Feedback

Well done, you have got your questionnaire done, and analysed the results, as well as taken some pictures of locations. Make sure these have explanations as to why they are appropriate for your film, linking to similar locations in other trailers of the same genre. There is still quite a lot to get through and some key elements of research and planning are missing. You must regularly update your filming diary to give a reflection of the work you are doing outside of lessons. Remember you can also upload any online tutorials you have used along with an explanation of what you have learned from it.

Targets:
Storyboard and animatic - this is now a matter of urgency
More detail needed in filming diary - which shots did you film? What were the challenges? What went well? What are the plans for the next filming session? etc
Certification research

REMEMBER All filming to be completed by 20th December

Director Influence's - Guy Ritchie

 

Guy ritchie is a British director popularised by the films Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Sherlock Holmes and Snatch. He is well known for his gritty style of directing which is personified by his films, which are normally filled with brutal violence combined with dark comedy. This combination adds a rugged element to the story which particularly compliments his chosen actors (such as Vinnie Jones, Brad Pitt and Jason Statham) in a way that few other directors can match. We hope to adapt the light view of violence and gritty feel to our film, in order to give the film less of a serious feel to it, this will compliment the antagonist's insanity as he waves off violence as if it's nothing, it will also compliment the protagonist's ability to cope with a situation as he murders people without much regard. There are certain mistakes of  Guy Ritchie we hope to avoid, most prominently we hope to keep the element of drama in our film, many of Guy Ritchie's films (most prominently Snatch) deviate from the original story through the crazy subplot's, which are entertaining but take away from the drama of the film, this worked for Snatch however we don't want to replicate this type of erratic story structure.

Director Influence's - Quentin Tarantino

 

 

Quentin Tarantino is an American director popularised by the films Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill, Inglorious Basterds, Django Unchained, Reservoir Dogs and many more. His films are well known for their copious amounts of violence and over the top blood and gore. Much of the dialogue within the film is over-zealous and dramatic, adding much emphasis and popularity to the characters (such as Jules from Pulp Fiction or Mr White from Reservoir Dogs) making them memorable characters from pop culture. We intend to replicate a certain amount from Quentin Tarantino, last year we modelled our piece primarily from Quentin Tarantino, it turned out well but this year we intend to do something different, the over grandeuse effect doesn't particularily apply to our film genre as much as it did before. However we will use some tecniques from Tarantino's films, our film will include copious amounts of violence, however we will get rid of the empasis of it.

Target Audience

Our target audience was young adults age 18 and above; as the film would be rated an 18, but we were aiming to attract an audience of between 18 and 30 year old's.

The film would be rated an 18 because of the violence and some of the content and themes of the film

The type of person that would go and see a movie of a similar style to our film or even our film is in an era where the media over glorifies blood and violence, so therefor adding lots of graphic content and violence would help to attract our target audience. I also feel the our film would attract a slightly older audience maybe even up to 50 or 60 years old, that's still a good thing even though the film was aimed at a slightly younger audience.

Character Bio's - (Chris Robinson)

Chris will be the main antagonist in the film, having a relatively small part in it I will be the unstable  psyhcopath which leads the main criminal faction within the wasteland. He will essentially be a sardonic mockery of a human being without any real sense of morals. At his side there will be many inferior thugs which can be used as pawns to him. he will wear clothes similar to many other criminals, bad, dirty jeans with a hoody/ T-shirt. All of them in a state of disrepair to give the character a sense of ruggedness.

The weapon will change depending on the situation, for example if he is performing an execution style shot to the back of the head then he will have a large, eye catching pistol (such as a revolver) whereas if he is in a fight he will use a compact sub machine gun. This variation will accentuate the unpredictability of the character. He will not really have a set objective, he will exist simply to hurt people for fun and power.

Character Bio's - (Will Squire)

I am starring as the main character of our film, he will essentially be a normal person, with no special abilities or traits, perhaps a small amount of military training and a natural sense of intellect, but all of his abilities will be within the capabilities of most normal people. He will lead a small group of survivors which will essentially be the "good" faction of the film. His costume will consist of nothing special, basically just military surplus combined with casual clothes, practical but not so much so that he looks like a professional (such as a soldier or police officer) but practical enough that he looks like he knows what he's doing.

His weapon will be a simple Colt .45 pistol, this is more for dramatic effect than anything else, it looks much better when everyone is fighting with rifles and shotguns while the main character chooses to use a big pistol, this has been shown in many different films and T.V shows (e.g The Walking Dead, Terminator)  His main objective throughout the film will be something that the average person can relate to, such as searching for a member of family or a friend or simply just to survive.

Filming - Day 1

 

Day 1 Of Filming

We went down to Wisley airfield to do the first session of filming. We got some establishing shots of the main character in the post apocalyptic setting. We got some good shots of the main character exploring the desolate world after the events. The weather was good other than the wind which made the audio a little muffled which may mean we need to ADR that section of the film. The lighting was perfect and gave the scene a good desolate feel. The clouds stopped the light causing over exposure. The location that we chose was also extremely good and gave the footage the feel that we were hoping for. The location itself was very good for the shots we had intended to get there, however we did not get all the shots that we were hoping for which means we will need to go back there at a later date and get some more of the story based shots as we did not get many of the story shots when we where there due to a lack of time. After getting the rest of the shots at Wisley that we need we plan to go and get some other shots from the other locations mentioned in the location research. Other than the fact we didn't get all of the shots we had intended on getting the filming we did went well.

Things that went well:

We got some good scenery shot that will be placed at the start of the trailer.

The main character is introduced in the shots we obtained.

The location was a good as expected

The light level were perfect for filming

 

The challenges:

The wind levels on the day of filming were high, meaning that some of the audio in some of the shots is not suitable for use in the trailer

Time constraints meant that we did not get all of the shots that we wanted to get and means we will have to return to the same location to finish filming, however this is not a bad thing as we have come up with a few other shots that would be good at that location and will have to go back anyway to film those.

 

Screenshots from day 1 of filming:

 

Locations - Wisley Airfield

Wisley airfield is an old, abandoned airstrip just off of the A3. We have chosen it as a location primarily because of the overgrown and empty feeling around it, since it was abandoned, there has been no real upkeep of the site, therefore weeds grow through the tarmac and much of the old pavement is cracked and ruined. It has a very good post apocalyptic look due to it's state of abandonment and emptiness, however we don't intend to have many action scenes in this area because it is somewhat unrealistic to have more than one group or person, also the lack of any real hiding places restricts any element of surprise or suspense as any enemy would be easily seen. We may or may not choose to do some sort of sniper scene but for the time being we will keep this area simply for scenic atmosphere and dramatic shots of our main character

Locations - Weybridge Gravel Pit

Weybridge is an abandoned old gravel pit, this site gives another source of desolate imagery to our film, similar to Wisley. Unlike Wisley, this site has an interior as well as a large structure around it, this means we could possibly have some action scenes, or at least possibly something more interesting than dramatic shots of Will. The site provides many different opportunities for our film, being an abandoned industrial structure, it has a very strong post apocalyptic feeling around it and with the large monolithic structure, it adds a creepy sub structure for any number of scenes. We have many possible ideas for this location such as a large scavenging site for the main survivors, a site for a shoot out between the protagonists and the antagonists, the hide out for the main antagonists or simply just another scenic environment

Media Selfie!