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Main task - Gambino

             

Set in early 90's New York City, Gambino is based on the downfall of the Gambino Crime Family when one of their members, Sammy Gravano, decided to cooperate with the FBI.

The film follows Commissioner Goodman as he works with the mole, Gravano, to gather evidence against Gambino. All's going well until Gravano goes missing and Gambino starts targeting not only Goodman, but the people closest to him as well.

Main task - Director's Commentary

Above is a director's commentary I made about our film "Gambino". It links in with questions 1 and 5 in the evaluation.

Main task - Final script and storyboards

Final storyboard and script from Peter Bamforth

Main task - Editing analysis

Editing analysis from Peter Bamforth

Above is analysis of some of the editing that went into creating 'Gambino'.

Main Task - Music and sound

For our film we wanted music that built tension and was reflective of the situation (quite mysterious). We looked on royalty free music sites such as incompetech.com but could not find anything that fit our expectations.

Therefore, we went on YouTube and searched for "tense music". We discovered a great song called "The War For Earth" by an unknown composer. We decided this song would fit our film perfectly so we messaged the creator, asking for permission to use it (screenshot above).

Also, for our film we needed some selective sound effects, specifically, car doors opening and shutting. We recorded this by taking my camera and microphone outside and placing them close to the sounds we wanted to record. We waited until there was silence, e.g. no passing traffic, and then recorded the sounds. These sound effects gave us more freedom whilst editing because it meant we decided what could and couldn't be heard by the audience.

Secondly, these sounds emphasise certain actions, such as the car boot opening to reveal the kidnapped man inside.

Main Task - Shot list plan

Along with the initial storyboards we also drew up a shotlist with ideas for potential shots. We knew the location and the basics of our film so drawing a shotlist would help when creating our final storyboard.

One thing we want to get across to the audience in the film is that Gambino is an important and powerful character. The way we planned to portray this is through the use of a low angle shot looking up at him when he makes his first appearance at the top of the airplane's steps. This shows him to be powerful and superior to all of the other characters.

Also, we wanted to capture the emotions of the characters. When the victim's hood is removed we want his disorientation and fear to be shown, therefore a close up could be used to demonstrate these expressions clearly. 

Main Task - Actors

For the opening of our thriller we required seven actors; 2 bodyguards, the 'boss' (Gambino), 2 associates, the victim and the detective. To find actors we asked friends about their acting experiences and availability. We needed our actors to have flexible and good availability because we had to organise a date to film at Brooklands museum and that date would be final. After discussing experiences and availability we chose seven actors and allocated them appropriate roles, this was partly based on their appearance and skills. Because there is no dialogue in the film, apart from the phone call, the actor's voices were crucial.

To help organise the actors we created a whatsapp group. This helped us to efficiently organise when and where we would meet at location, how we were going to get there, costumes and what would be required of the actors on the day.

Main Task - Draft storyboard and script

To the left is a sheet of rough notes we used to jot down ideas for the opening titles.

Here we came up with the idea of some titles being revealed when a vehicle drives by. (Bottom left)

Below is the first draft of our storyboard. It depicts the journey to the exchange point which could be edited to be split screen (top right). It also shows the positioning of the actors and the last shot which consists of the camera zooming out from the 'evidence board'. Also, the final box is an idea of the font we may use for the film's title, "Gambino", with the 'G' being a reversed question mark to represent the film's mystery.

To the left is a draft of the script for the phone call that's going to be bridged across the opening production company titles and the journey at the start of the film.

We also listed some possible backing music.

Main Task - Props and costumes

Below are the costumes we designed for the characters in our film. Bodyguard 3 and 4 are the Associates. Gambino wears a suit to show how serious he is and that he is a business man. The bodyguards wear camouflage trousers and a black top to make them look like soldiers/military, equipped with weapons, this shows them to be dangerous and skilled. The victim/hostage wears a hood to keep their identity concealed and show how they've been taken against their will. Finally, the Associates dressed smart casual to show they mean business but are relaxed about their line of work, even though it's dangerous. This show's they're experienced.

Main Task - Basic planning

This is a basic plan of how we wanted our main task to play out:



This is a very basic plan of how we envision the location and characters to be like to help us when storyboarding and scripting:

Main Task - Organising the location

We decided that Brooklands Museum would be the best location for our film because we could use a plane which would be great mise-en-scene. However, we needed to organise when and where we could film. We contacted the museum's Commercial Manager, Valerie Mills, by phone where we discussed what we were hoping to film. She kindly agreed to let us use the area and then helped us organise a time and date in subsequent emails:

Main Task - Possible locations

BROOKLANDS MUSEUM

  DESBOROUGH ISLAND

  SAINSBURYS MULTI-STORY CAR PARK

Main Task - Chosen idea mind map

We decided we wanted our thriller opening to be based on an exchange between two gangs and wanted some of it to be seen from a detective's point of view (taking pictures from afar, a 'stakeout'). With this idea now in mind we made another mind map of possible elements we wanted to include in the film. Sounds, characters, costumes, locations, props and working titles were all put forward. After we had completed this it gave us a much clearer idea of what we were working towards. We used this mind map as a basis to work from when story boarding and scripting.

Main Task - Initial ideas

When we were given the brief of the main task we decided to use a mind map to get our very first thoughts and ideas onto paper. We looked into possible locations and plots and this helped us build an image of what we wanted our film to be like. The mind map was also a great tool because it let us all give our own suggestions then merge all of the best bits of these suggestions together. Finally, it let us gather opinions on potential ideas so that we could scrap the ideas that just would not work or weren't good enough.

Preliminary Task Feedback

--- It was clear that on the whole people enjoyed our task and that it met the requirements by using a variety of shots and making it original and engaging. However, there were some areas for improvement. From the feedback it was clear that we should look to improve our setting. We could of used somewhere which had more relevance to the scene, such as a basement or more isolated location, this would reflect how there was a secret and dangerous event taking place. Also, we should aim to make sure all of our shots are fluent and fit in with the general feel of the film.

Preliminary Task - Final Piece

Preliminary Task - Editing

We wanted to give the film a more cinematic feel so we altered the brightness and contrast. This made the film feel a lot more eerie and mysterious. The contrast between blacks and whites made Aydin's face even more shadowed and hidden.
The first 30 seconds of the film's audio was made completely in post-production, this is so that we could bridge the garage door opening/closing accurately and also not have unwanted background noise of cars etc. ruining the film's feel. We added in footsteps to emphasize Aydin's entrance.

We also decided to add a changing blur effect to the P.O.V. shot to show how nauseated Sam's character was. The drum beats were added to emphasize the mood changing and add tension to the escalating situation. The eerie soundtrack that plays almost throughout gives the scene a sense of unease and mystery.
We made sure that there was match-on-action with each transition to keep the film believable and fluent. When Sam is shot in the head we added in a gun shot, chair hitting the ground and body impact sound effects to sell the effect. We also added a puff of blood and a quick reflection of light off the walls of the garage to give the gun shot and murder even more realism. The clip then slowly fades to black at the end.

Preliminary Task - Recording sound effects

When we watched back the footage we noticed that some of the sounds weren't clear and that we should record some sound effects that we could add in to emphasize actions. So we took a microphone, went to the set (my garage) and recorded Aydin's lines among other things. We recorded the lines and sounds in the garage so that they were recorded under the same conditions as the rest of the clips and this would make them fit in with the scene well.

The other sounds we recorded included:

- Garage door opening
- Garage door closing
(We recorded the door opening and closing so that we could bridge this sound across the clips and make sure it was fluent and not jumpy)
- Breathing
- Umbrella being placed on a table
- Jacket being placed on a table
- Chair falling over and hitting the ground

All of these sounds contributed to making the final piece consistent, clear and clean.

Preliminary Task - First edit

This is the first attempt at editing our footage.

 

What can we improve?

 - The colours don't seem eerie enough. By adding some contrast and possibly dimming the brightness could give the footage a more cinematic feel.
- The audio seems to cut into each shot, this makes the film feel too jumpy and messy. This could be solved by bridging the audio or playing a constant sound in the background.
- It doesn't feel mysterious. By adding an eerie soundtrack and some other sounds that build tension the film would seem much more thorough and make the audience more emerged.
- The sounds of the gun shot, gun cocking and Sam falling off the chair seem very unrealistic and pathetic. We should add in real sound effects that make the scene feel much more realistic.
- Nothing visual happens when Sam's shot off the chair. If we added a flash of light, to represent the gun going off, and a puff of blood then it will sell that Sam's been killed to the audience and make the scene much more serious. At this point in time the film feels very empty and amateur.

Although the raw footage is good there are a lot of improvements to be made in the editing.