An important scene in our production is the final scene before the title where the PCI is informed by the Pathologist that the case is not as clean cut as first thought and the DNA results have been tampered with. This scene we wanted to film in a Hospital as the mise-en-scene would be perfect for such a scenario. Obviously, however, on the tight schedule and resources, this would not be possible. When we decided we wanted to film in a Hospital corridor, I set out to design some relevant signs that would be found in the Hospital. They can be found below:
Hospital signs typically found in hallways
Name Plaques to convey who resides in the room
An extra Poster to make the office seem more legitimate
A sign not seen on film, but was tacked to the wall to the right of the room we used.
Composition
We used a variety of techniques to produce the signs above, below are a few steps showing how they were created. Directional Sign
We added this bevel effect to each individual section of the main sign so that it would look as if it were actually bevelled on metal as opposed to simply printed on paper. We found that a flat, raised inner bevel as these are the kind of effects metal shows when it has been embossed. I was very happy with the effect though I believe the final sign may not have been the right size. This could however merely be because I know it's fake as others believe it looks incredibly reallistic.
Name Plaque
It took a number of effects using trial and improvement to create the name plaque, below are some of the most important and useful:
To the inner text, we added noise to make the sign look a little warn and expensive, as it could be etched in some form of impure stone. This small change adds validity to the plaque and breaks up the solid black colour of the text.
The inset emboss was probably one of the most significant effects as it gives it the overall etched effect, making it 3D and tricking the eye of the viewer into seeing depth. This was an effect we wanted to create mostly with the first two signs as both are seen fairly close up and if not, focussed upon fairly tightly. If they did not look 3D, the effect would be broken and they would be nowhere as impressive.
Finally, we added a slight gaussian blur to the entire text on the plaque to make it seem less sharp and, again, more worn. This enforces the sometimes rough chiselled effect that can be seen on some real plaques.
An accidental, but helpful fact was that the directional sign was dented slightly after printing; originally we thought this would hinder our film, though it actually now looks as though the sign is worn from age, giving an even more authentic look.
Feedback
After our audience saw this scene in the film, the general consensus was that we had done very well in recreating a hospital hall way; most viewers have actually been shocked to find that we did not actually film in a hospital and in fact used my living room.
For use in our production, we really wanted to use the song 'You don't know' by Helen Shapiro. The reason for this is that it was number one for three weeks running in August 1961 which means it serves as a very subtle, but clever intertextual reference as the beginning of our film is set at this time. To acquire the use of this music, we first had to contact the owners and correspond to reach an agreement.
The company that now owns the song is EMI Records whom we contacted to see if we could acquire rights for the song. We first rang the company's UK branch, assuming it would be difficult to get hold of them via email quickly and it would be easy to see how plausible the use of the song would be. We were directed to someone who said that email would be better and that he would like to correspond with us that way from then on. He preliminarily said that the chances were high that we would be able to use the song.
Our correspondence with this member of EMI is below: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hello, I am the student who just rang regarding the use of Helen Shapiro's You Don't know for my AS Level Media Production. If you could reply with written permission that would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks a lot for your help,
Ross Freeman ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hi Ross,
It appears this song is owned by Lorna Music Co Ltd for the publishing side. You may have been looking for EMI Records, who may own the recording. I would suggest you contact Jessica for this- 'REMOVED FOR PRIVACY'.
Thank you very much for the reply; I will contact her from now on.
Thanks a lot for your time,
Ross -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We then proceeded to email the new EMI representative to request permission: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Miss. Barlow,
I am writing to enquire about the use of a song owned by Lorna Music Co Ltd in my AS level Media Production and was informed by a member of your publishing team that I should contact you for permission. The song in question is You Don't Know by Helen Shapiro and I guarantee that it will be used entirely for non-profit and educational use and if necessary we can provide you with our online e-Portfolio's to prove it's use.
Thank you for getting in contact to use Helen Shapiro “You Don’t Know” in your media production. So that I can process your request can you please answer the questions in red below?
SCHOOL/UNIVERSITY: To which school or university is your project to be submitted for marking?
PROJECT: What is the name of your project?
RECORDING & ARTIST: “You Don’t Know” performed by Helen Shapiro
DURATION AND NATURE OF USE:How much of the recording do you require? (e.g. 30 secs, 1 min, full duration of the recording) Will the recording be used solely in the background accompanying visual images?
MEDIA:Is the use purely for marking purposes?
TERRITORY:Is it solely UK for which you need rights?
TERM:How long do you require the rights? 6 months, 1 year?
COMMENCEMENT DATE:When do you require the rights from?
PROJECT SYNOPSIS (Please supply visuals if available):
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any further queries.
PROJECT: AS Level Media Production - Trailer for own film creation
RECORDING & ARTIST: “You Don’t Know” performed by Helen Shapiro
DURATION AND NATURE OF USE:One minute - Shall be featured in the background as an intertextual reference due to the film being set in August 1961 when it was a number 1 hit.
MEDIA:Purely for marking and educational, though it will be posted on You Tube so that it can be linked to our Portfolio's for moderation.
TERRITORY:It shall be posted on You Tube so I assume we will need rights for all that can view it, if that is possible?
TERM:Once it has been uploaded to You Tube we had not planned to remove it so if it's possible we'd like the rights as long as possible if not indefinitely?
COMMENCEMENT DATE:Though it will not be uploaded today, I'm not aware entirely when the finishing date of the project will be, so if possible commencement date would be from your acceptance today or when that is.
PROJECT SYNOPSIS (Please supply visuals if available): The project is for our coursework and is to create a film trailer for a thriller. Our film is about a copycat of the A6 Murderer from 1961; to enforce this we show at the opening of the trailer snippets of the original murder with Helen Shapiro's song playing in the background as if from a car radio to set the time period. I'm afraid the film isn't shot yet though I have attached the storyboard that the music will be applied to. I'd like to add that we would be perfectly happy to link to EMI and/or a link to buy the song in the description and plan to give complete credit in the credits and description.
Thank you very much for your time, I hope you can grant us the use of the song.
Please accept this email as confirmation that EMI Records Limited ("EMI") has no objection to your request to use up to 1 minute of “You Don’t Know” by Helen Shapiro (the "Artist") as you have described solely in connection with your school coursework, PROVIDED that at all times:
(i) Your school coursework is not exploited commercially in any way and is not used in any sort of commercial context;
(ii) Your use of the sound recording referred to above in your school coursework is in no way derogatory towards EMI, its affiliates or the Artist;
(iii) Your school coursework is in no way derogatory towards EMI, its affiliates or the Artist;
(iv) You only use the sound recording referred to above in the manner that you have described for 1 year from the date of this email and solely within the UK; and
(v) The Artist or their management do not at any time after the date of this email raise objections to your use of the sound recording in your school coursework.
This was great and now meant that we would have cover to use the song for marking, but cannot upload it to You Tube for linking to this blog. For that reason, we will need to record a song, similar to 'You don't know' for use in the online version.
Though since I began this blog my partner and I have been setting out to create a trailer, certain events have resulted in us altering our brief. During the post-production segment of our overall production we acquired a number of feedback from our Audience. When shown bits of what was then a Trailer, we received these comments:
Audience Member 1: "I really like the shots and filters, though I think it's possible you're giving away too much of the storyline."
Audience Member 2: "The footage is perfect, but I think for a Trailer it lacks pace and really looks like the opening sequence of a film."
Audience Member 3: "I love the storyline, but most trailers don't reveal as much which could be a real downside."
Due to this unanimous feedback we attempted to find out if we could adapt our brief to fit the project we then wished to create. We found that it would be possible to fit the new brief as another brief provided by OCR is the first 2-minutes of a Thriller Film including titles. With minor edits from that point onwards, we succeeded in creating the film we wished to create the first time around. The two drafts and final film will be found in posts higher up. We were informed this change of brief would be justified if we added one detailed analysis of an opening scene as conventions are very similar.
A second prop needed for our production is a murder weapon which, to conform with our storyline, must be a gun. Due to the fact we needed to use a realistic looking firearm, it was necessary for us to read up on UK law regarding imitation and toy firearms. The legislation we regarded can be found here:
"The Violent Crime Reduction Act, amongst other things, amends firearms legislation to ban the
manufacture, import and sale of realistic imitations and prohibits the sale of any imitation firearm
(whether or not it is realistic) to persons under the age of 18 years. Longer sentences have been
introduced for the possession of an imitation firearm in a public place without reasonable excuse. "
This small excerpt details that we, both, could not obtain a realistic looking firearm ourselves, but also, that we would find it difficult locating one as cheap as they once cost. Once we have a realistic prop, also, we have to go to certain measures to ensure when we use it in public, any people in the vicinity are aware that it is not real and that we only had it for filming purposes.
What we resided to do was to buy a child's toy that followed UK Law and to alter it ourselves. The gun we used was a blue, plastic gun from Poundworld. To alter it, we dissembled it so that we could remove the orange plug that all toy firearms must contain and to paint it with black plastikote paint. The end result is below:
Only one scene in our film requires we film in public with the gun so when filming these shots we will ensure that we assure any members of the public in the vicinity are aware that we are filming with a fake firearm. In addition, we will need to film as quickly as possible.
The gun also needs to feature in a photograph of an evidence bag containing the fire arm; this picture is below. We used a sandwich bag to double as an evidence bag and then edited it to look more convincing:
An important prop needed to make our trailer more convincing is a DNA result certificate proving that the muderer is James Hanratty. To achieve this, Ross and I found examples of DNA certificates online and set out to design our own; below is the word document we created and below that is the printed, assembled version:
Our filming schedule and the fact that we must coincide with adults working hours and school, requires that we leave school during a free period on Friday 23rd November. To achieve this, it entailed acquiring permission from our Vice Principle, Mr. Bernard. Before approaching him, we asked our Media teacher, Mr. Seston to write us up letter giving his own permission. Below is the letter written up on the computer and the printed, signed letter:
Unfortunately, it has arisen again that our replacement actor for the part of 'Historian' is unavailable for the role. As a result of this, Ross and I have decided to remove the role from the film and give the lengthy voice over part to my dad who will be playing the Police Chief Inspector. By doing this, we actually remove a logistical problem of why the PCI would be speaking to a Historian having recognised the similarities in the first place. In addition, with the voice over being spoken by my dad, recording will be a much easier task and can be completed to a higher standard.
As it is quickly approaching time for us to film and edit our production, I believed it would be best to outline entirely our idea and trailer story line as we have only given it in pieces thus far.
Our idea, as aforementioned, is to base our Thriller on a 'copy cat' of the A6 murderer, widely believed to be James Hanratty who has re-enacted the murders to prove a point about DNA. In 1961, the time of the real murders, DNA evidence could not be gathered though now it can. In 2002, James Hanratty, who was hanged for the crime, was 'proved' to be the murderer through DNA evidencing, though some believe he was framed merely to finish the case. This is the point we base our film around; the murderer is proved to be, by DNA, Hanratty though he was hanged 50 years previously so the only solution is that the DNA has been tampered with. To enforce this point, the victim is one of the Pathologists that proved Hanratty guilty, adding an eeriness 'tick-list' ideology through the fact that he is not the only one of the Pathologists to have died in recent times. The murderer, this time, obviously does not agree that Hanratty should have been blamed the first time round. Throughout the trailer, the Police Chief Inspector recounts the previous case, sound bridging over clips of the original case and the similarities now. It is not until the end that we find the DNA proves Hanratty guilty. The film is called, 'Deadman' as a play on words as the original murder happened on Deadman hill and the proved murderer this time round is Hanratty who is a 'Dead man'.
This is a video version of our storyboards that we pieced together and spoke over as a more detailed guide for our full production. We decided creating this would be a great complement to both our actual film and our storyboard offering a greater understanding of our idea to our viewers. The music used in the background is Dvorak by Tom Milsom; originally this was only used to add some backing and content to the video, though after adding it we have decided we like how it fits, so we may incorporate it into the production some how.
Like the script, Ross and I designed a storyboard of the entire Thriller how we envisage it now, though due to it being early stages we can see ourselves having to add and take parts away before the finished film though there will be many similarities and we will attempt to stick to it as best we can. Any differences will be justified in our reviews:
To aid us in our production which is to be created very soon; Ross and I have written a preliminary script which is very subject to change, but which outlines the forms of conversation and voice over we require. The following discourses are the three separate scripts for the three separate scenes they will be used in: Script Key: PCI - Police Chief Inspector FS - Forensic Scientist
Script 1 - Conversation between PCI and FS about victim
FS: One Fatality, one raped and seriously injured, currently in intensive care, though don't expect anything soon. Mark Glenn, we knew him, Pathologist, do you remember? God, third one this month. PCI: Yeeah, right, send your men home; you won't find anything. FS: *Looks puzzled*
Script 2 - Sound Bridge of PCI that runs along most of the trailer
PCI: On the 22nd of August 1961 Michael Gregsten and Valerie Storie's car was hijacked off the A6. The hijacker later shot Gregsten before raping and shooting Storie. I think you'll agree, this isn't a homicide... it's a reenactment. Mark, happens to have been one of the Pathologists who resolved the original case in 2002 with DNA evidence, as were the others. The victims car was found abandoned in Ilford the same day, sporting no evidence, whatsoever. Enforcing this, the murder weapon was found by a cleaner on the backseat of a bus, again... no evidence. James Hanratty was the prime suspect throughout the investigation despite such a resounding lack of evidence; he was later hanged after being found guilty.
However... there was always significant evidence that lead towards a second suspect...
Script 3 - Discussion of DNA results between PCI and FS
FS: I have the results of the DNA testing, but you're not going to like it.
PCI: Well?
FS: It seems your murderer is dead... and has been for over fifty years.
We added this bevel effect to each individual section of the main sign so that it would look as if it were actually bevelled on metal as opposed to simply printed on paper. We found that a flat, raised inner bevel as these are the kind of effects metal shows when it has been embossed. I was very happy with the effect though I believe the final sign may not have been the right size. This could however merely be because I know it's fake as others believe it looks incredibly reallistic.
To the inner text, we added noise to make the sign look a little warn and expensive, as it could be etched in some form of impure stone. This small change adds validity to the plaque and breaks up the solid black colour of the text.
