Reflexive Analysis

For my A2 Film project I chose to make the opening sequence of a film between 3 – 5 minutes in length and instead of a sequence that would be part of a film. When making my film I chose to work alone and therefore I could have full control over planning, directing and editing my Film project. I used a digital blog: www.bethanyhironsfilmstudiesa2.blogspot.com to keep track of all of the production process, including looking into detail into my chosen genre; Thriller. I chose to make a Thriller opening because I liked the stylistics that was involved; I also liked the vast possibilities that can be studied. The title of my film is “Drug Squad” and the narrative is about a police officer who is mentally disturbed following childhood trauma. The title came from research online into the thriller genre, but also studying previous film titles which are short but sweet.

In order for my audience to feel empathy and upset for my protagonist (Guy), I had to show him as a child seeing the death of his mother, this is easy for an audience to empathise with, because no matter what culture you are, the mother is the pinnacle of the family and losing her is going to be traumatic. I wanted the audience to begin to understand Guy’s obvious monotonous emotions so I decided to use a silent sequence which shows his past, this way I could create an alignment between the audience and Guy. One of my aims was to make sure that my film was as realistic as possible; in order to do this I could only use locations which were high in verisimilitude. In order to achieve this I used public streets, houses and a forest, all the places my audience will have heard of before, and realise that the film is set within this reality. The ending of my opening sequence was filmed at my house, it was done there because within it, it had all of the props and set design that was required. The scenes outside for the montage were filmed locally within a forest; the only item I needed to take was the costume for my protagonist.

The name of my protagonist holds significance due to what it means, when doing research into names, I found that this name was used a lot centuries ago before ‘Guy Fawkes’ tried to blow up the tower of London using gun powder. During the early pre-production stages I had issues finding the right name that fit my characters profile, until I stumbled upon a website that stayed that it is very common in American thriller films for the police officer. This is very alike my narrative. Guy usually means the very masculine one of the group, or even the leader, in my opening sequence I feel that I did not achieve my aim of making Guy look like the leader in the group, if I was to do this again, I would change the opening and show him in an office.

Within my film I wanted to experiment with music, I felt I did this successfully by using ‘Little Lion Man’ sang by Mumford and Sons and editing the 30 second montage sequence to the beat of the drums . I found it hard to find a song at first that could be edited in this way as I was sure that the lyrics would also have to match what was being seen on the screen; however, after a trial and error process I found that the lyrics in this song helped me to achieve my goal. Lyrics such as “Weep for yourself, my man, You’ll never be what is in your heart” where shown when he was sat upset in the forest, these were all small details to show that he wants to be living in his mother’s shadow but he does not feel he is achieving it.

As part of my pre-production process I analysed several film openings, one of which was Inception, which showed a montage sequence whilst playing the opening credits, this was one of the things of which I took inspiration from and chose to use in my own opening. My opening is very similar to inception, I chose to use music in the background and also chose to have a sequence before the credits, although, I do feel like I did not meet my aim of making it look as professional as this. The reason I do not think I achieved my aims is because I used to much artificial lighting due to poor planning of filming. If I was to do this again I would plan my filming schedule better so that I would have an image that is not grainy.

My original aim for the narrative was for it to be gritty and violent, although I could not achieve this because I did not have the special effects available. So instead of my original aim of making my film an 18 because of the issues it touches upon, I feel that it would be suitable for a 15. It would be suitable because although Guy does walk in on his dead mother, this is suitable for a 15 as although it causes shock to the audience, it does not show physical violence that makes them feel uncomfortable. The BBFC classifications for a 15 are:

·         strong violence

·         frequent strong language (eg 'f***').

·         portrayals of sexual activity

·         strong verbal references to sex

·         sexual nudity

·         brief scenes of sexual violence or verbal references to sexual violence

·         discriminatory language or behaviour

·         drug taking

I feel that my film would come under these categories because although we do not see these in the opening, we can expect it later on when Guy aims to find the murderer of his mum. I feel that I have reached my aim of making my film a 15 because of the context that it is in, it would not be suitable to see dead bodies and violence if this film was a 12A.

Once my video was completely and put on my blog, I gave out a questionnaire which asked the audience what they thought of my work, the sample consisted of 10 people who could all correctly guess the genre of which my film is, however, they agreed that I had not reached my target audience of people aged 18 – 24, if this film was to go to general release, I would have to bring down my age rating in order to get a better showing. On the Likert scale at the bottom of my questionnaire the average number my opening was given was an 8, this was because the narrative was not explained thoroughly, I agree with this comment and feel if I did this again, I would pay more attention to the scene where his mother passes away.

 

Word Count: 1145

FINISHED FILM

Audience Feedback Forms

I have designed audience feedback forms in order to thoroughly see the appeal of my film, and to see if I have truly reached my aims and not just in my opinion.

This is the interactive version of my audience feedback form, I have asked questions by lookinginto my aims and asking questions that are relevant. The genre of my film is the crucial question in my aims, as I want my audience to feel empathy for my character and begin to understand his emotions. I did this through genre by changing the colour, and using a song. Using this form I will be able to see the different audience perspectives.

Non-Diegetic Song Choice

I found this song searching for music to follow the "missing wife" scene. Guy has lost his wife, it may have being his own fault, it is not yet established in the narrative, but what we do know is she was with him and he still is not used to having her missing.
This song is very emotive, it helps the audience know how to feel, specifically I will be using from 1.05 onwards.

This music is taken from Youtube.

Reflexive Analysis Begins

For my A2 project I chose to make an opening sequence from a film lasting between 3-5 minutes, instead of making a short film so I could cause an emotional response for the audience. In my work I chose to work individually so that I would have full control over planning, directing and editing my project. The way I made sure I kept up with my planning was by using my blog: www.bethanyhironsfilma2.blogspot.com. I decided to make a film that could fit into the thriller genre, but also with a dramatic edge. The title of my film is "The Drug Squad" this represents the police force that he works for, but also the specific narcotics department that we see him in within the narrative. I found inspiration for this storyline by looking into the tv series CSI, this storyline was done within an episode and I felt that I could elaborate this into a film. I had already decided on doing a storyline that involved a police officer, however, I had not thought about using the drama genre.

Reshoot Script

(Set: me behind the camera, not in the shot just voiced over)

Me: Candidate Number 23716, Guy McKenzie applying for role as Chief Constable.

Me: how are you Guy?

Guy: i am fine thankyou, abit nervous, you know.

Me: why do you think you would be suited for this job?

Guy: i have worked in a police station for 10 years now,  i feel it's time to move up and on

Me: what attributes would you bring to this job?

Guy: i would bring two factors to the force, first of all leadership, i feel i am a confident but also nurturing leader, but alongside that I bring iniative.

Me: thanks Guy we will consider your application.

Reshooting neccasary

Due to problems with scripting, putting the image together did not work, the text did not workso neccassary  changes are being made. I have decided toget rid of that scene as it does not make enough sense, and instead adding a beginning on which has being filmed on 19th March.

The scenes contain Him being interviewed for his job, but then also missing his wife in the scenes after that.

First Draft

My film so far without names added to the title sequence:




The interview process with Guy before he gets the job, and how it changes his life because he becomes so intertwined into his work. He states in the interview that he does not want to get involved with the narcotics department, however, we know from the title of the film, and also the lyrics of the song, he has become embroiled  and, through this managed to lose a love; his wife.

Work So Far

Prezzi to explain the amount of work I had done so far, showing what  I need to shoot, reshoot and change slightly to finish my production.

Shooting Script (in progress)

The opening begins with ‘Little Lion Man’ playing in the background to words ‘Drug Squad’ appearing on the screen letter by letter. The letters are appearing in white on a black background to the beat of the music before we see Guy McKenzie in his bed rolling over to check the time.

Guy McKenzie is a police officer who has dark brown hair and blue eyes, he is rolling over and looking to right, this then cuts to a crushed up drug on a side. The drug appears in black and white suggesting it is not in the same timeframe as him waking up.

 

30 seconds work excluding Monologue

                             

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Problems found so far:

A re shoot is needed for the first 30 seconds of my clip, this is due to the fact that my film lighting makes the image look pixalated. In the re shoot I want the images in the bedroom to look clear much like those in the forest  so the audience can see clearly everything in the room which I choose to place.

Progression --> 15.01.2013

In the post about my Christmas work, I discussed the fact that I would like to do a monologue for the final minute of my film, the script is written and today (15.01.2013) I have being able to film the final scenes of my production for my first draft.

I feel that this monologue went well, due to the lighting that was used.

(computer broke, upload photos JPG200-115 to JPG 200 - 148)

Christmas Work

During the holidays I finished the majority of my filming, using long shots and close ups. I did this in an old fashioned house on Westbourne Avenue, with darkened lighting to set the tone of the Neo-Noir style I am using. I took influences from the starts of L.A Confidential and Blade runner for the lighting tones, in post production I am planning to add blue tones.

I chose to shoot in the shot in the style of a high angle, the style of a high angle makes the character feel small and pressured which is the underlying issue that my character will come up.





Also during the Christmas holidays I drafted a first script for the monologue of my character; Guy McKenzie. My original idea of filming him with a body, when researched seemed almost swaying to much towards the theme of horror, and therefore I changed it to a monologue. Usually in Noir films the monologue is shown over the images, however, I have changed it to a monologue were we can see the character speaking after the result of torture. 

My character will look like Woody Allen in Annie Hall. Although this is not the same genre as what I intended to do, it will be the same camera angle. 

When watching this sequence with Woody Allen, I instantly fell in love with the way we become to the character as we begin to like the character that we see, and this is what I would like to achieve when filming mine.

The first draft of the Monologue I wrote over the Christmas holidays:

*Lights come up*

Steve: Is it on, is it on?

*Camera comes into focus*

Steve: Right, you’re probably wondering why someone like me, would make a film admitting to killing. Well it’s not quite like that, y’see not everything is like in the movies. When I was younger I grew a flower, pretty it was, white with a bright yellow middle, I picked it for my mum, she loved it, how she cried when she saw it, but after a day it died. It turned into a pettleless flower, nothing interesting, something you step on in the street, in the movies the flowers lives for days, who was I to know it would just die. Anyway, that was I suppose the first time I felt like I had killed someone, someone? I mean something, flowers aren’t people HAHA, how could I get that mixed up.

The newspapers don’t know nothing about me, making out I’m a big hotshot detective who just threw his life away by killing a woman who “led him on”. She did nothing of the sort, we were lovers, torn over lies and money, my job as detective meant she could never be honest about her real life in case I told people. She was protecting me in her own sort of way, not in the normal way I agree, but in some way, she hid me from the life that she was ashamed of.

*Door Slams, look to the right*

Steve: Well, I think my time is nearly over with this statement, but I just want to say that killing Stella was not my intention, if anything I wanted to save her, but the drugs, the drinking, the lies, the cheating, it all just became too much and well… I just couldn’t…. I didn’t….

I am sorry Stella, I am.

*Hands reaches over to stop the recording*