Inspiration

Although our film was originally inspired by the film 'Sket', I figured that we needed more than just one film as inspiration if we were going to create a masterpiece. So I searched 'british urban dramas' into Google a whole load of results came up. There were many films that came up but I purposely looked for the films that not only had the same genre as our film but target audience. Our target audience is Young, british adolescents but more specifically females. The similar films I found were:

• Gangster squad
• Sket
• Ill manors
• Kidulthood
• Anuvahood
• Adulthood

 

Planning final project - (ideas and brief outline of the opening and whole film)

The film begins with Latifa left for dead in an estate. Next there is a flashback of the events which led her to her brutal death. The film follows the life of Latifa and Shaniqua both teenage girls who live in a rough area in London. Both are daughters of  a single parents and are from a working class family. Both have lost their father and mother respectively however their means of dealing with the tradegy is different and the film follows their different decisions and its consequences.

A brief outline of the opening of the film
the establishing shot is of Latifa (sami) laying on the road left for dead after being beaten up by a drug dealing gang. We then get a flash back of the events which led to her brutal death. The shot is of her walking down an estate when three boys confront her in the alleyway. They russle her and walk down the alleyway. The scene changes and we see Shaniqua looking at herself in the mirror and walking down a corridor whilst removing her shirt. She then walks up to a man in a desk and he looks up and grins. We will have various different shots in our opening. It will begin with a wide shot of Latifa laying on the road. And it will change to a mid shot. The scene will then change. We get a flashback of her walking down the alleyway. This will will use the technique of tracking and the shot will be alternating from wide to medium close up and close up. We will then change the scene to introduce shaniqua. It will start with a close up shot of shanquia looking at the mirror and change to mid close up and mid shot. We will then get a wide shot of her walking down the corriodr from behind her and she will then remove her shirt. She will then walk up to the man behind the desk. There will be a cutaway to the money/drugs and then close up of him looking at her and grinning.

Shot by Shot remake - interviewing the director and camerawoman (The Breakfast Club)

Interviewing the Director

Our Director and camerawomen was Sarah and this is her discussing her views on  how the shot by shot remake task of 'The Breakfast Club'  went  and how she found the task of filming and taking the role as director.

Camera practice storyboard

I found taking the pictures quite easy and hard at the same time because the actors both Antonia and Sameenah would sometimes not cooperate with me and therefore the shots took longer than necessary.
However because of my experience with filming i found it easy to take pictures in different angles, perspectives and levels.

Ideas on names

Our film is inspired by the the British Drama:  

Here are a list of potential names we have come up with for our film.

• Terminal Vengeance
• Triple retreat
• Slag
• Whore
• Fist of trouble
• Retaliation
• Payback
• Downfall
• Sold
• Atrophy
• Road to ruin

Here are some more names we came up with. These are all names of places in London with a high crime rate which are perfect for our film:

• Brixton
• Dalston Junction
• Shoreditch
• Camden Town

By Monday 5th February we hope to have chosen the name of our film.

Road to Ruin planning Location and Mise en scene

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IA7DXYsAMTo

The Alexandra Road estate, properly known as the Alexandra and Ainsworth estate, but more commonly, and erroneously, referred to as simply Rowley Way, is a housing estate in the London Borough of Camden, North West London, England.  Along with 520 apartments, the site also includes a school, community centre, youth club, heating complex, and parkland.

Sket

Freaky Friday ideas

Both versions of Freaky Friday

New version (2003)

Old version (1976)

Here we can see that the storyline although similar has been modified in the modern version. For example in the older version the daughter is a tomboy hover we can clearly see that the daughter in the modern version is a goth and into rock and roll.

Donnie Darko Camera and Editing

Donnie Darko Camera and Editing

The Establishing shot - is of a male student coming out of the school bus the shot is upside down however it slowly moves back to its normal position. It is then followed by a wide shot of students going up the stairs to enter the school. The camera then starts tracking to the left side as more students enter the scene from the left. The shot then changes to the camera being in front of the school door and a male student opening the door and entering the school whilst his two friends are behind him. The camera then tracks forward as they are walking through the corridors. The camera then pans to the right very quickly and we get the shot in his perspective of a male student walking towards him and smirking. The camera then tracks backwards and we see the other male student walking down the corridor. The student snirrs and the camera pans and the shot is in his perspective of the teacher. She looks grim as he passes by in front of the camera and she watches him pass. We then get a fast motion of her walking down the corridor and the scene slows down to its normal pace and we get a pan to a girl looking at the mirror on her locker door. the shot is wide as she closes her locker door and we get a pan of her walking round and down the corridor. The shot is wide and we can see two male students around a locker and one is sniffing on something we assume is drugs. We then get the headmaster entering the scene looking round and then walking down the corridor here we get a fast motion of him walking down and coming out of the school through the doors. We then get a shot of a statue in the school premise / playground.
The camera then tilts down the statue and we can see students reading. The shot then tracks a girl walking in the playground. This is then followed by two teachers having a conversation and another one joining in. The camera then tracks the teachers as they walk together towards the school building and another two adults enter the scene and they shake hands wide shot.
A have noticed that the lack of editing and cuts in some shots. they often exceed 2 minutes and are slow and solemn which could illustrate the boring and dull atmosphere of the school. However there are some shots which are sped up e.g. when the teacher or male student walks down the corridor and some slow motions of the rebel walking down.

About the films that have inspired us

ILL MANORS

ILL MANORS is a film that is set over the course of seven days and revolves around eight main characters and their struggle to survive on the streets.

The film is a British crime drama with a budget of £100,000.

The film is set in forest gate.

 The sounds used in this film are gritty rap songs to compliment the genre of crime.

SKET 

 Sket is a film about a young woman is  attacked by a notorious gang led by Trey, her little 16 year old sister Kayla wants revenge and will stop at nothing to get it, even if it means joining a rival girl gang led by the volatile man-hating Danielle.
The film is a British urban thriller film. with a budget of $1 million.
The sounds used in this film girl rap songs from artists such as Shantie.


We have chosen to pursue a British urban drama and crime because we feel that actions speak louder than words in these type of films and therefore we do not need any dialogue or interactions between the characters.

Reflective blog (No.2)

Since my last reflective blog I have completed the following tasks:

- Audience task 1: Interviews with audience members edited in camtasia
- Audience task 2: 3 teen movies
- Representation task (stereotypes)
- Order of titles (TIME TOAST)
- Holiday task: Analysis of teen film
- Donnie Darko: Location and mis en scene
- Shot by shot remake task
- Video with added sound

The tasks I am yet to complete are as follows:

- Write up of the bling ring

What I set out to accomplish:

By Sun 26th January 2014 I will have completed all the blogs that are incomplete.
I will make every effort to improve my punctuality and attend all lessons.
I will start planning for my group's  film.
I put 100% into my film and perform to the best of my ability.

Reflective Post

So far in media studies I have tried to be more consistent with uploading all my blogs and finishing them in the time given, however I have some post which I must finish which I have left incomplete. I think when I do my blogs I usually add images and gifs throughout the whole and I need to upload more stuff such as embedding prezi's and trying other things new as these are the things which would allow me to have more marks and may boost my grade up.

I am happy with my progress so far as from my last reflective post I only have a few blogs which I need to complete now, I and my group are now working together and we are now focussing on the project which is crucial in what grade we're determined to get at the end of the year, to make sure I do not let me grade slip away too much, I must:

• Try to improve on my punctuality and come on time to every lesson
• Finish all my blogs before they all pile up and before I have to much work to do
• Use the time in lesson efficiently 

I think I am more focused and determined to make sure all my blogs are up to post now.

Video with added sound

We used the Drumline clip and added music via http://search.creativecommons.org as this allows us to use non copyright music.

The Breakfast Club - Planning.

The props we needed were; toy cars, and a pair of glasses for the character who had to star  as a 'nerd'.




We used the toy car to act out yhe scene where the the kids were traveling to the school, we had to use two different types of cars beacsye

We also used a Fig rig for the mother and son car scene to act as an imitation of a steering wheel.

Film Ideas - Freaky Friday (1976)

 FREAKY FRIDAY

An American comedy, by Gary Nelson.
Starring Barbara Harris. In which a mother and daughter find their personalities switched and have to live each one another lives on a strange Friday.

Nominated for three golden globes.

 In order to achieve this without dialogue we may use the special effects as it is very hard to see that a person is another persons body without the use of dialogue.

  This is one of the film ideas we may use in the making of our movie.

The Breakfast Club Remake

This is our remake of The Breakfast Club.

Our director during the remake of The Breakfast Club

Director filming the remake of The Breakfast Club

This was at the beginning of the remake, when the director filmed the outside of the college for the opening of the scene.


This is a screenshot of us editing our 'The Breakfast Club' remake.

Shot by shot remake task

Our task: To re-shoot the opening of the film The Breakfast Club

OUR PHOTO

Here we an establishing shot of our college which replaces the shot of the high school in The Breakfast club. This shot sets the scene and establishes the location of the film.

THE BREAKFAST CLUB PHOTO

OUR PHOTO

Next, we took a picture of the clock in the canteen.

THE BREAKFAST CLUB PHOTO

OUR PHOTO

THE BREAKFAST CLUB PHOTO

OUR PHOTO

THE BREAKFAST CLUB PHOTO

School wall

THE BREAKFAST CLUB PHOTO

OUR PHOTO

THE BREAKFAST CLUB PHOTO

THE BREAKFAST CLUB PHOTO

OUR PHOTO

THE BREAKFAST CLUB PHOTO

OUR PHOTO

THE BREAKFAST CLUB PHOTO

THE BREAKFAST CLUB PHOTO

OUR PHOTO

THE BREAKFAST CLUB PHOTO

THE BREAKFAST CLUB PHOTO

THE BREAKFAST CLUB PHOTO

OUR PHOTO

THE BREAKFAST CLUB PHOTO

OUR PHOTO

THE BREAKFAST CLUB PHOTO

THE BREAKFAST CLUB PHOTO

Donny Darko - Location and Mis en scene

             

                            

Characters in Donnie Darko Scene

Characters in Donnie Darko Scene

At the begining of the clip there is a slow motion as the boy’s opens the door to get out. This could symbloise it wants us to pay attention to this set of chracater’s  and then the music  gets louder maybe meaning  how much drama will be used in this movie.

There were 4 locations in the opening scene. Most of the characters have their uniforms on so we can’t differenciate between the characters. However, you can still spot the rebel characters and good by the way their uniform is worn, i.e sticking collar up.

This may have been used to show personality of the character.  the 'good looking guy' as he screws the other guy to present his ugly personality to the audience.

The whole clip doesn't have many cuts throught it, this shows that the school day is always constant and thorough and there's always something happening such as lessons and then lunch and eventually it's home time.

However One of the cuts is a fade to white,  when the camera is following the teacher outside. This gives the effect that the school is a very positive place via this shot.

Shot by shot remake - Planning (The Breakfast Club Storyboard)

The Breakfast Club travelling and arriving analysis

The Breakfast Club

                                                   

'The Brain'

The geek arrives in a faded cheap red car he is obviously from a poor family. The EMC2 license plate is in keeping with his nerd image. He is dropped off by his mother and   sister.

                                   

'The Jock'

The jock arrives in a station wagon a real mans car reflecting his character. The OHISTO license plate is in keeping with his jock image.

'The Princess'

She arrives in a BMW a expensive car reflects that she is from a rich family. She is the princess.

'The Criminal'

He is the only one who comes to the school to attend detention on his own without any of his parents accompanying him. This makes him look independent compared to                     the others who attend with one of their parents.

'The Basket case'

She attends with a parent who drops her off and quickly leaves without a word.

Travelling and Arriving blog task

BREAKFAST CLUB

In the breakfast club there are many modes of transports used to show the different characters arriving.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIdcJ0MClQ0

The Rich Girl 'The Princess' 

This girl arrives in a BMW showing she is of upper class and usually these cars were expensive to afford in the year that the movie was set in. Therefore we can tell from this car that she is from an upper class family.

Her attitude when arriving shows that this school is not worthy of her and that the place of the school itself is not what she expected showing us that she expects better.

The 'NERD'

Arrives in a cheaper car however his mother looks like she is encouraging him to get in to the school and study this shows us that he is from a working hard family.

The 'JOCK'

He arrives in a big car, this reflects on his character showing his family are hard working and courageous and his father gives him words of wisdom maybe reflecting on his upbringings and hard work. The father seems 'masculine'.

THE 'REBEL'

The so called rebel arrives on foot showing that he may already be a man and does not need his parents consultation, or any encouraging.

What we may use in our shot by shot making?

In the film that we make we may use a bus, because that's part of our daily routines we may use a car to  make a comparison.