Budget

If we were going to continue on and make the full length film our budget was ,
£1.5million

However for the opening scene we spent about £40 altogether, this included,
-Travel Expenses
-Catering

Feedback

In our lesson we had the whole class, answer a series of questions about our film. We had 5 different feedbacks. The questions where:

1) Is it clear what the filmmakers set out to achieve?
All five group understood what our film was about and one comment was ,
"very, clear, the narrator sets it out"

2)


3) What in your view are the film's main strengths ?

Group 1 " The shots, angles, the setting, good use of space, lovely acting"

Group 2 "The plot is clear and they use a wide range of shots to show their point"

Group 3 The music really adds to the style they wanted to achieve , also the editing is good, I liked the animation of the production company. Overall i think this one of the best films and it is well done with lots of work put into it, hand held camera was good.

Group 4 "They had very good camera shots and very good variety, Good sound in general- voice over was good ,effect, editing, slow motions, pauses were good"

Group 5 " The editing was excellent, also the sound fitted the story well"

4) How do you think the film could be improved?
Group 1 "The titles could be more exciting and some special effects would be nice, but the freeze screen was good"

Group 2 "Not much could be improved"

Group 3 "Have more action e.g. not just running "

Group 4 "Voice over needs to be ' harder' and more confident"

Group 5 " A little bad on acting but not that noticeable, at the end rule of thirds was sloppy"

Our stop/start animation

This is the animation we created for our production company logo. We made it by drawing a scene on a whiteboard, then taking a photo of it, then moving the scene along and taking a photo every time. We then inverted the colours so it looked a bit better.

Sound and text

We created a soundtrack by looping some bars from a song. We chose a exciting, fast tempo song because it fitted with the chase scene and made it more fast paced.

We also added text displaying our names and the name of the film.

editing

we have completed our editing, we had to change the storyline of our opening scene to fit the genre better. The original conversation we filmed did not suit the seriousness of our film and also slowed down the pace the of the chase, which was the main part of the opening scene. When we rearranged the clips by putting the beginning at the end, and starting the chase immediately. We thought it fitted together better this way and was more exciting.

Filming in London (Problems and Solutions)

Problems
1. Not everyone was punctual meeting at Victoria Station.

2. We encountered another set of problems when we set up for filming Vinnie seeing Pete walk past. One of these problems was that we had to get permission from the shopkeeper to film outside his shop.

3. Another problem at this location was that there was building work going on opposite where we were filming so we had to work around a ladder being in the shot which became awkward.

4. Furthermore in this location, where Sam was walking up the alley, people kept looking up at the camera and making eye-contact with it, this would ruin the shot.

5. After lunch it began to rain and this would prove to be bad continuity for our scenes.

Solutions
1. No one was extremely late so it didn't cause a problem and thankfully no one was absent either.

2. We asked and we were allowed to film outside the shop with his chairs and tables.

3. After a while the builders left and we were able to resume with our filming.

4. To overcome this problem we had to keep re-shooting the same scene until we were happy that it wasn't evident that anyone was making eye-contact with the camera.

5. We just waited for it to stop raining. Luckily it didn't rain for long.

Filming in London (Location)

We went up to London on Wednesday the 11th February and we all met up at Waterloo Station at 11. Then we got the tube to Liverpool Street station as Kieran knew that there were good places to film around this location. After a few minutes of searching for an ideal location we came upon a couple of side streets near the station. This is where we filmed the majority of the opening sequence.



This photo was taken at the start of our filming of 'The English Life'. We're filming the opening scene of 'Pete' walking down a street in the area of Liverpool Street.


This photo was taken in the same location however the camera was set up in a different angle to film the character 'Pete' from behind. We had some problems with continuity (people walking who weren't there before), however with editing we were able to make the shots consistent with one another.


This photo was taken as we were filming a high angled shot from the top a multi-story carpark. We had access to this easily just by walking to the top of it and thus it allowed us to shoot some great shots. We kept in contact with one another via mobile phones. However there were also some problems, there were vans parked where we wanted to film which would make continuity difficult. Furthermore there was a building site next to the camera so the sound from there is quite evident, we would have to edit this out.

Title Screen

Today we started to develop our title/production clips for our film. This involved making a stop-start animation for our 'Happy Monkey Productions' clip. 

This is an example of what we were trying to achieve. 

Audience survey

We created a survey about peoples preferred films. We pick 4 films that we took most influence from and were most like our film. We handed out the survey to some people in our target audience. (people aged between 17 and 18)

Official poster

This is the poster for 'The English Life'.

Script

The English Life

EXT. DAY – A STREET IN LONDON

Pete is walking down a side street, passing small shops and cafes.

INT. DAY - CAFE

His old dealer and his mates are sitting in a cafe looking at a wanted picture of Pete, they then see him walk past.


VINNIES MATE
Wait a minute, ain’t that him boss?...

Vinnie’s mate points at Pete passing the window of the café. Vinnie and his mates charge out of the café, knocking stuff over.

Hearing the noise, Pete turns around

VINNIE
Yea. Yea it is, get him boys!


PETE
(shocked and panicked)
Oh shit!

Pete starts running, Vinnie and his mates start to chase after him.


Still frame of Pete running.


NARRATION
Pills. Crack. Smack. Weed. Coke. Speed. Tabs. Anything he can get his hands on, he'll take it. thats Pete. A quitter.


Still frame of Vinnie running after Pete with his two mates next to him

Narration: This is Vinnie, he's after Pete. Because he used to shot Pete drugs and now he wants his payment.

(Music and running starts again)

(The dealers chase Pete down a street, each dealer eventually gets cut off or falls behind. Pete gets away from them and walks down towards a tube station.)

Jobs and Characters

Jobs-
These are the jobs we decided on for each member of our group:
Director- Pete
Producer- Josh
Writer- Kieran
Editing-Steve, Kieran
Sound- Josh
Cast- Steve
Camera- Everyone


Characters-
Pete- Played by Sam Thorne
Vinnie-Steve Cardon
Hit men- Warren Roffey
Extras- Kieran, Josh

Group 52 Main Task

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Character Biographies

Pete- He is an 18 year old, male, college drop out. He is from Crystal Palace and had a good up-bringing there. However things started to go wrong, his parents divorced and he started to try drugs, firstly just socially but then he got hooked and eventually became dependent on them. Pete's a regular looking drug addict, with old clothes and a shabby appearance. He bought some drugs of a dealer called Vinnie but failed to pay him back. Now he's running from Vinnie and his henchman. 

Vinnie- Vinnie has been working in the drugs industry for several years. He took over from his father, Mario, who was widely known as being a big time drugs dealer. His father taught him the tricks of the trade when he was growing up in South London after moving from Italy when he was 2.  Vinnie dresses smart/casually and takes care of his appearance. No one dares to mess with Vinnie, so when Pete does exactly that we can expect Vinne not to let go of this grudge and come down hard on Pete. 

Draft Script

  (Pete is walking down a side street, passing small shops and cafes. His old dealers are sitting in a cafe looking at a wanted picture of Pete they see Pete walk past. They get up and walk out)

Dealers: Oi, its him, get him !

(Pete turns around)

Pete: Oh shit!

  

 (Starts Running music starts)

  (Still frame of Pete.)

Narration: Pills. Crack. Smack. Weed. Coke. Speed. Tabs. Anything he can get his hands on, he'll   take it. thats Pete.  A quitter. 

 

 (Still frame of Vinnie running after Pete with his two mates next to him)

Narration: This is Vinnie, he's after Pete. Because he used to shot Pete drugs and now he wants  his payment.

 

  (Music and running starts again)

(The dealers chase Pete down a street, each dealer eventually gets cut off or falls behind. Pete gets away from them and walks down towards a tube station.)

 

Note: This was our original script draft but since then we've learnt how to write the script up in the correct script format. 

Trainspotting opening scene analysis

Camera- Lots of tracking shots following the main characters running. Point of view shots from main character running and another from the car driver. A medium close-up and a long shot of Renton in his flat smoking drugs. Lots of moving camera shots at low angles of the characters playing football. A low close-up of Renton on his floor, the camera starts at his head then tracks down his body and away from him.

Editing- The opening scene is a montage of different scenes that introduces the main characters. When introducing each character the frame is frozen and their name is shown, Renton's name is shown first so you assume he's the main character. There are two of the same type of shots showing the main characters football team, and then it compares them to the opposing team. This makes the main characters seem messy and unorganised compared to the other team who are in matching kits. There are quick cuts of Renton in different scenes falling backwards, one where he's been hit by the football and one where he is taking drugs in his flat. The two scenes demonstrate the contrast between social and unsocial behaviour.

Sound- It starts with an upbeat song which is non-diegetic and carries on through the whole opening scene,further more the song fits the start shots where they are running. Rentons voice is talking over the scene which is non-diegetic also. The music becomes quieter when he is talking.

Representation-They are represented straight from the start as they are running away, from the security guards. Their age is about early 20's from the way they are dressed, and the way they look. You can tell that he is fairly uneducated and quite poor from the state of his flat. He shows that he takes drugs and he is quite proud of it and its not seen as a big thing in-between their friends.

Mise En Scene-From the opening sequence and the main character's accent you can tell the film is set in Scotland. The film is also based about the early 90's, you can tell this from the way the characters are dressed and the vehicles involved in the opening scene. The lighting used is natural lighting, even in Renton's flat. There are not many props used however when they are running down the streets we see their stolen goods come out of their pockets.

Planning and Ideas

Genre-
We experimented with the different genres we could of used:
Action
Horror
Teen Comedy
Teen Thriller
Crime Drama
British Social Realist

In the end we decided on a mix between crime drama and british social realist.

12/1/09 Synopsis

A 18 year old college drop out called Pete is a drug addict. He's been sacked from loads of jobs and is stealing to get his regular fix. However he did go to rehab but didn't like it, so now he's running away from them. He then tries to start a new drug-free, debt-free life at a new location, where he meets Steve who will become his only friend he has. But it doesn't go to plan and he ends up in the same position he was before. Now the dealers he owes money to are after him and its up to him to get out of it. Then when one of the dealers finds Pete's address, he sends one of his hit men to murder Pete but the hit man mistakes Steve for Pete and kills Steve. Now Pete has nothing left but his drugs and the dealers are getting closer to finding him so in the end Pete takes an overdose, but it doesn't work fully, he then wakes up in a hospital with one of the past dealers standing over him. The dealer sympathizes with Pete and gives him another chance to get him his money. The film then ends with Pete walking out the hospital and calling one of his contacts for assistance.


Trainspotting - Opening scene


These are the sort of ideas we 'd like our opening scene to be like.

Lock, Stock - Opening scene