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.

Initial BSR idea presentation

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)

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

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."

 http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/killer-sarah-davey-freed-prison-2807553

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"

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/anxiang-du-trial-businessman-says-2809167 

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."

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/john-paul-lee-jailed-victim-2807249

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. 

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.

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.