Planning: Ancillary Tasks

Draft of the Magazine Cover

Above, plan of magazine cover.

For our ancillary task we were asked within our groups to create a magazine cover and film poster in addition to our trailer. We could of Incorporated a broad spectrum of ideas to connote our film as there were many ideas we could have used for both the magazine cover and film poster. However for our magazine we thought it would be a good idea to subvert our characters from the image they were portrayed in the film to more sophisticated and glamorous look which they take upon in reality in contrast to their played character. Using this angle we have promoted the actresses within the film rather than their characters as we thought this would make the film more popular as well as the audience being aware of the new upcoming actresses.

The creation process of the magazine cover was achieved through Microsoft Publisher as it was programme we have used previously and thought it would be beneficial with the elements that it has e.g. word art, background technology and a range of colours with a simplistic approach- this saved us time wasting trying to use a new programme and get used it.

We developed the magazine cover efficiently and illustrated colour and depth to make it look more realistic, we did not over rely on previous magazine covers as we already fostered information we could include on the cover.

Draft of the Film Poster

Above, draft of magazine cover.

For the film poster we based our ideas from the previous film poster of 'This is England' which has elements similar to our film poster, for example, the gang of girls are standing in front of a wall just the same the gang found in 'This is England'. We represented this as the ethics of the picture project unity which is something we wanted to portray in our own film poster.

We created the film poster through a programme we have used previous called 'Photo shop' which has many technologies that made our film poster look astonishingly better. These elements include, colour booster, word features and eraser tools. This made the creation process easier as tools were accessible to use to improve our work.

Through research into other existing film posters we found that many use quotes from newspapers, magazines and other medias to help promote the popularity of the film. From this we were able to include a quote for our film to help infuse people to be more interested in watching the film. We decided to use the quote: 'Emotion and epic- not one to be missed!- Empire' this gave more depth to the films connotation as it shows that is a meaningful storyline of a harsh reality, and by using a popular magazines name boosts the likelihood of an audience being interested in watching the film.

We gathered initial ideas about our film poster from a piece of graffiti found the local areas which expressed the postcode 'B36' so this was how the original name was initiated and how we decided to incorporate the 'This is England' replica through standing in front of the wall with the graffiti on.

Planning: Cast List & Job Roles

Cast List

As our film trailer is based around a gang of anti-social teenage girls, we had to allocate appropriate actresses that could fufill these roles. We settled on four individuals, two included ourselves, and the other two Bobbi Doyle and Sheryl Richards.

There were many reasons for this choice:

Bobbi Doyle as Taylor

We gave Bobbi the role Taylor as she felt confident taking on the dominant role of the gang leader. Taking up the majority of the lines she had the responsibility for most of the acting in the trailer. However, due to previous experience in media film productions she felt sure that she could project this role both professionally and successfully.

Sheryl Richards as Chenise

Sheryl was given the role as Chenise as like Bobbi she had previous acting previous experience in her own media productions. Although she only had one line in the trailer and only two extra scenes to act alone she felt she able to pursue this role confidently. A scene she is acting independently deals with the issue of pregnancy, after talking about the role with Sheryl she felt she could represent this and gave ideas about she could portray it. With this is we were given ultimate faith in both of the girls to help us gain a successful film trailer.

Sarah Lolley (myself) as Alex

I took upon this role as I felt I was confident to portray the role of a more sensitive character. Although Alex is part of the group of girls she is less obliged to be involved with their deviant acts, such as, taking drugs. This resistance leads to this character attempting suicide, I felt I could sensitively portray this issue. This confidence has grown from the previous acting experience I have as well as the previous media productions I have produced.

Melissa Doyle as Mia

Melissa felt she could successfully portray this role adequately due to her previous acting experience, she felt she could build up a gritty attitude that the character Mia has. As the part was only a small role she took on the responsibility of camera work, whereby the parts she was not involved she filmed, and the parts she was involved with I filmed.

Job Roles

There were a number of roles that my partner and I had to be allocate, by having different skills and abilities that we have discovered of the duration of this course they were easily identifiable. As a partnership we decided that Melissa would take on the role of both an actress and take responsibility of the majority of camera work- we decided this as we felt that Melissa had more experience behind the scenes in actually shooting the footage but not as much experience in front of the camera, explaining why she was only given a small part. Also, Melissa would create a magazine cover for our media work, this would mean she would have to use her creativity skills to develop a high standard work. Whilst Melissa would cater for these responsibilities I took strength in acting, so I obliged for a more in depth acting role as I could be sensitive towards the role due to previous experience in acting. I also filmed parts that Melissa participated in so I took credit for some of the camera work. Thirdly, I was responsible in creating a film poster which I will enjoy doing since I am quite a creative person. We will both take credit in editing parts of the film; however Melissa will occupy a more leading role due to her previous experience using the programme format.

Planning: Shooting Scripts

To the left, is a shooting script. This was created so we are certain on what we are doing each day, what we are filming, what actresses we need, what props we need and what dialogue we need. For example, on the 14th March 2011 we hope to film all location shots around the area, taking note of what camera shot/angles/movements we need to use. Also, we will be filming a scene where all the actors are needed, this scene involves all the characters in a bedroom singing, dancing, smoking and consuming alcohol. We have various other shooting scripts that will give us prefence on what we need to do over a number of days.

Planning: Props List

Above, is the props list.

In order to organise for filming I made a props list so we could gather the props needed before shooting. It is important when filming to have props because they help establish the scene and make it look more natural. Some of the props we cannot actually use so we will have to use a substance to resemble them, for example the drug substance will be caster sugar in a plastic bag to represent cocaine and mixed herbs in a bag in represent cannabis. The other props are assessable on the days of filming.

Another aspect we have to consider is Costume and Make-up. All the character will be wearing quite heavy make-up this is due to the sub culture they are involved with, they believe they have to conform as a group to be an 'ideal girl' in order to be recognised and respected. Their costume consisted of casual tracksuits. We wanted to incorporate a stereotype upon them of the 'underclass' who are stereotyped by forms of appearance (e.g. tracksuits, bling). Them being portrayed as the 'dangerous class' by being 'out of control', living on a council estate, welfare dependant, anti-social and criminal.

Planning: Shots List

Above, is the shots list.

To ensure that we will be included variety of camera shots, angles and movements we have created a shots list. This will support us when filming as we will be able to look at this if needed to check whether we have incorporated all the shots we aimed to.

To generate ideas on what type of camera work we could use, I analysed film trailers for social realism films to identify both camera and editing techniques I could include within my own trailer. The first trailer I research was 'Kidulthood': http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdoKD4gTQ2c - through this I found that the use of fades was dependent at the start so this something I would consider for my own product. Also, there was a wide range of camera work including different shots/movements/angles, this made to the whole trailer more developed and interesting so including it within my own trailer was of importance to the audience's needs also.

The second trailer I analyse was 'Fish Tank': http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7BFZqQ4ruA - I acknowledged that the use of fast editing was dominant in this trailer also which gave a more captivating experience to the trailer. The use of location shots entwined with character shots also allowed me to access information about what the film genre was and who the characters were. This is an aspect I would consider for my own film trailer I feel it was a quick way to introduce the characters and the location quickly but effectively.

Planning: Storyboard

Above, is the storyboard for our trailer: B36.

A storyboard is essential for planning the types shots and the arrange them in an order that would look appealing. For example, in the beginning of the trailer we decided to take account of the location by using a wide range of camera shots/angles/movements. By using this footage at the beginning it introduced the audience to the location and gave a insight to what the genre could be.

We generalised many shots that we would include; medium, tracking, close up, high angle, long shot. This should appeal to an audience because they are not just watching the same camera work which can sometimes look repetitive by using an array of shots/angles/movement the audience will be kept on their toes.

The location shots will consist of different areas of which the characters live in which also informs the audience more about the characters making them already have a stereotyped judgement i.e. working class, poor housing and low income families. The display of signs such as 'Remove your valuables before the thieves do!' will notify the audience on what the trailer might entail.

Therefore, the audience will be addressed as to what type of area the characters live in, from then on they will be introduced to the characters receiving a deeper understanding of their personalities what they will bring to the film.

Planning: Script

Above, is our script: B36.

This was developed after our initial ideas map as we were certain to what we wanted our dialogue to portray. For example, we wanted each character to use a restricted code of language and use simplistic phrases to develop their character in to the stereotype i.e. troublesome, deviant, criminal and anti-social. Our main focus was to represent the working class and sub cultures we have in today's society. Marxists would argue that society's inequalities are to blame for these types of groups in society. They believe that economic and social issues arise from the exploitation of the working class (proletariat) by the ruling class (bourgeoisie). This is something I find important in exercising as the trailer may make the audience question why are some groups in society experiencing a life like this?

In addition, the characters use body language which portrays anger and independence; this was of importance as it helped develop their presence within the trailer, creating the ideal character type. For example, the first scene shows the group intimating a neighbour, this was a theme of anti-social behaviour we wanted to represent. It created more impact having it as the first scene the girls were introduced in because it took insight immediately to their character type and made the audience consider the genre of film we were representing. With this we have subverted against the Feminist view of women being exploited and undermined in society, as we have included a strong, immoral group of girls which rebel against stereotyped traits that girls have i.e. caring, kind, polite and sensitive. We have also included sensitive and controversial issues within our trailer; we thought this would build on our themes in a more in depth approach because it gave the trailer a more sensitive, emotional and epic feel. The issue we have arose is suicide - although we haven't featured a death in the trailer we have touched upon attempted suicide as we think this an important issue to be aware of as many young people are involved in situations such as these and sometimes have nobody to support them.