How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

As a group, it was deemed important that our teaser trailer, poster and website all successfully represented the urban drama genre as well as that they all generated excitement and interest for our target audience of 15+. It was also important that we remained aware of the social issues our texts represent, which in our case were drug abuse and gang violence. 
 

Typography

We used the same font and typeface across our promotional package. After looking at a selection of fonts on online font provider dafont.com, we chose one which we felt conformed to the modern, simple and bold conventions of typography used in existing films of the urban drama genre. Using the same typography throughout our three texts meant that the promotional package for our film was effectively tied together through clear visual branding. This means the audience is able draw similarities between the texts and view them as a single promotional package.

Imagery

Throughout our promotional package, we ensured to use typical urban locations for mise-en-scene in order to fully conform to the conventions of the urban drama genre. We consistently used urban locations such as an underpass and cityscapes. The Greenwich underpass features heavily in our three texts, especially within our trailer, as the concrete imagery is typically representative of urban environments. The continual use of these types of locations and images throughout our teaser trailer and ancillary texts made it clear to the audience that urban themes feature heavily within our film. Our continual use of imagery also created a sense of homogeny between our three texts which helped the audience associate our three texts together.

Throughout our promotional package, we made sure to use a colour scheme which reflects the urban drama genre as well as the narrative of our film. The majority of the photos and shots used in our promotional package include concrete and artificial materials which conform to the urban drama genre. 

Character

From our research into exisiting films and promotional packages of the urban drama genre, we noted that a clear convention was to make the main character of the narrative the audience's focal point. This can be seen throughout our promotional package through the use of our protagonist's face being the focal point and main feature of our texts, most notably in our poster and website. Again, homogeny was created between our three texts through our continual use of our protagonist being the common feature of our three texts. This helps our audience to closely identify each of our texts with one another, making our promotional package whole.



From our research into existing urban drama promotional packages, we also found that different texts are usually more focused on character, mostly the main character of the narrative rather than the plot itself. 

Shooting script: Day 6

12:30 pm: arrive at car park location
12:45 pm: get shots running through car park
01:00 pm: get shots of car park ceiling whilst moving

BREAK

04:00 pm: meet at second location, empty basketball court
04:15 pm: costume change into tracksuits
04:25 pm: shots of Ben fighting
04:35 pm: shots of Ben climbing fences and gates
04:45 pm: filming day ends

Evaluation:

• The fighting scenes were shot on school premises. We tried to make this as unnoticeable as possible. 
• Difficult to keep the camera steady whilst filming the tracking shot of the car park ceiling. We will attempt to stabilise this shot in the editing stages on the software Final Cut Pro.  

Shooting script: Day 5

06:00 pm: actor arrives (Kevin)
06:10 pm: costume change into suit and eccentric tie
06:15 pm: props gathered
06:15 pm: shoot optional speaking shots with Kevin outside
06:30 pm: shots of Kevin speaking inside, using various angles and rooms.
07:00 pm: Holly arrives
07:15 pm: costume changes
07:20 pm: shots of Holly drinking alcohol and doing 'balloons'
07:50 pm: filming day ends

Evaluation:

• We do not possess a proper microphone used for filming so we had to make do with the in-built microphone of the camera. This limited the quality of shots filmed with diegetic sound such as actor (Kevin) speaking. 

Shooting script: Day 4

05:30 pm: arrive at filming location inside house
05:45 pm: gather props such as roll of money
05:50 pm: film shots with Ben giving mother character money
06:00 pm: test night street lighting
06:15 pm: get shots of Ben in street
06:35 pm: filming day ends

Evaluation:

• Very low levels of light outside made it hard to film without needing a light source. We got around this by using a low street light to light up Ben's face properly. 
• We were unable to produce a roll of money big enough so we had to make do with as much as we had.

Shooting script: Day 3

04:00 pm: locational shots such as Ferris wheel
04:30 pm: locational shots of Canary wharf and city
05:00 pm: get skateboard and film forward-tracking Greenwich underpass shot
06:00 pm: get multiple skateboard shots of Greenwich underpass
06:15 pm: filming day finishes

Evaluation:

• Greenwich underpsas forward-tracking shot was more successful than anticipated although it proved difficult to keep the shot steady- we will attempt to stabilise the shot in Final Cut Pro during the editing stages. 

Shooting script: Day 2

BUS JOURNEY TO FIRST LOCATION
01:00 pm: arrive at underpass location
01:15 pm: actors arrive (Ben and Justas)
01:20 pm: set up props such as placebo joint and test lighting for best shots
01:30 pm: take range of shots of boys smoking
01:50 pm: drug deal over underpass shot
02:00 pm: shots of Ben smoking alone
03:15 pm: filming day ends

Evaluation:

• Filming a range of shots were effective and gave us options and choice whilst editing our teaser trailer.
• Overcast weather was not ideal and not what we had hoped for.

Shooting script: Day 1

10:00 am: set up shed into drug den setting mise en scene including open cans of beer, bottles, cigarettes, baggies etc

11:00 am: get props sorted such as faux cocaine
11:30 am: Ben arrives
11:40 am: Ben changes into costume
11:50 am: shots of Ben preparing drugs from a variety of angles.

BUS JOURNEY TO SECOND LOCATION

01:30 pm: Buy cigarettes and prepare costume
02:00 pm: Meet Monique, Rebecca and Holly at the skate park, with camera and tripod.
02:30 pm: get a variety of shots of them smoking in front of the graffiti skate ramp

BUS JOURNEY TO THIRD LOCATION

03:30 pm: shots of girl putting lighter to spoon and foil
04:00 pm: filming day ends

Evaluation:

• Struggled slightly in the logistics of the correct actor(s) being ready to film when scheduled.
• Props (fake drugs) worked well- looked realistic and actors were able to use them authentically.

Poster Photoshop

We chose this image of underneath a fly-over to be the background image of our poster because it is a prominent image which is continually seen in our trailer. This makes the image part of a recurring theme between our poster and trailer. 

In photoshop, I increased the brightness and contrast of the image as the original was too dark meaning the viewer would be unable to see certain parts of the image.

I then added the title of our film, 'Straits', using the same typeface from the trailer (Nova). Although not used in our final poster (bottom), I experimented by bringing the lamp post in from of the title. I did this by reducing the opacity of the title layer in order to erase the parts in front of the lamp post. I also added the billing block at the bottom of the image which was also originally made for our teaser trailer, again using the same typeface to ensure continuity. 

These two images show how I used the 'magic wand tool' to select the appropriate parts of the production companies' logos we used. By erasing the background parts of the logo, the images looked more professional and were able to fit better on the poster in general.

I then added reviews to the upper part of the poster in different font sizes which conformed to the conventions of film posters we researched. I reduced the opacity of the reviews in order to make the title stand out more by making them less visually prominent. 

I also added the tagline of our film, "Where do you run if you can't run strait?". I chose to split the tagline into two parts and placed the two parts above and below the title, again conforming to some existing film posters in the urban drama genre. 

I was eager to emphasise the two vibrant blue areas of sky towards the right and left areas of the background image. In many film posters of the urban drama genre, a vivid colour is often used to break up the often dark and gloomy background image. By selecting the two areas of blue sky in the original background image, and by altering its brightness and contrast levels, I was able to accentuate the small yet striking parts of blue sky, adding general aesthetic to the poster.

I then added the line "This summer debts will be paid" at the bottom of the poster, under the billing block. This tells the viewer approximately when the film is due to be released but also ties in with both the urban drama genre of our film and the basic plot of our film.

I also rearranged the billing block so that it was more aesthetically pleasing and so it allows other images and texts to fit better. 

This is the original image of our film's protagonist which acts as the main image of the poster on top of the background image layer. 

I again used the 'magic select tool' as well as the 'background eraser tool' to carefully remove the background of the original image. The protagonist's hood was made less bright by reducing the brightness and contrast levels as in later stages of the poster's production, it was interfering with the tagline which was a very similar colour to that of the hood in the original image.

The images show how the title of the film, the tagline(s) and the main image of the protagonist were altered in size to properly fit the area of the poster. I also rearranged the layers so that the image of the protagonist was in front of the film's title but still behind the lower part of the tagline. This gives the poster more depth and also conforms to the conventions of a film poster of the urban drama genre. 

The film's 15 certificate, made on photoshop with shapes, was added to the bottom right hand side of the poster. 

This is an image of our final poster for our film. 

I added the Facebook logo and the film's promotional Facebook web address as social media links to the film. 

Urban Drama Poster Deconstruction

Kidulthood

• Dark, dull colour scheme, mainly using black and brown. This creates a clear ominous and menacing feeling.
• The characters are all looking, most with very confrontational stances and postures, into the camera at the viewer. This emphasises the sense of violence and gang culture, an evident theme of the film.
• The white colouring of the title, tag line and billing block etc. contrasts with the black background of the poster. These contrasting colours reflect the 'good and evil' of the urban city youths and their lifestyles.
• The slight wear within the typography of the title reflects how there are definite 'rough-edges' and a sense of decay within the film's narrative and, as previously said, the lifestyle of urban youths.
• The fact that the film is of the urban drama genre is not entirely presented in the setting behind the characters, but rather is reflected in the characters' stereotypically urban clothing (e.g. tracksuits, hoodies). The violence aspect and convention of the urban drama genre is reflected in the baseball bat that is brandished by one of the characters.

Fish Tank

• The background of the main image of the poster shows a blue sky and large white clouds. This could be said to subvert the conventions of an urban drama as many similar films use, for example, grey skies to convey an ominous and gritty feeling to complement the overall nature of the genre.
• The background also shows blocks of coucil flats, a typically used convention and setting of films of the urban drama genre. This establishes the setting of the film and is one of the aspects of the poster which refelcts the conventions of the urban drama genre.
• The light-coloured tracksuit or hoodie worn by the main character reflects the lives and lifestyles of the lower class individuals which the film focusses on.
• The orange colouring of the title ties into bright colour used in the image of the bright blue sky in the background and the overall vivid colour scheme of the poster in general. The orange used against the blue background also represents a goldfish in water, reflecting the denotations created in the title of the film as well as the running symbolism of a goldfish within the film.

Ill Manors

• The main colour scheme of the poster is a range of greys, created by the powerful background image of a harsh, stormy sky. This use of pathetic fallacy reflects the violent and turbulent nature of the film as well as its genre.
• The main image of the main character of the film emphasises the film's violent nature and theme. The character's clothing (baseball cap, black hooded jacket etc.) reflects the stereotypical clothing of young urban youths in typically urban environments.
• The fact the character is holding a handgun strongly emphasises the violence within the film's narrative and the threatening nature of the film and its themes as well as the conventions of the urban drama genre.
• The blocks of council flats in the background presents and establishes the film's setting and conforms to the convention of urban drama films and the lifestlye of the stereotypically urban London youth.

Typography research

The choice of typography, which will ultimately feature in our teaser trailer, poster and website, is important as it aims to reflect the film's genre as well as the mood of the film. To get an idea of what style of typography we will use, I decided to research existing films of the urban drama genre and the typography they use. The films I researched were 'Kidulthood' (2006), 'Fish Tank' (2009), 'Ill Manors' (2012), 'Shank' (2010) and 'Sket' (2011)- the posters of these five films, with their typography, are shown below.

I found that common conventions of the typography used in urban drama films were:

• Bold text
• Simple, standard typeface 
• Stylised in some way (e.g. the mix of capital and lower case letters in 'Kidulthood' and the image of a man inside the 'A' of 'Shank'.
• Worn lettering ('Kidulthood' and 'Sket') 
• Red or white font colour

The worn lettering used in 'Kidulthood' and 'Sket' is effective as it reflects the harsh reality of living in the urban setting in which the films are set. This allows the audience to fully realise the mood of the film which is anchored by the, for example, menacing and dark images as well as the urban drama itself. 

The use of white as the main colour for the typography is usually used in urban drama film posters to contrast and stand out from the overall dark colour scheme of the poster in general. The contrast of black and white is a classic combination and one which conveys, in this sense, crime as well as the sense of good and bad in society.

Establishing shots

A convention which is used in many existing urban drama trailers is the use of the establishing shot or multiple establishing shots, usually shown at the beginning of the trailer. An establishing shot is primarily used to establish the setting for the narrative which is an important aspect within a trailer and one which has to effectively set a basis for the entire trailer. 

A convention of the urban drama genre regarding the establishing shot(s) is that the shot shows a cityscape or an area which denotes urban life. The image below is an establishing shot taken from the 2006 urban drama, 'Kidulthood'. The image shows an obviously urban setting with a block of council flats towards the left side of the shot.

I used establishing shots from various existing films of the urban drama genre and created three of my own (below) to ultimately use in our teaser trailer. My main aim was to create shots which clearly show urban areas in order for the audience to know exactly where the trailer (and film) is set. The location I chose to shoot the establishing shots was part of Greenwich Park where lots of urban areas of London are visible as well as skyscrapers which explicitly convey an urban setting. The three shots will be effective in the way they establish the setting of the scene as they clearly convey to the audience that the environment, in which the trailer is set, is urban. 

Test Match on Action

One of the shots from the storyboard of our teaser trailer is 'match on action' shot where our antagonist walks along a street. The two shots show the antagonist walking from different camera angle, one tracking mid shot from the side of the subject and the following a back-tracking mid shot from the front of the subject.

Still camera shots

Here are some test shots we have produced to try out a variety of different camera angles for our piece. We also need to consider these kinds of diverse shots when creating our film poster and website in terms of photography as well as in our teaser trailer. 

 

Low angle

 

Over the shoulder shot

High angle

 

Long shot

Close-up shot

Extreme close-up shot

Point-of-view shot (POV)

Initial storyboard

This is the initial storyboard for our teaser trailer.

Indoor lighting

Indoor lighting is an important aspect of film making, especially for amateur productions, due to the reliance on artificial lighting which is not needed for scenes outdoors in the daytime, for example. Knowing proper lighting techniques for indoor filming is very important in film production because unlike with natural lighting, using artificial lighting incorrectly could lead to the scene looking stressed as a result of too much lighting or bland and dreary due to too little light. In our trailer, some scenes such as those in the family kitchen are to be filmed indoors which means knowing proper and effective is vital in order to make our trailer look as professional as we can.

I researched how to light indoor scenes by looking at various video guides on YouTube, most of which focused on the three-point set-up. Below are two of the videos I came across which both explain and demonstrate the three-point light set-up, however one is in a studio and one is in a living space which is closer to the indoor settings which will feature in our trailer. 

As the videos explain, the three-point lighting set-up consists of three light sources working together to properly and effectively light a subject. The three light sources which make up the set-up include the 'key light', the 'fill light' and the 'back light'. From the videos, especially the first one, I found that natural lighting from, for example, a window can be substituted for one or multiple lights in the three-point set-up. Also, you can reflect the light from a source to use as a specific light which means that we can successfully light our indoor scenes cheaply and without needing too many artificial light sources.

The videos also mention using only one or two of the light sources which make up the three-point set-up rather than all three light sources to create different effects and moods. This idea may be able to benefit us in the way we try to conform our trailer to the conventions of the urban drama genre. This could include using lighting to create a more sinister atmosphere or use different lights to create tension in a film. This could be done by keeping the background dark and lighting the subject with perhaps only the key light to create prominent shadows. Overall, I think the three-point lighting set is definitely something we should try and incorporate into the production of our film trailer as it gives us the chance to create effective lighting cheaply and with equipment we have access to. Also, as I said, due to the incorporation of multiple light sources within the set-up, it allows us to easily create certain moods and atmospheres in order to conform to the conventions of the urban drama genre.

Gender Representation in the Urban Drama Genre

Representation in media is defined as the ways in which groups, ideas or topics are portrayed from a particular ideological or value perspective. One of the main aspects of our teaser trailer is the idea of gender and how it can be used to portrayed or heighten certain aspects of our narrative, for example gang violence and drug use. Gender representation is a key idea explored within film as gender in itself is a clear and commonly-used device to carry a film's narrative and various themes.

Laura Mulvey's ideas on the 'male gaze' looked into gender power asymmetry and female objectification in film due to how heterosexual men were in control of the camera. Mulvey stated that the 'male gaze' occurs when the camera puts the audience into the perspective of a heterosexual man, for example if the camera was to clearly put emphasis on the body of a female character or perhaps show the body of a female character more than that of a male character in a sex scene. This idea of focusing or emphasising a female character in an overtly sexual manner is one which greatly ties into the urban drama genre, although examples of the theory can be found in almost every genre in television and film. This is due to one of the main conventions of the urban drama genre being sex and relationships among other themes including drug use and violence.

While researching various trailers, I found many examples of the male gaze used within camera shots described by Laura Mulvey. In the trailer for 'Kidulthood' (2006), there are several examples of camera shots which clearly portray female characters in a sexualised way, especially while accompanied with an absence of any sexualised portrayal of male characters. Although a sex scene, or a scene with clear sexual connotations, will most likely involve members of both sexes, it is common to see the female character being the focus of the scene in order to fully emphasise the sexual connotations of the scene. This can be done through the positioning of a camera, mainly focusing on certain parts of the female character's body which which connote sexuality such as her legs. This is the case in the image I took a screenshot from the trailer of 'Kidulthood' (above). Although the scene, which holds obvious sexual connotations, involves both a male and female character, the few seconds shown of the scene is almost entirely orientated around the female character to convey a sense of sexuality.

'Black Swan' opening deconstruction

How does the opening of ‘Black Swan’ (2010) conform, or oppose to, the conventions of the psychological thriller genre?

The film begins with a ballet scene with Nina dancing which we as the audience later learn is a dream sequence. The lighting in the sequence is very low-key and is lit with a harsh single spotlight. The extreme darkness surrounding the two dancers emphasises the mysterious aspects of the psychological thriller genre. This is reflected in the fact that the audience is unaware of what surrounds the dancers or where the dancers are, for example. The white ballet outfit worn by Nina opposes the dark and mysterious background mise-en-scene as well as the psychological thriller genre as a whole. Nina’s completely white outfit holds strong connotations of purity and innocence which contrasts hugely with her dark and ominous surroundings. Several close-up shots of Nina’s feet as she dances emphasise her elegance as she moves which is reflected in her clothing. As well as this, the non-diegetic orchestral music which Nina dances to is parallel to her white ballet costume as well as to the dark and mysterious visual background. 

After Nina dances alone at the beginning of the sequence, a male ballet dancer enters and begins to dance with Nina. The male dancer wears a black costume which is in stark contrast to Nina’s white ballet costume. This contrast of black and white often represents good and evil which is a typical convention used within the psychological thriller genre. Upon entrance of the male ballet dancer, the non-diegetic orchestral music descends into a much more dark and ominous tone, contrasting with the upbeat and elegant music which played previously as Nina danced alone. This ominous background music which the two characters dance to is parallel to the black costume worn by the male dancer as it reflects the explicitly darker character of the male dancer. As the two continue to dance, the male dancer’s clothing suddenly transforms into a black, feathered, bird and demon-like costume. This unrealistic change within the sequence is a clear indication that the sequence is perhaps a dream or a figment of imagination. This reflects, and conforms to, another clear convention of the psychological thriller genre which is the unclear and almost faded distinction of reality and imagination, such as a dream.

This part of the sequence is filmed as a continuous shot which gives it some sense of fluidity and a lack of order, reflecting the way the sequence as a whole is presented as a dream sequence or something beyond reality. This part of the sequence is almost entirely made up of fast tracking shots which continuously circle the dancers. The way the camera moves around the dancers as they move give the sequence a strong sense of disorientation and again reflects a lack of order. This is parallel to the non-diegetic background orchestral music which becomes frantic as the dance performed by the two characters also becomes frenetic, contrasting greatly to the purity and elegance reflected in Nina’s dance earlier on in the sequence and that of her white ballet costume. The frantic non-diegetic background music coupled with the similarly frantic single tracking shot conveys a very dramatic style and feeling to the audience due to the disorientation that is created by multiple factors. This dramatic way in which the sequence is presented to the audience conforms to the often-used dramatic and almost tense convention within the psychological thriller genre. 

Location

A common convention of the urban drama genre is the the use of settings to perhaps convey a sense of harsh realism and the social issues the narrative is based around. The settings which are commonly used in urban dramas are subsequently used as visual aids to the themes of the narrative, in most cases being poverty in urban areas, alcoholism and drug use and gang violence. Many settings used in urban dramas are centered around Brutalist architecture as the harsh and intimidating visuals they give reflect the often brutal and unsparing nature of the genre as a whole. 

This image is a screenshot from the Channel 4 urban drama 'Top Boy'. In the background, a grey and rugged-looking council estate can be seen which visually connotes the more poor and working class side of urbanity, especially in certain areas of cities. 

After seeing these brutalistic and harsh settings used in many urban dramas, in the mediums of both film and television, I decided to look at settings which hold a similar visually brutal sense. This image was taken underneath a fly-over in Greenwich and is exactly the type of setting which holds itself well to the urban drama convention of specific types of settings to convey certain aspects and themes of the narrative. This setting is almost entirely made of concrete which is a key feature of brutalist architecture and explicitly conforms to the visual conventions of the urban drama genre. 

Places like this fly-over are common in certain parts of London, especially the south-east where most of our filming is likely to take place, and are likely to be used in our trailer to convey the overlying themes of the narrative which is drug use and some violence.