Risk Assessment

Before filming started it was important to carry out a risk assessment. This was significant because if any our scenes contained potentially dangerous acts or actions, we would have to assess how to carry it out safely.

There was no particularly dangerous scenes in the teaser trailer, but there were some aspects to the filming we had to think about. Pete had to film a shot from a high position,to acheive an establishing shot of a complete urban area. This meant we would have to find a safe place that the camera could be taken too,which allowed a good high angle shot. Therefore Pete found a place at the top of some stairs, which was safe enough to shoot the clip, and had safety railings around it.

Another point we had to include in the risk assessment was how we were going to get around using a gun in the teaser trailer. Obviously we could not use a real gun as you have to have a license, and using one in public was not an option. Therefore we opted to use a fake 'BB' gun, that would still look believable enough. Their was still a risk that using a fake, yet believable gun in public could cause to distress to passers by. Yet we were able to overcome the risk of distress to the public by shooting the two gun clips in an empty alleyway, and a tunnel. Both times we filmed these clips we made sure there was nobody passing by, who could get the wrong impression.

Empire magazine Cover Analysis

Empire is perhaps the most well known film-orientated magazine. It regularly uses images which take up the fall front cover, the iconic bold title 'Empire' catches your eye and impresses you. Unlike 'Little White Lies' this shows what else is included in the magazine, and what articles/interviews etc you would expect to find within it. All of the writing is in a large font which stands out from the cover, it normally includes, alongside the picture, a title and tag-line of the film 'Empire' is focused on most in that issue.

Little White Lies magazine cover analysis

Little White Lies is an independent film magazine. This then ties into our film as 'How to Poison a Dog' is an edgy independent film. The magazine cover is very original and strange, it is obvious that this is not about high-budget, star-studded, films. The use of the cartoon picture taking up the main space on the cover shows that Little White Lies tries to hook the potential reader by using a film that they may be interested in. The logo plays a large part in getting the magazine noticed as it is identical throughout all of the issues. The tag-line Truth & Movies shows that there is more to this magazine than simple reviews, it shows that it seems to go deeper into the analysis of the film than other similar magazines.

Revised Storyboard

This is an establishing shot of the setting used during the sequence.

A pan of the area is used and there is a slow fade at the end.

Shot lasts around 5 seconds.

We are thinking of changing this shot in order to convey a more urban setting.

One of two jump cuts showing two people walking through alley.

Lasts less than a second per shot – keeps with fast pace theme.

High angle shot of two gangs exchanging the drugs.

Hoodies are worn to show genre of modern day gangster crime.

Shot lasts 4 seconds.

First sign of danger to the teaser, with someone begin shot.

This is shortly followed by different angles of the gun shooting with sound effects.

Match on action shot showing the man running away.

Speed is reflected in the speed of this shot by having is less than a second.

Fast paced drum and bass non-diegetic sound is introduced to add to the rush.

This shot reveals the other end of the phone call.

Lasts 1 second.

New character introduced, who is angry because of the phone call.

A bin is kicked over in frustration.

Voiceover from the first guy is playing, he explains what has happened.

A threat to the other gang is made here.

This shot lasts for around 3-5 seconds.

A gun is used to reinforce the crime genre. Here it is seen in a close up being reloaded.

Lasts 1 second.

The men wait for the group to walk around the corner before shooting at them.

Whole shot lasts 4 seconds.

As a result of the shooting, one person goes down, and the camera tilts up to see a point of view shot of the two men with a gun. A heartbeat sound is played to represent the fear she is experiencing.

Title of the film comes up, followed by a coming soon title.

Lord of the Rings Magazine Cover

Below is a Total film magazine cover of 'Lord of the rings'. this cover is fairly similar to our sequence as it reveals a few characters, as apposed to the generic one character covers that are more common. This is a good example of how to frame multiple characters, but with still keeping the eye catching effect. This poster uses images of the characters from the film instead of taking individual photos of them. Another technique used tat can be used for our magazine cover is to have the characters looking into the camera, by doing this it creates the feeling that they are targeting the audience more closely by looking directly into their eyes. This idea has been used for many film posters and is a good way of encouraging more people to watch it.

Our Poster

After researching typical posters of our type of genre we came up with our poster. The main image is of Steven and one of our actors. The image was taken from a screenshot in the film, before being cut out and stylized in Photoshop. We chose to stylize the image with a dark charcoal effect, which made the poster look dark and shady. This helps to emphasise the themes portrayed in our film, i.e. crime and violence. Steven is holding a gun in the image, which tells viewers there will be severe violence in the film. Sam (one of our actors) is standing with his hood up and half his face shaded. This follows stereotypical ideas of youth in todays culture.

We included a bold title and chose to substitute the 'I' in 'poison' for a syringe. Reason for this is it suggests drug abuse will be portrayed in the film. We included a quote that we hope will urge people who see the poster, to go and see the film. Also we included a billing block, as it is a vital aspect in film posters. 

 

Magazine Cover Analysis

I have chosen this magazine cover to analyse as it has similar conventions to the ones that we intend to use e.g. guns, dark clothing, dark setting. However this idea does differ from ours as there is a single protagonist on this cover where as ours will feature a pair of characters, which will be more of a challenge to still portray a single idea whilst featuring multiple characters.

In terms of the poster itself it depicts many of the conventions of a typical film magazine cover, first and most obvious is the fact that the image itself is over much of the title of the magazine which brings it forwards and almost off of the page to directly grab a passer by's attention and create interest in the film. Also there are a lot of bold eye catching statements to pull the reader in such as World Exclusive or PLUS all to make the reader feel like they will be getting their moneys worth.