Director Research

Paul Greengrass

Paul Greengrass, born 13 August 1955, is an English film director and screenwriter. Films he has directed include two in the Bourne series, The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum, Green Zone, Captain Phillips and United 93; for which he won the BAFTA Award for Best Director.

He is currently the president of Directors UK.

Ryan Kearney, editor from 'New Republic' stated that "Paul Greengrass could make the most mundane human activity—slouching in a work cubicle, napping in a hammock—feel dramatic."

What Greengrass did in the two Bournes that he directed was to create a realistic psychological space–using innovative framing, unusual camera motion, editing and enhanced sounds.

Greengrass doesn’t track much, or pan, or dolly when producing his films. The cameras are hand-held, and more often than not searching and constantly struggling to keep up with the action. They whip around and fight for focus.

By rejecting the aesthetic standard of normal action photography and editing, Greengrass’ films suggest that they’re something other, and the language they use, similar to that, from documentary filmmaking lends both immediacy abut also legitimacy to the action portrayed on screen.

Above is a video of Paul Greengrass responding to the criticisms made about his 'shaky cam' techniques.


CNN International, labelled the scene below as perhaps the scene that gave him the oscar nomination 'nod.' They feel that this is the best produced scene from the entire film.

When creating our trailer, we are likely to film our selected shots with the 'shaky cam' method, this is because it gives a natural tension to the shot. Our shots may not win us an oscar but they will certainly raise the production value of our trailer!

Synopsis

Below is the synopsis I produced for our trailer.

The government have been placing unnecessary surveillance everywhere in order to try and keep people behaving; although everyone’s privacy continues to be manipulated. The initial reasoning behind the millions of CCTV cameras that watch the whole of the UK, was an attempt to combat crime rates and hope to lower them, however the rebels misinterpreted this; and acted.

 The film conveys the movements of a rebel group that’s main aim is to look out for the people and ‘Revolt,’ however they approach this method in the wrong way, creating chaos and wrecking havoc on society unintentionally.

The leader of the ‘Revolt’ aims to get the government to retract and discontinue their constant invasion of privacy, ‘we have been watched for too long.’ However, he approaches this movement in a similar way to a terrorist, with video threats, violence upon towns and cities and even civilians.

The story begins by showing CCTV images of ordinary people living their ordinary lives.  There are cameras situated in very personal places such as public restrooms, inside people’s houses and constant surveillance from every angle. After these incriminating shots, a scene of the government watching the surveillance is displayed, it shows them unlawfully invading peoples privacy – not what the CCTV cameras were originally installed for.  The film then depicts the atmosphere created by the constant scrutiny enforced by the government. Audiences are welcomed with cynical viewpoints from the perspectives of not only the people, but the government and also the rebels- allowing the audience to create judgment on what side they would follow if the situation was real. The storyline parallels but also exaggerates the movement into the digital technology; more and more surveillance – acts as a portrayal if surveillance goes too far.

After you have seen the critical perspectives from civilians, rebels and law enforcers the film portrays some devastation that has arisen because of this rebellious movement. Scenes of mass murder, chaos on the streets, extreme invasion of privacy, kidnappings and warning signs from the rebels are too follow, these shots are conveyed in a short but concise way so the audience is able to see as much of the damage caused as possible.

After the scenes of damage and destruction the film begins to tie itself up, you notice the rebel groups persistence has started to make differences to the way the UK is watched and acted upon by the government. The leader of the party however gets arrested although the rest of the group remain free, but heavily watched.  However, thousands upon thousands of CCTV cameras have been withdrawn as a result to the movement, with cameras in personal areas such as homes has been made illegal. The crime rate has remained low because of this and the UK was restored to its former glory.

Capturing Our Shots

As a group we have a wide variety of different cameras and camera lenses. We had to ensure that we could obtain effective shots that would look real. We had to manipulate the camera shots to make sure that we had appropriate video clips that would suit our trailer entirely.

Because of its versatility as a camera, we were able to gain shots with the GoPro Hd Hero 2 that we would not be able to gain with an ordinary camera.

Below is the shot set up for filming the policeman walking through the door to search the house. We used a monopod and placed the GoPro on top of it, shown below.

 To the right is the result of this shot; however in the first draft we have edited this shot to look like a CCTV shot; following the plot of our trailer.

 When filming the shot of the flash bang and the police officer walking into the kitchen we couldn't get to a high enough point with one of our DSLR's so we strapped the GoPro to the wall as shown to the left.







Also, by using the GoPro we are able to gain wide angle shots; without these we may not have been able to get the shots that we desired. The tripods we had hold of did not allow us to reach a height that would look similar to a CCTV shot.

 The result of this GoPro placement is to the right, however, like the porch shot, we edited this clip to look like CCTV also.

To get the dash-cam shot we strapped one of the GoPro's down to the dashboard, when filming this we ensured there was minimal shake so the end quality would be higher.

As you can see in the picture to the left there is the GoPro secured firmly to the dashboard using heavy duty duct-tape. Although the set up might seem a bit unprofessional, we still gained the quality of clip we desired without spending a lot of money on expensive rigs or attachments.

Without the GoPro we would find it hard to record a shot such as this one in the same way, especially with one of our DSLR's. This picture allows you to get a better idea on what the GoPro was actually capturing.

The end result to our GoPro footage is too the right, which we then edited accordingly to fit within the trailer effectively.











To the right is our footage from our trailer where we had the CCTV footage of inside someones home. The effect we were going for with this shot is seen below in a Macklemore music video. Although this is a music video and not a trailer, the way the shot is filmed is particularly goood.

To either side is an image of our tripod set up when filming one of our shots holding up a sign. We placed the camera on a tripod and aimed it down the stairs; at the bottom of the stairs was the person holding a sign, labelled 'we stop killing when you stop watching.'

Below is the end result of the filming from the stairs. However, we will re-film this shot again with better and clearer writing on the piece of paper - this was our main criticism for our trailer.

We then re-filmed this scene because the sign was too hard to read, below is the final clip we used in our trailer.

To the right is the shot we got of the sign outside, we then appropriately zoomed while holding the sign up. As before, this will have to be re-film because we were criticized on our clarity of signs. We will re-film it in exactly the same manner as before but will ensure we have clear and emboldened text across our sign.











Below is the result shot.

We then re-filmed this scene because the signs were too hard to read, below is the final result shot, filmed in the same way.

Editing Styles

Below are some existing trailers of the action/thriller genre - we will ensure that we follow some of the forms and conventions exhibited by the trailers and incorporate the better bits in our own trailer. By using what we feel are the best parts from each of the three successful trailers we should ensure that we produce a trailer with a high quality finish.


Clean Skin

Eagle Eye



  

End Of Watch

The Condemned

Die Hard 4 





 All of the trailers above are very successful, both in trailer and film form. By studying them and noting their forms and conventions, we are able to tailor these for our own trailer. 'Eagle Eye' is the trailer most similar to the plot of our story so we will use that as a base to work from - by taking out what we feel are the best parts from the trailers above we will be able to produce a high quality trailer with a professional feel. Common with these trailers are a slow beginning followed by a change in music and speed of video clips towards the end - this helps to promote tension; we will ensure that we incorporate this idea within our trailer.

Production Company

We have named our production company as 'Kingdom Productions.' Below is the logo we have selected to promote our production company. We have chosen this to make our trailer feel more professional and much like a real trailer, with a production company.

Music Copyright Requests

In order to use copyright songs within our trailer we have to contact the rights owner and ask permission for non-profitable use of their production. Below is the email we originally sent to Zach Hemsey asking for permission and then his reply.

We then sent an email to Kevin Rudolph's record label, universal music enterprises, asking for permission to use their song for production purposes. However, they did not reply to us, allowing us to use this track in our trailer.

Props & Locations

These are the props we have for our trailer. As our plot is solely based around action and violence, and we have access to air soft guns, we feel they will be appropriate to use as they look real.

Also, because we have connections to the police, we were able to grab a few items that would be useful in our trailer when getting shots of a police officer searching a house. 

Locations

 To the left is my house, some of the filming that we will undertake when producing our trailer will be situated here. The area around is a calm, residential area and will show the audience that our plot will affect everyone - not just main towns.

To the right is Lewis' house, similar to mine it is a calm, residential area. We will be undertaking some more filming here because the layout of his house is more open in comparison; it will allow us to have more freedom with our shots because of the wider space.



To the left is Dartford Heath. The area is a heavily wooded area so we will be able to film some shots here; however we will have to be careful with what we can film here because we cannot take the realistic looking guns out into a public place for legal reasons. Shots here will be minimal because of our trailer is largely focused around town life.

Animatic

Inconography of the Action/Thriller Genre

Action/ Thriller films are movies that are filled with lots of twists and engrossing action. They aim to keep the audience on the edge of their seat through the use of pyrotechnics, detailed story lines and usually a problem that could be seen to arise in real life.

The semi-realistic storyline is key for an action/thriller films success, and although the excessive use of high powered weapons and other explosives may be slightly unrealistic, this is what the audience want to see. The plots of most Action/Thriller are roughly the same; two parties, usually against each other; while exploring the actions of psychopaths, villains and evil governing bodies.

Technical

• Action/Thrillers often use low level lighting the portray “bad” characters within the film. This makes the character seem dark and mysterious when vision is impaired.  
• Also, they are likely to have fast paced cuts between shots to ensure that the audience is edging on the end of their seat during the heat of the action.
• Extreme close ups are used very often so the audience are able to interpret the characters emotions and expressions expressed by their face during action packed or tense moments.

Symbolic

• The characters are often seen to have blood covering their body to show the viewer they have participated in a high action scene of the film, which, in turn caused them to draw blood.
• Also, the characters of an Action/Thriller film are often seen to start with nice clean clothes and by the end of the film their clothes are shagged and in ruins. This symbol parallels their emotions throughout the film; clean clothes – happy, ruined clothes – distraught. 

Written and Audio

• Action/Thrillers usually include fast paced but also dramatic music to overlay their impressive video to encourage a tense atmosphere with an element of suspense.
• The characters often scream vocally to add effect and real life emotion to the position they have found themselves in, this helps the audience relate with the character on screen.
• Action/Thrillers often have music that is tailored to the individual characters personality. For example when the “bad guy” enters the frame the viewer is likely to hear dark and twisted music that parallels the characters personality. 

Case Study: Transporter

I studied the film Transporter to see how it contains Action/Thriller iconography; the findings are shown below;

- Obvious antagonist

- Race against the clock scenario

- Features more violence than other sub genres

- Disruption to Equilitorium requires the protagonist to use action to solve it.

- Usually involves characters of the opposite sex to drive the narrative.

Features more violence than other sub genres

Seeing as this film is action-orientated film with thriller aspects, it will have to be filmed in a similar way to an action film. It is based around violence and the story relies on physical scenes to boost the entertainment value. We know this film is an action film almost straight away due to the violence portrayed. Usually, action films use more violence and a small amount of narrative, unlike our trailer, where narrative will be key.

Opposite sex

The main characters can be brought together and also associated by their genders. The female protagonist in the film is seen to use her feminine qualities to manipulate others but ultimately this plan fails.

Physically fit

The protagonist is skilled in combat and is depicted as a powerful and dominant character, this is seen in the beginning fight of the film; this fight portrays the character throughout. Protagonist are usually illustrated as “above” than the average character in the film.

Disruption to Equilitorium requires the protagonist to use action to solve it

The protagonist solves the initial problem with methods that encourage action in the beginning of the film, which illustrates to the audience the film is action packed because the characters try to solve the issues within the plot physically, rather unlike some thrillers which use psychological methods to solve problems.

Analysing A Film Trailer