (Bodmin)High street (opposite St Petrocs Church)Bodmin CollegeTim’s House (Bodmin)Ford Fiesta

Locations list

Tim Farr – T-Lawson (one of the main characters along with B-Dawg)

Jake Thorne – B-Dawg (one of the main characters smokes joint with T-Lawson & goes with him to kill Big-R)

Flynn Connoly – Big-R (gets out of car & says “Lets get this mother f**ker!” & gets shot by T-Lawson)

Matt Borg – Marcel (In the back of car talking to Big-R)

Cast List

Costume Sketch & Ideas

Jake Thorne – Filming, Planning, editorTim Farr – FilmingJosh Bampton – PhotographyPaul Burt – Editing & photography

Crew list

Film cameraStill shot cameraApple Mac computerApple Mac LaptopPCFinal cut proPhotoshopScanner/Printer

Equipment list

Ford Fiesta (car)Smith & Wesson air pistolCigarettesJacketsBaseball capsSmart car (for headlights)

Props list

For my Budget I hadd all the equipment – film camera, still shot camera scanner Computers provided by Bodmin College & my home equipment. The Ford Fiesta that I filmed from was my friends, so they required not cost the only costs I had was the cigarettes, which cost £5. The Smith & Wesson was also a friends so I did not have to pay for this either

Altogether my budget was £20 and altogether I spent £5

Budget

After researching into the editing of gangster films and deconstructing some trailers & films, I have found that gangster films often have quite a fast editing to them especially British gangster films, but after analysing a few American gangster films I found that they have a slower editing style to them. For my trailer, i decided to mix the both, and started off with a bit of slow editing, but switched to fast pace and then to slow again. I also edited some slower part so that the clips fit in with the music I have playing.

Research into Editing