Evaluation question 7
- 1. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product? By Charlotte Whitfield
- 2. Film Knowledge… Before starting this project my Knowledge on Gritty Realism films was only based on the tiny handful of British and foreign films I have seen. I find foreign films to fit this category as well as some British film industries like Warp. America focuses on Blockbusters and films they know will attract a large audience; like a get rich quick scheme for films. I did research on a few well known Gritty Realism films like “Bullet Boy”, “Green Street” and “Adulthood” . I found that these films despite working on a low budget had more intense story lines that fit in with the mirage of real life situations. Through my audience research I found that a large majority would watch films like these but only when they wanted to think about what they were watching and look into the films depth. I also found out that these kind of low budget films don’t get many screenings and only make their money after they are out on DVD. Sometimes it takes a few years in order for these films to get any real publicity.
- 3. Opening Sequences. • Through analysing films Warp Films has produced along with other independent films I got to understand the layout of these Gritty realism films that are popular in British culture. All these films have opening sequences very similar to each other for example the text is simplistic and the opening sequence doesn’t have any special effects to draw the audience in, they only show clips of the story to leave the audience wanting to know more. • The Film Bullet Boy has an opening sequence that fits into this category of film because at the tart you see this small boy hiding in a dark and confined place so it instantly initiates the audience to start thinking of the possibilities to why the boy is there or for that matter where that is. I took these opening sequences into consideration when making my film. I knew it had to be something to grab my target audiences attention while keeping them interested in the story rather then wowing them and entertaining them with fancy special effects.
- 4. Technology • Through this Project I have used a variety of different technology both for this evaluation and for filming. I have never really used anything like IMovie on this scale before and I have never made a Blog either which was actually easier than expected. • For Filming I used the Sony HandyCam. If I was making a Block buster then this was not the best quality camera to use but it fit well with the gritty realism feel. I didn’t use the tripod because I had to make sure to have high and low angles and this would have slowed me down, looking back I wish for some clips I had used a tripod because the steadiness of the camera looked too amateur to show. Thankfully when I used IMovie it changed my opening from just an ordinary beach camera shot with freezing cold shaky hands to a steady moving picture. Once the film was completed I had to upload it onto YouTube but I did have problems with the saving situation. Through 10 minutes of resaving it I eventually got my film published on YouTube.
- 7. • In order to make the film I basically did everything as I had to work on my own. I was the director and producer and I had to choose the set in which it was being filmed. I had minimal help from the actors when I was being filmed but other times when I was not needed in a scene I would do all the filming. • I did all editing by myself and researching sound effects. When thinking of good shots for the film I researched gritty realism films as they have unique shots to choose from and there is one shot in particular that I took from the film Lock Stock. This shot gives a menacing out of place aura to the character.
- 8. From my Preliminary Task to now… • With our Preliminary task we had to make a short sequence of a gritty realism and looking back at it now I have noticed a few things that have stayed the same but a lot of things that have changed. If you look back at the preliminary task to my opening sequence to my film the most common thing you realise is that they were both set in the same surroundings, the Sixth Form. Also the idea of violence and criminal activity portrayed was the same but the preliminary was more light hearted so the audience wouldn’t take it too seriously. Compared to my opening sequence I believe their were more flaws in the Preliminary and the editing was amateurish. • Since then I have really developed into the editing and also took into consideration the shots used and in the order they are used in. I have also developed the sound aspect so I have music added in that fits to the genre portrayed unlike the preliminary where the only sound found in that was the dialogue, diegetic and non- diegetic sounds. • The editing is smoother then before where as in the preliminary there were fade ins where it was just their for the sake of being there but in my opening sequence everything has a purpose and if it isn’t needed then it isn’t in there.
- 9. Thank you