Question 7!

We did encounter lots of problems with our film, starting off with timing and organisation. We only had the opportunity to film on one day for a couple of hours, not leaving us enough time to get the job properly done, and left us with only half the amount of shots that we were supposed to be. A lot of the camera shots were shaky and the wrong way around, causing lots of problems in the editing and the continuity of the whole thing, leaving us with a few jump cuts and shorter clips that what was intended, if I were to do this task again I would strongly consider changing some shots so we could use a tripod instead of holding it in our hands, making the shots a lot more steady, and I would also concentrate on allowing more time for us to actually complete the task.

To attempt to make this situation better I added in a lot of transitions and effects, such as the 'peephole' effect and simply fading in and out, making the whole thing run smoother and look more realistic than if I were to simply leave it as shaky jump-cuts. We didn't break the 180 degree rule, though I noticed a continuity error in that it cuts between two different areas in the chase scene, something I would aim to change if I had the opportunity to repeat myself. I think our shot reverse shot was effective in that when Dan aimed his gun at Tom and we got a reaction shot, we didn't break the 180 degree rule and it showed what the characters were feeling.

The match on action shot we included was when Dan cocked his gun. I also added a slow motion effect in to make the shot more obvious, as well as to add tension, which I think worked really well.

I know that if I were to repeat myself, I would add more of a diversity of shots as well as make the editing smoother and a lot more fast paced, as the soundtrack often overtook what was actually going on in the film.

Question 6!

The first piece of technology I used was of course a digital camera, though we had difficulties with the quality, and keeping a steady hand, leaving us with some unusable shots and some that were filmed the complete wrong way round, leaving us to rotate them and leave them in even more poorer quality.

Garage band was used to produce the film's soundtracks, which was a simple and easy thing to do, and I learnt that I would definitely use it again.

The editing software we used was iMovie, which did encounter some problems, such as not being able to rotate clips, and not being able to add effects to them fully, because of the poor film quality and the lack of diversity of effects their actually were. We ended up using another version of iMovie purely just to rotate one clip, which was a hassle to our timing and to our end result, leaving that shot somewhat squashed and not nonprofessional looking.

Evaluation question 2!

The first character representation is the 'hero'. He was always in the center of the shots and had the largest weapon, serving as a massive phallic symbol. He was the main character of our plot and similar to most lead characters in action films, as he was always the center of attention and did all of the 'heroic' acts, in this case rescuing a small child from evil clutches etc.

The second character we represent in regards to 'Propp's Theory' is the 'sidekick'. We always showed him either in the background or to the left of the hero, so he is always in shot, but off camera. His gun was smaller than the main hero's, showing that the 'bigger' man is the more important, and the sidekick sticks to the background.

Question five!

Target Audience (Question 4)

This is my target audience dude. He is an American, eighties throwback. He still wears his old leather jacket and big gold belt buckle. His favorite TV programme was Starsky and Hutch and he still listens to his old 80s rock records on his record player. He prefers to shop at little independent record shops as opposed to high street stores. He has kids and is married and is pretty much a typical middle aged man who likes to re-live his youth.

Evaluation Question 3!

We decided that our film was more than likely to be distributed by Warner Bros, as Starsky and Hutch was also distributed by them. Our production company was to be Red Hour productions, as they produce a lot of comedy and action films, and looked into using the same budget and locations as us, as well as costume. The distribution company being the ones that actually, physically sell the film and the Production being the creators. I have only included the actors name's in order of appearance, to show that they are the main characters, and not to confuse viewers with minor roles. The production company would sort out the private investors.

Evaluation!

Our film was a throwback to the 80s action films, like 'the Expendables' and 'Starsky and Hutch'. We decided to follow the American 'cop' film closer, and attempt to re-create our own. We named our film 'The Retro Rejects', to add a slight hint of comedy, but also to make it clear when the film was set. The setting was a rather urban area, with cars and buildings, as we wanted to almost imitate a city where a film like this would have been set. E.g New York, etc...

The female role was indicated by her character being a bit withdrawn from the action, she wasn't very upfront or diving into the action headfirst herself, she acted more like a chauffeur for the two males. Dan's character was a typical male lead, with the big guns and the suit. He was to represent the typical action film role of the Hero, racing in to save the day and killing all the bad guys.

His sidekick, Tim, was represented as a much more shady character. He doesn't speak at all throughout the whole film, but is there at the beginning and end, as a support to the hero. Obviously if I were to create the whole film he would have a bigger role, but because it was just the first two minutes, we used him only to establish that he was the sidekick. He has a cigarette in his mouth, a typical male hobby for the time it was set.

As you can see from the above screenshot, Dan's character is in the middle, as the center of attention. My character is on the right hand side, out of view, as a female role is considered 'lesser' than that of the hero. Tim's character's face is never clearly in view, and is always concealed in shadows to give him that mysterious feel.

I used two special effects throughout the entirety of the film. One was when Dan was cocking the gun, and another was the 'peephole' effect, to give the watcher a voyeuristic view, as well as show that the 'cops' are also watching the two.

The gun scene was a slow motion version of Dan shooting the gun, this was to add tension as well as draw attention the the 'phallic' symbol that the gun represents.

Commando Textual Analysis

Commando was filmed in 1985, which is suitable to our film choice as we are also setting ours in the 80s. In the first couple of scenes, we see a lot of the basic conventions of Action films. The big guns, the element of surprise and the huge explosions and flashy cars, which lets us know what the film genre is.

This is then contrasted when we are first introduced to the main character. (Matrix/Arnie)

We believe that when the cleverly planned shot of someone's reflection in his axe, that it is immediately a bad guy but later discover it's his daughter, Jenny.

This is then followed by a montage of all the loving things that a father and daughter do together, which contrasts with action altogether and begins to make us believe it is a nice family film, even though we have already seen the first killings, and that Arnold is a generic action character.

The mis en scene includes Arnold dressed in a very tight vest showing his sexy abs and butch frame.

To be continued

Film Production and props.

February 15th : We began our filming today and got 3/4s of the scenes finished. It was raining, though we decided this would be good for mise en scene and dramatic tension.

Red Hour Productions & Warner Bros

Our film is likely to be produced by Red Hour Productions, who have made films like Starsky and Hutch and Tropic Thunder. The company that distributes Red Hour Production's Films is called Warner Bros, which is also a major company in the film industry.

Red Hour Productions spent $60 million on the Film's production (budget) and amassed a total profit of $170,268,750.

Script :)

Script:

1A

[In car: Engine is running: Lara at the driver seat: Tim in the passenger seat]

*Dan approaches car: Opens door and rides in: he holds a mugshot print in his hand of one of the druggies*

*Lara starts driving off*

1B

*Tim has an unlit cigarette in his mouth: Starts flicking the radio station and settles on one that plays the audio track Lara made on Garage Band*

*As Lara is driving off, Dan shows Tim the mugshot*

-Tim and Dan nod in agreement-

1C

Dan: Pull over there.

*Lara skid-stops*

[Fairly sketchy location: Quite urban and secluded]

2A

[Scene now moves to the lane adjacent to Lara’s home in Pucklechurch. Camera is looking at Tim’s back, over the car]

*Tim appears to pulling his zip up after having finished “having a slash”*

*Dan is standing on the other side of the car to Tim, by the back door, closer to the camera*

*Lara turns off the car engine and comes out of the car, slams the door behind her*

[Camera close up on Tim]

*Tim is about to light the cigarette but he is interrupted by Dan*

[Camera close up on Dan]

Dan: Check this out

[Camera close up on Lara]

Lara: Wha~

[Camera close up on Tim]

-Tim raises an eyebrow-

[Camera is now walking away with Tim, towards Dan, so all characters are now aligned in a row, this is one out of three scenes where we can apply the 180 degree rule]

2B

[Camera is now over Dan’s shoulder, With Lara in the frame, and Tim in the background shown barely interested. The camera is pointing towards the mugshot printout from over Dan’s shoulder]

Dan: Look over there.

*Dan points towards two people in the distance, one of them is the guy in the mugshot printout*

[Camera shifts over to over Lara’s shoulder, pointing towards the mugshot with Dan in the fram]

Lara: Let’s do it.

2C

[Screen blacks out as the camera is now shifted into the back boot of the car. As Lara opens it up, the three characters are now in the frame]

-Lara smirks-

Lara: See anything you like?

*Dan reaches to grab a revolver; he then holds it up, opens the barrel and knocks it back in*

Dan: I love my job.

*Lara grabs a snub nosed revolver and conceals it. She then gets a jacket out of the trunk and wears it*

*Tim grabs a gun and holds it up to eye level and holds it there as Lara interrupts*

Lara: Stick to the plan.

*Tim and Dan conceal their guns and start walking away*

*Lara shuts the trunk*

3A

[Camera is now moving sideways with Lara, walking down the lane, as she’s walking, we can see a hippy band in the background playing in sync with the music, so that’s a guitar, a bass and some drums. For this scene, I suggest a slightly tilted angle]

-Lara is looking shady with her jacket on as she’s walking-

*Kira is standing by the hippy band, with her knee bend supported on the wall wearing J. Lennon glasses. Kira slightly drops the glasses and looks at Lara with disapproval/disgust as she’s walking by. In my suggestion, we have a closeup on Kira doing so in order to emphasise her stance towards Lara, with the band playing within the frame. This is where we can have our manual focus shot*

*Lara finally approaches the 2 men*

[Music is still playing with a longshot from the encounter so audience can’t hear what’s being said in the encounter]

*Lara appears to be talking to the guys at this point in a pacifist manner. The idea here to show Lara going undercover attempting to purchase drugs from the shady characters*

*One of the characters extends their arm towards Lara to show that Lara has succeeded in convincing the seller*

*Lara very sharply whips her gun out*

[This is when the music should stop]

3B

[Camera is now is in about medium shot-distance: Showing all three characters from the waist and above in order to emphasise the conversation between them. The characters now shift from a triangle position into a position where Lara is on one side and the two other characters are on the other, emphasising the encounter’s hostility. The camera work at this point must be handheld and very shifty in order to stress the magnitude of the situation]

Lara: Hands over your heads. On your knees.

*The two dealers very sharply do as Lara says*

Scott: (As he’s complying to Lara) Shit man, I told you she’s a copper! Listen, I’ve got nothing to do with this, alright?

Charlie: (Interrupting Scott) Shut, Shut up man! Just shut it.

Scott: Honestly, I have nothing to do with this!

Lara: Fine then, what are you still doing here.

Scott: Wha~

Lara: Go.

*Scott starts running backwards and away, as he gets a bit further away, he turns around and starts jogging down the lane*

[Camera pans back from Scott onto Charlie]

*Charlie is trying to be sly, standing on one leg, prepared to run away*

*Lara points the gun back at Charlie, sharply*

Lara: DON’T move a muscle or I promise the last thing going through your head will be my lead.

*Charlie rests back on both of his knees*

-Charlie is restless-

-Lara smirks-

*Lara pulls out handcuffs*

Charlie: Oh no, c’mon you don’t have to do this.

*Lara goes behind Charlie and applies the handcuffs*

Charlie: Please! C’mon!

Lara: Stand up. Get moving.

*Charlie complies*

4A

[Scene is now back to 2C, in the trunk]

*Lara opens the boot*

Charlie: What?

*Lara orienteers Charlie with the gun’s muzzle assigning him to get inside*

Charlie: Nu-Uh. No way.

*Lara point the gun at Charlie’s head and pulls the gun hammer-lock back*

Charlie: Alright! Alright! Women.

[Camera shifts to the front of the car, observing the characters]

Lara: Good boy.

*Charlie ducks down and Lara shut the trunk*

*Lara conceals the gun and walks towards the car door, gets in and ignites the engine*

[Camera is moves to the left back corner of the car]

*Lara drives away*

5A

[In this scene, Dan and Tim are leaning on to something. This is a stake-out. The camera is looking at Dan and Tim’s backs]

*Tim has the unlit cigarette in his mouth*

[Silence for a few seconds]

-Dan is uncomfortable-

*Dan attempts to make a conversation with Tim*

Dan: Saw the game last night?

*Tim turns his head, looks at Dan, and then goes back to the starting posture*

Dan: Yeah, It was a good game. I won 300 quid from it.

[Few more seconds of silence]

Dan: Those shoes are really uncomfortable…

[Few more second of silence]

[Camera shifts to Tim’s side]

*Tim is about to light his cigarette, but he is interrupted*

[Camera focuses on Dan in the background]

Dan: They’re here.

[Camera is now at the back of Tim and Dan again, but this time, it has a longer sight and we can see Scott who ran away earlier knocking on one of the house doors]

Dan: Let’s go.

*Tim puts the lighter back in his pocket*

*Dan and Tim start walking towards the door. The door opens. Scott talks to Sam. Dan and Tim continue approaching. At this point, the music comes back on to emphasise tension building up. As Tim and Dan get close enough, Scott and Sam notice them. Dan and Tim start running. Tim goes after Scott. Sam tries to go back in the house and shut the door, but Dan gets there in time and he force opens it.*

6A

*Dan just pushed the door*

*Sam starts running to the back*

*Dan follows him*

*Sam heads upstairs*

*Dan follows him*

[At the top of the stairs, in this scene we apply the 180 degree rule and Shot-Reverse-Shot]

-Dan is stunned-

*Dan aims his gun very directly at Sam

*Tally is tied to a chair*

*Sam is standing behind Tally, holding a gun or a knife to Tally’s head/neck*

Sam: Back off, or say goodbye to the kid.

Dan: Don’t make me do this.

Sam: I said back off!

-Sam is in deep tension, we can see him shaking-

Dan: Put that motherfucking gun down, boy. You ain’t worth my bullets.

*Sam pulls the hammer back*

*Dan shoots Sam in the head* [This portion should be shot twice. Once with the camera between Sam and Dan, and it pans from Dan to Sam and another directly from Dan’s shoulder. This is to allow us to create two different shooting scenes to pick the one of the better quality]

6B

[High angle shot to show Dan in a heroic manner]

*Dan walks out of the house, with Tally in his arms*

7A

*Tim runs into a warehouse-like place whilst holding a gun, he then looks around for Scott*

*Tim is breathing heavily- turns around looking towards the entrance*

*Scott jumps in trying to slash Tim with a knife*

*Tim counter-attacks Scott-knocking the knife out of his hand, but also losing the gun meanwhile*

*Scott gets a gun out and runs behind an object*

*Tim very rapidly takes the gun off the ground and runs behind another object*

*Scott comes out and tries shooting at Tim – 6 times. And misses*

*Scott goes back behind the object and tries to reload*

*Tim heard the barrel opening click, and runs right up to Scott, looks at him in the eye and shoots him in the head*

8A

[The camera is at the back of Dan whilst he’s carrying the child]

*Tim walks into the frame and stands next to him*

*Tim lights up the cigarette, finally and inhales*

Dan: Turn that shit off. Can’t you see I’ve got a kid here.

-Tim is looking at Dan with calm anger-

*Tim throws the cigarette away*

[Car comes in and parks infront of Dan and Tim]

[Car is playing the same music]

*Dan and Tim go in the car*

[Car drives off]

8B

[In the car]

*Tally looks at Dan in the back seat*

Tally: I need a wee.

*Tim puts another unlit cigarette in his mouth, and reaches towards the radio and turns the music off*

Credits to Tim. :)