In
my film class I was given a task to produce a short film in either a group, a
pair, or by myself. Firstly I decided to work in a pair, we planned the story
line but then realised we had completely opposite ideas which did not work
together, therefore we decided to go our separate ways and complete our own
project.
The genre for my short film is a gritty, drama, thriller that explores realism and drug/violent issues and conflicts. The generic signifiers that support this are the use of weapons- baseball bat, knife, and petrol (with the intention to set someone alight). The use of drugs is also a generic signifier of gritty, drama and realism, as drugs are one of the main problems in the society of today. The narrative is a drug deal gone wrong, which leads to death. The short film begins as the gang leader is strolling through the woods alone, searching for the local drug dealer, but not for drugs. This was a set up so that he could get the dealer on side by talking/ befriending him and trying his produce. The gang leader had held a grudge over the dealer for a while now which he was unaware of, although this hasn't been made obvious because if so the dealer would have been watching his back and have been armed with more than just a baseball bat, this is why the leader wanted to complete his murder discretely. Near to the ending of the film the reason for the killing is revealed, making it a mystery throughout, "A life for a life, you killed my brother".
For mise-en-scene I ensured that the costume reflected my characters personality in the film. I wanted the character's roles to be easily identified by the audience, and for them to detect their purpose throughout the film. For my gang leader I dressed him in a smart suit, which has connotations of business and loyalty. Also purposely cast on actor with tattoos as this reinforces the stereotype. This is how i wanted to portray the character, as though he took himself seriously, he wasn’t going out to murder for the fun of it but he was doing this for an important reason, the loyalty that remained between him and his brother. I dressed the drug dealer in every-day casual clothes worn today by most teenagers so that he would appear as a typical youth, which will helps the audience to understand the issues in the characters life and how he has taken the wrong path somewhere along the way.
The props that I used in my film was a pack of flour wrapped in tape for the fake drugs, fake money, a baseball bat, a knife, a carton, fake blood and a laser pen to make the audience think that the gang was backing the leader with the use of guns. The lighting in my film was originally broad daylight as I wanted the film to be clear and good quality. Although I have now edited the lighting to make the scenes appear dark, gloomy and secretive, which adds emphasis to the narrative of being a shady drug deal resulting to murder.
The setting I have used for my film is the forest. I have purposely done this because forests are typically discrete and isolated. The reason I needed my setting to be under these conditions was because of the private drug deal and murder, no crime like this would take place conspicuously eg. Outside someone's house, a city centre, so this is why a setting like this would be inappropriate towards my narrative.
The genre for my short film is a gritty, drama, thriller that explores realism and drug/violent issues and conflicts. The generic signifiers that support this are the use of weapons- baseball bat, knife, and petrol (with the intention to set someone alight). The use of drugs is also a generic signifier of gritty, drama and realism, as drugs are one of the main problems in the society of today. The narrative is a drug deal gone wrong, which leads to death. The short film begins as the gang leader is strolling through the woods alone, searching for the local drug dealer, but not for drugs. This was a set up so that he could get the dealer on side by talking/ befriending him and trying his produce. The gang leader had held a grudge over the dealer for a while now which he was unaware of, although this hasn't been made obvious because if so the dealer would have been watching his back and have been armed with more than just a baseball bat, this is why the leader wanted to complete his murder discretely. Near to the ending of the film the reason for the killing is revealed, making it a mystery throughout, "A life for a life, you killed my brother".
For mise-en-scene I ensured that the costume reflected my characters personality in the film. I wanted the character's roles to be easily identified by the audience, and for them to detect their purpose throughout the film. For my gang leader I dressed him in a smart suit, which has connotations of business and loyalty. Also purposely cast on actor with tattoos as this reinforces the stereotype. This is how i wanted to portray the character, as though he took himself seriously, he wasn’t going out to murder for the fun of it but he was doing this for an important reason, the loyalty that remained between him and his brother. I dressed the drug dealer in every-day casual clothes worn today by most teenagers so that he would appear as a typical youth, which will helps the audience to understand the issues in the characters life and how he has taken the wrong path somewhere along the way.
The props that I used in my film was a pack of flour wrapped in tape for the fake drugs, fake money, a baseball bat, a knife, a carton, fake blood and a laser pen to make the audience think that the gang was backing the leader with the use of guns. The lighting in my film was originally broad daylight as I wanted the film to be clear and good quality. Although I have now edited the lighting to make the scenes appear dark, gloomy and secretive, which adds emphasis to the narrative of being a shady drug deal resulting to murder.
The setting I have used for my film is the forest. I have purposely done this because forests are typically discrete and isolated. The reason I needed my setting to be under these conditions was because of the private drug deal and murder, no crime like this would take place conspicuously eg. Outside someone's house, a city centre, so this is why a setting like this would be inappropriate towards my narrative.
I
have added special effects downloaded from the Internet and used in iMovie at
the end of the film, the gang leader pours petrol on the dealer and the sets
him on fire. For this I have added an effect of a small amount of fire coming
off the lighter, which then spreads, into a fire, which takes over the screen,
this was done using pre-keyed special effects downloaded from the Internet.
I began the film with an establishing shot to familiarise the audience with the setting. Another shot I used was crabbing/ long shot, following the gang leader around the forest, which showed complete isolating making the scene appear suspicious. I also ensured I had put in quite a few of close-up shots which was to emphasise on the character's emotions and facial expressions throughout. For the viewing of the props I also used close-ups to highlight their significance, as they are strong generic signifiers of the genre. For example the flour spilling out of the package so that the audience could understand the drug related narrative.
With the sound I did ADR (addition dialogue recording), used foley for artificial sounds, and downloaded a forest soundtrack for the background noise. The soundtrack made the film sound more natural and fitted the purpose.
The overall product is successful and I am very please with the way it has worked out. I like how the sound has been gathered from other materials but still fit appropriately. I really like the way the mise-en-scene (costume and props) worked; I think that they really support the characters and genre, which makes the film, appear realistic.
The main weakness are the scene where the blood drips on to the money, it would’ve been more realistic if I had purchase some fake blood beforehand instead of using tomato sauce mixed with water. Also another weakness that showed was the ADR, it could possibly have worked better whereas on the film the characters were not moving their lip syncing in time to the voice overs but it was still better to do this than use the original sound footage where the voices were unclear. Another thing I would alter if I were to film this again is the problem that occurred with using two different cameras; I would've made sure I had possession of a reliable one that I could have stuck with throughout the whole of the filming process.
I began the film with an establishing shot to familiarise the audience with the setting. Another shot I used was crabbing/ long shot, following the gang leader around the forest, which showed complete isolating making the scene appear suspicious. I also ensured I had put in quite a few of close-up shots which was to emphasise on the character's emotions and facial expressions throughout. For the viewing of the props I also used close-ups to highlight their significance, as they are strong generic signifiers of the genre. For example the flour spilling out of the package so that the audience could understand the drug related narrative.
With the sound I did ADR (addition dialogue recording), used foley for artificial sounds, and downloaded a forest soundtrack for the background noise. The soundtrack made the film sound more natural and fitted the purpose.
The overall product is successful and I am very please with the way it has worked out. I like how the sound has been gathered from other materials but still fit appropriately. I really like the way the mise-en-scene (costume and props) worked; I think that they really support the characters and genre, which makes the film, appear realistic.
The main weakness are the scene where the blood drips on to the money, it would’ve been more realistic if I had purchase some fake blood beforehand instead of using tomato sauce mixed with water. Also another weakness that showed was the ADR, it could possibly have worked better whereas on the film the characters were not moving their lip syncing in time to the voice overs but it was still better to do this than use the original sound footage where the voices were unclear. Another thing I would alter if I were to film this again is the problem that occurred with using two different cameras; I would've made sure I had possession of a reliable one that I could have stuck with throughout the whole of the filming process.
