Editing Process

My group and started the editing process as soon as we had a few scenes. Cutting down long sequences from minutes to a few seconds. This helped us to recognise that we will have to film much more than we originally planned to. As part of the editing process we have started to add film porduction company annimations such as Film4 and Pathe. We had to research which film companies were British or had a good link with the British film industry.

My main role in this group was to Edit the trailer. I have deffinitly taken on an active role in making sure i do my best. To begin with I looked at the software which we are using, "Final Cut Studio". I played around with the features so that when it came to editing the film I was aware of how to do things without having to waste precious editing time.

The editing did not stop at the recorded sequences, there was also the task of syncing the music, voice overs and sound effects. Our group decided together what clips we liked and where we wanted them to go. I watched many trailers of a similar genre to look at the way they had editted and used transitions. I did not want to use silly transitions like "Flip", instead I wanted it to look more professional and realisitic so I used transitions such as "Fade" since it suits our trailer better.

The most difficult part of the editing process is deffinitly deciding which scenes go where, making sure that the events being shown and the music are in sync properly. It is not apropriate to show an action sequence with slow easy listening music, instead I have to make sure that it is dramatic.

The most effective part of the editing process is being able to cut out things from the scenes which we filmed and only keep the sequences we require rather than having 5 minutes of footage where the characters are running around I can cut it down to 30 seconds which is worth putting into the trailer.

Filming

My group and I finally finished filming all the components for our trailer. As part of this we had the task of filming a difficult 360° shot of a still frame in which the main character Darrel Brown is facing one of his enemies. Holding the camera still was a difficult task while moving around the actors, the camerawoman did a good job and although it did seem slightly shaky it only added more edge to the final sequence which we will speed up. We also filmed two other final scenes which lead up to this event. Darrel Brown, the main character, receives a call to which he swiftly runs to follow instructions. In this scene we used a mid shot and a close up of the actors face to see more emotion on his face. Next we will continue to edit the trailer.

During the entire filming process our group always found time to get together on weekends or weekdays and film whatever scenes we need, with a good plan on paper so that there are no confusions while on set. The most productive filming session was during an evening in which we filmed in a men’s changing rooms, a street corner, a library which we made out to be a job centre and a car park like warehouse in which we filmed a party scene.

The most difficult task during the filming process was making sure we had the correct locations and characters. Communication within the group and with the actors was vital. All the members of the group took turns in filming and directing, this was to make sure that everyone was happy with the end product.

Target Audience

My group and I have had a long discussion about who the target audience of our film will be. Being a more indie type of film we know that it is not going to be a mass audience like there is for Hollywood productions. Although we would like it to be a British independent film we do plan on using “Pathé” which is a French movie company. In terms of Gender, the ration for the audience will most likely be male at 60% and female at 40%. The fact that we are using violence and gang culture immediately makes the film suitable to men. The use of family drama then attracts some female audiences too. This shows that the genre is important in the type of audience we are trying to draw.

Age is another factor, we believe that our film trailer will be targeted for viewers aged 15 to 30. The rating of the film will most likely be 15 since it has aspects of violence and explicit language used. The violence however is kept to somewhat as minimum as possible.

Ethnicity wise the film will include both White and Black characters as well as South Asian characters. We want to be able to project the multi cultural environment in which we live in. However we understand very clearly that the Black characters may be seen as more violent due to existing stereotypes. We want to challenge this idea to the audience by showing that any of the other characters are capable of the same violence.

Filming!!! :)

My group and I have filmed most of the main scenes in our trailer. We only have a few things left to film after which we can move onto the editing stage of the film. Whilr shooting we did many shots from different angles and different locations including a graveyard, church, apartement and a park. We recognise that some of the material that we have will not make the final cut, however this is why it is important to get as much done as possible since that way we have more to work with. Sometimes while we were filming we came up with new ideas on the spot which we had originally not planned, e.g. we put our creativity into action when filming from a birds eye view of Birmingham city which we will fast forward to give the effect that the city is mooving quickly, we can u8se shots like this to fill in some gaps in the trailer and will be a good addition to the montage sequences.

All the members of the group had a go in using the camera equipment as each person gives a different outlook on the trailer, since this is a group task we want to convey our message from a group prospective so any ideas that anyone had were useful. Next we plan on finishing the filming and moving onto editing, this process may be lengthy so we plan on leaving as much time for it as possible.

Shot Types...

Here are some of the key shot types which we plan on using, they are not in order....


The wide shot will show the family all sitting at a table happy. This colourful shot will be compoared to the many shots which depict a totaly different life style.

An over the shoulder shot, the sister will be looking through her bedroom window at her brother who is leaving home.

Long shots of party scenes, maybe using tracking to make it more interesting. These shots are to show how the main character has moved on from being a nobody to a somebody in the eyes of his friends and people he knows his age.


Close up of drugs, He has changed from being the good person he used to be into someone who breaks the law.


A shot from below pointin upwards at the two characters at the graveyard.


A wide shot of police cars going passed with sirens on to add dramatic effects.

Music...

My group and i have decided that we want to use, rap and Hip-Hop type of music. This is the best type of music that will suit the genre of the film, which is drama and crime mostly. Below is one of the tracks we had in mind...

Basic Idea...

Young boy from Birmingham leaves home after having disagreements with parents. He soon falls prey to drug dealers and begins to deal on the streets.

Memories send him back home only to discover that his parents have died and his sister is in pieces after the parents tragic car accident. He tries to do things the right way and legally, but nothing seems to go right.

A film trailer portraying the hardships the teenage boy goes through and the price he pays for his actions.