Action Scene Evaluation

Write Up
By
Jay White
We were given an assignment brief where we were hired by EON Productions to
film the last action scene of their new Action Thriller currently set to premiere in
Leicester Square, on the evening of the 27 th May 2016.
I chose to start by considering what outcomes I wanted and needed to achieve
by the end of my Time Ultimatum Action Scene.
Firstly I started by making a list of all the necessary requirements to help me
meet the assignment brief. The most simple of them all being the moodboard.
Where I gathered different pictures from the internet to help summarise the
different situations, scenarios, characters and storylines.
When choosing the images I felt that a
basic forward approach would be best.
Meaning that, instead of going to the
extreme and being very specific with the
picture searches, which would require a
lot of time that I could be using on the
other things that I needed to make a start
on.
I thought as long as I can find an
appropriate image that will suit the
intend purpose of what I am trying to
depict would not really matter that much
as long as the people who are viewing he
moodboard can make the connection
between the picture and its purpose.
To make this moodboard, I chose to use
Photoshop as I was able to employ the
techniques I had already learnt and also I was able to make the visual
appearance look more suitable than if I were to use Word Document.
Next, I decided to make a Mind-Map of the various props, shot types, locations,
actors, costumes and make-up I may have considered using in the production
process of the Action Scene.
Making a list of the different potential locations I could film at really did help me
to remain organised so that I would not have to be remembering all the different
locations.
By photographing the different locations I was able to easily build a visual image
in my head of how they could be incorporated into the filming. I also was able to
anticipate what problems may have occurred when trying to film in these
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locations and if possible the ways I could try and solve these problems with a
plan B.
For example, looking at the main College Carpark proved to be an impossible
situation to work around as there were people coming and going constantly
throughout the day. Then I was able to remember that the College had a
secondary carpark at the back of the campus that would be far more suitable
and quiet. This meant that even though people would be coming and going to
and from their cars, we would be able to film for long periods of time as it was
not as busy as the main college carpark.
The locations that I considered appropriate for filming at were:
The Green Screen Room-located on the first floor of the college
A variety of classrooms throughout the college-depending on their
availability
Outside of college-The College reception was a potential location but
unfortunately it is the main entrance into the college and is never empty
or quiet enough for the period of time that I needed to film for
Hallways throughout the college-again similar to college reception, these
were hard to navigate around when filming as they are communal area
that grant people access to other parts of the buildings, however I was
able to find a partially quiet part of the college that perfectly suited the
needs of how I wanted to depict the build-up to finding the scientist scene
Construction Building-again, like reception a very good location to film at
but the same problems as reception as well, hardly ever empty and never
quiet. I chose to abandon this location idea with no further thought
Stairways to upper floors-this meant that people would be coming up and
down them all day so I had to look all over the college to determine what
stairways are quiet at what times. I was able to find one stairway in
particular that was long enough and quiet enough to film at. Thankfully
the filming for the stairway scenes was minor and didnt take very long.
The High-Education (HE) corridor that run just above the main reception of
the college looked promising but then again it was open with no walls to
block out any sound or keep any unwanted personnel accidentally straying
into the shots away. This idea was abandoned and no further thought was
given
College Darkroom-located on the ground floor of the college seemed ideal
for this particular scenario of having a tied up hostage in a dark and dank
environment, but for some reason I felt like going with a different location
as I wanted to really experiment with potential locations and see how I can
adept them to the individual needs of the film

Outside of the College Reception

One of the corridors I chose to film
I wanted to try and design different costumes of how I wanted each character to
look individually. I found that the best way to go about this was looking at the
moodboard I had created and get some inspiration from there. After getting
some inspiration and ideas that I could carry over to the costume design. I went
on to the internet to look for costume design templates and found a vast library
of different templates but these were mainly intended for Fashion and Textile
design only so I continued to search on until I found a plain but simple costume
design template. This was exactly what I had been looking for, so I copied the
template into a Word Document and printed out several copies in case I didnt
like one design and I wanted to redo do it on another template.
The template I chose to use (below)
The best thing about this template was
that I was able to design both front and
back of each costume. So then when I
referred back to the design, I knew
instantly what consume I was designing,
and where I had left off.
Each costume I designed I did free hand
as then I would be able to make
alterations if I wanted to change anything
at any point.

The costume design I needed to create

were:
Scientist
Thug
Hero

Hero
Thug
This led
me up to
the end
of my
first
week of
Pre-

Production, the only thing I had left to do was create a blog explaining the
different things that I had done that week and how I feel that they had turned out
and if I wasnt happy with them, how I could have changed what I had done to
make it better. I decided to ask my lecturer for some feedback as I was slightly
unsure about the start I had made and I wanted to see if they agreed with the
progress I had made.
At the start of my second week I was halfway through finishing my storyboards. I
was at the point where both the Hero and the Thug were in the middle of their
fight. I continued on from this and decided to include the death of the Thug by
having his neck snapped from being tripped up by the Hero. I did think this was
slightly unnecessary at first but I got round to convincing myself otherwise.
Looking back at the whole idea of including some death in my Action Scene really
turned out to be beneficial. As I felt that it added some extra depth and would be
a surprise to see the hero bringing a man twice his size down to his knees and
then having him killed.
I debated whether or not I should include some dialogue and have the hero say
the bigger they are, the harder they fall but I felt it best to just leave him
speechless and continue with him trying to find the scientist.
Continuing on from where I left of with the costume design, I started by making a
Costume and Props List of everything that I would need for each character. I
felt that it would be appropriate to make a list for each individual character so
that I wouldnt have to keep swapping back a fourth from page to page. By
adding pictures relevant to each character also gives a brief idea of what the
characters costume will look like.
When I started filming I realised that the person I wanted to have as the Thug
was tied up with other matters. So, I decided to go and ask one of my colleagues
for their help. He was more than happy to oblige and he also gave me the idea of
switching roles. I am typically a big guy who could easily pull of the role as the
Thug and then my colleague took on the role of the Hero.

I also chose to make a decision that impacted heavily on the film and actually
turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Instead of having the Hero wearing
similar attire to the Thug he could instead, wear a suit. This would signify a
strong presence to the audience and in most action films you wont normally see
many if not hardly any heros at all wearing full bomb squad gear.
Coming to the second week of Pre-Production, I noted in my feedback blog that
there may be some experimental shots. These would be signified with an A
next to the number so that I knew that I needed to make a choice. Whether I
wanted to try make the experimental shot work or just leave it out. By not
including any of these experimental scenes, I was able save myself a lot of time.
At the start of the third week, I felt the pressure starting to build. As I only had
three more weeks before I had to have everything submitted and my evaluation
handed in. However, I didnt let this stop me from achieving what I had set out to
do.
I made a start by finishing my storyboards, with annotations and shot types. This
took me just under 2 days to complete. After finishing my storyboards I found out
that I hadnt completed any of the talent release forms. I quickly set about
printing several of the templates of e-Study and dating them with the
corresponding dates that I had planned to film on.
Next, I started by doing reccees for each location that I had planned to film at.
Even if I had chosen not to film at these locations. It only seemed right that I did
a reccee for each one as they were considered to be potential filming locations.
In addition to the reccees, it was necessary that I completed the Location Risk
Assessment Sheets for each location. This was important as we needed to verify
what the potential risks and hazards that may occur and what can be done to
minimize these issues if they were to occur.
The Production Call Sheet was next. I personally felt that these were the most
essential documents as they contained the information for every contact. Not
only that, they also contained the timings of when people had to be at the
specified location and what their role would be. I also included the address of the
base, location address and allocated break times so everyone was able to go
away and refresh themselves then come back and be ready to film.
During the middle of the third week I had everything uploaded to my Weebly
Portfolio and I was able to make a start on the filming. I started filming on the
Friday of the third week, by filming the opening scenes of the Action Scene,
where the Scientist was just regaining his consciousness.
These scenes were filmed in the Green Screen Room. This location was ideal as
I could bring down the blinds which would completely block the light coming in
from outside. Filming these scenes took the entire morning. Mainly due to the
fact that the room was very hot and the actor playing the Scientist was becoming
uncomfortable, which became worse the longer he was tied up and gagged.
I wrapped up filming the opening scenes just before lunch. This allowed me to
upload the footage we had filmed and then after lunch I was able to come back
and make a start on editing the opening scenes in Adobe Premiere. This only
happened because the person that I had asked to play the hero, already had
prior commitments for his own filming.
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After finishing not only the third week but also the Pre-Production work I was able
to make a start on filming the rest of the scenes. In the blog I wrote for week 3, I
chose to self-evaluate my own work for a change and see how I personally felt
things were going. My lecturer agreed that this was a good idea as it would help
me become more aware and confident in myself. I really do feel that third week
of the assignment really was my high point as I had accomplished so much in
such a small timescale.
On the fourth week, I chose to make a start with the fight scene as I knew this
would be the hardest thing to film. As a result, I decided to create my own
version of a Contractual Agreement which meant that all the appropriate
bodies were made aware that a fight scene would be taking place in the college.
This was only for the purposes of filming and that if anyone became hurt, then
there would be a qualified First-Aider present at all times. Everyone was required
to sign this in case any issues arose. Every document required two signatures,
one from the notified member of staff and the other being the Emergency FirstAider.
Unfortunately I had to stop filming the fight scene, as I had already injured
myself prior to this in a rugby match. Doing this didnt help when I had to try and
fall over resulting in my characters death (Thug). Thankfully, looking back at the
fight scene and realising that I had more than enough to work with.
The next day was predominantly based around filming the Hero entering the
Action Scene. By opting to film this sequence early, meant that the carpark
would be quiet and hardly anyone would be about. Then also realising that, we
could film the entire scene that led up to the Hero entering the building and
beginning his search for the Scientist. This saved a lot of time and allowed us to
film the short scenes in the afternoon, where the Hero is looking round the
building to save the Scientist.
This then brought us to the end of the fourth week. As we had all the necessary
filming done and uploaded to Adobe Premiere, ready to be edited the following
week. When I was writing my blog for the fourth week, I decided to continue on
self-evaluating my own work as I had done the previous week. By doing this I was
able to identify several key elements that I didnt think that I would achieve at
all.
The one of which I am proud of the most is where I had gone a requested the
help of the Level 2 Media Make-Up students who gladly gave their services to
apply make-up to the scientist for his injuries.
This showed great use of resources and my knowledge of the college which in
turn greatly enhanced the final product.
When I made a start on editing my final version of Time Ultimatum Action Scene.
I received some feedback from my lecturer, where he thought that it would be
best if I changed the soundtrack for when the Hero entered the story. As it didnt
really suit the intended purpose and lacked a presence of build-up and suspense.
By taking his advice I was able to find a much better quality soundtrack that I
chose to incorporate in the place of the first soundtrack. Doing this meant that I
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could sync the footage into the rhythm of the soundtrack more effectively and
just looked better overall.
Finally finishing my edit, I asked my lecturer to have a look at what I had made.
He suggested that I use a slightly different cutting sound for the bomb defusing.
As it would help keep the suspense and be more suitable.
After receiving independent feedback from a panel of 5 critics, most of whom
agreed that the overall film was a great piece.
One of the critics said:
The use of quick cuts and cutting on beat really seemed to keep their attention
and made them want to continue and watch on. I am pleased, as this is one of
the main techniques I had incorporated into the making of the film so they did
not become bored or lose interest. They continued on with However I did find
that the over use of flashes did irritate my eyes and that on some of the bomb
timers the picture was quite blurred.
In response to this I would take what they have said into consideration and
reduce the amount of flashes depending if they werent needed.
Another critic said:
They were impressed with the Eye-Line Match technique I had employed during
the fight scene as this created further suspense and curiosity. The Eye-Line
Match technique is something that I worked very hard to achieve and to know
that they have taken notice of this makes me feel proud to know that by adding
in this technique really did work. The only thing they disagreed with was the
audio level of some of the audio segments, if it wasnt for the excessively loud
sound effects that would have been a perfect clip. That is something that I
noticed myself when I watched the final version of the Action Scene back and I
would defiantly change them if I remade the clip.