Blood Ties - A Short Film

Here is our short film - "Blood Ties" I hope you enjoy, please watch in 1080p for best quality.

Ancillary Text - Poster

Above is the poster I have created for our Short Film - "Blood Ties". I wanted create the atmosphere for the whole short film in one image. I took a screen grab from the final scene and put some black and white and blur effects on it in photoshop. It shows the main character Jack leaning against the grafiti in the background, I was quite lucky to get the image of old style buildings painted on the wall but graffiti sprayed over the top of it gives it a dark and dingy feel. You can see Jack is looking towards the titles in the top right corner but you can denote from this that he is really looking at something much more important.

I have put in some quotes that I feel fit with what people would say about our film. You can see that I have also rated our short film a 15. We considered rating it an 18 but then we thought there are no scenes of anyone actually taking drugs, being murdered and only a few moments of swearing, then it should be a 15.

Ancillary Text - Magazine Review

Here is my second ancillary text that I have created for our production. It is a magazine review and front cover in the style of Empire magazine. I have kept the same theme for this ancillary as the poster but put the titles along the bottom of the page. To create the magazine review I used Microsoft Publisher and photoshop to create the previous images. For the review page I have used the same style information boxes as the real magazine would, using still images along the side of the review and the star rating in the bottom left corner. 

Evaluation Question 4

Evaluation Q4

Evaluation Question 2

Q2

Evaluation Question 1

Here is question 1 of my evaluation, I answered it in the style of a directors commentary.

Filming - Final Scene

The fifth and final scene is definitely the most important in our short film and we took the most amount of time filming this scene. It starts off with the main character Jack waking up as we have seen previously but this time it has a sense of urgency and does not mess around making toast. We see him walking through the urban areas of the city the soundscape of the city will be crucial here to make the viewer really feel like they are there.

 

 

We then see the character preparing himself in the pedestrian subway awaiting the arrival of the hitman. I felt this is the most powerful location we chose to film in as it really sets the scene for where a murder could take place.

 

Finally the story wraps up and in the final few shots you can really see why we have called our short film "Blood Ties".

 

 

 

The

Updated Foley Sound

As we have started editing the scenes we have filmed so far, we are starting to think of ideas that will make the post production of our short film run smoother. 

Because our short film is fairly long as has a lot of content, especially sound, we have come to the conclusion that the editing software we are using, Serif Movie Plus is not powerful enough to handle the large amount of media we are importing into it and as a result of this is taking a lot longer to edit. As you can see in the screenshot I have taken from the program above, there is a lot going on. 

Therefore we have decided to do things professionally and edit video and sound separately, we will edit all the film without any sound in serif. Then import the video in garageband. Garageband is a very good program for editing sound, the reason why we are using this other Logic Pro (What we used last year). Garageband allows me to import a video and edit the sound alongside it. It also has all the same editing tools we need to edit the sound to how we like. I have added a screenshot below so you can get an idea of what I mean. 

Filming - Fourth Scene

Scene 4 is short but very important in our short film. We started of at our friend Jack's house, which is where our two brothers live. The scene starts off at night with the older brother coming home from work. It is a lighthearted conversation that quickly gets turned on its head. For this conversation we used the shotgun microphone to record audio and we used a variety of shots that set the atmosphere between the two characters.




Then we see the younger brother braking down in his bedroom comtemplating the burden he has taken on. In this section we used different effects such as motion blur when he is drinking the wisky to give the viewer the feeling that they are in his shoes. The song in the background (Night Time - The XX) I feel sets the mood really well.  








Finally, the last section we went to a location with street lights (Upper Heyford) and got Jack to walk down the street holding the camera and stumbling around, this is a popular technique that we have seen used in a number of urban dramas.

Filming - Third Scene

The third scene of our short film is a very important section where one of the gang members asks Jason to kill the hitman. We chose the location for this carefully and thought that the side streets in Jericho was a nice location for this scene. We asked the help of our older friend Zach, who fits the character profile well and he was happy to help out, he also drives which allowed us to make this scene realistic.

We used a variety of different shots and had a good idea of using a time lapse at the start of the scene to create the feeling of time passing, then the shot slows down and the Jason walks into the shot. Finally we used a focus pull on the last shot of him walking away.

Filming - Second Scene

The other week we shot the second scene of our production. This scene is shorter than the first but it includes dialogue which meant we needed to bring more equipment. It was a morning scene so we arrived at our location as early as possible that day, our friend Jack Phelan (shortly featured in our AS Production) allowed us to use his house to shoot this scene in. We felt his house has a good appearance for the kind of location we needed for this scene. We followed our storyboard, capturing shots and spontaneous shot ideas until we got to the dialogue scene. This was a conversation between the younger brother jason and his older brother Michael and he is leaving for work. 

For the dialogue scene we have incorperated the use of our new shotgun microphone to pick up the conversation between the two characters in a high quality. Then in post production we will edit this dialogue in professional sound editing software. The day was very successful and we were happy with the shots, however we can across a couple problems, for example, in the dialogue scene Jason is watching a music video on the TV, and because it took us around half an hour to film the scene, the sounds and video from the TV changes in each shot, therefore in post production, we will have to add in the sound to make it consistant throughout the scene. 

Research Into Similar Products - London Heat

For our product research, Me, Dave and Andrew have decided to analyse a short film called "London Heat". We have done this to get a better understanding of different films and TV shows that fit in to the genre we have chosen. There are many suburban drama out there, as they are very popular. As we cannot analyse every one we have chosen a select few that really link in to ours very well.

 I really like the first few establishing shots shown on the left. They are very still and quiet and set the feeling for the estate it is set on. The tall metal fence gives a representation of being 'trapped. Maybe not physically but maybe trapped in a cycle of crime or other struggles a youth might face in an urban area. This is enhanced by the shot of the security camera which suggests an always over looking power that the people on the estate cant escape, adding to the trapped feeling. The stillness and calmness is contrasted with the diegetic sound of the radio talking about the London riots, where the audience would picture carnage. I would like to incorporate these still opening shots into our production as it gives a sense of calm before the storm or could be interpreted deeper to suggest death or struggles of youth culture. 

Another technique that I thought was effective was the use of blur on the character Malcolm seen at 15:11 on the video. This give a surreal atmosphere to the scene as it blurs in and out of focus before focusing in on the character. I think this is effective because it is a good transition into the next scene.

Research Into Similar Products - Kidulthood

 Kidulthood is an urban youth drama set in South London. We watched this film and ones similar to it to look for conventions and see how the directors have used mise-en-scene, casting, language, shots, editing techniques, colour treatments, soundtracks and more. We notices that all the main characters were aged 15-21. This is a very stereotyped age group, especially in urban areas such as London. This is the same age range that we were going to base our main character on. They are stereotyped in the way that the speak, dress and act. They are portrayed as reckless delinquents with no care, this is shown by activities they do such as robbing, fighting, doing drugs, partying and more. These are all conventions and representations of the bad side of youth culture seen in all media
including newspapers and TV.

 The language they use is very specific to the social group they come from. Gang culture in cities in England use a lot of slang like 'blud', 'safe', 'yo', 'bredrin' etc. This is very typical and an audience can instantly associate these people with gang culture by the way the speak. This is a convention we will have to use in order to portray our characters realistically and believably. Another association made is by the clothes they wear. Most usually tracksuits, trainers and hats convey an urban youth, sporting brands such as Nike and Adidas. However, they are also seen wearing jeans and hoodies.

Youth urban dramas, or most programmes and films aimed at younger audiences almost always contain the same or similar themes and issues. These include violence, drugs, bullying, pregnancy, sex, partie and crime. Kidulthood doesn't fall short on any of these, but as we are doing a short film, we will have to pick a few of these themes and concentrate on them.

Research Into Similar Products - My Brother The Devil

My Brother The Devil is a British urban youth drama set in Hackney. The story follows two teenage brother's struggles growing up in East London and face conventional issues of media aimed at a young audiences including voilence, drugs, money, sexuality, gang rivalry and stealing. The older brother has made mistakes and wants to keep his brother away from gang culture and drug dealing. The older brother wants to make enough moeny to move his family out of Hackney and send his younger brother to collage as he has a bright future. The brothers are clearly very close, we see this from they way they talk to each other and act around each other at the start of the film (picture below) so right from the start the audience feels a stong emotional attachment between the two.

 

I think the film depicts the sensitive issues effectively and portrays life in Londons gang cultures realisticly, however, slightly exaggerated for dramatic effect. At first we are deceived into beleiving it's a familiar street-gang story of bonds broken by crime because of all the conventional features of urban youth dramas such as the slang, and in the first scene where the young brother gets mugged by a rival gang. However, there is a big twist about half way through the film, where it turns out the older brother, who was homophobic at first, comes out to be gay. This adds a fresh layer to conventional urban dramas that explores masculinity, cultural roots and beliefs about sexuality. I think the underlying message of this film is to be who you are no matter what. It was very hard for Rash (the older brother) to realise he was gay when he was caught up in the masculinity and pressures of a street gang.

 

 

This is similar to the plot of our short film as are two main characters are the older brother, Michael and younger brother, Jason. Michael is a hard worker who wants to keep his brother out of trouble and off the streets. Similar to how Rash looks over his younger brother Mo. We can take away a lot from this film about the relationship between the two brothers through high and low times. The film gets across the importance of a close relationship in these urban areas and this is something we want to portray. However, we wanted to go against the classic conventions by having the brothers living on their own without their parents. This gives a different twist to the film and puts the older brother in a position of more responsibility. We will also have conventions of urban youth dramas such as slang, drugs, guns and crime so that it appeals to a younger generation which is our target audience.

Filming - First Scene

 On the weekend we took advantage of our time and started shooting our first scene. It was an indoor scene at night so we didn't have to worry about weather and continuity. The first shots were filmed in my garage which we cleared out and set up to look like a hit mans lair. We used a work bench to line up props such as guns, ammunition, gas mask, a motorcycle helmet, tools etc. Because it was night time, we used a lamp behind the camera to give an appropriate dim ambient light to the scene. This was effective as you can see the hit mans shadow on the brick wall as he gears up. We took multiple shots of him getting ready so we could edit them together in a montage style.

 The next set of shots was filmed in my living room. Again we cleared it out and added our own props to make it look like a drug dealers pad. We have bottles of alcohol on the table as well as weighing scales, (fake) cocaine blocks, a gun, money etc. We think the props were important because our location setting wasn't ideal so we had to make it as realistic as possible using props. We got a variety of shots, ranging from extreme close ups to mid-long shots. We also used techniques such as quick cuts to build up tension towards the end of the scene where the drug dealer gets murdered.

 The kit we used for this was a Cannon EOS 550D camera which allowed us to with lenses for different shots and use the manual focus to blur in and out some shots as we have seen this used effectively in our product research. We also had a tripod for still shots so the camera was stable and the quality of the shot was good. 

There is also driving shots in our first scene. I cannot drive Dave's car therefore he had to drive and we dressed him up as the hitman, and I filmed the car shots. 

Script

Here is a screenshot of our final script. the script is a very important piece of the production as it is the dialogue that sets and tells the story. It is also important that we get the language right to portray a convincing light on the characters. As it is an youth urban drama, there is use of slang and terms known amongst youths on the streets such as 'yo', 'feds', 'gear' and 'on that' etc. This is something we picked up on from our research into similar products and is a common convention of urban films. The script is also important as it speeds up the process during filming days as it is all pre-written so the actors just have to look at each line before we take the shot and repeat it.

BFI Visit

Yesterday we went to visit the British Film Institution. This time the trip was based around Youth, Media and Collective Identity, as opposed to last time the day was based around our opening sequences. The was hosted by Mathew Hall and he started of with a presentation on "Cunstructing the Teenager". He was explaining different character in different TV shows that we all watch and asking why they are relatable for young people. Some ideas were that we all know someone like that or have experienced someone similar.

Then Matthew did a presentation on Youth Culture in British Film. He showed us different clips from films from a selection of youth culture films such as "Rebel Without A Cause" and "Quadrophenia". He gave us a couple of theorists to look up and link their theories to collective Identity.

The first theorist was Jacques Lacan. This was his theory;

"Lacan proposes that human infants pass through a stage in which an external image of the body (reflected in a mirror, or represented to the infant through the mother or primary caregiver) produces a psychic response that gives rise to the mental representation of an "I". The infant identifies with the image, which serves as a gestalt of the infant's emerging perceptions of selfhood, but because the image of a unified body does not correspond with the underdeveloped infant's physical vulnerability and weakness."

This theory explains that a child begins to develop their identity whey are intelligent to look into a mirror and recognise themselves. This backs up the idea of collective identity because as soon as a child is able to realise they have an identity then they want to be part of something and dont want to be the same as everyone else. Lacan was not a media theorist but the mirror theory is used widely by the media to construct collective identity.


After lunch we then watched a film called "My Brother The Devil" and after one of the producers Julia Godzinskaya came in so the audience could ask her questions.

I thought the film was a very good youth culture representation about two teenage brothers who must face their own prejudices head on if they are to survive the perils of being British Arabs growing up on the streets of gangland London. It touches on alot of issues including homosexuality. It was a very controversial moment when the main character turns out to be gay. This is why I think the film was very good because it touches on every topic that most suburban london gang films do but it was unexpected to touch on these other issues.

Watching this film especially helpful for myself, Dave and Andrew, because it is a suburban drama similar to the short film we are creating.

Overall I feel the day was very helpful and it was nice to visit the BFI again this year.

Location

After storyboarding our production, we began to look in to locations where we could film. The first scene would be an indoor space with brick walls and low lighting for the hit man’s lock up. We needed a desk or area where we could put props such as guns, magazines, masks etc. We thought a garage would be appropriate for this because it would have brick walls and a work bench for the props.

We would also need an indoor living room area with a TV, sofa, table and speakers etc. This would be for the drug dealers flat where the shooting would take place. We thought a room dave's house would be suitable for this as it had all the props we needed. However, the image on the left gives off a good impression of what his house is like, with a sofa along the back with speakers and a  tv infront with a coffee table in the middle.

One production I found that used their location effectiveley is a students short film called 'Street Life'. The use of this bridge underpassage gives of an urban, gritty feeling and is a goodway of setting the location. We are thinking of using a location similar to this for a scene later on in our production and there are many located near us in Oxford and Headington.

Storyboarding

 We have now got to the stage of storyboard and planning our shots for the first scene of our short film. The scene will involve the killing of a drug dealer by the hit man. We use lots of quick cut shots to build up a tense atmosphere and a sense of action. We have tried to be more creative and dynamic without shots and camera movement since our first opening scene production, incorporating some bird’s eye view shots, shots following the movement of the character, focus pulls, silhouettes, extreme close ups, tracking, panning and more. We hope to think that we have a wide variety of shots that will keep the first scene interesting, different and dynamic. A couple of improvements we could make to our storyboard is to add more detail in the pictures to give a better understanding of the shot because at the moment they are very basic and would be hard to interpret by anyone who wasn't there when we were initially planning and drawing it up. Another improvement would be to add the duration of the shot to give us a better understanding of timing throughout our short film so we can manage it. Below are some photos of our storyboard for the first scene. Below are screenshots of our storyboard for our first scene, the pictures are fairly small but you get the idea.