Robins Evaluation Q4

How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

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Robins Evaluation Q3

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

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This is an audience feedback interview we made to aid us with this question

Robins Evaluation Q2

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

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Robins Evaluation Q1

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products ?

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Audience feedback interview

We conducted this audience feedback interview in the style of our characters inm the film trailer

Evaluation Update/Style

I have decided to for my evaluation question to get creative and awnser them as my charater in the trailer D.C Curtis.
The awnsers will be in the form of video entry with examples shown throuhgout the videos.
As i will be awnsering as D.C Curtis i have chosen to awnser these question from a car that represents Officer Curtis's new car after his got blown up at the end of the trailer.
I thought that this would be a good all round way of creatively evaluating the product.

Evaluation Videos Participation.

We decided as a group for our evaluations to create video entries for each of our questions as our characters in the trailer. We felt that to get good marks, we had to be creative in our evaluations and it was agreed that we would film each question in a location that the character relates to the most.

This idea was thought up between me, Harry, and Michael whilst Jack wasnt in school. We then proceeded to inform Jack of our idea and plan but he however decided that he wanted to take a different approach to his evaluation questions.

We were fine with his desision, and tried to keep him in the loop with what was happening with our evaluations. As it happened we conducted an audience interview for our question 3's and we felt this was something Jack may be able to use so we asked him, and he included it in his evaluation.

I decided to post this as i didnt want it to appear we had discluded Jack from doing the videos.

Final Poster

This is our final film poster for Curtis and Summers.
We had to gain permission for the use of the images in this poster, which did prove difficult but in the end we were able in my opinion to combine the two images to give us the desired effect that we wanted from the poster.
The poster does exactly what we want it to. It makes the car stand out, and also pushes across the message of our trailer 'clearing up the streets'

Final Magazine Cover

This is our final magazine cover.
Please click on the image to enlarge it.
You can then furthe enlarge it by using the zoom function in your browser

Poster Creation

The creation of the poster took a long time and a lot of effort because we had to make sure to keep it in a 1980s style and also make the poster look attractive and make people want to watch the film. We decided that we had to include a main part of the trailer and something that our audience could either relate to or see was a key part of it. We decided on using the car, which was iconic and rememberable because of the big explosion at the end of the trailer. This was also done because of being inspired by other film posters, most notably the 'Starsky and Hutch' poster.

We then had to decide how we would arrange the poster and what background we would use to make the car stand out and be in the forefront of peoples mind when looking at the poster. We researched the internet for suitable suggestions, which should also relate to our slogan: 'Clearing the Streets'. Here is a step-by-step guide on how we created it:
















We firstly loaded up the image of the car
We then deleted all shadowed areas around the car
We then cut out the large pieces of background around the car
We then used the zoom in and out functions in order to concentrate on certain aspects of the image
We then deleted the small pieces of shadowed areas and background around and under the car that was missed previously.
We then changed the colour of the background.
We then put in our chosen background picture.
We then inserted the car with the background so that the car looked a natural part of the location chosen.
We then added in the text, lighting effects around the title, the 'poster lines' effect.

This is an email that was sent in order to gain permission for the use of the background in the Background street image used in the poster.



N.B. : For the use of the car, we gained permission verbally with the owner to take pictures in order for us to use it as part of the poster, and as part of the










Here is a copy of the photo we used in the poster, we found it by just doing a simple google search

Magazine Cover Creation

We decided to do use the main protagonists of the film for our magazine cover, as we feel that the cover needs to show the characters in the film which are the most important and will create the right message for our trailer and film. The two characters that we have used are DC Summers and DC Curtis, along with the Drug Lord. This shows DC Summers and DC Curtis arresting the Drug Lord. Once we took the picture and uploaded it onto the computer, we played around with different effects to see which would look most effective. These are 4 we looked at using:















We then chose the style we felt looked best, and started to add onto the picture. We then transferred the picture onto Microsoft Word, where we added in text boxes. We then used the title format on Microsoft Word and used Doctor Atomic because of this. We then chose our title and inserted it. This though showed us a problem as the title went over the top of DC Curtis' head. We then decided to cut out the image of Robin's head, and then post it again in the same place, but just over the top of the title writing.













We then had to decide what other information we were going to include on the trailer. After looking at existing covers and our deconstructions, we discovered that giving away prizes was a big part and this enticed the reader even more into wanting to read the magazine. We then decided on a big prize, entered the picture onto the cover and created the competition. We felt that this feature was extremely important to include as it means the audience will want to win the prize and will also read the magazine.










We then transferred the whole cover onto Microsoft Word and saved it. This then meant it would be easily transferable. Overall, this was intriguing for us to create as we could improvise with effects and text, and this meant we could come up with a successful magazine cover.

Group Magazine Deconstruction-Empire

Our group magazine deconstruction is from the magazine 'Empire' which is a very famous magazine. It is seen officially as the most successful magazine in Britain above Total Film and we as a group felt that we had to take inspiration from a magazine that is so popular with British films. Also the fact that the front cover broadcasts action film genre, which is our chosen genre for our trailer, makes it obvious to us to want to use it as a basis and inspiration for what we want to do in our film magazine cover. The main feature of the magazine cover which jumps out is the picture of the main protagonist Robert Downey Jr as the 'Iron Man'. The use of costume attracts the audience as it is shows off his strong physique. This is typical of a main protagonist in an action film as he is strong and fierce. Also his stance of clenching his fists and frowning shows power and this is a big feature of a magazine cover. The character also appears to have a head in his hand and a bright device on his body. This is very common of action films as the audience will want to know what the thing is on his body and what and why he is holding something in his hand. The fact that the name next to the picture (Robert Downey Jr) is so famous, this makes the audience think that it is going to be a really good film as it can attract a top film star. There is also a small phrase next to the picture which says: "Attitude? You damn betcha!." This is effective as a lot of main characters in all films have an iconic catchphrase which represents their character personalities; with this one showing his dominance and attitude. The use of colour is also a strong part of this magazine cover. The use of red in the main magazine title represents danger and suspense, which is what an action film genre is strong at producing if successfully made. The fact that most of the other colours used in the rest of the cover are lighter or more faded than the title makes it stand out more; and therefore the audience are drawn to this along with the title. Both of these things are what the producers want. The use of a grey faded background is effective for this cover because it gives off the idea of somebody walking through it. This leaves the audience on the edge of their seats and they are wondering what is through the murky mist. The only other colour used apart from those already mentioned is white. This is an effective colour as it is the perfect colour to mix in with red and grey. It is very bright and stands out over the text which is in smaller print. The use of the sub-title also escalates the magazine and makes the audience want to read more into the magazine. 'Meet the new action A-list!' is very cleverly included as the audience will not know who the 'a-list' are. They will then want to know and buy the magazine. The use of the exclamation mark also gives off the tone of excitement and shock which is what they want their audience to feel when reading this statement. To the right-hand side of this magazine cover, there is the use of images from other films with famous actors which the audience will recognise. This improves the magazine as there is more for them to find out about, rather than just the film used as the main attraction in the centre of the magazine. For example, the top picture shows Shia LeBeouf, who is one of the most successful actors of recent times. The audience will want to know about his film as well, as it is similar in many ways to Iron Man. Also the use of additional features which show what else in the magazine, shows the depth and quality of the magazine. The fact they have squeezed in the information at the bottom shows how much the magazine has to offer to its audience, and it also is of very high quality and the audience will know and want to read about them as well. Overall, they get a lot of quality for money when reading, which is what we want to do for our magazine cover. This has proved to the group through careful and concise research why this is one of the most successful magazines out there. The features of this magazine are very strong and we will aim to use these, challenge them and develop them as best as we can. We know that if we can get it near to the standard of this magazine, we will have produced a top-notch magazine cover.

Group Poster Deconstruction- Starsky and Hutch

This is a picture of one of the promotional posters for the 2004 Starsky and Hutch film. As this film was a big influence on our group we decided it would be a good idea to use it for our group de-constructions. the poster is a picture of a car which, from prior knowledge, we can tell is the iconic red Gran Torrino from the 1980's TV series' of Starsky and Hutch which the film is based on. we can tell that it is this car from the iconic white decal on the side of the car. the white of this decal is mirrored in the title.

the wheel of the car is spinning, this can be seen by the smoke around the tire. this is probably an effect put on the picture in editing but it has been used to show the fast pace of the film itself and makes the audience want to see the film.

in the reflection of the car we can clearly see palm trees. this sets the scene as their is no background to the picture. this has probably been done to draw focus solely to the car as this is the main focal point of the poster. this is also mirrored in the cars wing mirror which upon closer inspection seems to be added in.

below the text their is some writing in a different shade of red, this text is a mixture of the cap line of the film and the release date. this is a good use of space and a clever effect as it makes the audience think and therefor remember it.

the overall effect of the poster is sharp and bold. the reds are deep and the car is shiny. this shows it as being a mainstream film and not an amateur piece.

we will have to experiment with effects when creating our poster, this will make it seem bolder and stand out.

Magazine Deconstruction

This is the magazine cover i have chosen for my deconstruction. It is a picture of the Max Payne edition of Total Film  from September 2004(issue 145).

I choose this magazine cover as i feel it is a good example of how to do a magazine cover for an Action film.

The Feature picture is of  Mark Wahlburg as 'Max Payne' , i feel this picture is a great example for me to use of how to incorporate a picture into a magazine cover. The picture was probably taken from part of the actual film but it almost looks like they have posed it for the sole use of the magazine cover and i think this is something we should consider when taking a picture for our magazine cover,i mean we should try and make our magazine cover look like it has been taken out of the film.

The main title 'Total Film' is also i believe a good example of how to incorporate a title without it looking basic or boring. I really like how they have placed the word 'Total' in the top of the F of Film,as i feel this jus makes the title more intresting and also allows them more space on the magazine to place the picture of the feature film.

The 'MAX PAYNE'  title is placed in a central possition just below the main picture and is in a big bold font that has a cracked effect which really in my opinion suite the type of film. It makes me realise that a good font is really just as important as the main picture.

They have made the feature film really stand out by using the special fonts and a bigger size of text.The creators have cleavly placed any other einformation about the contents in the magazine at either the  side of bottom of the cover but in a decent size that that people can still easilly read it but without it distracting to much.

Due to the majority of the background being dark colours, the creators have used yellow and white text so that it doesnt contrast, this  really is good as it allows the text to clearly stand out over the image which is what you want on a magazine cover.

In my opinion this is the magazine cover is of a high qaulity and will be a great example for us later in the project when we are constructing our magazine cover.

Poster Deconstruction: Tron(1982)

This is my poster deconstruction on the 1982 Action/Sci-Fi film 'Tron'. 'Tron' was written and directed by Steven Lisberger, and produced by Donald Kushner. Staring a young Jeff Bridges, and Bruce Boxleitner, it made over $30million at the box office.

I choose to do this film as it was made bang smack in the middle of the era we wanted to base our trailer in. Also 'Tron' was an iconic film in the 80's, and its poster was also a very iconic film poster in the 80's and still currently is and has been used in TV shows such as 'Chuck'.

As this poster was such a hit in the 80's i feel it is worth deconstructing and seeing why it was such a hit.

The first thing that springs out on me about the poster is that i can only begin to imagine just how amazed people were when seeing it in the 80's as in this era i believe this poster would have looked really futuristic and amazing to passers by, whereas today we expect high-tech films and posters like this.

I also feel this poster shows a good example of how 'less is more', i mean a big proportion of the poster is black,and the image in the middle itself is in a way pretty simple as it does not give away to much about the film,But instead intrigues you into asking questions like 'What are they doing', 'What are they holding',i feel that due to the simplicity of the image it leaves the potential audience wanting to know more.

The poster  uses a range of neon-like colours which really fit in with the time period the film was made.I feel this is something we should consider for our titles in our film trailer as it really seems to fit in,and would give our titles that 80's effect.

The texts and fonts are used to good effect in this poster i feel.The main 'TRON' text is in a bold funky kind of text which fits in with the genre,and the colors of it fit in with he neon scheme of the main picture used.The other pieces of information such as actors and director have been made small in a white font and placed at the bottom out of the way, which i believe was a good choice as it means they do not distract from the main area of the poster.

Post Production Feedback Questionaire

Here is our feedback questionaire.
This is the audience-feedback questionnaire that we have created. We will send this out to 5 random people and we will show the answers to see what we can do to improve. We picked these specific questions because we feel that they are the elements of the trailer that we want to hear from our audience about. We also think that these will give the audience scope to give responses more than other questions that we could have picked. Once we have received the answers back, we will construct the answers and see what they thought of the specific and important parts of the trailer.

These are all of the responses from our audience feedback questionnaires. These are really important as they show us what parts of the trailer need to be improved. This also shows us their ideas which we could find to be very good and work within our trailer.



We wanted to make sure that we chose the right target audience and that they enjoyed our trailer. If the results from the teenagers and young adults we received back were negative, then we would feel that our trailer wasn't successful.

We also asked people who weren't in our target audience for their honest responses of the trailer as well. We did this because we wanted to see if people of other ages liked the trailer, as when we constructed this, we didn't feel that they would as much as our target audience.



The people in our target audience gave the best responses over the people who weren't. This is what we expected and we are happy with this as it shows that we have met their needs as an audience. Even because of this, they aren't completely happy with the overall product and we know that the best way to improve the trailer is by asking them the key questions and them giving their honest opinions.



The main parts which our audience felt that we should improve was the use of camera angles and costume. We as a group will now look into these throughout the trailer, look at the feedback and decide what is best to do.

Final Trailer

Post Editing StoryBoard

This is our post editing storyboard,during editing we had to cut out a lot of scenes and switch around the places of them, so we decided to do this storyboard to show the changes we made. We felt that this would be a good way to lay out the scenes we ended up including in our blog.We originally had the stroyboard with little drawings created on the computr to help guide us through filming, but we decide to update it due to the amount our film had changed during the editing process.

Editing-Improvements-Redscreen

After creating the draft trailer, we all watched it through and decided on what improvement needed to be made.
This is what we cam up with

• Adding in somekind of green/red screen at the start
• Fixing the explosion as the main One isnt working
• Fix the bad cuts in the film such as the music cut at the end of the drug deal scene
• Make the character takling louder as it can be hard to hear sometimes

For the green/redscreen we decided to add in the american Rated R redscreen as it clearly stated this films may contain some drug material, and we felt that this was important as we have a drug scene in our peice.

For the other issues that were raised i went back into the film project file and spent sometime fixing the errors until i was satisfied

Film Trailer: Draft

This is a draft of the trailer

We all sat down and watched this a few times so that we could iron out the problems before the deadline.
The reason i am refereing to it as a draft is because it has a couple of obvious errors that will need fixing.

Most of it is done but their are a few kinks we will need to iron out before its finished

Music Permissions

We decided using these tracks as we felt they would best fit in with some of our scenes.
Frankie Knuckles- You can't hide
The Beastie Boys- Rock Hard
Michael Jackson- Beat It
Duran Duran- Union of the Snake

Hereare the emails we sent out asking for permision to use the tracks.

Editing Part 1

To start the editing process off i first imported all of the project media we had planned to use into Sony Vegas via the import media function, I imported the clips we had filmed, the music we had planned on using, potential effects, and of course the logo.
After doing this the first task i set to was to create the opening title sequence, we had decide to include in the opening the text 'from the makers of' and then our tw respective AS Level films 'Fogul, and Zompocalypse'.
I didnt want the text to appear on a black background so i set about finding a suitable background and i found the grunge one we ended up using was from braproductions( this was also suitable as they dont mind people using there images). I then thought i want the text to fly in and out in an intresting manner, so i used a variety of effects such a 'Zoom' 'Curtains' and 'Dissolve'.
The title sequence can be seen on the below 9peice board i created detailing the opening text sequence.












The task i undertook was to sort the clips into a basic order and to edit out all the bad takes, pauses, and director shouting 'cut or 'action', this task was not to difficult, but was very time consuming. Upon completing this task i noticed a major problem, that being we had nearly ten minutes of video, and this was obviously to much for a trailer so i contacted the group via facebook to tell them and to discuss which scenes we could cut.
After making the decision and putting all the clips in order of how we wanted them, we proceeded to go with the method of going through each clip one by one and adding in any effects and music.
We Started of with adding the music track 'Beat it' by Michael Jackson in sync with the opening title credits as it had already been decided this would be the first piece of music we would use with the first few clips.
We then added the Clips of Curtis and Summers chasing and catching a criminal, the logo, and them strutting down the street, with 'Beat it' playing in the background for all these clips.
Next we  added in the animation logo 'Watermark Entertainment'  straight after the strutting down the street clip, the only problem encountered with the animation was that it was slightly out of position so we used the event/pan crop function to fix this.
We then had written down that now we would put the informant scene in, and because this scene contained dialogue we used an ' audio envelope' to fade out the music.
To switch from the logo into the scene i added in a 3D blinds effect as i felt this would be a good transition to use into the scene.
The informant Scene was one of the main scenes in the trailer as i contained  a variety of effects and action.
We had to cut this scene down as it was to long for our trailer so we decided to go with the main points of the scene, the deal, the shooting, and summers shouting 'Stay with me'.
The first part of the scene was Summers walking in towards Toby( The Informant) and then them both engaging in a few lines of dialogue before exchangine a brown envelope.One problem with this scene was that some of 'he Informants'  dialogue was a bit slow so we had to speed this scene up ever os slightly. The next scene we put in was where the Informant get shot by Billy Blades, and in this scene there are quite alot of effects.
To start the scene i cut it so that you can just see D.C Summers walking away as the Criminal Billy enter the shot. Also at this point i added in the start of the music from the track 'Union of the snake' by 'Duran Duran', just as the shooting is starting to happen. At the point the gun is fired i added in clips of gun flashes, gun shot noisers, and a blood splatter. With all these clips it was important that i added them in time with the video so that the palyed at exactly the right moment.They also needed to be placed in the right posistions and to do this is used the event/pan/crop function.














After i had finished with thsi section and sorted all the effects out i added in the start of the text sequence that we planned to put in the trailer. The first part was 'Two Cops', the second 'who wont stop', the thrid 'until the bad guys',  and the fourth and final 'face justice'. For these text peices i used our entire tasks main font 'Doectuer Atomic' and added multiple effects such as 'zoom's' 'glint's and 'flashes' to create a cool funky retro 80's blue neon look. All the texts quickly zooomed in then stayed on screen momentarily before fading and flashing away. 

In between these text slides i placed a few clips, but due to the text they hads to be short clips. These clips were the gun handover scene, kicking down the gate scene, and the Summers screaming 'stay with me' scene.
Next is the drug deal scene, thsi scene was simple to edit as it only took one take. We see the deal happen whilst 'Union of the Snake' is still playing in the background, and just as Summers begins to throw the drugs at the wall and arrest Billy Blade the volume in the music rises considerably. We then hear the music considerably slowing down and the clip fading away into the text 'An A-Level film', for this as the music slowed down to its slowest point i decided to add in a blue lighting effect to give away the sense that it is restarting the music.

Next is the Scene were Summers is chasing Billy Blade down an alleyway. Now for this after it was cut to my liking, i duplicate it and placed both duplicates above the orignal in the editing bars.

I purposly put them out of sync witht the orignal clip so that i could use the 'ADD' function to create  a ghosting effect when Mr Blades turns around

I had to play around with the timing of these correct by posisting the clips correctly on the timeline.

Her is a picture of the ghosting effect, it show Mr Blades Spinny in to a ghsot of himself, we felt that using an effect such as this was good because it gets the questions going in the audiences heads.
This scene finished off by cross-fading into the next scene which is Curtis and Summers waiting for the criminals, this scene in itself was a very simple scene to edit and was simple to order. The only major change in thsi scene was the 'Union of the Snake' had faded out and been replaced by 'Frankie Knuckles' 'You cant hide'. I had to pick through the music to find the right section to play as the director had told me he wanted the specific part of the song where they are singing 'you cant hide' to be playing.
I used a yellow flash as the transision from this scene into the text 'Coming this fall' which then went directly into the main titles 'Curtis and Summers'.

For these titles is used a variety of moving effects again as i wanted the 80's neon blue look to stand out.






Now we are into the final scene which was the car explosion. Now for the car explosion i needed two clips of Curtis and Summers walking away from the car so that i could kind of place the explosion effect inbetween them.
This by far took th most time to edit as i had to mask around officer curtis to make the explosion appear behind him.
Masking is a function in Sony Vegas where  you can cut round parts of clips or even entire clips, basically it is a tool that allows you to manipulate videos and images.
I added the music 'Rock Hard' by 'The Beastie Boys' into the clip as it fitted in witht the scene really well, i then proceeded to mask around officer Curtis so the explsion would appear behind him.
Here are somepicture to show me masking the clip.

Framing and Shot lengths Evidence

Close-up Shots- Images 1 and 2
Medium Shots- Images 3 and 4
Low Angle Shot- Image 5
Two Shots- Image 6 and 7
Dutch angle- image 8

Filming Session 2

For the second session, we used Church Street where we used the alleyway for the scene where DC Summers and DC Curtis wait for the drug lord to appear so they can attempt to arrest him. We chose this location as we know that a person involved in drugs would be in a private location and we feel that a alleyway would be a obvious one. We want to use an alleyway because we want to park the car outside the start of it so we can see all the way down the alley. We made sure that the car was parked in the right position so that it was legal to park there and we had a clear view down the alleyway. We then made sure that we removed items from the car that would affect the 1980s style that we wanted. This scene was filmed after a couple of takes as we had to make sure we knew which lines we were going to say as we the first couple of takes there were a few pauses and we wanted the conversations to have a relaxed tone and sense to them. We used a couple of different angles for this scene as we wanted to film their facial expressions when they see the Drug Lord; so we decided to film from outside the car and show DC Summers wind down the window and take pictures for evidence. Overall we feel that this was a big part of the trailer and one we feel we achieved and did well in.

We also filmed two more scenes in this location and was a valuable location as it met all of our demands. The next scene that we filmed was when Billy met the drug lord in order for him to be given a gun to protect himself from the police. This was a simple scene as there was no dialogue so all the drug Lord had to do was make the transition of the gun smooth and make sure that they nodded to each other to show the audience that this was a pre-made agreement. This was completed in one scene and allowed us to concentrate on more difficult scenes to complete.

Our last scene in this location was when DC Summers and DC Curtis kick down the door in order to search for one of the criminals. We wanted to build up a bit of tension in the scene through what they say and slowly counting to three will make the audience take more notice of what happens after 3. We then made sure that the DC's slowly take out their guns in order to leave the audience on the edge of their seats. We also cut the scene before we kicked down the door for the reason of suspense again and the audience will want to know what is behind the door and what will happen behind the door.

Another scene we completed was the explosion of the car which we had to make sure was a 1980s vehicle. This was one of the most difficult if not the most difficult scene to complete because we wanted to make sure that the vehicle was right. We researched a lot of different cars in the area and only really found two that suited our needs. We started with one down Station Road that we felt matched our era. We were mainly leaning towards using the other car for the explosion at this moment but we thought that we should film both to see which would be more effective. We took two takes to film this as it was on a busy road and DC Summers and Curtis had to stand far apart so that we could get the whole car in the shot. This proved difficult as the car that we wanted to use was close to other cars which wouldn't fit in the 1980s genre so we decided to do the best we could do with it and move on to the other car. We then found this much easier to do as we knew it would be there and the area in which the car was situated fitted our genre and style. We could also play with angles to get the right shot of DC Summers and DC Curtis when the car explodes. We did this in two takes as the first take we wanted DC Summers and Curtis to react to the explosion, but then we decided for them not to because it would leave the audience thinking why they are not reacting and if they knew it had actually happened.

Filming Update/Problems

This post is an update on the current filming situation and problems we have encountered before and during filming.
We encountered multiple problems before and during filming, but we did our best to overcome these at the time.
I will have mentioned some of these problems in my filming post but this will explain them in a bit more detail.

Firstly i will detail the problems we encountered before filming.

The main big problem we faced before filming was the weather.Our original plan was to film just before the Christmas break , but during this time the UK suffered severe adverse weather conditions. Our area had quite a bit of snow, and this snow did not melt for quite a while as the temperatures stayed at and below freezing. This period of weather went on for bout a month and cost us weeks of filming as a lot of our scenes were outdoors and this would have caused us numerous problems had we attempted to film. The main problem being continuity as we wouldnt be able to easily re-film peices if the snow had melted, plus anyway we didnt really feel that  the snow would fit in most of our scenes. The other major problem was that a lot of our scenes had the main characters running at fast paces and we had to put filming on hold as this was in our opinion a major safety issue. Most of our locations had ice on the ground  for long spells and e just simply couldnt risk injury. So we decided to perfect our plan for filming so that we would be ready to film as soon as the weather had cleared up.

Before filming we took into account that we would have to carefully choose filming locations and be very careful not to include anything post 80's in our trailer(i.e modern cars). We did find this extremly difficult as cars would pass by during shots. We also had to make sure that modernish buildings wernt included in shot, and that all locations looked like they could be from the 80's time period. To double check we visisted the locationmultiple times before filming and then watched the video we had recorded to check that anything modern hadnt been included.

The next problem was another 'in-film' problem. Due to the nature of our film and the props we would be using(mainly guns) we were wairy that this may alarm members of the public during filming so when organising the props we tried to find guns that looked like toys(eg. couloured blue) to make it as obvious as possible that these were not real. However during filming we had a police patrol car come along and ask us a few questions about what we were doing. They explained that they had received a phonecall from a concerned driver who had driven past whilst we were filming. They asked us a few simple questions about why we were filming and examined our guns to check they were real(they did have a bit of a giggle at the fact one had the text 'this is a toy gun' written on the side), and after explaining that we were filming an action trailer for our media studies they were happy for us to continue. They also advised us that they understood we could not inform every resisdent and driver passing bye of what we were doing, so they told us if we encounter any problems with a concerned member of the public to just kindly tell them that we have been visited by the police and if they are still concerned to tell them to phone the Whittlesey Police Station.

As we filmed we also encountered problems with the camera as we would find either the memory filling up, or the battery and back-up battery running out of power before we could complete the scene.This caused us ocasionally to have to rush which became anooying and frustrating at times. When the memory was full we had no choice but to end filming early and continue another day.

The last problem we encountered during filming was that due to other commitments we did find it difficult to find a time that we were all free to film. Due to us all doing different A-Levels we all had free periods at different times.We solved thsi problem by making a simple 3 week time plan which can be seen below.



Filming Session 1 21/1/2011

First Day
Jimmy
Police
Ivy Leaf Corridor
News Report
Richardson Way
White Powder

Our first filming session took place on 21/1/2011.
This Post is a detailed account of how the day went and problems we encountered.
In this filming session we planned to film the following scenes

• Informant Scene
• Chase down alleyway scene
• First chase scene
• Drug Deal Scene
• Strutting down the street scene
• News Reporter Scene

We decided on certain scenes we could do on certain days because of availability of people we needed in individual scenes and the locations we knew were free. Firstly, we decided to film at an old warehouse entrance lay by down Station Road. We felt that the area was secluded and old enough to tone in well with our 1980's style for this scene as it was when the police officer met the informant. This was an effective location for us because it was away from the centre of Whittlesey and we filmed it to make it looked like an abandoned area. Firstly we set up the car on the end of the lay by so we could set the camera up on the tripod in the boot so it was in a safe, stable position. We then got all of the props together and made sure that everyone had the props that they needed for the scene. We then issued ourselves into our starting positions and waited for the go-ahead from Michael who was directing this part of the scene as he wasn't in it. It was difficult at the start as we had a road next to the lay-by and cars kept on passing by when i made my entrance which meant that we had to start again. When we managed to get past this point to when DC Summers met Toby, we had to start again and decide certain lines as there were big pauses when one of the actors thought about the next line as we did not script any of the lines throughout the trailer. Once we decided these, we managed to film that scene after 3 or 4 takes. We stopped after the handover of the document and moved on to the next scene where DC Summers left just before an armed criminal called Billy sprung out suprisingly and fired two shots at the informant. This was done successfuly on second take after the informant failed to react fast enough to the fired shots on the first take. The third part of the scene then started with DC Summers attending to a wounded Toby. We added make-up and blood to Toby to show the wound that he had suffered. The audience will now want to know if he survives or not and with DC Summers trying to close the wound, will he save him?

Our next scene we did was opposite the Ivy Leaf Club down Gracious Street. We used this scene to film the start of the trailer which was DC Summers chasing a suspect down the road and with him eventually caught by his colleague round the corner, DC Curtis. We wanted to start a low shot of feet running to open the trailer as it immediately grabs the audiences attention as it is quick and direct. This took about 3 takes to complete as both DC Summers and the criminal had to make sure that they ran at a distance so that the criminal could be caught before DC Summers caught up. This scene was filmed by Robin and directed by Michael. A long shot was used to show the running until the criminal turned the corner which is traditional of a chase scene as they are running directly towards the camera and the audience feel involved in the chase as they are closing in on them. We then changed angle to a medium shot of the action but behind the action and behind DC Curtis so the audience can expect what is to happen next, which is that he gets caught. This final scene was filmed in three takes as the criminal did not react to getting caught and the camera angle had to be changed because it was in the way of the action and didn't get the best view of DC Summers and the criminal entering.

Also down Gracious Street, we did a news reporter scene where the reporter was interviewing DC Summers on capturing the robber. This was a scene we found challenging as we had to find a backdrop which suited the environment of the piece and we had to space the characters quite far apart so that the news reporter could introduce himself and then bring DC Summers into shot. The news reporter found it difficult to work with the noise of the traffic and he did not remember some of his lines so it took a considerable amount of time for him to introduce himself and ask the correct questions to DC Summers. Once we managed to get past the reporter's part of the interview, we completed it pretty rapidly.

The next scene we decided to do was down the alleyway that we entered the start of from the last scene as it seemed logical to do it when we were already there. It was from the opposite end of the alleyway and was another chase scene with DC Summers chasing Billy down the alley to try and arrest him. This was a difficult scene as it was tough to interpret how fast to move and the actors had to rely a lot on the director in this scene. Also this scene was filmed near a public area so it was difficult for us to film and create a tense atmosphere which was especially needed for this scene. Also during this scene without being pre-planned, a police siren was used in the background during the scene which we tried to incorporate live within this scene, but we didn't like how the scene went so we had to re-film it. We decided to film on the two corners and show both characters trying to look for each other in order to build suspense.

We filmed the next scene down Richardson Way where an under-cover DC Summers met Billy to buy drugs. This was a difficult scene as the powder we used as drugs could only be used once as when it is given to DC Summers, he throws it back at Billy and arrests him. If we did not get this scene correct the first time, the bag would have split and gone everywhere and there would have been a big white mark on the wall behind Billy. We did this particular scene in a small space inbetween the garages because it was compromised and Billy would not be able to escape DC Summers. It is also away from the public eye and traditional of where a drug deal would take place. We managed to complete this in one take as we carefully pre-planned our camera angles and what we would do in the scene. This was very successfully done and we were happy with the outcome.

Also down Richardson Way, we had the two policeman walking towards the camera. This took a few takes as we improvised with our character's and stuck on a walk that showed their personalites best. This was quite simple to film as we were doing a scene where there would be no distractions and once we decided on a bodily stance for our character, we could complete it quickly.

Framing shots: Camera Angles and lenghts

As we have now structured which scenes and trailer we are going to produce, we have come up with certain framing and shot lengths that we will use in particular scenes in order to create the right emotions and effectiveness.

Close-up shot: To be used when DC Summers is handed the document by Toby.
To be used when DC Summers is talking to Billy.
To be used when DC Summers and DC Curtis are talking in the car.

Medium Shot: To be used when DC Summers talks to Toby and treats his injuries.
To be used when Toby is given a gun by the Drug Lord.
To be used when DC Summers and DC Curtis kick down the door.
To be used when DC Summers attempts to catch Toby.

Low Angle Shot: To be used when DC Summers is chasing Tommas.

Two Shot: To be used when DC Summers is chasing Tommas.
To be used when DC Summers and DC Curtis are walking towards the camera.
To be used when DC Summers is talking to Toby and treating his injuries.
To be used when Billy shoots Toby.
To be used when Toby meets the Drug Lord.
To be used when DC Summers and DC Curtis kick down the door.
To be used when DC Summers attempts to catch Toby.
To be used when the car explodes.
































































Dutch Angle:
This rare angle will be used when officer curtis chases the criminal around the corner

We are going to use a lot of two-shots throughout to show the relationships between characters. For a lot of these, it is either DC Summers and DC Curtis or DC Summers and Billy. This shows the main essence of the
story and that these characters relationships are important for the audience to follow.




The other shots were decided by how we felt we wanted the scenes to come across, for example a close-up of the exchange between Toby and DC Summers showing the importance of the letter.

Contact

As we had other subjects and needed to know when we were all available, we needed to have a certain point of contact in order to confirm certain things, re-arrange things or to ask questions to each other in a easy and simple way. We decided that the easiest source of contact was Facebook, as we could create a group conversation so that we could easily post to the people in the group. This meant that when we werent in direct contact, we could communicate about when we were filming for example, with an example shown here:

This was done at the last minute by Michael to confirm where we were meeting and what we should bring. If we didnt have this contact, we would have found the filming a lot more difficult to complete.