Evaluation 6

Evaluation 6

In the process of making this film I have learnt a great deal about different technology. I have chosen to use a Canon EOS 700D. This camera is particularly effective because it shoots high quality footage and it’s small and portable. Its portability came in handy when carrying so much equipment, for shoots in hard to reach locations. In my preliminary task I did not experiment with any filters the way I did in the second film, as I felt underprepared. This is clearly seen as the lighting through the film does not change throughout. In Gidon I was slightly more experimental. This can be seen when my protagonist exits the house, where I used the settings to increase the contrast between the dimly lit indoors and the beaming sunlight outside.

The second piece of equipment was a shoulder mount. The shoulder mount came in extremely useful on one occasion in particular and that was when filming the tracking shot of Gidon leaving his home. When filming this scene, I was able to keep the camera completely stable while pacing to keep up with my actor. I also used it in the shot inside the car when Gidon speaks to Will. This was more difficult as I had limited space, however it turned out relatively well. I decided afterwards that it was also useful in stabilizing the camera in places where a tripod could not fit, therefore I used it from the inside of the car, to film Richmond park.

The next piece of equipment I decided to use was a tripod, being the most essential of the three. This is because the majority of my shots were still and a tripod was necessary. The particular tripod I used was really useful as I was able to choose the precise height and angle of each shot. At first I was unsure how to use it, as seen in my preliminary task where all of my shots were from the same position, but after learning how to utilise it properly it became my most important tool, giving me the ability to shoot from various angles, which I believe is my greatest improvement from my first piece.

My final piece of technology used to create Gidon was Adobe Premiere. The editing was the longest part of my filmmaking progress, as there was not as much footage as I would have liked in store. However, the editing was also what I felt most competent at. This may be due to my long hours figuring out how to work the different areas of Adobe premier, such as the exponential fade and the constant power.

Evaluatin 5

Evaluation 4

Target Audience

Gender
The target for this film in terms of gender would definitely be male. This is partly due to the protagonist being a male teenager, which allows men and boys to empathise with him. Also the film contains a lot of action and gore, which stereotypically appeals to men more than women and stereotypically women enjoy more emotional films. However this certainly does not mean there will be few female audience members, in fact I would expect it to be enjoyable to any gender as it is an intelligent film.


Race
As my film is based on a teenager with almost no money, living in a London council estate I think that people with a similar background could be drawn to the film, although I believe that others would also find the film interesting, seeing as it may be something new to them. Also English people would be more likely to be interested by it, as it is an A-classed film. This might mean that they could feel in some way obliged to watch it, as they may want to support their country.

Location
This film is meant to be set in a poor area of London (Croydon), and is meant to show the protagonists struggle when growing up. This makes the film relatable to m target audience. People from London may want to watch this film more than others as they may see many locations that only others living in London know of.

Age
My target age is around the ages of 18 to 25, as this is the age of both understanding the youth culture and the protagonists feelings as well as the age in which they can understand the more intellectual messages of the film. The protagonist is aged 17 so this target audience are also a very similar age.

Secondary Audience

My secondary audience is the middle aged man. This is because they are able to reminisce  about younger times when they could possibly have been getting up to the same sort of antics as these characters. The target would still be British as the film is fully based in London and there may be many references throughout that many nationalities may not fully understand. Being male is not essential, however some of the situations are more relable to teenage boys than girls.

Evaluation 3

Evaluation 2

Evaluation 2

The Protagonist of my film, Gidon, smokes cannabis in my opening sequence. This expresses my characters general carelessness and rebellious attitude, as he is casually breaking the law and disobeying the rules set for him. Many teenagers who are in his status and class smoke cannabis simply to go against rules and Gidon would fall into this category, as he clearly thrives off bad behaviour.

The film Kids directed by Larry Clarke is about a group of rebellious teens who roam New York breaking the law and causing mayhem. In this film, marijuana is hugely influential, as the teens both heavily use it and sell it. This is represented as a symbol of their freedom of any rules. Gidon is similar to the entire group in Kids, in a sense that he lives to disobey social rules and laws.

The character of Will is seen in the early stages as a relatively submissive character, however one to be constantly wary of. When Gidon first mentions his name he hesitates and calls him an 'associate' rather than a friend, but still goes to meet him. This suggests that although he is not enemies with Will, he is suspicious of him. This foreshadows that in some point of the film, Will could betray Gidon. We can also notice that in the only scene that we see his face in, his eyes are darkened, conveying how he is a shady character. He also allows Gidon to smoke the entire joint, meaning that while he is sober, he can propose his suggestion to the intoxicated Gidon.

In The Lord of the Rings, Brad Durif plays the character of Grima Wormtongue, who constantly backstabs characters through the series. He is similar to the character of Will, as they are both weak characters, who only care about their own wellbeing. In my opening, we can see the weaker side of Will but can only see a glimpse of his more decisive side, as he brings up cannabis in an attempt to lure Gidon into aiding him in the situation he's in. Grima persuades the possessed King Theodin into believing that his nephew, Eomer, has betrayed him. This shows their similar talent in speech and persuasion.

Evaluation 1

Evaluation 1

Title
I chose my title to not be integrated with the shots of the film opening, but to be placed in white in front of a black screen with the Garamond font, as I felt that it was a font that was simple enough so that it would not make the film seem like a wacky comedy, but was still slick, and had the feel of a more intense, dark movie, which suited the dark comedy genre of this particular film. It also gives a memorable shot of the title so that the audience can then relate the title to the film as the plot unfolds. I chose to name my film Gidon because the film is about my protagonist’s inner struggle more than being about the people around him. I took inspiration from the film Snatch, another dark comedy and a film I drew from, when trying to find a suitable title, and felt that titles that are punchy and short like this can grab the attention of an audience. 

Costumes and Props
When deciding on my protagonists costume, I initially decided that a beanie seemed appropriate. This is because the character of Gidon is meant to be rebellious, and beanies are stereotypically worn on scruffy, teenage delinquents. The first time we see Gidon he is wearing a casual jumper, yet he shivers in the cold having underprepared for the weather, demonstrating the disorganised characteristic he possesses. In his second scene he wears a t-shirt, as he is indoors. It also creates the feeling that the protagonist feels relaxed and calm. After being called by 'Will' he puts his jacket and beanie back on, the beanie (that hides his head) being a symbol of his hidden emotions and feelings.

Camera work and editing

I edited my opening sequence using Adobe Premiere, as I felt more comfortable using that than the two other applications available (Final cut and iMovie) The editing for my piece was particularly long and strenuous, as the continuity of the shots when put together was poor. This is due to the filming process, where I was constantly wary of the sun setting, therefore I was not able to retake as many shots as I would have liked to. This lead to me not being able to film an Ideal shot with no mistakes for every scene. As well as this, my actors could only film on very particular days, making it difficult to begin filming in the early hours of the day. This meant I spent hours working to try and find the perfect way to match clips. When filming, I decided I would not use the camera's microphone, as it would have picked up background noise and it is not as audible as an external voice recorder. I used an external microphone in my schools media lab, where there was no background noise. This meant that although I would have to spend more hours editing and syncing the voiceover with the videos, the film would sound more slick, and all background noise would be eliminated. However, even though I used voiceovers, I used a de-crackler so that I wouldn't have any rustling whatsoever.



When filming, I enjoyed using a shoulder mount, as it gave me the ability to film tracking shots which were far more steady than in films I have previously made. I also used close ups often, as I feel they're particularly useful when conveying a characters feelings, or in my case showing a characters lack in feelings. When editing I decided to change my films opening shot, as originally the opening shot was Gidon laying down on his bed, although the plot seemed unclear. Once I repositioned my shots, I found that the opening sequence made more sense and was more fluent than before. When I began creating the voiceover, I quickly noticed that my script was far too short. This meant that after the first draft was completed, I added a new voiceover, that gave the audience more information about the situation, and was less bland then it previously had been.

Story
The film begins with the protagonist, Gidon, sitting in the park when his friend asks him about the past week in which he hadn't seen any of his friends. To this, Gidon replies by telling the story of his week. He starts by saying how he killed his father, however, this is explained further on in the film. He then tells his friend how he was called by 'Will' who was willing to share drugs with him if he would return the favour by helping him out of some sort of difficult situation. Gidon finds out it is to go with him as extra 'muscle' in case he is attacked when executing a high value drug deal. Gidon accepts, although when they arrive he finds out that Will never had enough money to pay the full price, and he says that Gidon can be taken as collateral until he can come up with enough. Gidon is furious that he is forced to carry out menial tasks in his job in the criminal network and he decides that he's not putting up with it. Gidon begins to form his own sense of morality after watching the men around him torturing innocents and beating up strangers and after a day, Gidon decides to task himself with the suicide mission of killing the head of the agency. He mindlessly storms to the head of the agency office and stabs and kills the mastermind behind the company. He somehow manages to escape with his life, but is now on the run. He goes directly to Reece's, who decides to help Gidon escape, although when Reece breaks his arm when trying to escape, Gidon faces his pursuers, accepting his inevitable death. After death, Gidon was remembered as a hero, at least to those who knew him well.

How the opening sets up the plot

Gidon's monotone responses and rude attitude towards Reece at the very start of the film gives us an instant showing of Gidons personality at the start of the film. The camera is handheld, creating an edgy, jittery feeling, that matches the dark humour of the dialogue. I deliberately let the conversation run on past the initial cut to black, creating further disorientation, and adding emphasis to the line ‘you wouldn’t believe it if I told you’, which sets up an expectation in the viewer for what’s to come. Gidon remains sulky and seemingly depressed through the start of the film, but his sense of morality wavers throughout the film opening, foreshadowing to the audience how he is lost and confused, and is therefore easily influenced. I used four different angles of the actor lying on his bed. This also creates an unsettling feeling, stopping us relaxing into something familiar. This again matches the startling creepiness of what we are listening to. Gidons scene of watching a Nazi film is added to express how at the start of the film, Gidon is unaffected by the prospect of murder and cruelty. I chose to make the film being watched by Gidon a grainier stock, to heighten the contrast between the savage fight, and the oversaturated colours and calmness of the bedroom. This is further implied by his calm tone when telling Reece that he had killed his father. Gidon's hesitant reaction when bringing up Will's name tells the audience how he is not close friends with him and is not keen on meeting up with him. This foreshadows that Will's character is a villain or at least is disliked by the protagonist. Gidon at first speaks as though he doesn't want to be anything to do with Will, although at the mention of cannabis, he changes his mind, conveying the huge influence drugs or other material gains have over his decisions. Leading up to the final scene, I deliberately cut from black to the close-up of the joint being lit, to heighten the power and effect of that moment and ended it on a point of tension, where like the character, we want to know what comes next.

How the opening suggests Genre
The genre of my film is a dark comedy. This is suggested first in the opening sequence through the choice of music (an upbeat, pop-like tune), as although it could make the film deem like a comedy, the atmosphere throughout the opening clearly implies that there is a more intense feel to the film. At the start of the voiceover, Gidon tells Reece that he killed his step-father, however he speaks of it as if its nothing out of the ordinary. This is to express to the audience how death is not taken very seriously in the film and while there's dark events to the film, they're approached with subtle humour and the lightness of a comedy.

Audience Feedback

I showed two members of my class my first official draft, and asked them both questions to understand what was the best aspect of the film and what needed the most work. I also asked another couple of students for their general thoughts on the film.

Scott Dance -



Joe Wallace -



Jamie Lucas + Daniel Marchand

Final draft Gidon

Location

Location

I chose to film the majority of my opening sequence in Richmond park, as although at times it can be crowded, many spots are secluded and its unusual to find so much open and unspoilt space so close to a metropolis. Its also quite a diverse location as i was able to use both its wooded areas and mature trees, as well as its open spaces and copses.

I chose to film my indoor shots in the house of a friend, which seemed to me to be a generic, suburban, middle class house that accommodated the plot.