2. Q1- What were the aims of your
artefact?
In my textual analysis I tried to compare the representation of
my two chosen films ‘The Business’ and ‘American Gangster’. I
did this through analysing a certain scene of both films,
similarities in the two films is power the two main characters
had over their workers, other gangs etc. power in gangster
films is a running theme therefore I chose power to be my
theme for my short film.
Before shooting my film I had an idea of what I wanted but
time and budget limited my imagination of explosions and
car chances to minimal…
My main character embracing the power he has is what I
wanted my film to include, I did this through a torture scene of
a business man to prove the power the main character has.
The back story to the end scene is important as it is a revenge
film and that is him taking his revenge. When editing my film I
wanted my own style with the inspiration of Quentin Tarantino,
his specific style in Reservoir Dogs was my main focus. I
believe I have shot my film in specific ways that the audience
will see the similarities between the two films. There are certain
props and character personality's similar in the two films.
3. Q2- What codes and conventions identified in the
TA were used in your film?
For specific micro feature I focused on a
particular film from my textual analysis, for the
cinematography I focused on American
Gangster, I preferred the different types of
shots and the use of the camera around
‘Frankie’ the main character. The
cinematography in American Gangster is
suitable for my film as there is a lot of dramatic
shots and extreme close-ups. These shots
influence my chosen genre as they are
convectional of crime films which contain
suspense and action. POV shots also helped as
they engage the audience to feel part of the
action
Cinematography
4. Mise en scene
American gangsters mise en scene is the film I took
inspiration from mainly because of the time period. The
late 90th centaury is when it was set and I decided to set
mine mid 90s. American gangster was around the same
time period as mine therefore it would be easier to use as
a reference to clothing, props etc. my props I used would
be seen in AG, petrol, candles, the mid 90’s fashion as
well as cigars. In my chosen contextual analysis films,
drugs is the narrative of both of them, the transport of
drugs or the distribution of it was an option for me, I could
not do either because of a time limit of 3 minutes.
The reason for not choosing the business is
because of the time period it was set, having
my characters and props the same as that film
it would not fit my time zone and ruin the
realism of the film.
5. Sound
I did not use much sound in my own film as it is only 3 minutes long but the sound I used was
hard to fit to my contextual analysis because most the songs would not fit what was
happening in my film.
Opera I used as my score in the last scene to emphasise the torture and distress of the film, I
used opera because of the power specific songs have and the message given across to
the audience, to make them feel unconfutable and on edge as the torture scene started.
In The Business contemporary music is included in some scenes but I feel like I worked with it
better in my film as in The Business I feel it was not powerful enough for what was
happening.
Diegetic sound is used when the character is telling the audience about his past and the
build up to his revenge. This built the story and introduced the extra that is the business man
being tortured so the audience know his reasons for doing so.
Synchronous sound was used in my candle scene as I used Arabic prayer music to give an
element of suspense and mystery to my character as he is sat in the dark with only candles
around him as a source of light. My choice of music in this scene really developed my shot
because it hints to the audience he is plotting something bad.
6. Editing
In both my textual analysis films the running
genre is crime and gangster therefore my film
genre will reflect the same. The Iconography of
editing in crime films is fast pace editing, close
ups, cross-cutting and action matches.
Therefore I reflected these in my own film with
the limitations I had. I focused on fast pace
editing as this brings up the tempo of the film to
build suspense towards the final scene. In The
Business the editing is quick cuts from
characters POV to a long shot of what is
happening in the whole shot so the audience
can understand their surroundings. Reflecting
this aspect in my own film so the audience get
a feel of the film and feel part of the action
with POV shots of the business man.
7. Q3- How were the planning materials used
in the construction of the artefact?
How did you approach your research and planning for the TA essay?
When first told about the textual analysis essay my film teacher for
that lesson gave us some tips to help us, her advice and guidance
was the most helpful part of my planning and preparation.
Watching my two chosen films at least 4 or 5 times to remember the
key scenes and quotes was the best piece of advice as I could
pause to make notes and revise from them.
IMDB was also helpful to find out facts and figures of the two films to
add into my TA for extra points. IMDB has tons of information about
the films I am analysing so I could find out dates of filming, budgets,
stars etc.
Learning about the main characters was also a good way to
research and find out the background of the characters. American
Gangster is based on a true story so researching the real Frank Lucas
will be very helpful.
8. Which piece of planning was most important / useful when
it came to the filming process?
All my planning came in handy and was
very helpful when it came to the filming
but the most helpful was my shot list. The
shot list helped out a lot on set when
filming certain shots and locations in
order, it also helped re jog my memory on
what I needed to film and how I wanted
to shoot it (day/night, shot angles etc.) I
believe if I did not compete this part of
the planning my film would of ended up
a lot less professional because of not
being able to remember how I wanted
the shot to look.
9. Do you wish you had done more planning?
The only piece of planning I have not competed is the edit
breakdown due to problems uploading my 1st and 2nd edit. With
some pieces of work such as my locations report I wish I went into
more detail for a few more marks on my planning section.
Reflecting on your planning, has your product turned out
differently from the one you had planned?
Originally I wanted more than an A level student can make happen, a large
cast and exotic locations.. Eventually when I realised that is not going to be
possible I decided to have a cast of just 2 and local locations for time and
budget reasons. If I had more time I would of added some more characters,
probably a female role to the disequilibrium. Also if we were allocated more
than 3 minutes max I would of developed the narrative to fit my whole script.
10. Screen shot your planning and highlight how it features in
YOUR film by putting stills of YOUR film next to them.
Genre classification- this helped
me decide on how I wanted my
characters to look like and act as
well as their personalities so the
audience can relate. This piece of
work helped me decide on my
location and narrative for my film, I
found that crime films always
contain city centres and smoky
side alleys. This piece of work
helped with my continuity and
time zone the most.
11. Mood boards and Micro Elements
• The mood boards I made were a summary of how I wanted
my settings and characters to look. After researching the
1930’s clothes and city design I found a continuous
relationship between the time period and the fashion
therefore I knew how to dress my actors for continuity and a
professional finish. After more research I found that in crime
films torture scenes are set in warehouses and apartments,
quiet locations.
12. Q4- How successful was the artefact in
achieving the aims?
a) With my coursework and TA there were deadlines every
couple of weeks for certain pieces of work and I met those
most of the time except large pieces of work that I wanted
to complete fully detailed to ensure full marks. My essay for
my contextual analysis was the main piece of work which
you got most the marks for therefore I spent a lot of time
working on that individual piece of work to boost my
grade. Whilst doing so I found that the two films I chose
were maybe not the best match for representing gangsters
as The Business was very different to American gangster.
Looking back now I feel that if I carried on searching for a
British gangster film with micro and macro features more
similar to AG I may have been able to write more and
discuss more similarities.
Did you achieve what you set out to do a) for your TA and b) for your film?
13. b) I enjoyed making the film and the editing more than the coursework
because I am more of a hands on practical person therefore filming was
my advantage overall. Even though film making was my favourite part
of the whole course, doesn’t mean I didn’t have obstacles to
overcome, time management was the hardest part as most of my film
was set at dusk (6-8), trying to make sure my cast was free at the same
time was difficult, the weekends were the easiest time, especially
Sundays because my cast were mostly free Sundays therefore the time
we had was precious.
The editing process was also a highlight of the course because I loved
watching everything come together and adding sounds/ scores as well
as making sure the continuity was perfect. I set myself a time limit for
each scene so I didn’t run out of time for the deadline and I kept up to
date as I found there was a lot less to edit than I originally thought.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f05V2PhAgEY
14. What would you do differently if you had a) another edit
AND b) the chance to start again completely
a) If I had another edit I think I would add some more cross cutting and fast
pace editing because they are conventional in crime films and I dint
think ive used them enough. Also I would add another character or two,
a female role would make my film better by adding some diversity for
the audience and a different role will make the film seem more real.
b) Starting over I would change the genre of film to something easier such
as horror because the conventions and macro features are easier to
discuss compared to gangster and crime. I filmed in a different era, the
30’s and it was a challenging task but I feel it worked well as it is hardly
done in our age level. Creating a film in present day will be a lot easier
and I think I could do more with the edits and settings as I had to be
careful of modern day technology etc. (stuff that would not be around
in the 30’s.
2 films I would of chosen if I were to make another film,
