Opening credits and title cards research - GANGSTER/CRIME genre content analysis

here's one I made:

http://prezi.com/webydvnctmpv/opening-credits-and-title-cards-research-gangstercrime-genre-content-analysis/

This is a prezi presentation of my title card research. Prezi is a new Cloud based pretension software, which shows presentation in a more interesting way. This is an example of the new technology that i can use for my blog post.

Sound equipment

In my film their is a scene in which the protagonist Simms gets a phone call from his boss. To do this I used a Roland EDIROL R-09HR MP3 recorder to record the voice of the boss as if he was having the convosation with Simms on the phone. I will also use this to record the sound of an alarm clock as I cant find the right sound on imovie.

Editing

I am now in the stage of editing my foundation film project. With the use of imovie I think it make it easier and improve the quality of my film.

Opening credits and title cards research - GANGSTER/CRIME genre content analysis

For my foundation film project opening film, I have been considering the opening credits which will include myself and everyone else who starred in the film and helped me create it. I think that it is an important part in a film because it the first thing the audience will seen, so it is important to attract them and show what kind of a film it is.

This is the title card from the 1979 British gangster film The Long Good Friday, it is very basic and bold by using white capital letters and a black background which I think works with these type of films.

This is from the film Raising Arizona. It also has a simple tile card

but the text is filled in with a landscape shot of Arizona desert, which shows the audience where the film takes place.

The title card used in the film Dr No is again basic but effective and I really like the use of purple and red text on a black background, it makes me think of other spy/ thriller films from the 1960's.

Questionaire answers

these are the answers of my gangster/crime/thriller questionnaire. I ask a mixed group of ages, teenagers, adults and OAP, so i could get varied responses.

1)
yes/yes/yes/yes/yes
2)

anuvahood/scarface/scarface/snatch/the godfather
3)
comedy, action/nudity/awsome soundtrack/good story/humour
4)
more action/more fast paced/more fast paced/better acting/ore developed story

5)
hard to get interested quickly/cheesy humour/no/no/not original any more

From the answers I have learnt that the crime/gangster/thriller audience is a very popular one as all answered with yes and that they expect and like many different things with different age groups, because the older generation wants better acting and a more developed story, whereas the younger audience wants more faced paced action with some humour. This questionnaire will help me in my film making process as I now know what the audience wants and don't wants.

'The Briefcase' day 2 of filming

Today was my second day of filming, and most of it was retaking scene do to an error with the camera, but it went well and I also filmed some more scenes. I have filmed all the footage I want to at the moment and now I am at editing stage of the film process. something that i found difficult today was recreating the set the way it was before but with the help of one of my actors I was able to do a good job recreating it.

Alex making fake blood

'The Briefcase' day 1 of filming

- Today I have filmed most of the scenes for my foundation film project, I am very pleased that it all went to plan and that the film followed the storyboard. All the actors in my film were very patient and made their roles look believable, the set of the film, which I had to create in my bedroom went to plan and looked just the way I wanted it.

- The directing and camera work, done by myself was good and throughout I have tried to follow the 180 degree rule to avoid jump cuts, also I am pleased that my film making partner Alex Smith, who has been away for quite awhile (due to a medial operation) was able to do the FX for the film and also some camera work.

- I had planned to compete all the filming today, but because of the days getting darker earlier in January, the lighting wouldn't match the rest of the footage, which would cause a major continuity error, but there is only as small amount that needs filming. What I have learnt in my first day of filming is that time management is crucial and I will have to complete the rest of the film as soon a possible, but I will not rush it.

Audience research questionnaire

1) Do you like crime/gangster/thriller genre films?
yes/yes/yes
2) If so what are your favourites?
anuvahood/scarface/scarface
3) what would you expect to see in these films?
comedy, action/nudity/awsome soundtrack
4) what would like to see in them?
more action/more fast paced/more fast paced
5) anything that you don't like about them?
hard to get interested quickly/cheesy humour/no

I have included qualitative structured questions so I get a more depth answers.

Crime genre research - SNATCH

The 2000 British gangster film directed by Guy Richie is set in the London criminal underworld, the film contains two intertwined plots: one dealing with the search for a stolen diamond, the other with a small-time boxing promoter named Turkish who finds himself under the thumb of a ruthless gangster known as Brick Top. The film features an assortment of colourful characters, including gypsy Mickey O'Neil , arms-dealer Boris "the Blade" Yurinov, professional thief and gambling addict Frankie "Four-Fingers", American gangster-jeweler "Cousin Avi", and bounty hunter Bullet-Tooth Tony. It is also distinguished by a kinetic direction and editing style, a circular plot featuring numerous ironic twists of chance and causality, and a fast pace.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snatch_(film)

This film gave me the idea to make my own British set crime film because I think that the characters, humour, story and setting makes the film really interesting and its an atmosphere that i will hopefully create with my foundation film project.

Prop guns

These are the two BB guns props I am going to use in my film 'The Briefcase'. I wont have to worry about filming them in public because they will be used in my house. The top gun is the one the protagonist is using and the bottom one is the one the other gangster is using.

Film narrative

For my film 'The Briefcase' i have been thinking about the narrative of the film, because it is only the opening to a film which will be the exposition, this is the opening premise and setting the scene, it will end with a small development part. The i will start the film will not inform the audience too much so they can guess what will happen so i will try to tell the story in a specific and unique way, as if i am going to make a full length film.

30 degree rule

When I am filming I will have to think about the 180 and 30 degree rules. I am explained the 180 in my previous posts, but the 30 degree rule is when your filming with two camera positions, it is important to make sure that they don't go below 30 degrees, otherwise it wont look very different and professional. This change of perspective makes the shots different enough to avoid a jump cut. Too much movement around the subject may violate the 180° rule.

Filming schedules info

I have got all the actors, props and script ready for the filming that will take place on 15th and 16th of January. The actors in my film said they will provide their own costume suited for their role and the location is set up for filming. If I will have to film on different day which may be after the shoot, I will have to make sure the lighting and weather is the same to avoid continuity errors. I planned to shoot on the 7th and 8th of Jan but both actors were unavailable due to revision for their exams, but the new dates will most certainly go to plan.

Woman represented in media

This is the podcast that I referred to when I was talking about representation in my previous blog entry.It really made me think about woman in media and I was surprised by some of the statistics in the podcast. 78% of articles for the guardian are written by men, 72% of question time is for men and 84% on radio time.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/audio/2011/dec/09/media-talk-podcast-women-in-the-media

This is a link to The Guardian website and podcast media section.

Audience

For my foundation film project 'The Briefcase' I have been considering what my audience is, and I decided that this film would appeal to teenagers around the age of 15-18 and adults of all age, anyone who likes gangster/crime-thriller genre films. I will create a questionnaire about the genres, which will help me understand what the audience would expect and like to see.

Second draft storyboards

Representation

From the work I have done on the script, storyboards and casting, I have been considering what and how I am representing topics like age, gender ethnicity and nationality. I have an all male, white british cast, because the films I have been influenced by to make my film in that genre and style, e.g Snatch, has mostly british actors and set in the UK.

This represents the british as quite rough and not the stereotypical posh, tea and crumpets brit, which is the direction i am coming from with my foundation film project. Not having females in my film is not me being un PC or just lazy, this is not intentional, but I have only done it in this way because previous films in the genre of crime have done it in this way. I having only really considered this when I listened to a podcast from The Guardian media section, which talks about the representation of woman and age in media.