Ollie Johnson
AS/A2 Media

These are photos from another attempt at the stop motion bullet we were planning to use. We eventually abandoned the idea as it was too time consuming and didn't look very effective.

Our original idea had a stop motion clip of a bullet and we did several tests to try out different ideas. This is the only one that we could upload onto the blog as a video but it is probably our best method. We did this by sticking an object to a wall then taking pictures while slowly moving the camera backwards. This was then reversed in imovie to give the effect that the bullet was coming towards the camera.

This is am 'appearance test' that we were considering elaborating on after seeing something similar 'The Bourne Identity'. However we never used this as we didn't think it would fit in with our final film.



To do this we put the camera on a tripod and filmed someone walking across with a piece of cardboard (this would be a car) big enough to hide a person. We filmed this twice, the first time with someone standing behind the cardboard and the second with no one there. Then we cut the two clips together to make it look like he had just appeared.

We decided that the best place to film our final peice would be typical home. So we used Tims house as as it was the most convinient place for everyone to get to.
We got the inspiration for this from the opening scene of 'Hitman'.

We created our ident using a series of photos edited in photoshop. We took the blood splatter image and put the 'Urban Action' logo over the top. Then we removed some of the drops of blood in stages. Then we put the images into imovie in reverse order so that when played it would give the effect of the drops of blood appearing one by one.

We have chosen number 4 to use for our ident and have edited it using photoshop.

To create our ident we found a selection of copyright free images that we liked.

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Firstly we were looking into names for our institute that would reflect the right image for action films as we strongly believe the film institutes name and logo has an affect on the audience when they see it. We have decided on 'Urban Action' as we thought this reflected the style of our film.

We have used myfonts.com and have come up with a few fonts that we could use for our film logo.
Fonts for Film Logo

Planning for Final Movie

We have decided that we are changing our idea slightly for when we re-film it. We felt that it was difficult to incorporate a good narrative into a chase scene, and that it didn't give us a chance to achive the best grades we could. Our new idea will still have some action, but will be more structured and will use flashbacks to help show a clear narrative.
Our new film is inspired by scenes from film such as Casino Royale and Hitman. The main story is that a spy has been given a mission in order to move up a rank. There is a corrupt boss in the agency and our main character has to break into his house and frame him on order to bring him down.

We have got some feedback on our first draft from other members of our class and our teachers. From our class it was mostly positive with comments made about the camera shots used and the editing. Our teachers brought up the problem with the lighting towards the end and we knew this was an issue and would have to be re-filmed. They said that overall it was well filmed but it lacked dramatic tension and coherence. They also suggested that we made the chase shorter and add in the flashbacks that we had planned to use to give it more narrative. They also suggested that we add more close ups.

This is our first draft for our film. As soon as we started editing we knew that it wasn't as good as it could be. There wasn't much planning involved and some of the shit were just improvised. This was mainly due to the fact the we hadn't searched the area properly before. The main problem was the lighting. We were filming for 6 hours it got dark very quickly. This affected the look of the chase as it begins around midday and ends in pitch black. This also meant the final few clips are difficult to see. Also we didn't have time to put in any music and we think that this would have really improved the film. Some good points are that we think we managed to get some interesting and unusual shots in there, and this makes it look quite realistic.

I have added a mixpod to the blog with some different music that could feature in an action/thriller film. These include tracks from the soundtracks of existing films of the genre and some that i think could work well.

We have chosen our friend Karl to play the part of the 'target'. We chose him because he does a lot of martial arts and this would help make any fighting look more realistic. Also he's a good runner thats quite important considering we are making a chase scene.

At the moment Tim is playing the main character; the spy.

The original plan was to film most of our project at Leicester College but after contacting them we found that this was not possible. So we have decided to film in Lutterworth as is it is more convenient. We are planning to use the area around the church for the mojority of the film as it will fit in well with what we originally planned.

This scene is from the 2007 movie'Hitman'. This film is based on a video game so I thought it would be great for action and special effects. The first two shots we see in this clip are unusually quick zooms, first on our main character and second on a phone which begins to ring. In the second close shot we see his hand pick up the phone and then it cuts to the next shot of him talking. In this third shot there is some brief dialogue as the camera pans rounds the hitman. Then it cuts to an unusual high shot of a corridor that we assume is outside the room the hitman is in, and three people walk towards the door. Then the next shot is of the hitman on the phone, but this time its even more of a close up on his eyes and the phone. Then it cuts to a low shot of the people we in the corridoor, walking towards camera. Then there are four fast close ups. The first of someones boot stepping on some glass,then the hitman looking up, then something on the door, then back to the hitman again. These fast closed ups placed next to each other really increase the pace of the scene and gets the audience on the edge of their seats. Then we see a mid shot of the phone being dropped in slow motion as the hitman begins to run towards the window. Then we see the three people in the corridor breaking down the door in three shots from three different angles before two close ups of the object on the door which we know realise is a bomb. Then we see the classic action movie explosion in seven shots from various angles. The last of which is in slow motion and we see the hitman running towards the camera, then a close up of him grabbing something from the table before jumping out of the window. As he does this we see even more shots of the explosion as he falls making it a total of ten shots of the same explosion. This is extremely effective as we see that all the action is happening in a very short space of time. We see the hitman fall from a couple of different angles before cutting to a shot from inside a room as he crashes through a window. Two people turn round surprised and the camera cuts between them and the hitman as he gets up and goes to leave the room. The editing here remains very fast paced. Next there are a couple of mid shots of the hitman with a gun in the hotel before a panning shot where the camera follows him towards a door. Then there is a close up of him prising open the door. Then we see him opening the door from the other side. Next theres is a close up of a fire alarm as he smashes it before cutting to a mid shot of him jumping onto the elevator roof. Then there is a shot of two people that pans almost al the way around them before cutting to a short close up of one of their faces. We then see the hitman slide down onto the elevator roof and the camera follows him. The lighting has changed here from the brightly lit hotel to being dark and almost blue. Next there are some more close up of some people in the lift and one one them pressing the buttons. Then we see the typical shot of the numbers of the elevator, as they are approaching the floor that the two men we saw previously are on. It cuts between this an another rotating pan shot and back again, then we see a close up of the mans face. The next shot is from inside the elevator as the doors open. We see the man look down before cutting to a point of view shot of whats inside the lift. The pace is slowed down slightly as we see that all the people in the lift are dead. But then the action continues as we start with a close of of the mans face as he backs away from the camera, then a panning shot of him running up the stairs. We see blue flashing lights outside that light up the room and this adds to the sense of panic. Then is cuts to the hitman again. We see a shot following him down a corridor and then a similar shot from in front of him. There is a very quick shot of a man and then of the hitman turning around as the man tells him to freeze. The camera cuts between a mid shot of some people in the corridor and the hitmans face. Next there is a shot from behind the man as he runs towards the hitman, then the hitman kicks a door down and we see this from several angles. Finally the camera follows ths hitman into the room before stopping as he jumps out of a window. The final shot in the scene is looking down as the hitman disappears into the water below. This scene as a whole is extremely effective. The very fast paced editing and the use of lots of close ups create an atmosphere that gets the audience on the edge of their seats. I particularly like the use of close up and this is something i need to consider when making my film opening.

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/film/film_reviews/article6847491.ece

The article although well constructed and informative was basicly a hissie fit on the dissappointment the author had after watching the film. He included a basic interest and some fair sided comments but the main jist of his response was based on the lack of £7 he felt after the cinema had nicked from him.

The most unfortunate side of the authors aritcle was his comments on joe wright the accomplished, british director, who he tyhough was out of place and slanderised his work in this recent film forgetting the unusual setting he was in and his inexperience in the area he was filming. This responce was highly critical and indefinitely unfair.