Pitch for Ideas

Our film focuses on a modern day, city gang and their attempt to obtain the contents of a briefcase (the contents are never revealed to the audience, but some characters are aware of what it is). The main character, a member of this gang, is tasked with obtaining the case, as well as a number of tasks required to actually retrieve the contents.

The opening revolves around the acquiring of the case. It starts with a business man carrying the briefcase leaving a train station, before continuing his journey through the city. Frequent cuts are made between him and the gangster, eventually reaching a point where both characters are in one shot. The gangster proceeds to kill the business man, before walking away with the case. There is a short voiceover during the scene, in keeping with many of the conventions seen in other British Gangster Films. After walking away, the scene edits to the gangster walking towards an alley, where he meets with the boss. More of the story is revealed and the gangster is told what is going to happen next.

We initially thought to implement our titles into our scenes, however thought it would be more suited to the pace of the opening if they were on blank frames between cuts. This is another convention that we noticed about the genre. The font that we use will be 'Goodfish'.

The costumes of the characters were considered with the idea of 'modern gangsters' in mind. Our gangster will wear a leather jacket and jeans, whilst our boss will be wearing a suit. This establishes a mix of traditional and modern gangster attire, as well as give the boss an air of authority. 

Risk Assessment

Planning of Music - Soundtrack

We have narrowed down our choice of music to two synthesised tracks, especially made as royalty free and available for anyone to use. We will choose one or the other, based on how it works with the opening.

The first gives a much more serious tone to the opening. It features a lot of bass, but will remain quiet for most of the opening, peaking right before the voiceover.
The second track is much more upbeat. It provides a similar tone to Snatch, making it feel less serious, but more fast paced. It will build much faster than the other track, increasing in volume and tempo.

Both tracks will build throughout the opening, peak just before the voiceover and continue after.

Planning of Titles

We have chosen to use the font 'Goodfish'.We decided to use this font because it is quite unique, whilst looking plain as well. This is quite common in British Gangster films.








Our titles will be shown during the walking scene at the start of the opening. Between cuts, there will be a black frame with each title, lasting 1-2 seconds. This will help to split the scenes and character changes. We will have the main title at the end of the opening. This will be included within the scene, rather than on a separate frame.

The titles will include: Music By, Costume By, Written By, Directed By, Produced by, Starring, Main Title.

Structure of Narrative

Characters

- Business Man

         Actor: Jamie Powell

- Gangster

         Actor: Lewis Barry

- Boss

         Actor: Rhys Manley

Narrative
The business man is a courier for an unknown company, delivering a briefcase. The briefcase (The contents of which are never revealed) is sought after by the Boss, who recruits a Gangster to retrieve it. The story follows the Gangster, and a voiceover (spoken by the Gangster) at the beginning provides more information about him. The Gangster intercepts the business man, killing him and taking the briefcase. He then delivers it to the Boss. They have a short discussion about what the gangster needs to do next.

Overview of Opening

The scene starts with the business man, carrying a briefcase,  walking amongst a crowd of people, leaving a train station. This starts a sequence of cuts between two characters: the business man and the Gangster. The gangster is attempting to intercept the business man, walking through narrow streets and dark areas. The business man walks through slightly brighter areas, through the city.

Eventually, on a dark street, both characters are seen, walking towards each other. The Gangster proceeds to stab the business man, taking the briefcase and walking hurriedly.

The scene then fades to the opening of an alleyway, where the gangster meets with the Boss character. The Boss takes the briefcase, checks the contents and then puts it away. The Gangster and Boss then have a short discussion about the next 'job'.

Editing Software

We will be using Adobe Premiere Pro for our editing. We have chosen this because of its high quality and vast editing tools, allowing us to achieve what we want from our opening. We will be able to do all of our editing from within this application, and will not need to use other programs. We can make our cuts, arrange the footage accordingly, add edits to the footage (e.g. speed of video, freeze frames, lighting) and add titles and music. We have also both used Premiere Pro and other Adobe software before, meaning we do not need to take time to learn the basics.

Script

EXT. DAWN-BRISTOL

FADE TO:
ESTABLISHING SHOT-STATION

CUT TO: INT. STATION
POV-BUSINESS MAN comes out of station BUSINESS MAN  looks out of station( Standing Still) and looks around before moving on.

CUT TO: EXT. STATION
BUSINESS MAN walking past station further into the city.

CUT TO: ALLEY
GANGSTER in alley with back to camera walking away from the camera.

CUT TO: STREET CORNER
BUSINESS  MAN walks around the corner at a casual pace.

CUT TO: TUNNEL
GANGSTER walking into tunnel into darkness where camera cannot see his face.

CUT TO: STREET
BUSINESS MAN  walking away from camera down the street.

CUT TO: STEPS
GANGSTER walks down steps at a hurried pace. Face hidden.

CUT TO: SMALL PATHWAY
BUSINESS MAN walks down pathway onto a backstreet.

CUT TO: WALL
GANGSTER walks past wall with head facing down.

CUT TO: CORNER
BUSINESS MAN walks around the corner looking at the briefcase.

CUT TO: LONG WALL
GANGSTER walks around the corner and looks up to see BUSINESS MAN. BUSINESS MAN does not see GANGSTER.

CUT TO: LONG WALL
BUSINESS MAN walks around the corner at opposite end and looks at watch.

CUT TO: WATCH
Close up of watch( Object of significance)

CUT TO: LONG WALL
GANGSTER confronts BUSINESS MAN and proceeds to stab him

CUT TO: FREEZE FRAME
FREEZE FRAME of GANGSTER stabbing BUSINESS MAN where narration by GANGSTER stops.

"This is me
This is the life i live
I don't think
I just do
There's no time to think in this businessIf you think, you're dead"

When narration stops the scene will continue.

CUT TO: WALK AWAY
Camera films GANGSTER walks away

FADE TO: SEPARATE LOCATION
GANGSTER walks down alleyway towards BOSS.


GANGSTER: Is this what you wanted?

CUT TO: OBJECT OF SIGNIFICANCE
GANGSTER hands briefcase to BOSS (Close-Up)

BOSS: Were you followed?

GANGSTER: No, I made sure of that.

BOSS: Good, What about the courier?

GANGSTER: I took care of him personally

BOSS: Good. Now, I have something else for you. You're my best guy and I need this done. Tonight. Can I rely on you?

GANGSTER: What do you need?

BOSS: 

CUT TO: Road
GANGSTER walks away down road. Camera loses focus. Main credits appear whilst walking.

Storyboard

Filming & Editing Schedule

FILMING
Sunday 1st December, A.M. - Actors Required: Jamie Powell, Lewis Barry.
Shots to film: All scenes in & around Temple Meads Station (Provided that it is quiet enough to film), All walking shots, Stab scene.

Monday 2nd December, A.M. - Actors Required: Jamie Powell, Lewis Barry.
Shots to film: Any shots that were not obtained on Sunday 1st.

Friday 6th December, P.M. - Actors Required: Lewis Barry, Rhys Manley
Shots to film: Alleyway scene (Gangster & Boss) and dialogue, voiceover.


EDITING
Monday 9th December, A.M.
Put shots into editing software. Cut scenes to reasonable length.

Wednesday 11th December, P.M.
Put shots in order. Place title placeholders.

Monday 16th December, A.M.
Make edits based on feedback from initial screening.

Wednesday 18th December, P.M.
Make edits based on feedback, cont.

January 6th - January 31st
Add music. Final edits. e.t.c.

Props List

+ Knife
+ Briefcase
+ Wrist Watch

Photographs of Locations

Costume Planning

Business Man -
 + Black Suit (Jacket & Trousers)
 + White Shirt
 + Blue Tie
 + Black Shoes
 + Watch
 + Trench Coat

Gangster (Main Character) -
 + Black Leather Jacket
 + Blue Jeans
 + Casual Footwear (Black/Dark Trainers)
 + Plain T-Shirt

 

















Boss -
 + Black Suit
 + White Shirt
 + Black Tie

Moodboard

Initial Planning Ideas