The opening sequence of a social relist drama, depicting four adolescences, the opeining sequence imposines the idea of a objective in the film, spoken in the voice over “we ain’t gonna be here for long”. Its shows their life in a grimy, realistic way as they try to scrape a living and survive in an urban jungle.Throughout the role of the project I undertook the role of being the Cinematographer. Throughout the project we wanted to develop a bond between the four individuals established in the short film; Duds, Trigg, Mick and Johnny, through the imagery and set location we wanted to present the idea that they had chosen to be together through circumstance not due to friendship. This was established by framing the characters and incorporating the location into their lifestyle. Most noticeable in the tunnel scene, this shot shows the group, placed in a clear order, in a aggressive way. Once again enforced by the location, the scope as well shows them to be distance from each other. In addition as each character is lit up by sunlight as they leave the tunnel, it enforces the hierarchal theme.
The genre was chosen as it is the most suited to our original idea, and the surrounding area was perfect. And on a personal level it was one of our group’s favourite genres. The genre was developed through the sequence, showcases real people in a very real environment, in addition the costumes were not particularly flash and were more suited to the working class which are most prominent in that particular genre. Ideas for costumes where taken from a variety of British cult cinema; This is England (Shane Medows, 2004), the iconic dress sense; checked shirts; dark jeans where interpreted into are film, furthermore films like Kidulthood (Menhaj Juda 2006) influenced the misc-en-scene.
The cinematographer had to be adapted throughout the filming most noticeably because of the location, having to adapt camera angles and movement patters to suit the set location. Also the research that accompanied the production, featured several short clips of fight and movement scenes that were incorporated into the final idea. Most noticeable the application of the high and back camera angle featured in the toilet scene, used in The Bourne Ultimatum (2007), elements of this scene were incorporated into are sequence. Filming time and locations were also modified, originally the film was going to be shot in Cambridge. Due to light fading some scenes had to be shot in the dark, this actually benefitted the idea that what the individual is doing is wrong. Due to the large amounts of feedback, this has benefitted the overall production of the film. Furthermore another complication to filming, was I had play the role of Duds, disabling me to see what the shot actually looks like, from the camera perspective, thus making it very hard to change angles, and camera movement positions whilst recording, being completely depended on another person no in that particular shot to take control of the camera. Furthermore the story board had to be modified to fit with location and the resources we had. Originally a shot of Trigg being racist towards a foreign shop keeper was going to be included however we were denied access to film in that particular shop, largely influenced by a very similar scene in This is England (Shane Medows, 2004), a short video has been added to present the idea. The story board also had to be shortened to fit in with the production that of two minutes.
The short youtube video, showcases where influences on the misc-en-scenecame from.
The picture above, shows the camera angle, used and modified into our production.
Successes throughout the sequence were, most noticeable, the sound. The sound track including the voice over and music theme were praised as being fitting with the genre and the accompanying macro elements; editing, art direction and cinematography. The plus parts on the cinematography where that the framing enforced the group bond, having the group together and using muted non-diegetic sound, shows the viewer a unheard conversation, building tension and added depth to the individuals. Subsequently the camera work in fitted with the location and genre, example of this being the head high and wide camera shot, often showing the location and characters in a wide, barren way. However there were some bad points. One being the actual picture was not bright enough during the shot with Tirgg spray painting and therefore you couldn’t see what was happening. This was easily rectified by increasing the brightness and contrast of the shot. There were also some shots that were unnecessary long and once edited down wouldn’t actually effect the overall production, one main shot being the shot were Duds is kicking the guy in the toilet, the kicking could be edited down and would keep the tempo up, as it was in the beginning of the film. However there has been some limitations due to technical skill, examples of these being not having the ability to create a tracking shot, that would be level and follow the group as they walked, much like in the opening sequence of Reservoir Dogs (1992). Overall the sequence has been good.
The sequence of are film, is the opening shot of a social relist drama. Social relist drama, is a portrayal of real life, with all its difficulties, realistic locations and characters. The stories and people portrayed are everyday characters, usually from working class backgrounds. The genre also encapsulates the life of the location, race or beliefs of the characters throughout the film. It also reflects predominantly on the class system, using locations, accents and dress sense used predominantly by the working class.Other social relist dramas of the modern age are television programmes such as “Skins” (2007). Are sequence will fit in with the genre because of the locations, the customs, the acting, the editing and the cinematography. My role is that of the cinematographer, I hope to film in a way that will make the sequence seem almost simple, raw and harsh. The framing and filming techniques that are typical in the genre are often character building and really build up the character into a believable person you can empathises with. Featuring close ups and single shots of the character portraying the individuals thoughts and feelings. Throughout the genre the camera is almost made to feel like another person, showcasing the raw and sometimes funny and loveable life of a select bunch of adolescences. I hope to achieve this via our two minute sequence. The camera shots will range from long shots containing all the characters, to single shots showing only one or two characters. I will also try and include the camera as much as possible, making the camera shots either point of view or in the centre of the action, trying to include the person watching it as much as possible. Hopefully the camera work will benefit the editing, art direction and sound track as much as possible.
Haverhill: This is our most likely choice of location as it has lots of easily accessible areas that would be useful for our scene, for example: . Council estates . Rural Areas (Fields, farms etc) . Most accessible
This is a disused railway station in Haverhill, this would be brilliant for our scene as it emphasizes that the characters live in a poor surrounding.
