The document provides details on the pre-production for a short film about knife crime. It includes choosing simple fonts for titles, selecting dark imagery to set the mood, developing two poster layout designs with one chosen for inspiration, creating storyboards for four scenes introducing the main character and revealing the antagonist, listing props, locations and contingency planning, and an 8-day production schedule.

1. Pre-Production
Alfie Pimblett

2. Style sheet
For the fonts I have chosen I want it to be simple
and clear. I do not want them to be over the top and
stylized, I feel that in a serious video about a topic
that could be sensitive to some viewers it is
important to respect the boundaries and to keep it
professional, I think a bold condensed font would be
perfect for the main movie logo. I would use these
fonts at the beginning of my short film for the
introduction titles, my main movie logo and my
credits.
The reason why I have chosen these images for my style sheet to help me with my production is
because I think these images styles are popular with young adults and teenagers. I will use these
images to help me with my final product by setting the mood of the movie. I feel knife crime is a dark
subject to mention yet alone make a film about so I thought that these photos could represent knife
crime in some way, for the photos with the male in the hoodie I thought could potentially be a gang
member, this helps me think of how I want my characters to look and what they should wear and act
like. I also think that the colour scheme could be really useful to adopt into my short film, a dark and
eerie style.

3. Layout 1
LIVING ON THE EDGE
COMING SOON
In this layout I chose not to copy for
my final movie poster, the reason I
chose not to was simply because I
don’t think it would look how I want
it to, I feel that this style of poster
would have been too bright and I
wanted to go for a more darker
approach on my movie poster.

4. Layout 2 LIVING ON THE EDGE
COMING SOON
For this layout I wanted to have a
man who is walking away into the
distance away from a body on the
ground, I want this to remain a
mystery on what happened to the
man on the ground and who both
the characters are
For my final movie poster this is
the layout I am choosing to take
inspiration from and to make this
look even better.

5. Story Boards
In the first scene of my short film I want to have the main character introduced, the approach I took for
introducing him was him in his bedroom worrying about something, the character does not show what he
is worried about but it gives the audience an Idea that it is not about anything good. The scene begins with
a shot of a rain window, we then see him sat on his bed then him moving towards the mirror looking
frustrated.
In the second scene we see the main character be confronted about his suspicious behaviour by a care
worker, we learn that the main character has been going through a tough life because we learn that he is in
care. The scene starts with the main character choosing to take a knife away with him, we then see the
care worker approach him and give him some friendly advice about reaching out for help. The scene ends
with the main character walking away not taking any notice of what he has been told.

6. Story Boards
In this scene the main antagonist is revealed, we learn that the main character is in danger by a
heated phone call exchange between the two, the main character is left looking worried and the
villain is frustrated that he is taking too long to meet him. The scene starts with a phone call between
the two and finishes with the main character walking away with a worried look.
For the final scene of my film we see that the two characters come face to face, they both have a
heated argument which leads to the throwing punches. The scene starts with the main character
walking towards the gang leader, they exchange words, the main character punches the gang leader
and then the rest of the gang take the main character to the ground leaving him to be injured by his
own knife.

7. Props & Locations
Props/Costume needed Locations needed
Prop Knife, Fake Blood (if necessary) for
injury's from the knives.
Bedroom – scene 1
Lighting equipment – Soft Box Light – for
extra good lighting if dark in the area.
Kitchen – scene 2
DSLR Video Camera, Microphone – to
record in good quality and to have clear
audio.
Classrooms – optional for extra scenes
Black Tracksuits, Jackets, Bags & Hats –
outfits to match similar gang styles.
Football Pitch – introduction titles
Audio Recorder – to record the phone call
at the beginning of the film.
Road on the Streets (by bushes) - climax
Mobile phones – for phone calls and text
messages between the characters.
Areas around the school and outside, offices, corridors
– location montage for extra clips if needed in the final
cut.

8. Contingency Planning
Potential Issue Solution
Camera battery runs out of charge and needs a
replacement.
Make sure to carry more than one battery
whilst filming away from your working location.
SD Card runs out of storage from too much
filming and are unable to record anymore.
have an extra SD Card in case this happens so
you can keep recording your project, you wont
get very far with just one card
Actors fail to turn up on set, problems with
traffic or schedules.
Make sure to have replacement actors so nothing falls apart,
this can be done by auditioning extra people making sure they
are okay to be a replacement, this should be sorted before
filming.
Continuity in lighting and other shots while
filming.
If you have filmed a shot before it was dark and now it suddenly
turned dark then obviously the lighting wont be the same, to
get the same lighting you should have a softbot to support this.
lose footage and files go missing. Create backups and place on a memory stick or
another source of storage.
Editing – footage could be blurred and distorted
in some way.
Review footage whilst still on set to make sure
the quality is correct so you do not need to go
back and re shoot the scene all again.

9. Health and Safety
Potential Issue How will the issue be
avoided?
Filming in wet conditions, equipment gets
damaged.
protect electrical equipment by carrying protective
cases.
-cover whilst using.
Trip hazards – tripods etc. have spotters with you while filming to make sure that
you do not trip or fall over any objects. They could also
move them out of the way if you're filming and
walking at the same time.
Proper cord management tripping hazard. properly tape down or tie the core lines from
all electronic devices to keep them secure and
to avoid slipping or tripping over them.
Dress appropriately, avoid wearing baggy
clothing.
avoid wearing baggy items of clothing because
it would increase your risk of getting caught
with the equipment, you need to move freely.
Over exertion – tiredness
Take regular breaks.
Stick to schedule – accidents are more prone to
happen if cast and crew are over tired.
Filming at night - low visibility causing accidents make sure cast and crew have high visibility
and make sure they can see everything clearly,
lighting equipment, high visability jackets.

10. Schedule
Day Plan of Action Resources Required
Day 1
 on day 1 I started to create my movie poster, I did this by getting stock
photos of the internet and putting them together on Photoshop, I used a
picture of a dark tunnel to start with
 Photoshop
 Computer
 Internet
Day 2
 on day 2 I finished my movie poster, my poster looked as if a man was
walking away from another man he had a violent altercation with, the other
man was lying down on the ground unconscious.
 Photoshop
 computer
 Internet
Day 3
 on day 3 I started planning what equipment I needed to create my film, this
was an organization day so I had everything ready to start filming
 Camera - lenses
 Soft box light
 Microphone
 Prop knife – fake blood
Day 4
 on day 4 I started my filming I managed to get quite a lot done in the space
of one day, it was easy because I had my script with me so my actors could
learn their lines one by one.
 Camera - lenses
 Soft box light
 Microphone
 Prop knife
Day 5
 on day 5 I continued with my filming, on this day I managed to get the big
scene done which involves numerous actors all in one scene together, it
took a little bit of work but in the end it showed good quality acting from
the group
 Camera - lenses
 Soft box light
 Microphone
 Prop knife – fake blood
Day 6
 on day 6 this was when I finished my filming, all I needed was to get some
footage of some scenery, buildings, brick walls, messy garages, bushes and a
football pitch.
 Camera - lenses
 Soft box light
Day 7
 on day 7 I started my editing for the film, I knew this wasn’t going to be
done in time unless I really focused on it, I wanted this film to be the best
short film I have made so far, to do that I needed to spend a good few hours
editing on this day.
 Final cut pro
 Computer
 SD CARD
Day 8
 on the final day I had got all my editing complete, all that was left was final
improvements such as colour grading, looking back at mistakes and audio
correction, I even decided to add subtitles to my movie.
 Final cut pro
 Computer
 SD CARD