Filming Schedule for the Half Term

Week One


This is our first week of filming, we plan to do two internal scenes which will be in my friend Jessa`s house which will be Abberline`s home; we will get photos of the location while we are there- but the location is perfect for what we need which is an antique filled living room with a table where we can have the discussion between Abbelrine and Moore.
The other scene we will film is when Moore and Brooking are in a room discussing Ripper and what we they need to do to catch Ripper. This will be filmed in Ciaran dining room which has mutual quality to it which we can change in to room where an investigation may happen by adding the maps and photos of the suspects and victims on the wall and on the table.

 Week Two


This is the outline for our second week of filming which is going to be in London; we decided to do the London filming in our second week of filming as most school will be back at school so not many people will be around the streets to get in the way of filming.
 We will also most of our filming on Sunday of the last week as it is when most people are free, when it will not be very busy and if we start early we can finish most of the filming. We are hoping that most of our filming will be on the dot to avoid costly trips to London which we really cannot afford, plus one of our actors lives in Bournemouth which will be difficult to get him back to where we live to do a little filming.

Inspiration Post- Hey ho lets go to expo!

On Saturday I went to MCM Expo which is a a magical place where people who are interested in Sci-Fi, manga, anime, comic books, super heroes, art, cartoon and most importantly to us at the moment Steampunk!

While I was there I took numerous pictures of the "Steampunk Village" and the people who were there on the stalls were lovely and very willing for you to take pictures of there items.

Here are some of the best photos I took while I was there:

Expo on Prezi

The displays were amazing and it gave me a lot to think about and how to set up our internal scenes and how to dress our males in the trailer.

Prep for Props Part Two!

The evidence and cartoons for Ripper are all real accounts and information I gathered from the Ripper case book website and Wikipedia. I printed off numerous photos of victims, sketches of suspects and I`ve printed off four (I will print off another four) maps of the Whitechapel and putting them together to create a large map. I was also thinking we could put it up on a wall either in a house of an inspector or a wall and we could record it for a few seconds and add it to the trailer sequence.

Prep for Props Part One!

Found our dagger and pipe in a costume shop local to me, it cost me £5 which is not too bad

 This are the two props I bought from the shop. The dagger looks a little fake but if we don`t have the camera too close it and have the shooting of it from a little bit away then I believe this will look quite convincing.

This is the pipe for either Abberline, Brooker or both! This will give the characters an authority and that he is a character you can trust.

Prop lists + Experiments!

Ok so for our props we need to consider how to create a few things starting with paper linked things...

1. The Letter

We have to create a stained bad written letter written by Jack the Ripper like this one. To create this letter I will to use tea bags to create a brown crinkled effect. There is also some thing that looks like a blooded hand print on it which I will use maybe black paint for it...




2. Newspaper

I will use a modern newspaper with no photo on a specific paper. May need to print off some Ripper head lines

3. Photos and evidence
Print off some Ripper linked photo like the one at the side (This was also the cartoon which was the inspiration for our film title). We may also need to buy a map of East London to put up in the internal scenes and mark certain points on it.

4. Dagger for Ripper

We need a fake dagger for this its need to convincing but not so much that we might get in trouble. We will have to go to a costume shop and look for the best dagger, perfect time to look too as it Halloween!

5. Guns

Already spoke about this in a previous post but we have a certain type of guns we can use for the trailer which are Steampunk themed.

6. Pipe
Because a Victorian gentlemen always has to have a pipe... Its a must!

Will add more when I think of more things we need!

7. BLOOD- Ripper was brutal murderer and we need as much blood and guts as we can (but without is turning into a not so great horror film)

Ideas for music

When it comes to music I have a few thoughts of what we could use...

We could go for a Sherlock inspired  piece



Such a good piece of music for sleuthing and the streets of London, we could this piece with just a piano which would have a more creepy and suspense feel to it to link to Jack the Ripper

Or we could go for a modern piece of music



This has been used on two pieces of advertising for dramas that historically inspired, this song has a good rift going through which sounds like it could be used in a chasing scene and to do with the fear of Ripper.

Or go for some good old rock... It always goes well with a trailer



I am a bit to bias to this song, its one of my favourites and it worked so well with the start of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Its tense and sounds like the type of music linked to crime.

A simple piece of acoustic...


Jonny Cash has a haunting presence to his music, this song was used in the advert for channel four Homeland  and works well with fast pace action and with close ups.

The music we will have for the trailer is most likely going to be playing underneath the main  dialogue of the trailer, but it has to memorable and catchy. Ciaran who is in my group is a great musician done the music for our opening sequence last year for AS and it was brilliant- if we could do that again we would have an original track to put in our video which would be perfect and completely suited to the trailer.

Picture Inspiration!

Influence Post!

World of Steam

This is a teaser trailer for a show which gives a behind the scenes look at what goes into creating some of the amazing creations that people make to do with Steam punk.

I also looked at the website which has amazing graphics and looks like the kind of thing we would like to create  for a website for the film or maybe the logo for the site itself is a good idea for how to create our title for the trailer and poster.

Our location on Google Maps

I thought to give more of a feel of what our location is going to look like, to do this I thought I would look up the location on Google Maps.

Durward Street is one of the streets that Rippers victims were killed. I think this spot looks quite modern but if we certain parts of it then we may be able to make it look slightly more Victorian.

These two pictures are from Henriques Street where Elizabeth Stride was found dead. This spot looks quite modern but with a little camera magic I think this could look like a realistic representation of a Victorian Street.

This is one of the most famous spots of one of the Ripper murders. Mitre Square is where Catherine Eddowes perished. Though it is close to several modern building we could probably position the camera so that they cannot be seen. We could also use the bench in the area too for our shooting as well.

Influence Post!

SHERLOCK HOLMES
Ok where to begin.... Sherlock Holmes and his good assistant Doctor Watson are a very heavy influence on our main characters Abberline and Moore.

Sherlock Holmes is one of the most well known detective characters in the world, his linked to all things British and has a national treasure quality to him. He as well as one of the most well known assistants Watson have many adventures, which are written are written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Overall there are 56 book some novels, some short story and they span over the time of 1880-1914.

The reason I feel that Abbereline and Moore liken to Holmes and Watson is the time period in which they are both set are alike, they are a duo; but they differ in the fact that Moore works for the MET and Abberline is a slight loose cannon on the force.

Here are the to most recent and well known adaptations of Sherlock Holmes:
Sherlock


Set in modern London. Sherlock shows the detective in a new environment which shows him being how we may expect him to seem in this this atmosphere. Which is a liking for technology. I like this drama as it shows another side to the Sherlock Holmes phenomena in a different way which shows that Holmes would probably adapt to technology and be a morden man.

Sherlock Holmes




This is a 2009 adaptation of Sherlock Holmes which stars Robert Downing Jr and Jude Law. This is a Hollywood take on Holmes which I personally dont like very much, though "purists" of Homes may not be sure of Sherlock; it has an essence and a quality to it which I feel is lost in this film. Also the Holmes played in it is American!!! ITS A BRITISH BOOK!!

Audience Survey

We decided to use the website Surveymonkey.com to create a survey for our film.  The aim of the survey is to identify who our target audience is and what they want to see in a trailer.  Once we have identified our target audience we can aim our trailer at that audience.

This is our first question.  We have asked this question to try and gauge our target demographic.  If for example the target demographic is Male then we may need to add elements into the film that Men may enjoy.  also if the target demographic is Female then we may need to add elements into the film that Women may enjoy

We can also identify our target age with the second question which will show us the age group that finds our film most appealing.  For example if people under 10 do not like our film then we are free to add effects inappropriate for children, where as if there is a very big appeal from this film for people under then then we will not be able to include inappropriate elements.  Question 3 outlines whether or not people know anything about Steampunk.  If people do not know much about the genre then this may be a difficulty because then our research may be unreliable.  However if the majority of the people who answer our film know about Steampunk then we can use this as reliable evidence.

The next set of questions ask about what our film will include.  The first question ask if they have ever seen a Jack the Ripper film.  This will show us whether or not our film is original or not.  This will benefit us because we can look at other films that they may have seen and gain inspiration from them and implement it into our film.  Question 5 asks if the film would interest them.  If the majority say no then we may have to re think our film, however if our film appears to be popular then we will know our film will be a success.  Question 6, like question 5 asks about the story in the film.  This question will help our research because if the results show that the this is not a very interesting subject then we may have to make it more futuristic which is possible due to our genre Steampunk that allows us to implement alternative history.  However if it comes back that this is a popular subject then we will make it more traditional.

Question 7 will help us with our trailer editing.  We will be able to find out if a fast paced trailer with a lot of action in it is preferred to a slow trailer or if a slow trailer is preferred.  With this we will know how to edit our trailer effectively.

Question 8 will allow us to see if Hollywood style films are preferred to independent films.  This will show us what style is preferred and therefore show us what we need to include.  Question 9 asks if a website would be beneficial for the viewer.  If it is and the viewers would like this then we will create a website designed for our film so people can view it.  The last question ask what the audience wants to be able to see in the trailer.  This will tell us what things we need to include such as parts of the storyline, cast and date of release.

Once all of these questions have been answered we will have a much better idea of what we will need to include in our final trailer once it is completed.

Audience Research

Our group is thinking of doing an audience survey to make are understanding of the audience more vast. We are doing the survey on Survey Monkey. Watch this spot for more information!

Production Logo Ideas

Here are some thoughts and ideas I have for our production logo. Since our production company is called"Supernova Productions" we need to think of different ways we can transfer this to screen and with the budget we have...

This is a supernova, its beautiful but a little hard to take a photo of with our budget, plus even if we did find an amazing photo of these wonders the copyright involved would be scary!

So here are some thoughts:

• An S and and N in Steampunk font :

This would look great with a maybe either a black background or a banner going round it like from this website Steam Ingenious.

• We could maybe film someone turning a sparkler round in the dark but, we cannot see the person. We could then stop the video and have "Supernova Productions" underneath it. This could symbolize the stars and the middle of the supernova.

I admit this is like paint drying but you get the gist, if we can do this for a few seconds and have the sparkler moving.

• Another idea we have is that we ask someone who is good a Graphics and for them to create a simple animation, this would include probably a supernova or something in the style of Steampunk.

Influence Post!

I think I may do the odd post linking to different things that have inspired me with creative process of making of preparing for this trailer. Stating with....... 

THE STRANGE CASE OF DR JEKYLL AND MR HYDE!!

Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is written by Robert Louis Stevenson (the same writer of Treasure Island) and was published in 1886. Stevenson also wrote several other short stories along the same idea of horror and suspense; such as the Body Snatcher which is about the taking of bodies from graves around the same time as Burke and Hare (another post...). 

Any way back to Jekyll and Hyde: It is about a London lawyer named Gabriel John Utterson who investigates strange occurrences between his old friend, Dr Henry Jekyll, and the evil Edward Hyde. As paraphrased by Wikipedia, its a great story and is written in the first person of said Mr Utterson- I am currently about half way through but I am loving it and its given me a few ideas for my trailer...About the mood, feeling and setting we would want to portray when filming. 

Here are a few productions, which are inspired this amazing story:

Jekyll

Jekyll is a modern sequel to the story of Jekyll and Hyde; the main character Tom Jackman has been given the gene of his ancestor Dr Jekyll, in which he can turn into an alter ego of Hyde. The series is about Jackman having to cope with this issue and him finding the source and maybe a cure for it.

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen




This film is about several well known Victorian book characters such as Dorian Gray, The Invisible Man, Mona from Dracula, Captain Nemo and of course Jekyll and Hyde. The reason I am like this film is due to it being a such good film to refer to due to some of the settings being in London Streets and the style of it having a Steampunk feel to it.

Production Logo Research

A production logo is a logo used by movie studios and television production companies to brand what they produce. We have looked at multiple trailers to identify common conventions throughout the trailers in regard to production logos. One trailer we looked at is The Last Stand. The Last Stand is a film about a mexican drugs cartel that is heading to the Mexican border and it is Arnold Schwarzenegger job to stop them. The production company for this film is Lionsgate. What we found interesting was that the production logo was not the first thing to appear on the screen. Before the production logo there is a segment of the film. This sets the scene and it can be related to Lionsgate because they are known for making well known and successful films. Also Lionsgate is is an independent film company. This is significant because if we decide to make an independent film trailer then we can use this as research. Another trailer we looked at was The Campaign. This is a Hollywood film. There are clear differences between The Last Stand which is an independent film trailer and The Campaign which is a Hollywood film. One of the differences is the start of the film. The Campaign starts with the production logo of Warner Bros. The reason for this is probably because Warner Bros is more well known then Lionsgate. This therefore means that the audiences can identify the production logo and recognize it is a good film without seeing any footage because Warner Bros produces it. Also the whole Warner Bros animation isn't actually shown. This represents that the Production logo may not be the most important thing to show in a trailer. The last trailer I looked at was from the film Hitchcock. This is an Independent film. Unlike the previous two films, Hitchcock has a static production logo. The production logo is from The Montecito Picture Company. This is a static logo and the reason for this is probably due to budget. The Montecito Picture Company is not a very well known production company. Therefore it may not have the same budget as production companies like Warner Bros and Lionsgate and therefore cannot afford animated logos. Despite Lionsgate being an independent film production company its revenue is very high and this is probably why it can afford an animated logo. Comparison What I noticed with both trailers is that the trailers match the background music. This seems to be a common convention. It is therefore very important that we implement this when it comes to editing our film. Also the time that is used to show the production logo is very short. This shows us that when making our production logo it should not tae to much time to do. Two of the trailers are animated. One is not. This gives us options on whether or not to create a animated logo or to create a still image that can be use. We will probably use a still image due to the lack of budget we have. This therefore means we have limited resources and it would be wise to use those resources on making the trailer look professional as possible and only using a still Production logo like the film Hitchcock.

Preparation for Screen Tests

Before we start our main filming we are going to some screen test of our actors to see if they are good for the roles they are going to play.

A screen test is a method of determining if the actor or actress is right for performing a certain role or are good for a film. The performer is normally given a scene or couple of lines to read and to act them in the certain role they are going to portray. Later on the film is evaluated by relevant personnel to see if the person is right for the role. Some screen tests can be to see if costumes and make up look right on the performers.

Here are some examples of screen tests:

These two screen test are show different ways in which we can do our screen test. the Juno "test" is Ellen Page and Olivia Thirlby acting out a scene from the film in  room. This is unlike Joseph Gordon Levitts screen test which gives the viewer more of an idea of what his personality is like. The reason why the two screen tests may differ is due to maybe the actresses in Juno are less known then Joseph so may require proving themselves to be suited to the role. Joseph Gordon Levitts screen test was done in an interview style by a famous interviewer Lynn Hirschberg- who works for The New York Times

For our trailer we could do a mixture of both interview style screen test for people who have no dialogue in the trailer, and for the people with speaking role either making them read out their parts or making them perform/ be interviewed in the style of their characters. 

Location

This is the beginning of where to consider filming our trailer. Due to our group being so close to where the Whitechapel murders actually happened, we could get up to Brick Lane and East London and do filming there; though being careful not to choose spots where it looks to modern. I have personally been on a Jack the Ripper walk which was an interesting experience to find out where all the five murders took place. I will take this knowledge on board and try and find the best spots as well other key points in local area that would look great on camera. For example in Harry Potter part of Diagon Alley is filmed on a certain street which looked great when we walked through it. One of the public house that one of Rippers victims went to just before she was murdered is still open so we may see if it could be used in context of when our trailer is set.

When we go to the location we will take photos, but at the moment we will use photos from a Jack the Ripper walk website.

Another thing we have to think about is where to film the scenes which are internal, one of the location for our trailer is a Police Station. We could maybe find an office - the place where or use a house to make it look like the investigation is having to be done in peoples homes due to the scare? Im not sure I will have to chat with my group.

Script

Script for Blind Man`s Buff from evieanne24

Props and Costumes

For props we have numerous things we need to prepare for this firstly weapons:

The weapons we were thinking of using for the trailer will guns for the detectives and Ripper will use a knife. The use of knives by the Ripper may show that they of a lower class to the police force who have the money to afford the elaborate guns. Another reason why the Rippers will use knives is due to the they way in which the murders were carried out suggest a knife was used instead.

The style of a Steampunk gun is different to a normal gun

For starters it has a much more elaborate look to it as it is gold and the patterns on it are decorative. The most obvious difference between normal and this Steampunk gun (created by friend Charlie Nicholson who is to star in our trailer) is the light bulb on it which give it the gadget and sci fi feel to it. When asking Charlie how he created this he told me:

"I painted a Wild West gun specific colours and glue different components on the body of the

gun, like light bulbs or metal drain components, anything I can find that looks like it could be

used in an interesting way to create a Steampunk prop weapon"

We will use about three or four guns in the trailer; I have two and my friends also have one each. 

I think that all the police men will have guns, as well as maybe Press Officer Carter.

When considering costumes I personally asked my friend Ros Tate about for advice of how to create and put together the costumes she told me this:

"Costumes needn't be extravagant (though there's nothing to stop you doing that too if you want

generally think Victorian and then tweak - so for ladies a long skirt (adding frills at the bottom makes them instantly more "Victorian") frills are basically a length of material, gathered with a running stitch and sewn onto the bottom of a skirt. add a frilly blouse and often a corset although you can also use waistcoats and/or a wide belt to get the same effect. Basically what you're after is that Victorian shape of pulling the waist in.
But you could also have ladies in trousers - Hannah wears a pair of 3/4 length tweedy type pair with a frilly blouse and a corset/belt. boots are good

Men ... straightish trousers, collarless shirts or those posh wing collars, cravats, waistcoats and if you can get a hold of them, frock coats (though you can get away with just the waistcoat.
military style jackets work for either men or ladies too and they were around all over the place last year so your cast may well have one knocking around. boots again work - everything from Chelsea boots up to platform Goth boots are good.

Hats: traditionally top hats but bowlers work too ... and pith helmets (fancy dress shops sell ones that look ok. Ladies can also wear mini top hats - decorate with feathers and bits and

bobs -“mothers ruin millinery" is run by a friend of ours and looking at her site might provide inspiration.

Goggles are very popular, industrial ones sprayed a metallic colour are common but I have adapted swimming goggles (take off the plastic bits and paint the rest with acrylic paint to make them look wooden or metallic - i also replaced the elastic strap with a piece of mock-leather, but the elastic would be ok.

Accessories: pockets watches, painted nerf guns (aiming to get the colours to look wooden/metallic again) telescopes, compasses, things that suggest an inventor, and engineer, a traveller, an air-ship pirate, or a monster hunter....

As for where to get stuff - depends on budget and time. Charity shops are a massive help, eBay is a great source but beware of the label Steampunk, it sends the price rocketing! Dav 

and I tend to get stuff from all over the place and then adapt it, take it apart, re-sew, re-glue, 

replace add bits, take bits off."

Trailer Remake

For our trailer remake we decided to go for the Iron Lady due to it being historical (though wouldn`t require costumes) and it was a simple script to learn. We decided to set our trailer in a meeting room in our school and moved away some of the chairs and tables, then placed some "comfy" chairs by a window to get the feel of it being in a high story building.
Ciaran and Joe were the two advisor and I was Margret Thatcher (I dont know why? I look nothing like her...) We tried to remain as accurate to the trailer, this included the pearls and hat, Joe and Ciaran being in suits. When editing we had the issue of what to do about the music, we couldn't find the music used in the trailer without the dialogue from the film. We ended up using a piece of music called "Temptation Much", though not the same pace as the original music it added a bit of a comical feel to the film which I quite like.

The Iron Lady Remake Trailer from jake margetts on Vimeo.

Audience Analysis

From Hell audience analysis

This is the audience research for the film "From Hell".  This film was inspiration for our film which also is based around the Jack the Ripper.  There are significant differences and similarities between the two audience researches.  Firstly, This research has very similar levels of appeal for all demographic categories. The difference between the most appeal to the least appeal is only 0.9.  Compared to our research which showed there was a difference of 3.7.  This shows that From Hell has a wider range to target its film then Blind Mans Buff.  However what this means is that From Hell does not have a target audience due to its potential audience being varied, where as in Blind Mans Buff you can see that the target audience for this film is females under 18.  What this means is that we can now target our film at that age group and achieve success.

Blind Man`s Buff Storyboard

The first part of our trailer will be of a close up of the latest newspapers all writing about the Jack the Ripper being caught. This will introduce the the audience to the concept of the film, this will also intrigue viewers as everyone knows that Ripper was never actually caught (this links into the idea of alternative history).

The next part of the trailer cuts to a flashback of Ripper with a victim but is then caught by the police; its quite unusual for the audience to see the villain before the hero so may lead to an affinity with him instead of the detectives. This scene links again to the idea of alternative endings and events as Ripper was never see.

The next scene in the trailer cuts to a bloody and brutal murder of a woman, the last of Rippers known victims; this is probably the most historically accurate parts of our trailer though instead of being her home like it was truly, we were thinking of having her murdered in a London street.

This next shot is of a detective trying to piece together the murders and realising there is not much logic in who they have caught being the only murderer (this begins the theme of there being other people involved in the killings). Also the detective in the shot may be Detective Moore who is the assistant to Abberline.

The audience then see Detectives Abberline and Moore witnessing a murder by two people in the East End of  London in the exact same way that Ripper murders his victims. This is when the tales of Ripper completely deviate from what actually happened and we find out there were more then five killings.

Abberline and Moore tell the force what they have found out about the East End murders, no one believes them and they must capture the Rippers themselves.

The next scene the audience can hear a voice over of Ripper, then Abberline reading one of Jack the Rippers most well known letter, we though that it would be Saucy Jack as it is firstly one of the most legible and eloquent letters "Jack" wrote. plus the length of the letter is good for our trailer.

The final part of our trailer will be of the title and the date when the film is released. The colours that we may use for the titles will probably be dark to go with the cinematography of the rest of the trailer; the text may be a red which is likened to blood and it will be on a black background, the font of the text is still in though, but nothing to stereotypical of a murder film as it will be a cliché. 

Our not so big budget cast..

Dectective Abberline- Charlie Nicholson

Young, inqusitive and unusual, Charlie Nicholson is an up and coming actor who has a talent to evoke emotion and light up the stage. Nicholoson mostly does stage acting with his theature company the Miskin and has played key roles in these productions. In shows such as West Side Story, Hanging on the Old Barbed Wire and A Mid Summers Nights Dream; he has a varied career which would make him suited to Blind Mans Bluff.

Detective Moore- Ciaran Pinnell

Keeping to mostly stage work, this is Ciaran Pinnell first big role in as Detective Moore. Likened to David Tennant; Pinnell has a lovable nature which would contrast to Abberline's cool personality. Pinnell has played roles in Mid Summer Night Dream, Fame and Playing the Victim.

Chief Warden Brooking- Jordan Pace

 Jordan is currently studying A-Level theatre studies, and also has produced short films such as Mind Heist. He shows a variety of characters through his acting, and that is why we think he can play the authoritative Chief Warden.

Press Officer Carter- Alice Rooke

Pre- Raphaelite beauty Alice Rooke has been an extra in several up and coming TV dramas such as Mr Selfridges and Call The Midwife This will be Miss Rookes first big role in which she will be playing the sassy feminist Carter, with her amusing sense of humour and eloquent voice she will shine as our Press Officer.

Jack The Ripper-Joe Payne

With his great sense of humour and huge eyes, Joe Payne may not be a typical person to be considered to be the play infamous Ripper. But with previous experience in short films which a dark edge; Payne knows what he is doing and can do a great performance as Ripper.

Lewis Duffy-Penny

Newcomer Lewis has a amusing quality and is easily adaptable to roles. This will be his first screen role. Previous work with fellow cast member Ciaran Pinnell, he is therefore comfortable in his role as Jack the Ripper.
Jakob Margetts

Jakob is new to the acting circuit but is guaranteed to make an impact. Likened to Neil Kinnock and Ed Sheeran; Margetts will  be a great addition to the league of Rippers.

Mary Jane Kelly- Amy Holmes

First time actor Amy Holmes has stuck to mostly behind the scenes work in her own productions, but is willing to take up the spot if needed such as in her Media Coursework last year. Holmes has a fresh, pretty face which would look timeless in a costume drama.