Website

Here is the URL for the website we created allowing for the public to read the background and plot of our film and most of all they can see our actual film opening if they click on the hyperlink on the navigation bar.

http://alecampoccio2000.wixsite.com/trafficlights

Final Script

Once we looked at all the footage we had on the scenes with dialogue we noticed that they seemed really staged. Therefore we felt the need to change this and this meant changing the script slightly:

*Shots of scenery/setting*

*Character 1 walks into the dark alleyway and meets Character 2*

*Hands over the goods*

Character 1: "sorry I'm late"

*Character 2 shakes head in disappointment*  

*Character 1 walks away*

Character 2: "If you get caught... you don't know who I am"

*Character 1 is at the station about to depart*

*Calls Character 2 on his phone*

Character 1: "Hello? ... I don't think I can do this..."

*Phone Call is ended*

*A security officer enters (character 3)*

Character 3: "Oi!"

*Character 1 runs out of the scene and the camera cuts*

This new script is more of a natural conversation between two people which makes it appear more realistic in our film opening.

Film Titles List

In association with Film Four, Focus Features

• Actor

Alesandro Campoccio

• Actor

Antonio Ferelli

• Title of film

Traffic Light

• Screen played by

John Burridge

• Produced by

Brian Earp

• Director of photography

Bart German

• Production designer

Will Davis

• Editor

Aimee Chaser

• Visual effects producer

Rachel Walters

• Associate producer

Sian Field

• Casting by

Kathrine Brookes

  

 

In our first draft we had some feedback about there being too many titles and that they were all bunched up in the middle area of our film opening. To improve this for our final opening we spread out the titles and made sure that were more subtle by being smaller and fading in and out gently.

Marketing Campaign

First Draft Self-Assessment

First Draft Video

What elements of this sequence did you feel were successful?

• The scene that we found most successful is the one where I am sitting in the living room packing the drugs. I particularly like this scene because of the use of props and also the varied camera angles used. These different shots allow for different titles to appear on the screen which fit well.
• Furthermore, I think that the use of the GoPro is very useful as it shows we have considered different types of points of view. In addition, we ensured that we had a variety of diegetic and non-diegetic sounds including the music and the dialogue. 

Were there any aspects of the sequence which you felt were confusing/distracting/missing?

• We decided to experiment in the first draft by switching to different days however by putting this into practice it actually became confusing, consequently we altered this in our final draft and made the whole opening set at night time. 
• The alley way scene was a little confusing because the audience wouldn't know what is going on however as the film progresses the narrative becomes more clearer because the character is shown packaging the goods.

List 2 things you feel would have improved this sequence and explain your opinion.

• In order to improve this sequence, we would need to vary the transitions between different scenes. At the moment we have only used straight cuts between scenes so we could use different transitions such as dissolves or slides. 
• Another way to improve the first draft would be to tweak the titles because they are currently different sizes and they all need to be the same size to maintain that professional look.

BBFC Certificate

BBFC Certificate for Film Opening

When researching about the ageing certificate we came to the conclusion that the certificate should be 15 years of age. We came to this conclusion because our film opening consists of various pictures that may not be appropriate for younger viewers to watch,

Here are the main criteria that BBFC use to judge what films fit into different age ranges.

Discrimination: The work as a whole must not endorse discriminatory language or behaviour although there may be racist, homophobic or other discriminatory themes and language.

Drugs: Drug taking may be shown but the work as a whole must not promote or encourage drug misuse (e.g. through instructional detail).

Language: There may be strong language. Very strong language may be permitted, depending on the manner in which it is used, who is using the language, its frequency within the work as a whole and any special contextual justification.

Nudity: There are no constraints on nudity in a non-sexual or educational context. There may be nudity in a sexual context but usually without strong detail.

Threat: There may be strong threat and horror. A sustained focus on sadistic or sexual threat is unlikely to be acceptable.

Violence: Violence may be strong but should not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury. The strongest gory images are unlikely to be acceptable. Strong sadistic violence is also unlikely to be acceptable.

We thought that our film fitted in with these guidelines and therefore would be given a 15 certificate...

Props Research and List

Props

List of Props

Cigarette - This is used to show in the first scene that the drug dealer is

The Bike - This is used for the character to travel to get the drugs from the dealer and to travel to the station. It shows he is travelling via a bike showing he is moving around many places for this to happen.

'The drugs' used - This is the main key prop which the film evolves around in the opening showing he is smuggling drugs so therefore had to use ' fake drugs' to represent this.

Alcoholic drinks - This prop is used when he is around the table to show he is rough and this is all he has in his life as this is what is taking him through what is happening.

The Candle - This prop is used to create light around where he is sorting out the drugs with the background light off to provide a small amount of light to show the intensity of what he is doing.

credit card - This is used to line up the drugs which he is packaging ready for him to smuggle.

 

The incense stick - This incense is lighted during the packaging scene, we use this prop to create smoke and to also produce a hostile atmosphere

Summary Of Feedback from Peers

First Draft Video

What elements of this sequence did you feel were successful?

• Many people who reviewed our first draft wrote that they admired the many different camera angles used. Furthermore, some even included they enjoyed the variation of camera point of views, such as the use of the GoPro showing the main character on a bike.
• A lot of people said that the music was suitable because it creates an on edge atmosphere. One person said that "The music went well with the drug scene and the characterisation was good". This is exactly what we intended to portray when we chose the song because it helps tell the narrative. 

Were there any aspects of the sequence which you felt were confusing/distracting/missing?

• Some viewers felt that the scene with the GoPro where I am cycling down the road was confusing. This is because the scene switches from day to night in an instance and this confused some people. In order to rectify this we will re-shoot the scene in darkness to prevent viewers from being unable to understand.
• Others felt that there was little dialogue throughout the opening, however we have added in some more dialogue which was not included in the first draft.

List 2 things you feel would have improved this sequence and explain your opinion.

• One common area for improvement noted by many viewers is the alley way scene where the goods are handed over. They noticed that the conversation in this scene was unclear and in some places looked somewhat staged. In order to improve this we are going to re-shoot this particular scene so that the dialogue is more clear and viewers can see every detail.
• We also need to improve the transitions between shots, some people noticed that the transitions are too quick without any effects such as "film dissolves" or "slides".

Peer Assessment Feedback

Personal Feedback

As part of this project, we as the students, must understand what features in our film openings that gain us marks and lose us marks. Peer assessment is a good way of doing this because we can advise each other on ways to improve our film openings while getting to grips with the mark scheme.

I chose to assess the first draft for the film opening by Josh, Sam and Jamie.

Name: Outlaw                        Genre: Action

What elements of this sequence did you feel were successful? 

• In the opening thirty seconds the camera is very controlled with a good blur effect where the camera loses focus. The protagonist walks past in an army attire and as he walks past it creates many enigma codes for the audience, such as where is he going? or Why is he dressed like a soldier?
• The tracking shots are good for showing the narrative. The panning movements in the gunshot scene in the latter stages of the opening exhibits the dark setting well creating suspense.

Were there any aspects of the sequence which you felt were confusing/distracting/missing?

• The opening doesn't reveal any key aspects of the narrative and the relevance of the characters or the setting.
• I feel as though the ending of the opening with the blank screen could have shown what happens after the gunshot scene, instead of ending the opening without any understanding of what could happen next.

List 2 things you feel would have improved this sequence and explain your opinion.

• There is mostly non-diegetic sound which makes it seem like a music video, to improve this the group could introduce more dialogue as oppose to having a music track that plays right the way through.
• Finally, I think that the group could use a video effect when the protagonist fires the gun at the clown, for example they could show the gunshot with smoke coming out the gun after he fires it.

Evidence of Planning

Here is a photograph of Ale & Pip planning and creating the storyboard.

Music Research

Music Research

Song Option 1 

 One song that instantly caught our attention once we had agreed on the idea to create a crime drama is "Blinded by the Light" by The Streets. We feel as this is a very appropriate song to feature as a backing track because the song itself is based on drugs which is already relevant to the narrative in our film opening, and for this reason it would be a suitable pairing.

A scene from the music video from "blinded by the Light"

Song Option 2

Our second song option is "Playing With Fire" by Plan B. This song is very similar to the first option in terms of the message that both songs send out to the audience. In this song especially, the message focuses on the dangers of embarking on life of crime and gang culture. In our film opening it shows the main protagonist ready to trap himself into a world of drug-use and crime because he has nothing else to offer to the world.

Final Decision

Our final decision was purely based on the preference of the songs and this meant that we will use "Blinded by the Light". This song has a good variation between the chorus, sung by a young girl and the separate verses sung by a male rapper. The chorus has a sense of vulnerability because of the soft voice combining with the ambiguous lyrics. This is exactly the effect we desire because we want to show the naivety of the protagonist who is far too inexperienced to perform the smuggling process

Script (First Draft)

Script for opening sequence

*Shots of scenery/setting*

*Character 1 walks into the dark alleyway and meets Character 2*

Character 2: "Are you ready?"

Character 1: "Do I have a choice?"

Character 2: "Here's everything you need" *Hands over the goods* 

"What time is the flight?"

Character 1: "Half One"
*Character 1 walks away*
Character 2: "And just remember, if you get caught... you don't know who I am"

*Character 1 is at the station about to depart*
*Calls Character 2 on his phone*
Character 1: "Hello? ... I don't think I can do this..."
*Phone Call is ended*
*A security officer enters (character 3)*
Character 3: "Oi! Get back here!"
*Character 1 runs out of the scene and the camera slowly dissolves*

Student Film Openings

Student Film Opening

 

 

In this lesson we analysed the mark scheme and our task was to examine various film openings made by students from previous years.

Michael

 



Level 3 - 45 marks

•  The target audience is reached because the material is appropriate to the story
•  Titles are given in a conventional order with smooth transitions 
• Music matches the atmosphere created and with good timing
•  camera angles are smooth and accurate and props are used accordingly
• Editing is good but the story is quite slow which may cause some viewers feeling bored 

Off the Record

 

 

Level 4 - 49 marks

• The various camera shots create intensity and therefore enigma codes are being created for the audience.
• The tracking shot at the start is very controlled and professional without any camera movement up and down
• The story is left on a cliff-hanger which is gripping and the audience wants to know what relevance the characters have.
• There is only diegetic sounds. To improve more non-diegetic sounds could be included such as music in between dialogue. 

Production Diary

Production Diary

Day 1 - 7/11/16

On the first day of production of our Film opening task, we researched different film openings to help give us ideas and inspire us for our film opening we will make. We are also choosing the genre for our film opening. This is so we have a clear idea for our film opening.

The films we researched for the film opening were: The Shadow man and Midnight Express. We were intrigued by these films because of the themes of mystery and crime. These themes create the genre of drama and thus there are countless enigma codes which will captivate the attention of the audience.

 Day 2 - 8/11/16

On the second day of production we brainstormed genres and ideas we can have for our film opening. We came up with a few ideas such as: a drama/action film about drug smuggling, a war documentary film. From these ideas it was clear that our intention was to create a drama however it was still a question of should we create a documentary or a reality drama film.

Then we started to plan to produce a presentation for our ideas for our film openings. We figured that producing a documentary would be a challenging task with very limited resources. To create a war documentary we would need to find outfits and a suitable filming location which is too unrealistic.

Day 3 - 9/11/16

In this lesson, we came to a decision to produce a drama film about a young man who embarks on a life-changing mission to smuggle drugs across the border for a huge financial reward. We produced a Prezi presentation outlining our ideas on the opening sequence and the narrative of this. Collectively, we had to plan how the opening sequence relates to the rest of the film. This is essential because the audience must gain an insight of the story however it is important not to overload the audience with information as it could give away the plot of the film.

Day 4 - 10/11/16

Today we assigned jobs to make sure we were ready to present our prezi and ideas on Friday.

Day 5 - 11/11/16
In this lesson we presented the press.


Day 6 - 14/11/16
Today we had lots of jobs to complete. We chose to assign jobs to make sure we completed them all. Antonio did the story boards, al posted the fed back onto the blogs and I sorted out the titles and the order they go in. 

Day 7 - 15/11/16
Today we finished the work we started yesterday and ale researched the sort of titles we would want to use for our opening sequence. 

Day 8 - 17/11/16
Our lap charts include the blog posts and activities we need to have complete our film opening to our best ability. Therefore today we spent the time assigning jobs for each person.

Day 9 - 21/11/16

Today we completed our tasks that were set:
Antonio - Target Audience 
Ale - Titles Research 
Pip - Codes and Conventions & production diary 

Day 10 - 23/11/16
I completed the story board video and ale started the marketing ideas.

Day 11 - 25/11/16
The storyboard was finished and published onto the blog. Antonio completed the institutions work.

Day 12 - 28/11/16
We started filming our production. We filmed the scenes that we inside and used Ale and Antonio's living room to film these scenes. We also filmed the scenes down an alley way in the dark.

Day 13 - 29/11/16
We carried on filming. The scenes we filmed was the scene in the bathroom and we also started editing the footage we already had.

Day 14 - 01/12/16
Antonio re filmed the scene when he was on the bike a\s we had difficulties with the first time we filmed that scene. Pip started to edit the the first parts of the footage we had and started to put the scenes we had into order. Ale started to make the film poster by using a shot from the filming. 

Shot List

Shot List

 

Monday 28/11/16:

 

-          Packing of the drugs scenes

-          Antonio riding along on his bike

-          The ally scene (may not have time)

Tuesday 29/11/16:

-          The bathroom shot

-          Train time laps

-          Shots of the high street

Wednesday 30/11/16:

-          The airport shots( train station)

 

       -           Him checking in

 

       -      The police officers looking cautious

 

       -      Antonio getting caught

 

Risk Assessment

Here is the risk assessment form we carried out using the internet. This is a basic health & safety form outlining all the possible danger we may encounter during the process of filming.

Storyboard Reflection

Story Board Reflection and Feedback

What went well? 

The story board went well as we included a detailed set of images of the scene and also added a voice over to it. By doing this it meant that we gave more information as to what is going to happen in the film opening and how each scene will plan out. We attempted to include some of the shot types to make sure they are varied although in many we were unsure as are planing to decide at a later date. it also gave us a good indication towards how long each scene will be to make sure we can make it with in the guidelines of two minutes. 

What could be improved/ work you change next time?

The images of the story board were draw in pencil. This was to make sure if we made any mistakes we were able to quickly change them and stay on task. Although when we videoed these images they were not viably seen, to improve this we should have drawn them in a darker colour so the audience do not struggle to see them. Plus as mentioned earlier, not every scene is given a shot description. This makes the plan seem a little unorganized with is not the idea we want to give off. To improve this a title could be added on just to give the audience more information of whether it will be a match on action, long shot, close up or pan etc. 

☺☺☺

Storyboard

Our storyboard helps us plan our shooting schedule and will help getting the footage a more efficient process. We are aware that this storyboard can differ slightly from our final piece, however it will give us guidelines on the narrative of the film opening and how we need to portray it.

Institutions

Institution

 

Our film is independent and we produced on a very low budget, our target audience is specific therefore it doesn't fit the conventions of mainstream film production companies and distributors. Here are the three film production companies founded by Me, Ale and Pip and these will feature in the start of the film opening for Traffic Lights.

 

 

Distribution

 

We researched into various film distribution company and we discovered a company called Focus Features, LLC. We feel our film fits into the conventions of this company because they distribute independent films in America and also internationally. Focus Features recently worked alongside the new film called American Honey. This film is a British-American drama road film which focuses on the journey of a young teenage girl who travels with new friends she meets selling magazines and partying hard. This film is closely related to our film as it follows the life of a young man who is lured into a life of crime, smuggling drugs earning money for his dangerous work.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

     

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Representation for film opening task

Representation

 

Our film opening contains various representations, all of which relate to class, age, and region. The protagonist in our short opening is a vulnerable, disengaged man in his mid-twenties. The reason he turns to a life of criminality is because he has no other leads in life, he has no family or friends who can give him some help. The man is presented wearing old clothes similar to someone you would see lying on the streets at night. Contrastingly, the location is a very civilised and suburban area and extremely tranquil, this allows for the audience to see the reality of today's society where criminal activity is inevitable in any place no matter how attractive it may seem.

 

The other main character in the film is a wealthy man who's success has all come from high-risk, illegal activity where he recruits desperate young men to perform these dangerous acts. This wealthy man is dressed in formal clothing juxtaposing with the appearance of the man carrying out the smuggle. The reason we decided to portray a man with huge wealth and success is to tell our audience that he was once a desperate man in need of some care, yet he escapes this situation by offering himself to a life of dealing illegal goods to addicts across the nation.

 

The audience will immediately feel empathetic towards the man because he has nothing left in life and if he performs this act he will break free and re-discover himself and his qualities that he can give back to the world. With this connection between the character and the audience it creates suspense because viewers want the man to escape the authorities and re-build his life. 

 

We chose not to portray a representation of a certain ethnic background, sexuality or disability as it would only cause controversy and some viewers would turn away from our production is they see a negative portrayal of a certain race or someone with a disability. We took out some research into some politically controversial films made in this particular millennium, one film we encountered was 'The Interview' starring Seth Rogan and James Franco. We noticed how this film caused controversy in North Korea as the producers decided to display a contentious image of dictatorship in North Korea. When the film was released it received criticism as it shows a graphic death scene, as a result the film was not released in some cinemas and it gained a bad reputation despite trying to show the reality of living in North Korea

Title Sequences

00:10 – 00:14 seconds

                                                                

00:21 – 00:24 seconds

 

00:29 – 00:33 seconds

 

00:34 – 00:37 seconds

 

00:38 – 00:41 seconds

 

00:46 – 00:48 seconds

 

 

00:50 – 00:53 seconds

 

 

00:57 – 01:00 seconds

 

 

01:02 – 01:04 seconds

 

01:14 - 01:17 seconds

 

01:24 – 01:27 seconds

 

01:45 – 01:47 seconds

 

01:48 – 01:50 seconds

 

01:57 – 02:01 seconds

 

02:02 – 02:04 seconds