Final Evaluation

For my Year one Final Major Project (FMP.) I decided to create a British Crime and Drama film set in 1980s England. I worked to create a ten-page script and a nineteen-page shot list following main characters Danny and Geoff and their journey into a drug underworld. I worked hard in researching the UK in this time period and the filming/ editing techniques that my influences and other films used during this period. From the soundtrack to the outfits and the props, I made sure that my film would reflect the 80s as authentically as possible.  My main goals for this film were to create an enjoyable film, to utilise important documents like the shot list and to complete as much research as possible into the UK in the 1980’s and apply that knowledge into my film. 

Secondary Research 

One form of secondary research that I conducted was looking into the town of Gosport in the past. I had borrowed a DVD from the Gosport library named “Gosport Life” from the Wessex Film and Sound Archive. The DVD contained original films dating back to 1897, stored in the Hampshire Record Office. By viewing these original and raw films from the 1980s, I could get a grasp on what life was like during this period in Gosport, a working-class town. It showed some of the living conditions and daily routines of a person from Gosport and helped me to scout for different sets that I could use which properly displays what it was like to live here in the 1980s. 

One other form of secondary research that I conducted was on the autobiography of legendary bare-knuckle boxer, bouncer and actor, Lenny Mclean. In his book, he discusses his troubled childhood, early life as an offender, involvement in London’s criminal underworld and eventually his career in acting with his most famous role being “Barry the Baptist” in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (Dir. Guy Ritchie, 1998). Lenny started as a bare-knuckle boxer, participating in unlicenced fights and gaining notoriety.

This is where Lenny earned the name “The Guv’nor” after beating talented boxer, Roy Shaw. He also worked as a doorman in the best clubs and pubs in London and became very well respected and infamous within the community. During his time in London, Lenny was brought in to intimidate the infamous terrorist group, The IRA, during a drug and bearer bond deal. “The deal was over £2 million worth of bearer bonds for cash” and Lenny was brought in to intimidate the IRA and as the muscle if anything went wrong. He became so feared and respected in the East End that clubs and pubs just had to put Lenny’s name above the door to stop trouble coming in. I have based one the characters in my film, Goon, on Lenny and his violent lifestyle. This book helped me to develop some of the language and slang terms I would use in my script, and I used some of the experiences Lenny had as an influence to the scenes including main antagonists, Goon and Charlie.

Another form of secondary research I conducted was into the prime minister of the time, Margret Thatcher and her policies. Her policies of closing industry and privatisation increased poverty and hopelessness in the 80’s youth and contributed to a rise in organised crime, theft and substance misuse. Youth in the UK had lost their identity, so they sought groups to regain a sense of purpose such as drug dealers, gangsters and football hooligans. The closure of heavy industry in Britain during the Thatcher era caused a 20% increase in crime committed by young people over the following 20 years, Professor Farrall said “Our analysis is much more accurate in predicting the criminal activity of some of the young people, by including the rise of unemployment in their area.” This is one of the main factors of crime increase in Britain’s youth because of Thatcher shutting down the mines and steel works. “If you had a dad who was down the pit or steel mines, you were expected to follow him into that occupation, and if his pit or mill closed, that pulled the economic rug from under you.” 

Primary Research 

One piece of primary research that I conducted was a questionnaire that I sent out to my peers. This questionnaire helped me to get the most out of my influences and to hear other people’s feedback into what I was planning to create and how I was going to do it. One question that I asked was “What would you expect to see in an 80’s British Crime film?” 31% of people said that violence should be a main aspect of the film, with one person saying, “Aspects from the 80’s such as events, people’s attitude back then, etc. I would expect to see violence as well as a really cruel antagonist.” Another question that I asked was if my colour palette was effective for a film set in the summer. One person said, “Yes because it relates to the colours of summer as well as having an 80’s feel.” Another person said, “Yes as it is quite retro and vibrant. Reminiscent of the 80’s.” Music from the 80’s decade plays a big part in my film; it drives the story forward and sets the tone and mood. Therefore, I asked my peers if they were fans of 80’s music. 10/11 people said yes with the one other stating that they don’t really listen to that type of music. This knowledge from the questionnaire helped me to improve my story and driving aspects of my film. 

I conducted primary research into the film, The Business (2005, Dir. Nick Love). My main influence for my FMP is The Business directed by Nick Love, this film was made in 2005 but set in the 1980s and Nick Love worked hard to create an accurate mise-en-scene for the decade. Frankie (Danny Dyer) is on the run from the flats of south London to a new life in Malaga with only a parcel full of cash. The man that the money is being delivered to is the Playboy (Tamer Hassan) and soon becomes part of the gang in Spain, he finds himself entangled in a flamboyant life of violence and organised crime. The movie is celebrated for Nick Love's trademark use of violence and extreme situations, this movie also stars Danny Dyer and Tamer Hassan who showed their compatibility on screen and on set in Love's hit film The Football Factory (2004) which they starred in. The film is set in Costa Del sol and filmed there for a very low budget of £2 million. There are many similarities between Nick Love and I in which the films being set in a different decade and having minimal budget. I have also taken great inspiration from the characters and script of this movie to influence my final project. 

I conducted primary research into UK music videos from the 80s to learn the different camera angles and techniques. Someone had replied to my questionnaire referring to a clip from “The Business” (Dir. Nick Love, 2005) saying that “Music and titles are good, cuts and shot types could be more 80s. See Duran Duran and 80s hi-fi.” I decided to watch and analyse music videos and take in the way they are filmed, edited and how these angles and edits match up with the song which is playing. Furthermore, I went to research the video for Ah-ha's Take On Me (Dir. Steve Barron, 1986), at the time it was one of the most technically challenging videos ever created with its small budget of one hundred thousand pounds. As the focus of the video is the comic book world that the girl is taken to, the cinematographer has used smooth camera pans, long shots and big close ups to capture the emotions and feelings of the character and the track. 

Planning  

For my FMP, I decided to film the bulk of the film inside of Thorngate Halls in Gosport. As seen in my production diary, the interior of Thorngate Halls looks very old fashioned and as if it has not been refurbished since the 70s. I thought this would be a perfect place to use as the main antagonist, Charlie’s, offices. The caretaker of Thorngate used to be my childminder so he allowed me to film in the halls with no problems. This proved to be a perfect location for my film as it replicated social clubs and members bars of the 1980’s in the UK. 

Before I had begun filming, I filmed a test shoot of my opening scene to show to the class and gain their opinion on my choice of camera angles, dialogue and what they thought about the script. The overall feedback to my test shoot was positive which told me that my opening scene would work for my film. One piece of criticism I received was the use of slang terms, some of these words didn't feel as though they would be said by someone from the 80s so I took this information and improved this part of my script. 

As my film is based during 1980’s UK, I could not use basic props, costume and locations and had to research into different magazines, guns, cigarettes, household items and more. I managed to purchase most of my props and costume from car boot sales and second-hand places like Vinted and charity shops. I spent a lot of time researching into different fashion trends and fashion cultures of the UK in the 80’s and used this knowledge to choose the outfits I would use for my film. I also did some research into UK currency from the 80’s to have the most accurate portrayal of a drug deal and large scale money deal, I printed out multiple sheets of old money and trimmed them down to create an accurate look into the UK, 1980’s. 

I created some character profiles for the characters in my film. By doing this, the actors can learn the thoughts and feelings of the characters and how they might act in specific situations. A character who had a poor childhood may act differently to certain situations and it is important for the actor to know this and their character to play the part accurately. 

Here are the different character profiles I created: 

Danny: 

Danny grew up around crime and drugs in his hometown. His dad sadly passed away from a terminal disease when he was very young and John had helped the family during this time, he sees John as a father figure. His best friend, Geoff, grew up in the same block as him and they have been friends since school, he sometimes views him as an annoying little brother. He has always worked low paying, cash in hand jobs to get by and survive. He is bored of this life and wants to make a name for himself.   

Geoff: 

Geoff has a similar upbringing to Danny, in an urban town. He does everything with Danny and respects him. His dad was a villain in the 60s and 70s and had betrayed Charlie causing him to spend some time in prison. He has got by in life working for small shops and companies. He tries to keep out of the game but if the money is good, he'll play. Although he would follow Danny into war, he has his own mind and can handle himself. 

Charlie: 

Charlie has been the leader of Gosport's main crime and drug smuggling company. He is an experienced and effective leader and maintains a strict lead of the organisation. He served some time in prison because of Geoff's father who snitched on him in the early 70s. The only man he really trusts is Goon, his right-hand man, who has been working beside him as his muscle and enforcer for 15 years. In his spare time, he plays golf and snooker and likes to keep his game sharp. 

Goon: 

He has been Charlie's most trusted "employee" since the start of the company. He commands respect by being threatening and violent. He has worked beside Charlie right from the start and follows his every order. He believes that the right way to get a message across is through his fists on account of his violent and abusive childhood. 

John: 

John dabbled in the drug business in his younger days but now he is older, he has taken an executive role. He is a scout for Charlie's company and recruits young talent to move the drugs. He also supplies the recruits with the drugs. He was a friend of Danny's father before he died from a terminal disease and helped to look after Danny's family during this time. He trusts Danny and Danny trusts John, seeing him as a father figure. 

Links to my planning documents:

My Presentation 

Shot List.docx

Feedback 

 After the screening of my film, I received some feedback from my peers about what they liked, what went well and what could have been improved. These opinions have helped me to reflect on my film and shown me how I can improve in the future.  

One piece of feedback I received was, “The 80’s vibes and style was very well done and I thought it worked really well!” This feedback showed me that my efforts into making my film look like the 1980’s worked and was executed very well. The same person said, “Some dialogue towards the beginning was inaudible.” Although I do not agree that the dialogue was “inaudible”, the audio was very echoey in the Thorngate Halls scenes and hard to understand in some parts. In my next projects, I will try to assess the quality of the audio in my filming locations. 

Another piece of feedback I received was, “Amazing, I liked how it showed part of it then went to the start.” This feedback showed me that my non-chronological beginning was understood by my audience and worked well within the story. They had also mentioned the sound quality in some parts of the film which showed me that this is an issue that a lot of my audience picked up on and had to address. 

Another bit of feedback I received was, “The story was really good and clear. Some of the framing worked really well. The sound effects really added to the story.” This feedback showed me that my script worked well and could be followed. It also showed me that the shot list that I had created worked well and added to the scenes. They had also said, “The dialogue was echoing at times.” which further tells me that the audio quality was an issue and affected these scenes in a negative way. 

Another bit of feedback I received was, “Really, really good. Colours really make it look 80’s. Really interesting. Overall really good!” This feedback has shown me that I have achieved some of my main goals such as making an interesting film and achieve an accurate 80’s mise-en-scene in my film. This feedback is one of many that complement the 80’s feel of my film and how it represents this decade. 

Another piece of feedback that I received was, “good concept however,... didn’t get the 80’s as much.” This feedback is an outlier in the different messages from the audience. The research that I completed on the 80’s era was thorough, and I had applied all that knowledge into my film including the costumes and locations. This audience member may not have a good knowledge of the 80’s or have no interest in this era explaining how they may not have picked up on the 80’s clothes and locations. Moreover, the film could include more 80’s aspects such as cars, furniture or household items. Due to myself not having access to a set or financial budgets, I could not make each thing seen in my film quintessentially 80’s. Although I did try my absolute best to achieve this goal and I believe that the average viewer could watch one of the scenes in my film and identify the decade it is set in.  

Overall, the feedback to my film was very positive with my audience being entertained by the film and saying the script and shot list were well written. The main criticism to my film was the audio quality in some of my scenes was poor and very echoey, making the dialogue hard to hear. I feel as though my goal of applying my research and knowledge of 1980’s UK into my film has been reached and confirmed by my audience’s feedback. 

I also reached out to an actor who was one of my influences in creating my characters. I messaged Geoff Bell, who plays Sammy in my main influence, The Business (Dir. Nick Love, 2005), about my project and if he could give me any tips or talk about his experiences on set. I also sent him a link to my film so he could watch and give me some feedback. I was very excited and privileged to see that he had responded to my message and posted a link to my film on his public story. He messaged back, “Well done Archie, Keep it up.” This made me very happy as to see that the main inspiration for my film and my antagonist had watched my film and had given me good feedback about it. This made me feel as if I had reached my goal of creating an interesting and exciting 80’s British crime drama much like the film, The Business. 

Conclusion 

Overall, I believe that my FMP project went well and that the end product was entertaining. Some things that went well were my script writing and my 80’s mise-en-scene, my long and extensive research into the decade’s outfits, music and design helped me to create an accurate portal into the decade. As this is my first time writing a full script, I believe my ability was tested but I managed to create an interesting and followable story that is enjoyed by an audience. Some areas of improvement would be the quality of the audio in some scenes, a loud echo can be heard on the dialogue from Thorngate Halls which makes some of the lines very hard to hear properly. Some of the clips could have been trimmed down to keep interest to the scene. Another technique that could have been used to keep interest is J and L cuts, I used a couple in my film but not enough during conversations which could have been used to make the scene flow better. I believe that I have reached my goals of creating an enjoyable film and keeping to an 80’s mise-en-scene in this project, I feel as though I have put a lot of effort into this project, and I am glad that my audience enjoyed my film. My targets for my second year FMP is to create an interesting and enjoyable film. I will try to set a theme and mise-en-scene like this project and continue to conduct lots of research into my influences. My target for the summer is to produce a 70’s style music video for the song “Armed and Dangerous.” I will use my knowledge from this project to research the 70’s decade and make it as accurate as possible.