alterations

Opening Sequence Alteration:

An alteration we made in our opening sequence is the football scene that we found sort of difficult to film in the limited time period. The alteration was that our initial idea of this scene was to have Nile O'Meally-Newell a.k.a Bradley Kean dribble his way past two players before taking a definitive shot but we decided to change this to Nile dribbling his way past football cones before taking a shot at an empty goal as this would make more sense (since the audience could interpret it as Nile being self-motivated and working hard in order to rise to the top as a footballer and also get into big-name teams whereas the initial idea wouldn't really have as much interpretations in comparison).

cast and crew

Nile O'Meally-Newell: Bradley "Keano" Kean (protagonist)
Shingai Manungo: Cameraman
Liban Ali: Tyreese Lewis (friend turned into the main antagonist)
Omar Abasi: Editor

Info on props, costume planning and locations are explained in detail in its respective blog posts.

camera shots

Extreme long-shot:
Used to express the setting of the scene that will be used as the setting throughout a movie (e.g. by showing the "Hollywood" sign in the picture above in an extreme long-shot for a movie, it is clear to the viewer that the movie will be indeed set in Hollywood/Los Angeles).

Tracking shot:
A 'tracking shot' is when a shot is taken by keeping track of something in particular (e.g. if somebody is walking, the camera will keep movement but also keep track of the person's own movements -- this is a tracking shot).



Bird's Eye View:
Filmed from a top-down perspective and, once again, more likely to be used to show the atmosphere of the setting (e.g. if a bird's eye view was taken of NYC and Miami -- they would use bird's eye view shots to highlight the gritty streets or the busy metropolis of NYC/humid and sun-filled beaches of Miami etc.)

Low Angle Shot:
Filmed from the ground looking upwards -- for example, a camera shot which is taken of a person but from the ground looking upwards therefore making him appear as some sort of 'giant' or having some form of superiority.

Close-up:



Panning:
Movement of a still/video camera but in the motion of a person shaking their head to signal a "no", meaning that panning is the horizontal movement of a camera.

Tilting:

In a simple explanation, tilting is the movement of a still/video camera yet it moves as if a person would when nodding his head (in other words, the camera stays stationary yet it rotates in a vertical plane).

opening sequence

(Scene 6 and 8 may be removed from the final storyboard of the opening sequence as flashbacks are not necessarily needed for the opening sequence since the storyline will focus on these three personalities and the audience would know about the three pathways that the character takes on regardless. If any alterations are made, look out for a new blog spot with the finalized storyboard explaining what will happen, in detail, in each scene.)

our presentation and feedback

Regarding our presentation, we received some interesting feedbacks from different groups with this one being the most-detailed feedback and the feedback that we could look back on and use as inspiration to motivate ourselves into creating that defining opening sequence :-

(Feedback from Sarah Jeena & Tasnim Khanum)
Q: it is a lot to fit into two minutes, how will you narrow it down?
A: Well, by looking back at this, we will be able to narrow down the scenes by having brief scenes of the three paths that the main protagonist takes so it does not give away too much yet the scenes are not too brief.
Q: how are you going to book the facilities, be realistic, and think about the timing.
you may have to re-shoot certain scenes, is this possible?
A: Indeed, interesting question from the duo. We do not need to book any facilities as we had managed to ask the P.E teachers as of when the Astroturf would be empty and they had gotten back to us by saying it would be a limited period of time (in fact, around 10 minutes). We have, indeed, re-shot some of the scenes with the first scene being Nile dressing up in his sports kit being re-shot for 30 minutes. We need to make sure that we execute every aspect correctly in the procedure.
Q:  Music- how are you going to include it in the scene? Will the grime suit the smart clip? why not use it as symbolism, maybe use stereotypes?
A: We are planning to include background music in the scene but not copyrighted music - more of instrumental music that does not have rights to any copyright laws as this would not be using the voice of any artists and we would not be using copyright infringement for our Coursework. Also, we aren't really going for music that would be grimy but more of motivational music -- not Rocky Balboa-style motivational music and stuff like that but obviously music that would suit all three clips.
Q: How are you going to have so many extras in an organised way? re-think exam scene.
  Camera angles need to be thought about because there are so many different things he's doing.
A: We won't be including the exam scene in our opening sequence as we feel it would be too sudden to add a scene that could easily act as the climax of the whole movie itself; it would give too much of the plot away, to be honest, and we are trying to give a small amount of it away but not too small. Just the amount that would be expected from an opening sequence.

title opening sequence

The reasons being for our opening sequence, and the movie in its entirety, titled as "Split" is because the main protagonist, Bradley Kean, will have to counter three different paths and it would be as if he is not a whole person for majority of the storyline; especially in the climax of the storyline (this climax can be read in the "Split Storyline" blog post) and never actually seems to know what life would be truly for him and this could be seen as him having split emotions or a 'split' in terms of desires since he would desire the pursuit of more than one thing in the movie. Since the pound will also play a theme in the movie as gang themes will be present so it is likely that drug deals will take place involving money in the procedure, the "Split" title could also be linked to how there is a split between the benefits that Bradley and the dealer has, for instance, or even the split in how he feels about his 'gang life' -- does he feel as if he deserves the filthy money he's been gaining from crime life or should he split up with the gang for good and search for his own identity?

DVD analysis

Goal Cover

The Goal cover expresses the thrill of the experience on the protagonist's face as you can see the bright and lively colours that surround him in the atmosphere and this gives you an idea of what we are attempting to replicate in our "Split" movie as we want our main protagonist to be thrilled with the footballing experience as it would make him feel under more pressure with what lifestyle he wants to pursue; especially when the storyline twist of him getting into Arsenal takes place before the big climax (explained in detail in the "Split Storyline" blog post.)

Adulthood Cover

The Adulthood cover contrasts the Goal cover above and this is another sort of atmosphere we are thinking of adding into our "Split" movie as it would also contrast the atmosphere of Bradley Keano being an academic student and a football star too. Furthermore, with our cover, we wanted to use "split" pictures with a picture of the main protagonist in his football kit and in his casual hoodie to represent the personalities and lifestyles he will encounter in the movie and the opening sequence. Furthermore, the colour of the atmosphere in the Adulthood cover is rather uninspiring which links to the character's facial expression of anger which also contrasts the joy of the protagonist's face on the Goal cover. With this analysis, we are willing to contrast each element with our poster but merging these pictures into one poster.

conventions of drama

Dramatic Conventions are the specific actions or techniques the actor, writer or director has employed to create a desired dramatic effect/style. A dramatic convention is a set of rules,which both the audience and actors are familiar with and which act as a useful way of quickly signifying the nature of the action or of a character.

Some early conventions are

such as the poses used by actors in Japanese theatre to establish a character, or the stock characters of the black-cloaked, moustache twirling villain in early cinema. some of dramas conventions can are sometimes put into groups,

groups, such as Rehearsal, Technical or Theatrical. Rehearsal Conventions can include Hot Seating, Role on the Wall or Still Images. Technical Conventions can include Lighting, Dialogue, Monologue, Set, Costuming or Entrances/Exits. Theatrical Conventions may include Split Focus, Flashback/Flashforward, Narration, Soliloquy and Spoken Thought.

Research- Film Genre

Drama is the general term for performances in which actors impersonate the actions and speech of fictional or historical characters (or non‐human entities) for the entertainment of an audience, either on a stage or by means of a broadcast; or a particular example of this art, i.e. a play. Drama is usually expected to represent stories showing situations of conflict between characters.

Here are some famous quotes quotes from drama:

What is drama but life with the dull bits cut out.Alfred Hitchcock

A passion for the dramatic art is inherent in the nature of man.
Edwin Forrest

The art of acting consists in keeping people from coughing.
Benjamin Franklin
I made mistakes in drama. I thought drama was when actors cried. But drama is when the audience cries.Frank Capra
Acting should be bigger than life. Scripts should be bigger than life. It should all be bigger than life.Bette Davis

Here are some famous drama directors and prodcucers:

Harold Prince he is best know for his Sweeny Todd and the Phantom of the opera, was born in January 30, 1928. he is American theatrical producer and director associated with many of the best-known broadway musical prodcution of all times. He has won twenty-one Tony awards, more than any other indervidual, including eight for direccting, eight for producing the years best musical, two as best producer of a musical and three special awards.

Richard Lester, (born 19 January 1932) is an american film director based in Britain. Lester is notable for his work with the Beatles in the 1960s and his work on the superman film series in the 1980s.

our media A level props list and costumes

Wednesday 23^rd November 2011

Media pre- film task

Props list

·      7 football cones

·      2 footballs

·      One folder (including contents)

·      One pen

·      One phone

·      One pen

·      One schools bag

·      One set of headphones

Costumes

Mirror scene 1 (football kit)

For this scene the character will be looking at his reflection in a mirror, when we film the character we will film him wearing:

·      A football kit complete with football shirt, football shorts and football socks.

Mirror scene 2 (smart dress)

For this scene the character will be looking at his reflection, we will see himself wearing smart dress as this is what he will be wearing when he in his 6^th form this will include:

·      Smart trousers (grey), smart shirt (white) with a skinny tie (black).

Mirror scene 3 (gang clothing)

For this scene the character will be looking at his reflection in the mirror; the character will be looking at him before he is about to go to his gang, in this scene the character will be wearing:

* Dark blue jeans, white t-shirt black jumper and a black bomber jacket.

Wednesday 9^th November 2011

Media initial ideas

The film would be about a teenager called Bradley Kean/ keano (Nile O’Meally- Newell), Keano lives with his mum and his little brother his mum, his dad left when he was 5 which left his mum to bring him up on her own as well as his younger brother and working two jobs, it doesn’t need to be said that he grew up seeing his mother struggle and as soon as he was able to he joined a gang and made a little bit of money of which he told his mum that he was making from working in a shop.

 He is a gifted footballer but he also has been included in gang culture for a long period of time. But he has decided to focus on his football and education, after he experienced what he could be facing if he keeps on including himself in gang crime.

But keano will find that it isn’t that simple, as he is very high up in the gang and the other gang member don’t want him to leave and if he does he has been threatened with all sorts of threats on his family and his life, and to show Keano that they (the gang) aren’t messing around they have kicked the front door of his house and stole most of the valuables, with now other choice he has to explain what he has been doing and why this has been happening, after the shock of this Keano’s mum kick him out. Keano then goes to stay with his best mate Sam Walters  who is still involved with the gang. After this keano has started to miss schools and has not been training for a long time.

He finely manages to get everything back on task and is revising for up and coming exams and if in training for trials that he has been given for Arsenal. Meanwhile the gang have found out that Keano has been living with Sam and they beat Sam up so badly that he gets rushed into hospital, after hearing this Keano goes to see Sam who tells Keano that the gang are going to his mums house, keano runs to his mums house to find the door kicked in again and his brother on the floor in a blood puddle, keano gets his little brother to a hospital and finds that the doctors are worried that his brother will not be able to walk again, upon this his mother arrives at the hospital SLAPS Keano, who then kisses his little brother and his mother on the for head.

He then goes to the leader of the gang and beats him to near death, the gang then decide instead of killing Keano they phone the police the and report the event. When keano arrives home he receives two phone calls one from his mother telling him that the doctors got it wrong and his little brother will be fine, the second call is from his school saying that he has passed all of his exams and should decide on a university to apply for after hearing this keano thinks that life is starting to look up then he finds a letter on the floor addressed to him when he open it he finds a letter from Arsenal asking him if he would sign for the youth arsenal reserves. Now Keano thinks that things are finally looking up,  he sits down on the sofa at his mums house, he closes his eyes and then police lights are seen through the door and then the door is heavily knocked (by policeman)……….

blade 2 review

A fast beat threw out combined with the titles and the famous Wesley Snipes voice combine; in one way it makes it seem a bit like a documentary, it also makes the film look and sound a bit cheap. however Blade is originally a marvel horror comic hero so when keeping that in mind the set up makes total sense, however not everyone who watches the film will know this so it will make the film look like something that you watch on the t.v.  

The titles are good as they are clear. when looking at the video from a misen-en-scene view the colours and the lighting are very dull usually this would have a negative impact on the video however because it is an introduction to a movie about VAMPIRES, it gives the effect that i wanted. also the props that are used suit the dull and dark background as they are usually thing you associate with death, pain and vampires (i.e. guns, swords, garlic and silver). the voice (of Wesley Snipes); sets the theme of the movie as without his voice you would think that the film was a Gothic movie, but with Wesley Snipes voice it helps the watcher to understand the whole of the scene and why its includes such dull and dark colours.