1. GENRE
In order to successfully depict a social realist film regarding gang lifestyle, similar texts must be looked at in order to witness the conventions in which they all follow. Looking at the trailer for Plan B's Ill Manners, we can witness the use of dialogue voiced over images which gives the viewer an indication of the storyline, these storylines generally revolving around drugs and violence, however the drug aspect of the film is generally only hinted on, but not shown to the viewer in fear of deterring them from the real product. I incorporated violence in my text, but only hinted at the drug aspect as the audience is likely to pick up on this due to its resemblance to texts which do incorporate this. Looking at trailers for Adulthood and Kidulthood, the use of establishing shots are common in order to depict the leading protagonists surroundings, thus giving an indication as to how they ended up in such a lifestyle; for my text, I used shots of High Trees estate from the top deck of a bus and a slow pan of South London taken from the highest point I could reach.
These films generally lack funding, so I avoided the use of well furnished areas and generally stuck to using the road and estates in order to keep with the continuity of the film, as these characters are supposed to not be well off. High speed editing and the general sense of aggression is a common convention in these sorts of trailers, therefore I encouraged my actors to demonstrate signs of aggression in terms of facial expression and body language as frequently as possible. The use of transitions is also common in order to maintain a fast pace, therefore I explored with the lens flares and flashes of light to divide shots to quicken the pace. The sense of community is common in these social realist films, however I focussed more on the individual struggle against the gang mentality of snitching, as even his peers do not support his fight against the main protagonist of the film. The text is open to interpretation for the audience as they question the degree of importance of justice over loyalty or vice versa.
2.LOCATION
Social realism films are generally filmed on location as opposed to using a studio, thus encouraging me to explore South London using my camera to achieve shots of typical settings where teenage boys would be present. Graffiti is a good indication of urban settings, therefore I used areas where I knew there would be graffiti, similar to that in Shifty, where graffiti can frequently be witnessed in the film. David Bowie's death brought thousands to Brixton to tribute him, so I used this opportunity to film several shots of my leading protagonist in Brixton, successfully depicting a claustrophobic South London setting - busy streets filled with busy people living their lives. The police present at the Bowie tribute also allowed for filming opportunities which would not have been able to achieve otherwise. I made an effort to film a chase scene through an estate to demonstrate where these boys are likely to live and chill, as well as using establishing shots of bigger estates to intimidate the viewer and give an indication as to what is common is South London.
3.GRAPHICS / TITLE
The use of film awards featured in a low budget trailer such as my own would be vital for the distribution of the product. Not having much funding for distribution, the attention of those who appreciate good film would be drawn to this one as the awards given to the film are relatively obscure, yet are of high esteem. The idea to incorporate the awards in the image came from Fish Tank, another social realist film. The font used in the title of the film was inspired by graffiti, as this depicts an urban setting, therefore will associate the title of my film with such. The title itself - High Trees is the name of the estate where lots of the film will take place, however this is not revealed to the audience in the trailer as I felt that allowing the audience to question the relevance of the title further builds on the effect of the production. High Trees also sounds like a shortened version of High Treason, which is a large aspect of the production as much of the narrative focusses on loyalty and betrayal to a higher social power.
The use of film awards featured in a low budget trailer such as my own would be vital for the distribution of the product. Not having much funding for distribution, the attention of those who appreciate good film would be drawn to this one as the awards given to the film are relatively obscure, yet are of high esteem. The idea to incorporate the awards in the image came from Fish Tank, another social realist film. The font used in the title of the film was inspired by graffiti, as this depicts an urban setting, therefore will associate the title of my film with such. The title itself - High Trees is the name of the estate where lots of the film will take place, however this is not revealed to the audience in the trailer as I felt that allowing the audience to question the relevance of the title further builds on the effect of the production. High Trees also sounds like a shortened version of High Treason, which is a large aspect of the production as much of the narrative focusses on loyalty and betrayal to a higher social power.
4.CHARACTER / COSTUME
The types of characters used in social realist films are generally intended to depict someone in which the audience can relate to in some way or another. In order to keep with the sense of verisimilitude, I presented our characters with very natural dilemmas, disguised in a more complex text, allowing our audience to envision themselves in a similar situation as they question what they would do. Due to the nature of my text, I only incorporated male actors. Although never given a costume, I encouraged my actors as to what colours to wear and generally how to dress. My leading protagonist was instructed to wear sharp colours to demonstrate him as the alpha in the group, whilst everyone else was encouraged to wear all black, as gang members generally adopt bland colours such as black or grey.
The characters themselves were inspired by similar media texts. For our leading protagonist, I looked at Denzel Washington's depiction of Frank Lucas, a drug kingpin. Although Oscar's character is not quite of equal status, I aimed to influence the audience to show a degree of support for his character as they do for Denzel's, despite him being the bad guy. I also looked at Brad Pitt's depiction of Tyler Durden, also a bad guy, yet the audience loves his character due to his ability to make his insanity sound sane. Much of the dialogue in the opening of the trailer was inspired by Tyler's almost philosophical way of speaking, in an attempt to win over the audience. Emile's character was mostly inspired by Fredo from The Godfather, in the sense that we pity the dilemma in which he has put himself in by ratting out his own, therefore making us unsure as to who to support in the clash, as we again question the value of justice versus loyalty. The character similarities is likely to be aesthetically pleasing to the audience due to Abercrombie's theory in which being aware of these resemblances is all part of the pleasure of viewing a text.
The characters themselves were inspired by similar media texts. For our leading protagonist, I looked at Denzel Washington's depiction of Frank Lucas, a drug kingpin. Although Oscar's character is not quite of equal status, I aimed to influence the audience to show a degree of support for his character as they do for Denzel's, despite him being the bad guy. I also looked at Brad Pitt's depiction of Tyler Durden, also a bad guy, yet the audience loves his character due to his ability to make his insanity sound sane. Much of the dialogue in the opening of the trailer was inspired by Tyler's almost philosophical way of speaking, in an attempt to win over the audience. Emile's character was mostly inspired by Fredo from The Godfather, in the sense that we pity the dilemma in which he has put himself in by ratting out his own, therefore making us unsure as to who to support in the clash, as we again question the value of justice versus loyalty. The character similarities is likely to be aesthetically pleasing to the audience due to Abercrombie's theory in which being aware of these resemblances is all part of the pleasure of viewing a text.
5.EDITING
When looking at similar texts, we can witness certain conventions in which they all follow in terms of editing. The objective of these trailers is to demonstrate a certain lifestyle and to make this lifestyle as exciting as possible. An important convention is the fades to black to build suspense, which was frequently used during the opening sequence of my trailer as I cross cut between scenes . Voicing over multiple images giving an indication of the storyline with dialogue is another convention which can be frequently witnessed in social realist trailers. In this aspect, the edits in my trailer are very similar to the editing in the trailer for Brotherhood, the 3rd film in the Kidulthood / Adulthood franchise, despite having finished my trailer prior to its release. This suggests that I have been largely successful in editing my product, as its resemblance to the Brotherhood trailer despite not having been able to use it as an influence means I have been able to depict my social realist film the same way in which Noel Clarke has depicted his.
6.SOUND
I found that the use of sound varies massively depending how the text aims to be portrayed. The trailer for Ill Manners focussed more on giving an indication of the narrative, whereas the trailer for Kidulthood aimed to depict a high speed film filled with action, almost in the form of a music video, giving a vague idea of the story line. Not wanting to follow either convention too closely, as Neale argues difference is essential to the economy of genre, I aimed to build on the use of music throughout the trailer using keyframes, so the focus shifts from the narrative to the images being presented. I did this by editing the images very closely to the music, so images would change accordingly to the beat of the song, making the trailer pleasing to the eye. My main influence for this was the trailer of Deadpool, which did this very effectively. The use of sound bridges was essential for my trailer as I believed this kept the trailer at a fast pace, constantly moving forward instead of repeating itself. Foley sound was also necessary in the fighting sequences, and really built on the realism of the trailer, as prior to adding the sounds in, the fight failed to appear realistic.
I found that the use of sound varies massively depending how the text aims to be portrayed. The trailer for Ill Manners focussed more on giving an indication of the narrative, whereas the trailer for Kidulthood aimed to depict a high speed film filled with action, almost in the form of a music video, giving a vague idea of the story line. Not wanting to follow either convention too closely, as Neale argues difference is essential to the economy of genre, I aimed to build on the use of music throughout the trailer using keyframes, so the focus shifts from the narrative to the images being presented. I did this by editing the images very closely to the music, so images would change accordingly to the beat of the song, making the trailer pleasing to the eye. My main influence for this was the trailer of Deadpool, which did this very effectively. The use of sound bridges was essential for my trailer as I believed this kept the trailer at a fast pace, constantly moving forward instead of repeating itself. Foley sound was also necessary in the fighting sequences, and really built on the realism of the trailer, as prior to adding the sounds in, the fight failed to appear realistic.
7.NARRATIVE / STRUCTURE
Research into social realism films led me to the conclusion that unlike big budget films, the ambiguity of the film plays a large role in the marketing, therefore I gave an indication of the storyline, however remained relatively vague as to how it would unfold. I still used a 3 part structure, the opening introducing the plot using a montage voiced over by our leading protagonist, drawing to a sharp ending, building tension as act 2 introduced more characters and gave a further indication, using images and dialogue. Acts were generally divided using graphics for reviews, or sound bridges which contrasted the image. Act 3 was a more intense montage of action sequences which I believe was necessary to demonstrate the proposed violence in the 'real' film, making the film a borderline action film, however Abercrombie suggests the boundaries between genres are becoming more permeable, therefore incorporating the action aspect in my text will only serve positive purposes and draw in more audience.
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