Our group in film studies was set the task of creating a short sequence that is supposed to be a short clip from a film we created our selves.
The first step was obviously choosing a genre and story for our film, this was a group effort that we all contributed our opinions to come to a final decision. The idea was to create a British crime film much like “Kidulthood” or “Adulthood”. We got some inspiration for our actual video clip from the Martin Scorsese film “Goodfellas”. In the opening sequence we see all the main characters stand around a car boot and brutally assassin the person inside. We all agreed that this would not be too hard to imitate and to make it look good. As far as props were concerned, the main one we needed was a car which Chris, (group member) happened to have, a new ford fiesta. The location was thought of by myself and it did not take long for it to spring to mind. The garages we filmed in were perfect for our genre and sequence, empty, grimy, rural and covered in graffiti.
So the scene was set, Chris was to be our driver, Jade would be the damsel in distress kidnapped in the boot. We were planning to get another car for the bad guys (me and Charlie) to show up in but in the end we could not get a second car at the time of filming. We overcame this problem easily by having the bad guys at the scene when the car arrives. In our original plot we had also planned to have Chris be the obvious hero by shooting me and Charlie and the end and drive off with the girl safely in the car. We did not have a prop gun on the actual day so this was not possible, but I think it will be better without this, the poor acting skills on my behalf and poor visual effects would have let our sequence down a little bit.
My main duty here was to be the director, this meant that I was in charge of choosing things like Mise en Scene, location and which camera angles we should shoot from. I also played a vital role in choosing the narrative to our film extract.
Many of the shots we ended up using in the final product we are all very proud of.
Feedback also indicates that we did well in our choice of camera angles. Many students from our class commented on how varied and well thought out our camerawork was.
I think alot of our video’s success is also in the editing, for which I must give Charlie most of the credit for.
Because the camera kept going from the car, to the baddies waiting and back to the car, it maid it fairly clear that was what they are waiting for.
Also, not showing the girl in the boot until later in the clip helps create mood and tension.
In conclusion I think that our video is a success. The quality in our work has shined through in the cinematography and in the editing. Perhaps we should have included a bit more narrative, but I am very satisfied with what we have produced.
