Ident Planning

For this trailer, I have decided to raise the bar with regard to how I produce my ident and intend to go beyond simply using a Final Cut Pro graphic template like I did last year. I have decided to play to my strengths and make an ident out of video footage and editing rather than using an advanced computer software, which I am less advanced with. 

Two idents in particular influence me for the kind of ident I want to make, Film District and Miramax:

The Miramax ident in particular is something I think I could replicate - London generally is not a high rise city, though I live fairly near the Canary Wharf district which is the main high rise centre within London, and it would be easy enough for me to get stylish and good quality video footage of the area. This is a still image from video footage I have taken of Canary Wharf in the past with my own camera, and I am hoping that with more time and a better quality camera I will produce an image suitable for my ident.

What I would like for the actual title is for them to fade in while the image itself fades to black - rather than have the title placed in the middle of the shot like Miramax, I am going to place them just above the skyline of the buildings of Canary Wharf.

Sound Planning

Diegetic sound

Recently, I practiced using microphones to record dialogue - the difference between using a boom microphone and a camera microphone, or even a directional microphone when it comes to filming dialogue in a busy place became instantly noticeable. All of my key dialogue scenes occur in busy places, for example a bar and a city street, meaning I will definitely need to use the boom microphone to film. Obviously, it is more complicated and some dangers will arise, for example:

• The boom microphone may show up in the frame when being held - this sometimes even happens in TV, and occasionally with films a boom microphone or operator is seen in the reflection of a window or mirror.
• It will also mean that I will need a clapper board in order to sync the sound from the microphone track and the video recording from the camera.

Ambient sound

I also plan on using a separate microphone track from the camera, using a boom microphone, to record ambient sound. I will create separate ambient tracks to play during the bar scenes, outside the bar, the meeting on the bench, when Frank picks up the bag and when he is in the market. These will all be done on location, so I will be taking the microphone to the Zerodegrees bar, the road outside it and the Spitalfields area.

Aesthetics and Visual Style - Planning

One of the directors who influences me the most with regard to visuals is Michael Mann. As a director, he is renowned for his visual style, particularly his use of cities and modern architecture. Often, in films such as 'Heat' or 'Collateral', the architecture and shape of the cities he uses - in the case of both these films, he uses Los Angeles - dominates the framing, or is at least prominent within it. This style of filming has influenced many other directors and films, most notably the recent film 'Drive'.

Even in indoor scenes such as the famous bank heist sequence from 'Heat', Mann chooses locations demonstrating stylish modern architecture.

As well as having a mise-en-scene demonstrating modern architecture and city lights, Mann also uses colour in an expressive way in his films, particularly the film 'Manhunter'. This has influenced me very much, and I have found ways of adding colour and style to certain locations in my film and will be utilising these.

Most low-budget British films adopt a very different visual approach to what I am influenced by and how I picture my trailer to end up looking - this comes down to the fact that mine has a different subject matter to theirs. Most British thrillers are often based around social realism and are designed to reflect the struggles of British youths in an honest way, and as a result they do not try and stylise their visual style and often set their films in the more gritty parts of London such as council estates. Though there is clearly commentary behind this, I think that the handheld camera style adopted by most British thriller filmmakers and the washed out colour palettes that are often seen in British films are overdone and are uninteresting from a filmmaking perspective - above everything else, my film is based around the middle classes and is more of a morality tale with psychological themes than a story about social struggles and youth crime culture.

The kind of visual style I want to avoid.

One of the locations I have chosen is the Spitalfields area. Though it is not too far off the settings of social realist thrillers, in terms of basic appearance, to me it has very different connotations. The architecture there is a mix of old and new, and has a pristine look to it - it is surprisingly close to the city, with some iconic modern highrise buildings being within sight when one is there.

These are images I acquired while reccying the location.

Directors such as Michael Mann also often use postmodern architecture in their films, with 'Manhunter' being the best example of how he uses this.

Influenced by the kind of postmodern and often metallic looking architecture seen in films by directors such as Michael Mann, I have chosen to set some of my trailer inside a bar which is also a microbrewery.

Planning Schedule

Sound - address foley sound, comment on plans for how to take sound. Write up on our sound test. Comment on plans for diegetic sound.
Graphics - research for actual film title e.g. font, motion, positioning, stylistics. Does it carry any sound with it? Planning for graphics.
Research for ident and planning for ident.

Graphics Research and Planning

These four titles are examples of graphic titles in films that I particularly liked. The graphics for Shame (far left) and The Social Network (left) are both examples of understated fonts, the kind that I feel would fit in with the minimalistic atmosphere of my film. The colour of th etitles is white and possess no overstated animations and transitions. The main striking point of both of these graphics is that the creators have chosen to emphasise certain words via italics or bold font - this is a subtle yet highly effective approach to making titles, as it stresses the importance of what they show which in turn gives them a professional look. I strongly believe that I will transfer this technique into my trailer on whatever I decide will be the marketing point of the film - possibly my own name as a director. The other two titles are from Reservoir Dogs and Drive, two more alternative films that have enjoyed much popularity in certain circles and are cited as unique and distinctive. The graphics they use only add to this - both titles are done in a noticable colour, from mustard yellow to pink, and have a flashy font. Though this is not the kind of atmosphere I am hoping to create, one thing that interests me about both is that they are both shown over a shot from the film. In both cases, the shots have an iconic feel though are relatively basic, only really showing the characters from the film. If I were to have my graphics run over a shot from my film - which is not unlikely, as I want my trailer to have a sense of momentum and to not consistently cut to black - I would take this into account.

The image on the far left is an examle of the Cannes award for best director in its standard format, and it is easy to see why having something like this alone would fit into the atmosphere of my trailer as the font and style is similar. Furthermore, I would have no objection to this playing over black as it would still be a selling point for the film, meaning the audience would not be disengaged by a cut to black. However, the film festival graphics for Shame (middle) felt particularly compelling to me. Having my film festival graphics run over an important or impressive shot from the film would help the audience know what kind of style to expect from the film and would suggest to them that it is of a high quality, more so than a simple and more ambiguous film festival graphic over black. The graphics on the right are for the film Moon, and are an example of film festival graphics which have been modified to further fit the atmosphere of the film, doing what Shame does to an even greater extent. The furthest extent to which I would modify the look of the film festival logos is to remove the image of the wreath to give it the sparse look of my film as a whole which, though not a particularly big change, may be subtly effective.

Soundtrack Research and Planning

These are the two pre-existing soundtrack songs which I picture would fit best with the first act of my trailer. They are both done in a reasonably classical style, choosing piano as the main instrument, though the song from 'The Social Network' in particular has a modern sound to it due to the fact that it has a highly understated quality and mixes a classical piano sound with a minimalist electronic background layer of sound. This style I feel would work well in the opening of my trailer as it has a distinctly modern atmosphere due to the locations and costumes, but I also want it to have a universal and timeless feel, which peaceful piano music will add to.

The music that will play during the second act I feel will be similar to something like the beginning of the song 'On The Beach' from the soundtrack to the film Drive. It has no melody and is accompanied by percussive sounds that also have an electronic feel, making them fitting with the atmosphere of my film.  This kind of music should achieve a dangerous atmosphere - unlike the two tracks in the opening, it will also have less of a broad, expansive sound and instead it will back up and help carry the narrative which is what the second act of the trailer is about.

As for the third track, I also picture part of the song 'On The Beach' from Drive, except a segment of it that comes later in the track, at 4:50. This is a version of a recurring theme throughout the film - it is legato yet without a real melody, peaceful but also ramped up in intensity when compared to the other versions of the same theme. In the more desperate, intense context of my third act I picture music similar to this segment of the track to provide both a counterpoint to the frantic nature of the third act but also subtly add some intensity and drama to it.

The opening to 'On The Beach', which I think will work in my second act, is also used in the middle of the trailer for the film Drive, at the 0:50 mark.

Planning Schedule 2

Actors and characters - Friday 9th

Storyboard drawings finished - Tuesday 13th

Editing storyboard - Monday 19th

Still to do

Recce of bar sound and light

Research into studio/distribution

Design and create ident

Other graphic planning for main title, font for critics etc.

Sound