Poster Plans

After much consolidation i have designed a couple of poster ideas in draft form:

This design is quite similar to the promotional poster for Pulp Fiction, which would mean that using this design would highlight that Pulp Fiction was my main inspiration for this project. It would also be aesthetically pleasing to fans of that film which will attract the target audience for my production, which is important as my project has a pretty niche audience.

This poster is more in the visual style of Reservoir Dogs. This design will be more asethetically pleasing as the visual style is more interesting and more likely to attract an audience. The film also closely resembles the promotional poster for Pulp Fiction and the main advertisement poster for Reservoir Dogs so combining these visual and stylistic ideas my poster will attract fans of both these films and my niche audience and be aesthetically and visually pleasing to viewers who arn't fans of Tarantino.

Review Plan

For my other auxiliary task I have chosen to do a magazine review. This is the draft for my review. I chose to lay it out this way because it looks authentic and is general to the conventions of most film magazines such as Empire:

This style will make my article seem believable and authentic and therefore more professional looking. This things combined will make my auxiliary task successful.

Film Poster Research

For one of my auxiliary tasks I have chosen to produce a poster advertising my short film. In preparation for this I will be researching film posters for Tarantino films as my short film will be in the same style of these and I would like my posters to reflect this. I will also be researching gangster film posters as my short film will reflect this genre.

Here are some of the ideas I had for style models.

This style of poster would reflect that Pulp Fiction was the main inspiration for my short film. It would also showcase the two actors i will be using for my production in the same way this this poster has. However in the case of this poster it shows that there is two A list Hollywood actors involved in the production which would've been a large selling point for the film. However my actors will obviously be anonymous to the public at large.

This poster would also showcase my actors but would have the advantage of having a brash and interesting visual style that would showcase the unconventionality of my production. Though this poster looks more visually appealing the simplicity and edginess of the other one is more attractive to me.

This poster is similar to the style of the poster for Reservoir Dogs, however it is for a British film so it ties more into my short film as my short film is also a British movie.
I will be incorporating all of these styles in my own production which combined I hope will produce a blend of both British and American advertising to reflect the merging of the genre's of my short film.

Storyboard

Plans for this week...

Got a camera today... baby steps. Gonna be taking some photos over the weekend for my auxillery tasks and maybe do some sample videos to see how things look before i put the big cameras to the task. Storyboard should be coming up soon now i've finally got a plot down.

Bloody Dialogue...

So I'm trying to write a screenplay. Only problem is I'm having major writers block. I haven't wrote dialogue, ever , so thinking of clever and Witty things for people to say is becoming a challenge. I will get round to it, and i promise it will be the best dialogue you've ever heard, think i might have to talk to the actors about it, its just...urgh...

Plot Adaptations

Ok so I'm human, I eventually slip up and change my mind. I've had some ideas about the plot and I wanted to change them. So here goes.

The two aforementioned Hitmen are walking and talking and eventually enter a snicket. This then cuts to a short credit roll which ends in a transition shot with a title card on it. The Hitmen are then seen to enter a house and the shooting ensures. The Hitmen light a cigarette and leave.

This then cuts to another title card/ transition page. The Hitmen are then given their assignment by the angry women (Lyndsay) and leave.

Cue a final title card/ transition page and the camera cuts to inside the snicket where the Hitmen had entered in one long Match on Action shot. The Hitmen encounter someone being mugged and opt to help, pulling guns on the muggers. There is one final shot of the muggers and the Hitmen stood pointing guns at eatch other from a low angle shot and the film ends.

This new ending does 3 things that i want to achieve:

1. It shows the Hitmen as good people that kill for good not just money. This would break the typical movie stereotype as Hitmen being the antagonist and shows them as a sort of Anti-Hero. This also happens to Vinnie Jones' character in Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels which would show that this film has influenced my short film.
2. It would tie the begining and ending of my film together making them seem like they flow into each other. This is also how Pulp Fiction is ended which would also imply that my film was influenced by Pulp Fiction and Tarantino.
3. It would give my short film a cliffhanger ending which is how Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and is a quite common ending for films of this genre (one could argue that Reservoir Dogs ends this way) therefore I would have tied all the films that I am influenced by together.

I belive that this new plot will strengthen the success of my short film and make the watching of it more interesting as my plot before wasn't really well rounded. The new ending will also fully ensure the homages that i am trying to achive will be met.

General Conventions of Tarantino movies

Tarantino has been a world renowned director since 1987 when he co-wrote and directed My Best Friend's Birthday. In the time between then and now he has developed his own conventions and film style. This post will be highlighting these conventions and how they will affect my short film.

Nonlinear storyline
This is where a narrative does not chronologically follow the story, it shows chunks of film that wont be in order and leaves it to the audience to figure out the order for themselves. The most common form of this technique is showing the ending of a film at the beginning of the film. An example of this is on the 2010 spoof movie Vampires Suck. However film makers have utilised this technique in very creative ways. For example Memento is filmed almost backwards.

Tarantio uses this technique in Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs to create a sense of ambiguity so the audience can be engaged in the film more because they are forever questioning the plot. This would make the audience more likely to enjoy the film as they would become immersed in the constant questions that the nonlinear plot generates. Also, in Reservoir Dogs the nonlinear storyline gives the film a sense of mystery because the characters don't know whats happened to the rest of their team and neither do the audience until the 'flash back' scenes fill in the blanks. Due to this i am going to use a Nonlinear storyline for my Short film.

I have chosen to use a nonlinear storyline in my short film to convey the same sense of ambiguity. It will also be a reference point of the fact that i am inspired by Tarantino as this is a very  distinctive technique that he utilises.

For example this scene happens at the beginning and the end of Pulp Fiction...

Snappy Dialogue
Dialogue is extremely important in Tarantino films. They all utilise the snappy, clever dialogue of the characters to move the plot forward even if there isn't much going on, on screen. This was probably first used because early Tarantino movies didn't have an exceptionally big budget (Reservoir Dogs was originally planned to be shot with a budget of $30,000 but Harvey Keitel joining the cast as Mr.White boosted the budget to $1.5 million) so in order to make the film interesting without relying on expensive special effects Tarantino had to use interesting dialogue.

I will be utilising this technique for the same reasons and as a homage to Tarantino films.

Refusal to use product placement
Tarantino explicitly  all known brands from his movies. For example the only cigarette brand seen in Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs is Red Apple which doesn't exists. He also uses cereals from the 70's which are now in public demand to avoid this as well.
He will be doing this to avoid having to pay royalties to these companies as his movies at this point were pretty low budget so conserving money was imperative.

He may also be doing this to show that he is above the money making ideologies of most Hollywood directors.

However he does explicitly mention McDonald's in the conversation at the beginning of the film. This could reinforce the fact that he is doing this for budget reasons as he doesn't mind mentioning brands but to use their image he would have to play royalties.

I will be using this method in my own short film because i am aware that i will need to utilise as many conventions as i can to give off the same impression that Tarantino movies give off.

In conclusion i will be choosing to use these conventions to make my film more interesting and inventive. This is because both Tarantino films and my short film will be shot low budget and fairly quick. Therefore to ensure my short film is a success i will need to put something in there to make it worth watching as i cannot rely on special effects. My film will also be a homage to Tarantino and by imitating his conventions this will be achieved.

First Plot/Content Ideas

This is a first draft so the ideas I will be expressing may not be final, some or all of these ideas may not be used in my short film but while these ideas are swimming around in my head I feel it would be a better idea to get them down on virtual paper.


My short film will begin with a lady (Lyndsay) being mugged by a 3 people in a snicket. They will leave and Lyndsay will run away

It will then cut to a title shot which will then cut to two unnamed Hitmen in masks walking down a road to a target house. They will be engaged in clever, snappy dialogue. This will be a reference to the beginning of the main plot in Pulp Fiction where Jules and Vincent are in a car talking about Vincent's trip to Amsterdam before they hit the apartment.

They will then proceed to enter the target house where they will proceed to tie their target (Joe) to a chair and shout some things at him before repeatedly shooting him. The main shooter will then light a cigarette and they will both leave.

                                                                This general idea...


It will then cut to a transition page, which will then cut to the two Hitmen being given the assignment by an angry lady (Lyndsay) who wants rid of someone who she owes money to. The Hitmen will negotiate finance briefly and then accept and leave.

It will then cut to another transition page and another shot of the two Hitmen walking into the same snicket after their job. They will be confronted by the other two muggers. They will all pull guns on eachother and then the film will end. This will be a cliff hanger that i wanted to achive due to the ending of Lock Stock and two Smoking Barrels. It will also be a reference to the way Pulp Fiction ends, with the first scene also being the end scene in a way.

Ideas and Aspirations for my Short Film

We've been talking about this new project for a while and i think I'm finally starting to have some solid ideas on how I want this to pan out. I'm thinking a mixture of Pulp Fiction and Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.

This will include men in suits (with English accents apposed to the classic New York/overall American accents in usual Tarantino films) and possibly masks. The masks will make sure my movie isn't too generic and will disguise the fact that i will obviously be using young actors thus making my short film more realistic.

                                                 Like this but maybe with masks...
In true Tarantino fashion my short film will be nonlinear, it will also feature a soundtrack that I will be composing of music common of Tarantino films (60's era music basically) that will back up the likeness that i will hopefully be creating.

The likeness of British gangster movies will be that my actors as mentioned before will have British accents and their characters will be working for hire rather than having a set boss like American gangster movies usually have. It will also obviously be set in England.

I will also be using Tarantinoesque camera techniques, for example when Joe is shot multiple times by my other actors the camera will pan to the left and close up on the shooters face rather than show Joe being shot. This is also used in Reservoir Dogs when Mr. Blonde cuts off the undercover cop's ear and in Pulp Fiction when Jules and Vince shoot the man who Marsellus Wallace hired them to kill.  

Like this but with a white teenager...

I will also be utilising the same snappy and interesting dialogue from both Tarentino and Guy Richie films. This kind of dialogue is the driving point for both of these film styles so getting this right will be the biggest challenge of my film making process.

Due to the creative use of camera angles and shots I will not be needing any sort of blood pack this time. Therefore I can use the budget for things such as gun props and masks. This will allow my film to look better on a whole rather than one creative prop like last year. This will improve the overall success of my short film and hopefully help me to meet my target set by this years exam of having a better project than last year.

In conclusion. My ideas for this year are alot more creative and therefore will probably be more sucessful even if they will be harder to flesh out. A gangster themed short film is unconventional but I like it, it will probably make my head explode by the end but I think I can handle it. In the next post I will be going through a general plot synopsys.

                                                             Like this but me.....

Hello A2!!!

 

New Media project on the way, got some good ideas swimming around that should hopefully connect better with my technical abilities than last year…
Lets not go into last year, that’s behind us. We are looking forward and all we see are AWESOME MOVIES!
Will be posting some first ideas soon as well as some reasearch projects.
Watch this space.

Questionaire

Are you a fan of Quentin Tarantino?


Yes                      No             

If yes, what is it about his productions that you enjoy?




If no what is it about him they you do not enjoy?




Do you prefer British (Lock Stock and two Smoking Barrels) or American (The Godfather) ‘Gangster movies’?


American                     British

What conventions do you enjoy of these styles of film?



What conventions would you like to see added or taken away?


Do you enjoy short films?

Yes                          No


What would you say is a good length for a short film?


1-3 minutes                4-6 minutes                7-9 minutes            
10 minutes or over

If you do not enjoy short films, what is it about them that gives you this opinion?


 please leave responses in the form of comments (: