Research and planning for my Film

Research and Planning.

I always wanted to create a British crime film from the begging of this task. I was particualry influenced by such films like Trainspotting 1996 and Dead Mans shoes 2004. I wanted to create a tone that a similar audience would be able to recognise. I watched both films and took inspiration epically in the mise en scene, more notably in Dead Man shoes. The landscape is unique to a British crime film as it is set in the country rather than a recognisable city  like London. The landscape plays a crucial part in my short film, and i went out to a local park  to get ideas of where to shoot my film. At first I struggled to find a suitable location so went back to Dead Mans Shoes to take note of specific  landscape features that appear throughout the film. It was important that I found a setting that would engulf my main character, and also look pleasing to the audiences eye. so they could engage with the location.

In the end I chose carefully and believe I picked the right location, I spent alot of time planning location as the setting is a key part in my narrative. For a while I toyed with the idea of shooting in Sunderland town centre, as I was influenced heavily by Trainspotting which is set in Edinburgh. Most Realist films are set in a suburban busy environment and I was considering following this convention for a while throughout my planning.



Here are some shots of my final location.





As well as looking at Trainspotting, I also looked at the American TV series The Sopranos I felt since I was aiming for a Crime tone in  my film, I had to look at a handful of Gangster texts. In such British Films as Lock Stock, and Snatch there is always that Alpha male  character who is usually dominant and his behaviour and appearance signify   violence and corruption. By watching The Sopranos I was able to model my main character on some of the characters in the The Sopranos, as you can see from the photo below I have used some of the iconography expected with a gangster film. The vest signifies a masculine presence which was important to emphasize; the jewellery represents wealth and influence and I feel Sean's build was perfect for the role.

Sean My Main character
The pictures below are fictional Characters from The Sopranos I used as inspiration.

Tony Soprano

Paulie Walnuts

I paid alot of attention to Richard from Dead Mans Shoes body language, for example he is frequently shown alone, looking in distress and discomfort, In a handful of scenes I tried to mirror Richard's body language in a few scenes of my short film.  From the start of Dead Mans Shoes we are introduced to Richard being alone, this is evident with a few establishing/ wide shots used. Below are a couple of stills from the film, which show Richard Isolated and his futile body language. There are also  a few stills of Sean alone and my interpratation of Richard's body language from Dead Man's Shoes.  Richard was the main influence in terms of performance and I hope I have portrayed him accuratley in my short film. My characters performance is a key part of the narrative as it connotoes an enigmatic tone from my character, which is very similar to Richard, as throughout the whole film the audience are unsure where he is going to end up or if and when he will snap and get his revenge. Richard is also a stock Brithish Crime character an audience would expect to see, he has many qualities and conventions used in other Realist films, such as Tyransuar, directed by The main character in Dead Man Shoes Paddy Considine. Joseph who plays the lead role in the film, is also a male in crisis, he has a past filled with regret and anger and turns to alochol to deal with his problems and violence to release his built up frustration. It seems to be conventional in recent Realist films, that the male character is in crisis.

Sean alone in the backdrop of a suburban environment.



Sean alone and depressed.







For other influences on characterization, I looked at Patrick Bateman from the movie American Physco (2000) Bateman has a lot of characteristics I wanted to use in my character. I specfically studied the opening scene where Patrick carries out his morning routine and based my opening scene largelly on this. Bateman is presented as an organized well off buisnessman who lives alone, I have also tried to represent Sean as organized and self concious of his appearance. These traits where important in creating my character and highlighting his many unique issues and personal mannerisms. Patrick Bateman is a very obessive character, he uses this trait to hide away from real life and his work life, for example he sees himself as a very important person and trys to create this image by taking extra care of his body and appearance, however outside of his home in his work environment he is seen as an ordinary person, who isnt better or worse than any of his work colleagues, his work place is very competetive and everyone tries to gain the upper hand in prestige and self worth. In my project I have also tried to portray Sean in a similar light, it is evident he isnt seen as anybody important in society and his constant lonliness suggests he has been shut out by society. Like Bateman who is shut out by his work colleauges Sean is neglected by society. They both use their own unique ways to create a feeling of slef worth and stature.

  

Here is a shot of Sean, I took influence from
 Batemans morning routine in American Physco



Here is the shot from American Psycho I tried to portray 

Target Audience research


Since I created a British Crime film, my target audience was immediately cut down to a certain age range and sex. I studied other Crime films with similar conventions to my short film, most films I studied such as In Bruges, Dead man's shoes and The Krays,all contain a lot of violence and are male dominated. This allowed me to aim my text at a male audience, the use of the Gangster iconography such as the jewellery Sean wears continues to relate to a male audience. It was important I looked at successful Crime films that contain conventional themes so my target audience would be able to understand the tone of my film, I looked at the British crime film Gangster No.1 2000. The film contains extreme graphic scenes, but also a very intense performance by Paul Bettany, he has the personality of a typical British crime figure, someone who is able to snap very quickly, but also act as a sophisticated businessman. I knew this type of character would only appeal to mainly a male audience, I have used some of traits from Gangster No.1 such as the unpredictable temper, I think this builds tension and would only be enjoyed by a male audience. 

Paul Bettany.

•  I was aware my short film would mainly appeal to a male audience of 18 to 60+ so I studied films which used alot of violence and crime conventions.
• I my self am a fan of Crime films, so had a good idea as I planned my film what conventions I would be using to appeal to an audience with my interests
• I looked at successful crime films, which repeat similar conventions to keep a certain audience entertained, and tried to use these conventions.
• I intended to aim my product at a male audience who enjoy crime films.

Key shot selection.

 Here is a table of some of the key shots in my film which create meaning and provke a response from the audience.

Shot Type	Description	Location	Purpose
Wide/Establishing	Sean sitting down on the park bench looking out over the park	Park	Highlight his Isolation and insignificance in society.
Close up	Sean looking into the mirror carrying out his routine on a morning.	Bathroom	To highlight Obsession and sense of self-worth to hide away from his problems
Wide/Long	Sean walking down the back alley alone.	Back alley behind Sean’s house	To continue to highlight Sean’s Loneliness and capture the suburban environment.
Extreme Close up	Sean at the park sitting down looking out over the park	Park	To engage with voice over and emphasise his mental pain and anguish. Highlight emotion.
Wide pan	As Sean walks through the park the camera pans across right and follows his tracks.	Lake in the park	To show the beauty of the landscape and continue to show Sean alone. Suggest his insignificance  in society.

Time mangement

I experienced a number of technical diffculites when I came to editing footage I had taken, this considerably affected the time I had to create my product, one of the reasons why at first my evaluation and research was poor. I had to focus alot of attention on the footage I had taken. The software I used adobe continously failed to find certain clips of my film and I had to go through a time consuming process of re locating certain clips on the computer. I feel I personally spent a suitable amount of time on the storyline of my film, while accuratley identifying certain conventions from other films that I wanted to use in my product.