Skills Development

Research
In the research stage of my AS task, I looked at and analysed the Gangster genre in depth. This meant splitting it into its various sub-genres (e.g. British Gangster, American Gangster, Film Noir, e.t.c.), watching and evaluating a number of existing openings, and choosing a sub-genre to study and create my 2 minute opening in the style of. In the end, I decided on British Gangster.

After choosing to look at British Gangster, I used previous films and openings to identify the key conventions of the genre, such as mise en scene (locations, props, e.t.c.), titles, and sound. This allowed me to accurately represent the genre in my opening, by choosing what to include and how to make it different from what already existed. As well as the films themselves, I looked at the companies responsible for producing and distributing these films and the funding available to them. This gave me an idea of how the films are made and what considerations were needed. From the research I found that typically, British Gangster films were limited to smaller budgets than other sub-genres, but focused strongly on violence and realism.

After looking at the genre itself, I looked at a number of media theories, including those of Todorov, Propp, Barthes, and Levi-Strauss. This provided an insight into how messages are portrayed and represented in films, how films are structured, and provided me with ideas of how my opening should take place.

Finally, I researched into my target audience. As well as looking at what audiences existing films are aimed at, I created a survey that I had a number of people complete, giving me an idea of what my target audience wanted to see in a British Gangster film. By comparing this to my previous research, I was able to identify what people wanted to see in an opening, and what I should include in mine.

Planning
The planning stage was the opportunity to apply what I learned from the research stage, and begin to think about what would be in my opening, and how it will play out.

The first thing I did, was create a mind map of all of my initial ideas. I looked at props and costumes, music, locations, the narrative, and characters. I also went on to create a moodboard of all of the props, locations, software, equipment, e.t.c, that I would be using in the opening. This gave me a starting point that I could proceed from, exploring the different ideas.

After my initial ideas, I began planning the individual aspects. I looked at costumes and decided upon what each of my characters would be wearing, and what props would be included in the opening. As well as this, I went out to find locations. I took a number of photos and videos of potential locations that fit the theme and style of a British Gangster films, that I would be able to use in my opening.

Once the props, costumes and locations had been decided, I began planning the narrative. I created a storyboard, detailing what would be happening in each shot, before going on to write a script for the opening.

After the narrative, I began deciding how I would be creating the opening. I decided upon a filming schedule, picked actors, and completed a risk assessment. I also continued to choose editing software, fonts for the titles, and the non-diegetic music for the opening.

Finally, I created a pitch for my plan and ideas, detailing every aspect of the opening and how it would be made.

Construction
The construction stage involved the filming and actual production of the opening.
To start, I went out and captured all of the raw footage for my opening, that I could then use to create my rough cut. After putting the footage together, I was able to review the rough cut, and got feedback on it. There were a number of issues with the first cut and the initial footage that I was able to reflect on before going out to capture new footage. During the second set of filming, I had a much better idea of what was necessary, and successfully captured the shots I needed.

After beginning to put together the second set of footage, I decided upon a number of changes that would improve the opening. I revised the script and added a new scene to the beginning of the opening, that improved the flow of the opening and more accurately represented the genre.

Finally, after collecting all of the desired footage, I was able to edit it all together, adding the titles, cuts and edits that I had planned. I produced the final opening, which I then reviewed again and got more feedback, which was a huge improvement on the initial cut.

Evaluation
The evaluation was an opportunity to look back at the final opening and review my use of conventions, themes, styles, and techniques looked at in my research. I created a presentation demonstrating my use of conventions, comparing them to other British Gangster films, and showing how I met, or broke conventions. I continued to analyse it in more detail, looking at the mise en scene, camera, editing and sound, and how it represented certain social groups.

I then went on to look at the institutions that might be involved in my film. I looked at who could produce and distribute my film, and the reasons behind this. I also continued from my planning, and looked into my target audience in more detail, suggesting who the typical viewer would be. As well as this, I asked members of my target audience what they thought, and what attracted them to the film.

After looking at the opening itself, I evaluated the technologies I used during the production. I looked at what each piece of equipment was used for, and what it added to my opening.

Finally, I compared my final opening to the preliminary task I completed earlier in the year. The final piece was a vast improvement, with much better use of just about every aspect. The shot types were much better, the equipment and quality was an improvement, and the editing was much more professional.