The document discusses researching similar films and institutions to inform the creation of an opening sequence for a gangster film targeted at 18-year-olds. It provides details and still shots from films like Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch, and The Departed to highlight genre conventions around lighting, locations, characters, and titles. It also discusses short film companies and institutions like Fox Searchlight, Coffee Films, Candella Film, and the UK Film Council to understand approaches to production and distribution.

1. Research into similar products & institutions.

2. Product. In researching films of similiar products e.g. similiar genres it has helped us to identify the genre specific elements that we need to include in our own opening sequence and the conventions that we must follow in order for our opening sequence to be effective to our audience. The genre we have chosen in which to create our opening sequence on is “ Gangster ”so in researching similiar products we watched clips from well recognised gangster films e.g. Lock stock and two smoking barrells, Harry Brown, Snatch, The godfather , Layer Cake and The Departed . But considering our target audience was 18 year olds we wanted to research into films with similair issues e.g. drugs and violence that is specifically aimed at at that audience so we therfore watched clips from both kidulthood and adulthood.

3. Four London working class stiffs pool their money to put one in a high stakes card game, but things go wrong and they end up owing half a million pounds and having one week to come up with the cash. Directed by Guy Ritchie Starring Jason Flemyng, Dexter Fletcher and Nick Moran Genre: Crime, gangster, thriller Production Company: Summit Entertainment, Filming Locations: Bethnal Green, London, England Rated R for strong violence, pervasive language, sexuality and drug content . Certificate 18

4. By watching clips from this film we got a good idea of the issues to include in creating a crime gangster film, below are some still shots from the trailer of Lock stock and two smoking barrells and from these you can see the 4 main aspects of this film which is violence shown through the first still shot, drugs shown through the second shot, alcohol shown through the third and fourth shot. All 3 of these we tried to encourporate into our own opening sequence by using similiar set up e.g. the table, the final shot of our sequence is of a table full of drugs and alcohol.

5. Unscrupulous boxing promoters, violent bookmakers, a Russian gangster, incompetent amateur robbers, and supposedly Jewish jewellers fight to track down a priceless stolen diamond. . Directed by Guy Ritchie Starring Jason Statham, Brad Pitt and Benicio Del Toro Genre: Crime, gangster, thriller Production Company: Columbia Pictures Corporation, Filming Locations: Bethnal Green, London, England Rated R for strong violence, language and some nudity Certificate 18

6. In watching scenes from the film Snatch we gained a better undertstanding on the genric lighitng used in these types of film and as you can tell from the still shots the majority of the film is in daylight and i think this is to help the audience to relate to the characters and narrative as it has more of a realistic effect rather than if the film was shot during the night. This is the reason why we filmed during the day, but as we wanted to challenge conventions we edited are film to black and white which darkened the ligting, but from our audience research the lighting we chose to challenge didnt have a huge affect on the audicences relation to the film.

7. Two men from opposite sides of the law are undercover within the Massachusetts State Police and the Irish mafia, but violence and bloodshed boil when discoveries are made, and the moles are dispatched to find out their enemy's identities. Directed by Martin Scorsese Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon and Jack Nicholson Genre: Crime, gangster, thriller, mystery Production Company: Warner Bros. Pictures, Plan B Entertainment , Filming Locations: Boston, Massachusetts Rated R for strong brutal violence, pervasive language, some strong sexual content and drug material. Certificate 18

8. The 3 still shots below is a 2 second beginning sequence and this clearly introduces the 3 main characters, like most crime, ganagster films the number of characters is limited as the narrative of these films can be quite complex so by having only 3 main characters it helps the auidience understand the plot, so by researching this in our own opening sequence we choose to use just 3 characters to follow conventions .

9. An elderly ex-serviceman and widower looks to avenge his best friend's murder by doling out his own form of justice. Directed by Daniel Barber Starring Michael Caine, Emily Mortimerb and David Bradley Genre: Crime, gangster, thriller, drama Production Company: Marv Films, UK Film Council Filming Locations: Aylesbury Estate, Walworth, London, England, Rated R for strong violence and language throughout, drug use and sexual content. Certificate 18

10. Harry Brown is a typical london crime/ gangster film and this is what we were mainly aiming towards with our opening sequence. Watching this film helped us with the mise en scene with our short film as we now had an idea as to where we wanted to film which we decided was both down the back of a train station and in a dark garage, also as towhat kind of clothing we wanted our characters to be wearing and the screen shots below give some indication of the types of people we wanted our charcetrs to be represented as. Thats why we chose the male character to be dresses in tracksuits walking around with a baseball bat to show aggresivness and that stereotyped teenage image.

11. A successful cocaine dealer gets two tough assignments from his boss on the eve of his planned early retirement. Directed by Matthew Vaughn Genre: Crime, gangster, thriller, drama Production Company: Marv Films, Sony Columbia Pictures Filming Locations: Isle of Dog, London, England, Rated R for strong brutal violence, sexuality, nudity, pervasive language and drug use. Certificate 18 Starring Daniel Craig, Sienna Miller and Michael Gambon

12. In deciding in how to title the film we looked at how this genre of film presented them and many of them including the film Layer Cake which are where the still shots are taken from are always very plain, bold and in black and white this way they are effective . Something else we noticed in researchng into similiar products is that often a shot from the film will be shown followed by a title followed by another shot then another title etc… as the still shots display below, so again following generic conventions of crime/ gangster films this is something we did in our opening sequence.

13. Six years after Sam Peel is released from jail for killing Trife, he realizes that life is no easier... Directed by Noel Clarke Genre: Crime, drama Production Company: Cipher Films, Limelight Filming Locations :Ladbroke Grove Underground Station, Notting Hill, London, England Rated R for pervasive language, violent content, sexual material, drug and alcohol use - all involving teens. Certificate 15 Starring Noel Clarke, Adam Deacon and Scarlett Alice Johnson

14. Kidulthood is a film that has a similar target audience that we are targeting, so we decided to research this film and concentrate on the locations used so in watching the film we decided on the 2 location we were to use which was a train station and a dark garage that looks like a flat. From the still shots below you can see one of the main locations of this film is a the train station so we used some similiar angles and movements in our own film, for example the third screen shot it of the train passing, we used a similair shot in our opening sequence to try and help our audience relate.

15. Insititutions.

16. Fox Searchlight has managed to have some stunning successes in the world of “independent film” in the last few years, and they are staying on the curve’s head with their website, which features lots of value-added material for their feature films like interviews and lectures in addition to trailers and other marketing info. They also offer short films, from the Searchlab imprint, which comprises both commissioned and user generated content. Very intelligently, they have created a community where filmmakers can get script advice, connect with others, and add this to your Facebook. And they will “feature” your work (though not pay for it) if they like it and it is inspired by Searchlight titles. Fox Searchlight.

17. Established as a short film collective playing with camcorders in 1996, Coffee Films incorporated in 2003 and within a year was recognised as one of Europe's best young production companies. Progressing to documentaries on music and wildlife we gained critical acclaim for the film Last of the Scottish Wildcats as only the second company to film Britain's rarest mammal. Well into our second decade we're currently developing and producing a slate of exciting feature length projects including The Death and Resurrection Show on the influential post-punk/industrial band Killing Joke, Lucid a psychological drama/thriller and numerous wildlife projects alongside international broadcasters. We're looking forward to continuing to create outstanding independent films for another ten years, still motivated by the words of Francis Ford Coppola that set us on our way; "One day some little fat girl in Ohio is gonna be the new Mozart, and make a beautiful film with her little father's camera corder and for once the so called professionalism about movies will be destroyed, forever, and it will really become an artform." Coffee films.

18. Our passion, energy and vision are igniting short film production and education in the UK. We blaze a unique trail by combining independent short film production and community education workshops with worldwide distribution, festival and cinema programming. We believe film is a way for people to explore their place in the world. We believe community filmmaking can lead the way in creativity and can achieve cinematic quality. This is how film can connect cultures, inspire new filmmakers and set audience's imaginations and emotions alight. Candella Film

19. The UK Film Council was created in 2000 and is the Government-backed lead agency for film delivery in the UK. Since its creation the UK Film Council has been the cornerstone of the British film industry and the funder of most of the big cultural film initiatives – we have backed more than 900 films, shorts and features, entertained more than 200 million people and helped to generate approximately £700 million at the box-office worldwide. For every £1 of. We fund and work with a number of different partners across the UK – including the regional and national screen agencies, the BFI, Skillset, First Light and FILMCLUB; Our goal is to help make the UK a global centre for film in the digital age, with the world's most imaginative, diverse and vibrant film culture, underpinned by a flourishing, competitive film industry. Our support develops new filmmakers, funds exciting new British films and gets a wider choice of films to audiences throughout the UK. We also invest in training, promoting Britain as an international filmmaking location and raising the profile of British films abroad. UK Film Council.