Weekly Diary Update

Today, i've used an Apple Mac and explored the Garageband program. This has proved to be very useful to me, as i can make my own soundtracks, i first found it quite tricky to understand, but now i'm making good progress in creating my own track.

I've also looked at Final Cut Express, which i think will be very difficult to get the hang of, but with the help of the tutorials given to me, i think it will prove to be effective in my final product :)

Final Decisions

Soundtrack.
For my soundtrack, I've decided on two songs that I'm going to mix together using the garageband programme on an Apple Mac. I found these tracks from a copyright free website, the link is here:
I've chosen the 'Resolution track', and 'Ready For The Big Time' track. These are specifically from the 1980's genre on the website. But after recently going on an Apple Mac, and exploring the garageband program, I'm considering creating my own track to put on my teaser trailer. But until I've completed a track, I'm going to stick with the copyright free tracks that I've chosen.

Costume.
For costume i've decided on 80's sportswear, such as fila jackets, and adidas original trainers, i've chosen this as it keeps to the theme of my trailer, which is based in the 1980's.



Lighting.
I've decided on natural lighting for my trailer, as most of my shots are outdoor. I also think that natural lighting is best, as my trailer is a drama, and needs to look as naturalistic as possible.

Mood Board (2)

This mood board is to represent my genre, which is a hybrid of drama, crime and action. All the images i've chosen are related to football violence, as that is the subject my film is based on. I used the word 'belonging' for one the images because being part of football firm is about belonging to something, and feeling part of it.

Genre Research

The genre for my film is a hybrid, this is because it falls into more than one category. It comes under crime, drama and also an element of action. As i've chosen my film to be based on the football violence culture, i've researched similar films to analyse what my chosen genre includes.



Rise of the Footsoldier: 2007

Dir. Julian Gilbey

Rise of the Footsoldier was a good film to help me with my genre research, as it is the same hybrid genre as my fictional film. It isn't based around the football violence culture completely, but contains an element of it. This film is quite gritty, in the sense that it's very detailed in the violence scenes, this is something that i won't be able to achieve as i don't have the special effects to do it. I think that in my chosen genre type, it's the fighting scenes that will prove to be my biggest obstacle.

Mood Board

I've chosen to do two different mood boards, one to show the different types of genre and what sorts of things i'd link with it, and then another mood board, which is specific to the 80's era. This is to show that i've thought about the time period in which i'm setting my film.


This mood board is specific to the 80's era, i've picked out clothes that are specific to my film, which is the casual fashion. I've also chosen certain items that are specific to the 80's, boomboxes were very popular during the era, and can be associated with breakdancing crews. Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis consoles were very popular in this decade, both the Nintendo and Sega companys were at war during this era. I've used a picture of Baroness Margaret Thatcher, as she was the prime minister of this decade, and a picture of tennis champion Boris Becker, because he was an iconic sports figure at the time.

The Treatment!

The theme of my film is to 'becareful of what choices you make'. I've chosen this as the theme because the main plot of my story is about a young teenager who is consumed with a certain way of life, and it eventually becomes the death of him.

There is also a theme of going on a journey, in the sense that the central character starts off as a boy following the crowd, and takes a journey to become a man trying to stand on his own. There are binary oppositions that can be shown in my film, but there are clear ones that can be shown through my teaser trailer which are; working classhigher/middle class, followersleaders, there is also a binary opposition represented in the central character, as his personality changes throughout the story as he first starts out as cowardly, but then becomes brave.



The core characters are as follows:

The Protagonist - Jonny, 17. He is the central character in the film, he begins as a follower trying to fit in with the crowd, and impress the 'top boy' of the firm. He knows what he does is wrong, but is desperate to feel apart of something. His quest within the story is to get out of his way of life, because he can't stand the drugs or violence. He does achieve this goal, but it's short lived as he is killed for finally being brave enough to leave the firm.



The Adversary - Tony, 21. He's the leader of the firm, or reffered to as 'top boy'. He is dedicated to football, and believes once your in, there's no way out. He is a very aggressive character, and bullies people into seeing his way. He sees Jonny as a project, and moulds him into his own clone, he begins as a mentor to him, keeping him very close, and getting him involved in everything the top boys do. But turns into his adversary once Jonny tries to escape his lifestyle, and his goal then becomes the desperate urgency to kill Jonny - which he does achieve.

I've chosen not give my central character a love interest, because i want there to be more of a focus on his journey through the film. There is also the character of Jonny's father, who isn't really going to be shown in teaser trailer, but he is an authoritive figure, who tries to help his son escape the ways of hooligan life.

For the setting of my film, i've had to think very carefully, because i'm setting it in the 1980's, so this restricts me from being able to film in public, because the people and surroundings will be in a modern time. So i've chosen deserted areas such as fields, and i've also chose to do filming inside a house. This creates research work for me to do, so i can see what a house would look like in the 1980's, so i can recreate it as best as i can. Pictures of the setting will be added in due course.

The set up of my film is a young teenager loving his life, going to the football every weekend, having older friends, feeling apart of something.
The set back is that he realises how dangerous his lifestyle is, and wants to escape it, but it's not that easy and ends up trying to hide from the 'top boy'
The resolution is that he is finally caught, and killed.

Similar Film Products (3)

The final similar film product is The Football Factory, which a 2004 british film directed by Nick Love. This film isn't of a period genre, it's set in modern times. But it still contains the same conventions, that are needed to sucessfully portray a trailer of my chosen genre. I particularly like the fast pace of the trailer, and how the scenes are very short and cut into each other, i find that style of editing very effective for teaser trailers, because it isn't allowing the viewer to see too much, and keeps them wanting more. I also think it's effective how quotes from newspapers and magazines are included in the trailer, because it helps to glamourise the promotion of the film.

Similar Film Products (2)

The second similar film product i've chosen is Awaydays. This is a 2009 british film directed by Pat Holden. It's set in Liverpool 1979, during the post-punk era. There a similar conventions in this film as there is to The Firm, which is helping me to develop an idea of the sorts of conventions needed for the type of genre i've chosen. The costume in Awaydays is similar in the sense that they are wearing branded sportswear, but there isn't so much of a focus on clothing as there is in The Firm. Awaydays also has a much smaller firm, so this trailer would be more helpful to me, as i won't have such a big cast to use like The Firm.

Similar Film Products (1)

The Firm is a 2009 british film directed by Nick Love. It's a very similar film product to my own, because it is also set in the 1980's. The clothing worn is this film, is also the kind of clothing that would be worn in my film. There a several shots in this teaser trailer that shows the entire firm, and i know realisticly i won't be able to do that for my film, as i would need a huge amount of extras. But i've already thought to get around that, i can film scenes, that still help convey the story, but also look effective. Such as scenes that focus more on main people, rather than a whole cast.

Film Idea (2)

The main plot of my film is:

• A young teenager who is part of a small football firm
• He gets in too deep, and tries to get away from it
• He becomes a target, and spends his time running away from the firm
• His former lifestyle finally catches up with him and he is caught, and he is killed.

I've decided on my genre as action/crime/drama. Aswell as being a period film.

I've also thought of the name, which is Know Man's Land. I chose to write it as 'know' instead of 'no' as a play on words, and underling a statement that the main character is discovering his terrority in life.

Film Idea !

I firstly decided that i wanted to do a period film, meaning that i wanted to have it in a set decade, which i chose to be the 1980's. I decided on this because i am interested in this time period, with regards to fashion, music and culture. I am also mainly interested in the football 'casual' culture. This is a subsection of association football culture, and the wearing of expensive European designer clothing. The casual culture originated in the late 70's, mainly to avoid attention from police at football matches. Casuals would wear designer clothing instead of club colours so that they wouldn't draw interest from the police. This also made it easier to infilrate rival groups, and enter pubs.
Music that was popular with casuals during the 1980's had moved from punk, modrock and ska, to pop. Artists such as Wham!, The Human League, Spandau Ballet, Soft Cell, Tears for Fears and Adam and the Ants were an example of artists popular with casuals.
Popular clothing labels during this time period were: Fila, Adidas, Ellesse, Sergio Tacchini, Fred Perry, Kappa, Lacoste etc.

Research on Teaser Trailers (2)

The Twilight trailer is similar to the Constantine trailer, in the sense that it's also very fast paced. The scenes in the Twilight trailer come at the audience in a more 'jack in the box' way, because they are very fast flashing images. The dialogue used in the trailer is very short, and cleverly used to help explain the story, but not give it away. The text used for the name Twilight, is juxtaposed against a dark cloud, and the writinghas shimmers of lights breaking out from it, this is perhaps giving a clue to the audience about Edward being a vampire.

By looking at these two trailers, i have discovered that to make a sucessful teaser trailer, the duration of it must be less than a minute. The trailer itself needs to be exciting and fast paced, so that it leaves the audience wanting to see more. The editing of the trailer itself must be very smooth, so that the transitions go well together. The trailer must not necessarily tell the whole story, but give the audience a clear idea of what they would see, but leave them wanting more.

Research on Teaser Trailers (1)

Before thinking about what kind of trailer i'd like to do, it was useful to do some research on teaser trailers, so i could analyse them and see what types of coventions they use, and what typical teaser trailers include.

Constantine (2005)
Director:Francis Lawrence




This teaser trailer is very fast paced, and the shots are very short, almost like quick flashing images. The storyline isn't necessarily being told, the bigger purpose is to show the audience the most exhilarating parts of the film. The duration of the trailer itself is only 56 seconds. The lighting used is very dark, suggesting mystery within the story. The editing also uses alot of fades to black, which also suggests mystery, and keeps the viewer in the dark. The trailer doesn't use any music, only dialogue which is very powerful, because it keeps up the mysterious tone. The colour of the writing used to show Keanu Reeves' name, is green, this colour connotates the supernatural, or something unknown. This links in with some of the objects shown in the trailer such as the skeleton statue. The target audience for this film would 15+, and also people who enjoy films of the thriller genre.

Newww yearrrrr :)

A new year has begun, and i am starting my A2 Media Studies project, I've decided to work alone this year, because after reflecting on last year and my results, i believe it will benefit me more to work on my own. After looking through the options for a main task i decided to choose the teaser trailer for a film, along with a website homepage and a poster for the film as ancillary texts.
I'm excited about this years project, mainly because I'm working alone, and it will give me the chance to really get my head into my work.