Wednesday, 27 November 2013

Production Log 8

I had to come up with some creative ideas for my BSR production which looks at the narrative, themes, setting/location and a protagonist. I had to create three initial ideas and from that pick a final idea which i thought i could possibly produce the best of the three. While looking at these four aspects for my production i looked at how specifically they could link back to BSR films that have been successful. Themes was a major ingredient for the production though it is easy to come up with the themes for the production it has to be looked at in a unique way because themes that run through BSR films are typically all the same, ranging from drugs to domestic violence etc. So illustrating those themes in a way that is unique would make it successful as well as having a narrative which ties in with it and incorporates the themes deeply.

The key influences of my BSR ideas came from real life situations that i have been involved with myself or that i have seen in the media. Though the ideas didn't come from the BSR genre itself i think that they can be considered quite close as they have originated from reality and that is what BSR films do, look at things from a neutral realistic perspective. The aspect of the theme of drugs helped me develop the narratives the most.

We ended up picking our groups ourselves rather than have them be allocated. In my group i have two other people, working in a three will prove quite challenging seeing as one person could significantly drop marks for lack of contribution. Overall i think that working in a three is a possible advantage seeing as we have more people to have an input which means we can refine our production even more and there will never be a lack of ideas. In all i don't see any issues working in my group seeing as we all get along fine, and we all have ideas to share which are quite similar because i think we all understand the BSR genre to a high degree.

Monday, 25 November 2013

Initial BSR idea presentation

Sunday, 24 November 2013

Production Log 7

This week i have been looking at real life stories, involving crime from the news, which i could use as a basis for my own production. Using something which reflects real life in my own production helps me to add authenticity to the final piece as getting across to the audience that my portrayal of these stories and crimes are not exaggerated from real life. These could help me to choose locations, create characters and a clear, simple but effective narrative which uses reality as a starting point then adding on my own original ideas.

Issues which i faced while researching was looking for the right types of stories, because though a lot of stories involved crime, not all related back to the BSR genre and also some were overly explicit to look and and try and possibly re-create while also adding my own style to it. But the stories I did pick i think related to the BSR genre strongly because of what i have seen in some BSR films before and how similar some of the crimes were.
(An example of the types of stories i came across)

Friday, 22 November 2013

Three initial ideas

Idea 1

Protagonist 
My protagonist is female, 14 years of age and is called Lucy. Her ethnicity is white, she has ginger hair, blue eyes and is quite small. She is a quiet girl, who doesn't have many friends and not confident in herself. She dresses in an appropriate manner compared to other youths her age and doesn't want anything to do with any social activities also she is very introverted. She comes from a decent background and while growing up she hasn't had a lot because her parents neglected her from a young age and she has always had to take care of herself.

Narrative
It starts with the girls parents getting divorced because her dad was abusive to her mum, so she ends up having to live with her dad because her mum has left. Her dad gets a new girlfriend who at this point are both doing hard drugs regularly and Lucy has to deal with both of them abusing her. She doesn't have anyone to tell about the situation and eventually a teacher at school notices all the scars and bruises and tries to get her to go get help. She doesn't want to do this so she runs away to go find her mum.

Setting/location
I plan to set it in London, Chadwell heath academy using key places such as class rooms and the canteen where she would sit by herself to show she's lonely. 
Also i would like to include a home environment to be able to show the lack of contrast between her school life and home life because her dad neglects her.

Themes 
The themes i will look at are drugs, abuse, domestic violence, aspiration and escape and corruption of youth.


Idea 2

Protagonist
A 16 year old male, starting off as a drug dealer, who is tall, of asian ethinicity. His personality is extroverted and is carefree. He has had a good life, but he gets away with a lot because his parents dont't really care about him.

Narrative
Starts with the boy getting kicked out of school and he decides to become a drug dealer, he makes friends with all these dealers and they invite into their world. He realises that drug dealing is not the way to go so he looks for a way out of it and stops selling, when it comes down to giving the supplier his cut of money he doesn't have it this is followed by him trying to escape. 

Setting/Location
London, chadwell heath academy, and local areas around there such as the park where he could do deals and the estates around there.

Themes
The themes i will look at in this would be drugs, violence, corruption of youth, escape and fear


Idea 3

Protagonist
Stereotyped male black teenager, who does petty crimes within his group/gang. 

Narrative
His gang ask him to go kill someone because who caused trouble with their gang. He gets pressured but doesn't want to do it, and says no to doing it eventually. The gang disown him and he ends up stabbing the person without them knowing he goes back to tell them and at this point he is wanted, the gang don't want anything to do with him now and he is all on his own.

Setting/location
London, ilford around estates and rough urban places 

Themes 
In this i would look at Gang culture, crime, violence, death, friendship, neglect and peer presure

Tuesday, 19 November 2013

What's in the news?


Outrage after pensioner's teenage killer freed and allowed to live just miles away from notorious murder
"A teenager who took part in the horrific murder of a pensioner is living just a few miles away after being released from prison.            
Sarah Davey was 14 when she and 15-year-old pal Lisa Healey killed grandma-of-three Lily Lilley in her terraced home in Failsworth, Greater Manchester.
They then crammed her body into a bin and walked it through the streets of Failsworth before dumping it in the Rochdale Canal."
This explores themes like violence, corruption of youth and murder which is largely used in BSR films corruption of youth is a big theme here seeing as the girls who murdered this woman were only 14 and 15. This is set in Manchester which is a location in Britain which applies BSR films. The possible protagonist here could be the pensioner and how life is for her and a narrative of the build of how and why the girls murdered her.

Anxiang Du trial: Businessman says "darkness" came over him before 'stabbing to death family of four', court hears
"A man accused of murdering a family of four told a psychiatrist that "darkness" came over him as he carried out the brutal stabbings, a court has heard. 
Anxiang Du, 54, is accused of knifing Manchester Metropolitan University lecturer Jifeng "Jeff" Ding, his wife Ge "Helen" Chui, and their two daughters, Xing "Nancy", 18, and Alice. 
After the killings at the family's home in Wootton, Northamptonshire, Du, who denies four counts of murder, fled to Morocco where he was eventually arrested and extradited back to the UK, the court has heard"
This explores the themes of murder, death and escape, these are all very typical of BSR films so using them in my own production would add to the realism of it. The protagonist here would be the murderer himself who reflects the violent behaviour of most characters in the BSR genre and also the narrative could be more or less a replica of the orignal story of that a man kills a family and is trying to escape.

Victim of 'evil' child rapist describes nightmares she is left with after his depraved attacks
"The victim of a child rapist has told how her "evil" attacker forced her to smoke and take drugs from the age of seven, and spoke of the devastating impact his assaults have had on her.
The 36-year-old, of Lytham Road in Blackpool, was found guilty of nine counts of raping a child and six counts of indecently assaulting a child after repeatedly abusing the girls at an address in Oldham between 2002 and 2008.
After plying the youngsters with drink and drugs, he would force them to watch pornography and perform sex acts on him, as well as raping and indecently assaulting them."
The themes here look at rape, violence, corruption of youth all are looked at in the BSR genre but rape is not so common and emulating it in my own production if I wanted to integrate it would be quite difficult. The narrative could look be of the girl who was raped at her current age and how the rape has effected her life in terms of how she gets by day by day while having exaggerated some possible outcomes to allow it to fit to the BSR genre. 


Thursday, 14 November 2013

Beachcombing for inspiration

In my production i would like to use characters like Jay from adulthood because he is typical representation of a working class person who uses violence a lot. Clearly in the picture this is connoted by him holding a gun. Using props like this adds to realism of characters.



In this shot from James Bond Casino Royale I particularly liked the use of lighting in the background and foreground of the shot which gives it a sinister look and also brings focus to Bond. Using lighting in my own production like this to bring focus onto particular objects can be very effective because it can connote a theme or something about a character to the audience.



In this scene for bad boys 2, there is a 360 degree shot that goes around 3 times continuously. I think that this technique is very effective as it allows the audience to understand the action going on from all perspectives as though they are there themselves. 




In this scene from ill manors there is a soundtrack being used to narrate the story, this inspired me because i think that using this over a montage clears up any confusion for the audience as they watch because a montage has no dialogue. Using this in my production would be quite difficult because finding or creating a song which would match the entire opening sequence is impractical. 



In this shot from law abiding citizen, i found that the way the characters are placed in the shot is quite important and creates a sense of who they are to the audience. Like the man on the left is at a higher level compared to man sitting on the chair connoting authority. Using different placements of objects and characters in a scene in my production will be very important and I could do this so that the audience understands relationships between characters.



This is a shot from fish tank which is essentially shot of Mia recording herself, I thought this was good because even though you don't see the primary actions being done you see what she is doing from the other cameras perspective which I thought was quite unique. Using this but as a POV shot I think would be easy and creative in my production it would help the audience empathize with a specific characters. 


In my production i would like to use the theme of drugs, doing so is quite simple but showing how the theme effects people in BSR films is key. I could show the abuse of drugs within the production and convey its effects with the narrative.


One thing i thought was done well was the use credits over the actual scene of the incredible hulk and its typography matching the actual production, i could do this in my production but making the typography very simple and plain which connotes the realism of the BSR genre.


In the first 20 seconds of adulthood, there are flashbacks which help re-introduce characters and gives the audience and idea of what they might see in the film. Also there is a lack of sound in the first part which adds to the tension of the scene but also brings focus to actions i think using this technique i could very well build tension in production.



In these two shots here they both use real locations from the football factory. I would like to try to emulate the same type of locations in my own productions also in the image on the right i think the graffiti on the wall adds to the realism but also i could use this in my production for credits or as they have done here to give the audience the location.



In this shot from fish tank i found that there clever use of the iconic red London bus allows from them to portray the location. Using a similar technique in using icons to give the audience an idea of locations, themes and background of characters is key and could work very well.


In this shot from this is England they use of the the high angle shot which creates the theme of vulnerability, also the fact that he is blocking out the light creates a sinister vibe to the shot. Using high angle shots to create vulnerability and the use of light like this in my production will allow for me to achieve that realistic gritty feel for the production.

This song 'waiting for the sun' by plan B i think is a good song to use in BSR films simply because it has that grimey feel to it, i think i would use this song in my production as non-diegetic sound because it creates atmosphere, i could possibly use this in a bad situation.



This song by Flip'C Dubz - Dem Gully Guyz is a fast paced party grime type of song which you could possibly see at a rave in BSR films like in adulthood at the beginning. I could use this type of song as both non-diegetic and diegetic music to create atmosphere and a vibe for the scene.




Wednesday, 13 November 2013

Production Log 6

This week I have learnt that opening sequence devices range from various thing to make up the actual opening sequence, it requires creativity of the different conventions to be able to make the opening sequence memorable, and also it has to set locations and primary characters while also having incorporated everything from credits to being able to give the audience a clear idea of what the film is all about without revealing too much from the get go.I have also learnt that camera language is a major part of any BSR film seeing as the way the camera is handled reflects the genre. For example if shots are too perfect then it doesn't illustrate the genre, the shaky and amateurish feel to a shot connotes the act of emulating real life situations.

I think this will impact greatly on my production because it will make me think of the most effective but creative way to putting together all the ingredients the opening sequence needs.It has shown me how to incorporate all the conventions to make it more like a BSR film than a varnished production which has no real connection to the real everyday world.

I think I will use techniques such as finding ways to incorporate credits into the actual scene itself rather than very basically doing so  and just having it on screen also conventions from editing, camera language and mise en scene all have to represent something of the BSR genre.

Tuesday, 12 November 2013

Mise-en-scene style

Sunday, 3 November 2013

Production log 4 / 5

Production Log 4
I have learnt that titles play a small but important role in the opening sequence, they need to be seen and stay on screen long enough for the audience to be able to read, they need to be discrete enough so that the audience's attention is not drawn away from what is happening on screen and should also reflect on the film. For example when I did the Incredible Hulk title analysis I noticed that the typography didn't interfere with any action on screen and was green to correspond with green look of the incredible hulk himself.

This will impact my work as it has shown me what to include when organising the title sequence and how to illustrate it to the audience so that the opening can flow freely without interruption, also knowing the order of which the credits should come up will help as well.

I would use a very basic typography which isn't super-imposed because it takes away from any action on screen, making sure that audience can read it but also be able to keep up with anything on the screen.










The typography on the left is what is more suitable for a BSR film seeing as it is low budget and a simple way to get across to the audience while not distracting them from the action on screen, if i were to use the type of superimposed typography on the right it would take away from the effect that i am looking to try get which is quite simple.

Production Log 5
I found that the sound analysis was the trickiest of the three tasks I did over the last week because I found that the film i looked at (Adulthood) looks at sound in very different ways, it even uses silence to create atmosphere.
Also I found that the fish tank case study was quite challenging because of the limited use of each convention, being a BSR film, fish tank has to use repeated techniques as it is on a low budget, talking about various techniques they used was hard but i also found that the way they illustrated these techniques were very interesting and creative.
I decided that the things i saw in each task, i would find some way to apply it to my production as they all could make it more successful if incorporated properly. Though I found one task quite useful which was the opening credits to a film. I did the Incredible Hulk, i found that the way the typography was used was very simple but matched the film itself for example the typography was green which goes with the green colour of the hulk.


(eg. of the typography from the incredible hulk, it shows how simple the opening credits are yet incorporating the colour scheme for the hulk)

Saturday, 2 November 2013

Fish Tank case study

Themes and situations 

Corruption of youth is a major theme that runs throughout the whole of the film, though it is expected in a run down urban area set on an estate with working class people. For example a huge sign that corruption of youth is a theme is when the two kids are smoking or when Mia has sex with Connor, who is most likely twice her age and her being under aged makes the corruption of youth more powerful.


Aspiration is another big theme throughout the movie because Mia being the protagonist and her dream of wanting to be a dancer makes it big. Her aspiration of wanting to be a dancer shows up several times throughout the film for example when she picks up the leaflet for the dance auditions or the several scenes where she practices her dance routine.


Poverty is a theme which is encountered many times in the BSR film, for example Mia asks or steals money from Connor many times throughout the film, also the fact that Mia walks everywhere rather than take the bus or train reiterates her lack of money. 


Typically in BSR films, these themes are used to shows the realism and authenticity of situations that the film wants to portray. Conforming to these themes and rules to using them it would make my production more successful. I could stick to one big theme to look at in my production which would make it easier to illustrate or look at more than one  smaller theme and expand on what BSR films are all about.


Representations

A stereotype of the teenage boys near the beginning looking at girls in a sexual way while they dance. This stereotype enforces the fact that boys around that age are only interested in on thing with girls at that age and look at them like thy are possessions. 


An archetype that is broken in the film is the archetype of the mother role, the mum in the film is not like a typical mum who cares and watches out for her children, but acts as though she doesn't have any responsibility at all. She throws parties at home while she makes her children stay in her room, she has doesn't care where they go or what time they come back home. 

A stereotype of gypsies is looked at in the film, the three boys that live in a caravan are an example for this, the typical fact that they live in a caravan connotes that they are gypsies. Also the stereotypical representation of gypsies being aggressive towards people is shown when Mia is handled by the gypsy boys.





Mia herself is a counter type of the archetype of the protagonist, she is not heroic and is only doing the things she does for herself not like the typical protagonist of any film. This brings realism to the situations of the film seeing as it gives an insight as to what a working class girl of her age would be like to the audience.

These representations are easy to portray in my production seeing as I use the correct stereotypes and archetypes for characters to give a clear understanding as to who they are to the audience.

Mise-en-scene 

Clothing is a big part of the film, it represents the place very well, throughout the film the girls are seen to be wearing very revealing clothes and a clear repetition of clothing seen in the film connotes the lack of wealth as well as the type of people that live there: working class people. Mia wearing the same clothes in the film; tracksuit bottoms with a top and jacket re-enforces the lack of wealth.



Location in the film is represented in various ways, the fact that it is in the UK is clear seeing as they speak English but location within that is around London because of the fact that it is a very urban area, this is because of the iconic red bus that is seen in the shot below.


The era is clearly portrayed in the props that are used in scenes such as the television, the objects that people possess. For example Mia is given a camcorder to record herself dancing, the camcorder is a symbol of the modern day era because if it was not modern the handheld camcorder would not exist.



Lighting is used very creatively in some of the scenes for example, at 01:06:33 there is a shot of Mia dancing, the only light source is natural lighting from the window which is quite dark. This creates a silhouette of her which brings the audiences view from her expressions to her actions instead. Also a lot of dark lighting is used to set the mood for the next shots, most of which are dull, dim and gloomy.


I though some of the shots were very creative and use of surrounding and lighting added to the effect of what was trying to be achieved: creating a real and gritty atmosphere for the audience. I particularly liked the shot where the dark lighting created a silhouette of Mia, because it enhanced the effect that it was supposed to express more of the actions she was doing rather than he expressions.

Music & Sound effects

The film uses music a lot, though it is all diegetic music, whether it be music from the TV or music from a CD in a car, this creates a more realistic feel to the the production, a lot of the music is urban, R&B music which connotes the that Mia is of the teenage age because that is what is typically listened to by people of that age but when Connor appears in the film the music choice changes and becomes more like Jazz music and finally once Connor has left the music at the end goes back to being urban by playing a Nas track - 'Life's a bitch'. This re-enforces the situation while Connor was and was not there.

I could use this type of ideology that the type of music changes with the introduction of characters and reverts back to 'normal' when a certain character leaves to show the the effect they had on the plot or other characters.

Camera & editing

The camera work and editing is far from perfect, it has the gritty, un-varnished feel to it as it should. This type of camera work gives the audience a sense of realism as well as what BSR films are trying to achieve. Also a shot that i thought worked well because of its creativity was the shot below because it is not a primary shot of what is happening but is a shot of a camera that is showing the action.

Dialogue

Dialogue in this film is very aggressive, straight to the point and uses a lot of slang, even to the people they don't know. This back up the fact that they are from a working class background because it shows they haven't been taught how to talk formally at all. But this type of dialogue helps the audience understand how characters are feeling very easily and also how the environment they live in effects everything especially with speech.
For example here is a quote from the film I used from IMDB quote page for Fish Tank

'Mia: I'm leaving then.

Joanne: [dances] This is one of your CD's.
Mia: Yeah. It's Nas.
Joanne: Yeah, it's great.
Mia: You can keep it.
Joanne: Well, go on then. Fuck off.'

'Mia: Keeley, it's me. What's going on? I've left like three messages. I said sorry, didn't I? You know what I'm like. I was pissed off. Ring me back, you bitch.'

'Mia: What are you looking for?
Billy: A Volvo 940.
Mia: What's it look like?
Billy: Like a Volvo 940.
Mia: Cor! Clever Dick!'


This quote shows the type of explicit language people use even with people they are supposed to be close to, when Joanne says 'Fuck off' to Mia it shows even as a mother she doesn't really care which shouldn't be typical of a mother archetype. This connotes the working class background of the characters and re-enforces the aggressive tone of the typical language of the film as they tend to swear in nearly every sentence possible.
Even in the second quote where Mia is expected to sound apologetic she still calls her friend a 'bitch' in the end but it isn't intended to be rude, its just another normal word for the her. 
In the third quote Mia is talking to Billy a bout a car, and ends her speech with 'Cor! Clever dick!' but it doesn't have any malice to the tone seeing as it is a joke, the use of the slang term 'Cor' and calling Billy a 'Dick' re-enforces the connotation of Mia being an uneducated girl of the working class background who doesn't have much vocabulary at her disposal other than basic words and swearing.

Institutional background

For this production there are five production companies involved as said on 'http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1232776/companycredits?ref_=tt_dt_co' :

  • BBC Films
  • UK Film Council 
  • Limelight Communication 
  • ContentFilm
  • Kasander Film Company

The main company that is part of the production is the BBC which was co-funded by the UK council as it had the opening credit, also the BBC is famous for producing other BSR films such as Ill Manors and the UK council have produced films like the kings speech. All of which were very successful. The UK film council has produced around 200 films so far and the BBC about 237 (quoted from IMDB BBC production page).

Target audience

The target audience for this film would be between 15-40 with no specific gender in mind, with a clear interest of typical life of a teenager and possibly dancing. The location for the audience would be the UK seeing as it is set there and the ethnicity would be mostly white seeing as the main characters are all white.

Marketing material 

Because theses films are British made and have a fairly low budget compared to Hollywood blockbuster films, the marketing materials are limited. But the way they are marketed are low budget and still effective enough to gain a decent audience. 
For example finding websites to sell the DVD version of the film, for example Fish Tank is sold on websites like Amazon, Play.com and PlasmaWindow.com. As well as putting the footage on Blu-ray as well as DVD to appeal to an audience who prefer better quality films. Also using posters as a marketing strategy  is practical cheap and effective because it can be shown to a lot of people.




 The poster here has been infused with reviews to make it seem more eye-catching as well as this the poster has been used as the front of the Blu ray cover.