SYNOPSIS (written by Rhys)

Nathan, a small-time drug dealer, is found by a couple of rival dealers. He has been seeing Amy, the girlfriend of Jamie, Nathan’s rival. Jamie and his friend catch Nathan in the park, and chase him down. As Jamie runs from his pursuers, he reflects on recent events, largely involving drugs and Amy. Jamie realises that Amy has betrayed him, and decides that he needs to confront her, in order to clarify the situation.



ANOTHER UPDATE...

We have now shot, captured and edited just about everything we need for the opening to our noir thriller titled 'Slow Burn' and after viewing it we are fairly satisfied. What we had planned was fairly ambitious when you consider the number of locations we had to use and this meant we fell behind shedule abit, we also had to do a couple of re-shoots which didn't help. However we enjoyed a fairly productive session on tuesday as we were able to do all the reshoots and the shots still to be completed, including the flashbacks (which will be mentioned in the treatment) in the first half and then in the second half were able to edit them in to what we already had saved. The final piece is not fully complete as yet as we need to distinguish the flashbacks quite effectively and dramatically from the rest of the sequence by editing them in black & white to add to the noir feel. As for the re-shoots we have eliminated the continuity error found in the shots just before the start of the chase. The weather unfortunately caused us some problems as the Sun which had been missing for the original shoots came out for the re-shoots. We have tried our best to cover this up as much as we can and without the continuity problem the scene does now look smoother and more polished than before.

In Tuesdays lesson we also managed to find a piece of music with a tempo and a tone suitable enough for the chase scene. We also managed to find a seperate track which provided a build-up to the chase which was especially useful as it allowed for a smooth transition between the slow pace and melancholy feel of the opening shots and music compared with the much urgent and dramatic feel of the chase itself.

Overall I feel our group have made alot of progress in the last week and with a brief 10-15 minute polish of the final piece at the beginning or just before next tuesdays lesson our project should be ready for viewing.

UPDATE...

We are now well underway with our main production entitled 'Slow Burn' but i'll admit, this is turning out to be rather harder than I thought it would be. We have our idea fully in place (the final synopsis, detailed treatment, storyboard etc will appear on this blog shortly), done most of our shoots and have a near complete rough edit. We have spotted some continuity problems along the way though that need to be addressed, but one of our group members has lost the shirt he wore in the original shoot so either we wait for his mate to hopefully give it back or in case we run out of time he wares something similar and we only shoot him from a distance, either way we'll manage it somehow. We also need to re-shoot a jump-down shot involving me and Aiden because we've spotted a continuity error although if we watch our continuity second time round this should be fairly straight forward. Finally we've encountered a problem with an artistic piece-to-camera shot for late in the scene which looks great visually but after capturing it we found some background interference which appears to have come from the machinery rather than the backgroun, basically it sounds like a badly tuned television on the wrong channel. The worst thing about this is we haven't got a clue how this happened as we were all being vigilant about any sound problems at the time. Unless we can find a way to get round this by maybe putting some subtle music over it we may have to re-shoot this aswell which is incredibly frustrating.

There are only a couple of shots we haven't done yet and these are flashbacks we have been advised to put in before the chase starts to give the audience a better idea of our plot and to give some more variety and creativity to the piece. In the sound department we have some music for the slow movement scenes but we are struggling a bit to find anything decent for the chase. If only we didn't have the copyright issues to deal with!

Nevertheless if we can overcome all the obsticles and get this all together there is no reason why we can't make this work.

EXCHANGE EXERCISE & EVALUATION

My main responsibilities during the pre-production of this video were helping to create a storyboard of around 12 shots and helping to find, plan and draw suitable locations. I was also jointly responsible for completing all of the necessary paperwork such as the risk assessment and call sheet which were needed before filming could start. During the production I was able to be involved with both acting and shooting and for the post production work I was able to find a piece of music that was used at the beginning of the film. The whole group was involved in editing the piece together.

Overall I think I contributed effectively with the pre-production paperwork as I was responsible for making sure everything was complete and in order before filming could start. Ideas from all members of the group went into the eventual storyboard. For the actual filming I feel I could have been slightly more vigilant for any continuity errors especially in the final few shots as a continuity error was spotted during editing. For the post production work the piece of music I found didn't fit in with the on screen action as well as I initially thought but this is something I will learn  for the next excercise. I will try to put more thought and research into what music would be appropriate before choosing.

Most of the new skills we learnt from this exercise were theoretical as we had already familiarised ourselves with the filming and editing equipment. We were able to put many of the techniques to make a film thriller into practice for the first time. This included the use of foreboding music, unnatural camera angles such as close-ups or dutch tilts and an enigma at the center of the plot. After feedback from colleagues and the tutor we now know how we can enhance these techniques to make the more effective in the final piece. We also learnt about finding a suitable location and finding background music to have the desired effect on the audience. On the practical side one new thing we learnt was how to add music to the film and edit it so certain parts of the track appear where we want it to.

Overall the lighting and the sound in the film worked well with the only notable problem being a continuity error near the end although we were able to cover this up during the editing.

I think our use of editing worked well especially near the end of the film where we were able to flash between the closing titles and the closing image of a character on the floor after supposedly being killed. I feel we could have used a wider range of shots such as more usage of close ups to give it more of a noir/thriller feel although the lighting in the park where a low sun created some high contrast lighting worked particularly well. However we probably should have used costumes to give the characters a better representation of those found in noir/thrillers. Most of the audience were able to follow the storyline.

Overall despite a couple of errors with camera positioning and continuity the exercise as a whole ran relatively smoothly and the most of the ideas came across as planned and we got the basics such as the 180 degree line rule correct. The feedback from the audience was generally positive with the only criticisms being the lack of an establishing shot and no costumes being used. There was also a bit of confusion regarding the storyline. Overall the audience saw the same positives and negatives as we did. If we were to get a chance to do the excercise again I would try to add more genre specific mise-en-scene such as costumes for the characters

EXCHANGE EXCERCISE BRIEF

The exchange excercise was our second filming excercise and required us in groups of four to plan a sequence of no more than 12 shots focusing on the exchange of a mysterious item. The sequence was to be set in the style of a thriller with no dialogue and the only sound being music. The idea of the task was to get us to be more innovative with our camera shots and editing to help reinforce the thriller style and give us further ideas of what we will be required to do on the noir opening. This excercise was to also give us more time on the filming and editing equipment.

NEO-NOIR OPENING: INDIVIDUAL IDEA

Synopsis: Film set in British working class suburbia in an area with an underworld of crime and drug dealing. Main character is a young teenage male with a troubled and violent upbringing who turns to drugs to try to escape reality of life. He gets involved in the urban underworld and finds himself in debt to dealers and gangs. Becomes enemy to the gang because of this and an affair he has with the girlfriend of one of the members. This leads to his ultimate downfall. Main location will be under a bridge in a park possibly at night or in twilight

Beginning: Film follows non-linear storyline and is narrated in voice-over as a flashback from the main character's perspective. Opening scene is the end of the story. Character stands under bridge smoking cannabis on his own when he gets a distressed phone call from his girlfriend warning him about a gang that is after him. A chase begins as he tries in vain to run away but he is caught and taken somewhere out of camera shot. Audience doesn’t know what happens but the scene is narrated by the main character. Following scene is set around one year previous to this and along with the rest of the opening scenes introduces the character's background and family and begins the story of why he ended up in the situation he was in at the end of the story.

Middle: The middle of the film is where his downfall begins to gather place. He is on a slippery slope and begins to lose his remaining allies. His drug addiction gets steadily worse as does his relationship with his family. During this time he becomes more known to the gangs and drug dealers in the area, even more so when he meets the girl. After she is initially presented as a possible lifeline for him it becomes apparent that she is dating one of the gang members which increases their hatred towards him.

End: The end of the film builds to the finale which we saw at the beginning. He is now known to the underworld in the area and has been targeted. He receives various threats and gets involved in fights. The final scene continues from where the opening scene left of as he is killed.

The opening scene would be shot under a bridge in an area with minimal light. The establishing shot would be a wide shot of the location with the character standing on his own smoking followed by a close up showing a worried and insecure look on his face (for the filming a normal cigarette would of course be used). A voice over from this character begins the narration, voice obviously has a melancholy and reflective tone to it. As he receives the phone call the only voice we hear is his girlfriend’s on the other end, minimal dialogue would be used as she would only say something like ‘get out of there now, they’re after you’. During the conversation there would be heavy breathing by the characters. As the conversation ends he would look around with an extreme close-up of his eyes shifting. Next we see a person running round the corner followed by the character making an attempt to run away. During the chase scene the camera man runs with the camera firstly from the perspective of the character being chased occasionally looking back at his pursuer. Next shot is also running but from the perspective of pursuer with character in front looking back once to show the audience the fear on his face. The character then trips and falls to the ground with a Dutch tilt on the ground being used as he hits the ground. A struggle then ensues as the character tries to get away. To end the scene he is dragged into an area out of shot round a corner, little or no dialogue apart from the voice-over narration is used throughout this sequence.


With the establishing shot being under a bridge it allows for the familiar noir lighting techniques with the character being under a bridge but with the light outide creating a sharp contrast. If it was filmed at night a lamp post could provide the light. Beginning with a wide shot also establishes the location and shows the character is on his own and isolated. The downbeat and reflective voice-over establishes the tone of the film and helps guide the audience through the storyline. The heavy breathing and emotion that can be heard in the telephone conversation helps to reinforce this tone. The extreme close-up that comes next of him looking round shows his fear as well as giving an unnatural and uncomfortable perspective to the audience. During this sequence the music used would be slow and melancholy but also foreboding to fit in with the minimal movement that goes on in this part of the scene. As the pursuer arrives and the chase sequence begins the pace of the music rises and more of a rhythm is established to fit in with the increased movement and the feeling that the scene is building to a climax. With the cameraman running with the camera it creates a realistic feeling to the audience that they are part of the chase and by running from the perspctive of both the hunter and the hunted it gives the audience a chance to experience it from both sides. The shot from the perspective of the characterbeing chased enables some of his fear to transmit onto the audience. Using a dutch tilt shot on the ground as the character falls creates an unnatural and uncomfortable look and creates a sense of falling to the ground with the character. To create a sense of mystery the charecters will have their faces partially obscured by hoods. This will be especially useful for the chasing character as nobody will know who he is thus creating an enigma. The clothes may also reinforce perceptions of teenage stereotypes.

PRELIMINARY EXERCISE & EVALUATION

This excercise presented me with the opportunity to familiarise myself with operating and positioning the camera according to the type of shot illustrated on the storyboard and this was the first opportunity we had to use the hand held microphone and boom to record sound and dialogue. My responsibilities along with the rest of the group included writing a storyboard, shooting and finally editing the piece together. Overall I was able to do this without too many problems although I made a rather basic error when I accidently allowed the boom to briefly appear in the top of a shot. I also need to work on the positioning of the camera in over-shoulder shots with regard to the rule of thirds. For the editing each of us had the chance to contribute and I have now become more familiar with the equipment. For this exercise we were introduced to the basics such as logging each clip with the 'in point' and 'out point' ready for them to be edited, then putting each clip into the correct position on the timeline and I had the chance to try this for myself. Initially I struggled a little with the editing process although once I was shown again I got a better grasp of it. For the next project however I aim to make more of a contribution to the editing process.

 This excercise presented us with our first opportunity to create a storyboard and this helped to enhance my knowledge of appropriate shot types and sizes for the sequence being produced. For this sequence a good range of shot types had to be used. This was my first chance to put what we learnt about shot sizes into practice and see if it had the desired effect such as an initial long shot setting the scene or a close-up showing a persons emotion. As mentioned earlier this exercise enabled us to use the editing machines for the first time so I learnt how they worked and the basics of editing. This will be useful for further projects when the editing and cinematography have to be genre specific. Overall after seeing the finished product I now have greater understanding of the importance of camera positioning as well as editing correctly to make sure the transitions and continuity between shots are seamless and realistic to the audience. I also learnt about the 180 degree line rule which we had to follow.

The technical quality of the finished video was overall satisfactory for the project we were undertaking with the camera movement being smooth and no major continuity errors. However the errors that were spotted gave me an idea of what needs to be improved on by the next project. If I did this exercise again I would be more careful about where I position the camera especially in over-shoulder shots and make sure that I was more vigilant with shot/reverse shot, I would also be more careful when handling the boom as when it moved it affected the quality of the sound. If we did this exercise again during the editing process I would be more vigilant about any continuity errors such as making sure a person is the same length through a door when we change shots.

Overall I think the finished sequence came across as we had planned on the original storyboard. Considering how basic this exercise was most of our ideas worked on the finished piece and the majority of what we eventually produced matched the original criteria for the exercise. The problems we experienced were to do with the positioning of the camera during shots and putting what we had planned on our storyboard into practice was slightly harder than I anticipated although the 180 degree line rule was stuck to throughout. The feedback we got was satisfactory and we were pointed out the errors with framing and shot/reverse shot. Overall it matched the previous examples that we had been show in class.

In conclusion the finished sequence turned out as we had planned with relatively few major errors. If I got the chance to do the project again I would be more vigilant with my shooting with regard to shot/reverse shot and during the editing process I would try to be more aware of any continuity errors.