This is the final time lapse that we created, we chose this day to film as the skies were brighter, after adjusting the tripod and camera to where we wanted it to be. We set the camera up for 10 minutes and filmed in a stationary position. I then edited this on Final Cut pro, by speeding up the clip, so that is plays in 1 min 36 seconds. The minimal movement from the trees is effective as we will place our trailer on top of this video when it is placed on our website. Overall, we are happy with our time lapse that got filmed, and this will go on the website.
This is a head on shot of the room including the wallpaper in the background, the shots using the characters will not be shot from this angle
The bedside table has been fitted with a cross and a baby picture of me and my mum, I wanted to use a picture of the protagonist at the start when he was younger so that you see how the tight family once were, and to portray the innocence the protagonist once had as well as the happiness his family once has also.
The shelf is also useful, if we wished to store any useful objects that we wished to use for the miss-en-scene, things such as extra pictures and/or religious objects
This is how the room looks with the miss-en-scene in place, due to the small size of the room it is harder to incorporate the shelves in the shots that I would like to do e.g. the close up shot of the crying mother while the protagonist slams the door.
Mollie will be manipulating the title that includes selecting the correct typography that will be effective for our urban drama.
Ella will be taking many pictures as we film with her camera and selecting the most efficient image.
Shay will be manipulating the image that we will select so our genre is obvious to the audience.
As a group we will come together to add the specific details to our film poster.
Inspiration from previous film posters (include the conventions that are met)
Mollie
The dark colour scheme used connotes the genre of the film, and the red makes the poster and film seem dangerous and connotes blood.
The golden rule is used as Shank's typography is very structured, allowing the eye to go down to the characters that are recognisable from other films, and then we go back up to the tag line.
It's effective having a poster that is horizontal, as many urban drama posters have this common convention, allowing them to recognised, as it's of the minority of posters that are horizontal.
The text has been manipulated so the gap in the A features a character with a clear knife in their hand. This clears up any misinterpretation about what 'Shank' means.
By having the manipulated text, this relates to the film's tag line that is used, making the film's main plot known to the audience.
The large amount of people in the background are very dark and dismal, and the main protagonists are running away from them, reflecting an element of action within the film.
The sky has pictures that have been manipulated into grey and white, like dark clouds over the characters, but on a close look, we can see that these are characters within a picture.
A common convention of Urban Drama film posters is that it will often state the previous films that the directors/producers/distributors have made (or helped to make). In many poster's the critically acclaimed Urban Drama's Kidulthood and Adulthood are mentioned, grabbing the audiences attention. If they liked those films, they will enjoy this film.
Ella
- this poster shows many conventions of the urban drama genre and stays very close to the stereotypes around it.
-The main focus of this poster is the picture that has a red film over it in the brain part of the protagonist s head. This connotes many things to the reader. One of these is that because it is a red film used it lets the audience know that there maybe blood shed in the film. Due to this image being in the back of the head it also may connote the violence in this film is physchological to the protagonist in the poster.
- Another thing to look at in the brain of the protagonist is that the picture being shown is actually of two children, one playing with a gun. This shows that his childhood was obviously not very good and so it caused him physiological harm. Having a bad childhood conforms to a major convention in the urban drama genre. Also by having a gun in the picture it links to the red film over the picture again implicating blood and death.
- the light on the facial features of our protagonist also shows the audience that the film conforms to another major convention that the protagonist is a bad guy trying to be good.
- apart from the brain part of the protagonist there is a dark colour scheme to the poster. this show the audience that the film maybe dark and dangerous. it also connotes the genre of the film as being an urban drama.
- All of the text is in the middle of the left hand side of the poster meaning the audience has to look around for the name of the film forcing them to look at the whole poster not just the name.
- the tag line 'you only get one shot at life' links the whole poster together. By using the word shot it's emphasised and confirms the ideas of violence, guns and death within the film.
- the actual typography if the text is white with little black lines through it. This could be interpreted as a jail bar effect implying that the film maybe be centred around or include prison in some aspect. Although I think that the colours are more significant than what the lines actually mean. By having the white text (innocence) being cut through by black lines (death) it shows the audience that maybe death and bad experiences are what is holding the protagonist back.
Seyi
Shifty moves rather far away from general sterotypes that are used with urban drama film posters
The colour scheme is the main aspect that moves away from the conventions of urban dramas, yellow rarely connotes anything sinister or law breaking as the colour is too bright and catchy for the eyes, so this doesn't match the usual posters which use a dark background to show the danger surrounding the protagonist.
The I in shifty is the part of the title that stands out, the I stretches all through the poster and this has a subtle effect; it separates the two characters but it is less blatant as the I is behind them.
The tag line gives the viewers a brief insight into the storyline, "24 hours to deal yourself out" is effective as it puts a time limit on the amount of time they have to 'deal themselves out', the phrase deal yourself out can be interpreted in some sort of drug deal way.
Finally, the poster uses reviews at the top to reinforce the merit of the critics comments.
I found this YouTube tutorial that claimed to allow me to make a water reflection in Photoshop in an easy way that was easy to follow.
Image
I liked the idea of having flats as a background, to connote the image of an urban drama set on an estate. Using Photoshop for the first time, I wanted an interesting way to manipulate the picture to make it more interesting. I then came to the idea that the flats reflecting it water would make a good picture. I Googled 'flats' and I proceeded to use this picture as I liked the height of the flats in addition to the clear blue skyline, juxtaposing the darkness.
Creating Water
This was my first time using Photoshop so I needed a clear and concise YouTube video so that I could follow along with instructions easily, and then make minimal mistakes. My first instruction was to resize the picture so that it would be effective when reflecting, so I proceed to make the picture wider, so I would get a wider reflection in the 'water'.
Reflection
I then had to change the widths so that the picture was easy to work with, and the squares you can see on the screen were the key feature in order for the photo to reflect as in water, so dot in the centre of the square had to be moved up so that this signalised the horizon. I then had to create a copy of this layer so that I could edit and adjust as appropriate.
Comparison
This then led to the picture being reflected as if the flats were situated on water. I split the screens on my mac so I could adjust what I had with what was on the tutorial. I noticed that due to the slight slant in the original flats picture, this occurred in the reflection and was much more obvious.
Realistic
I then proceeded to make another copy of the layer and continued with the tutorial, I had to edit the layer to 'add noise' and although I don't fully understand why this had to happen at first, I then realised that this was vital for the reflections to be created in the 'water' otherwise the picture would have appeared very unrealistic.
Ripples
By filtering the layer and adding a blur, this is what allowed there to be the ripples in the water, and by using a large paintbrush I was able to add in the ripples myself to create the realistic effect of water, making them larger at the bottom then smaller closer to the horizon where 'water' and land meet.
Whilst on location, I wanted to come up with a few ideas for shots that we can use for a chase scene during the montage in our trailer. I found that in order for these to be effective on camera, I needed to go to less public places, to add a dirty and grimy sense of the location for the viewer.
Chased from behind
Here we see the character being chased from behind. This shot proved to be effective as we can see the subject running off into the darkened areas of the alleyway. Also we do not see who the character is being chased by, and almost puts the viewer in the situation of the fast paced chase scene.
I decided to be creative and found this mud slide that looked like it would be the perfect place for my character to fall due to the hasty rush of the chase scene. If we decided to use this for filming I believe it would turn out to be a point in the trailer where the audience holds their breath in anticipation to see if the protagonist is okay after the fall. I think a location under a bridge/going into a bridge will be beneficial for our trailer to raise the anticipation.
In this shot I decided to place my camera at a higher angle under this bridge. In contrast to the first picture in this blog post, we can see that the tunnel gets lighter at the end, giving a sense of hope that the protagonist can escape and that they will be okay. The turn of the characters head will turn put better when filmed in order for the audience to see the fear that they are feeling.
Car Mirror
When doing my location pictures I found the shot outside of a wing mirror very effective, and I then found when doing some test filming and some test shots, that it comes out very well, and replaces the traditional two man chase scene with a shot of the protagonist getting away. Lighting is very important if we decide to film a chase scene in this way as we clearly need to see a character running towards the car in a mirror, but at the same time, the scene still needs to give off a dark and grimy feel.
These establishing shots are effective for setting the scene on the urban drama, in these pictures we see the flats and a lake, making the area seem quite tranquil, but also it appears to have a dark side too.
I think this dark alleyway would pose as a good location for a chase scene, the low angle emphasises the dark nature of the alleyway.
These shots down alleyways as the sun is setting show an escape route, but from the high angle that the shot is taken, the escape route seems quite far away and hard to reach for our protagonist. I really like the way the light condenses in the first picture, and the bars we see allow us to make connections with prison and the law.
These are more modern flats that I found when out on location shooting, once again, the bars give that 'prison' effect, and the colour grey makes the flats look dreary and dismal.
These stairways to a bridge are very disjointed and could also be a good location for a chase scene, or any dodgy dealings that will take place during our montage section of our trailer. The graffiti is a common convention for urban dramas, but this graffiti features flats, which I think is an added bonus for when it comes to setting the genre.
This shot out of a car mirror reflects light really well, and could be used effectively during our montage as if the protagonist is being watched.
