Fictional Studio Name Change

Originally the name of my group’s fictional studio was ‘Unstable Productions’. This title was suitable for the creation of our practice video as it was short, catchy and contained a subtle pun (because our practice film was about a horse whose ambition it was to dance). However my group has decided to change the name from ‘Unstable Productions’ to ‘Anarchy Films’. This modification was done because they felt that a more fitting and mature sounding name was needed. I was personally against the change as ‘Unstable’ and ‘Anarchy’ both sound as if they could be used for a studio that produced serious action/thriller movies. This change also means that I shall have to redo the 3D cinematic studio intro which I created, which seems like an unnecessary amount of effort for such a minor change. However I was outvoted by the other two members and therefore the fiction studio is now name ‘Anarchy Films’. On the bright side, it will give me a chance to produce a better looking and more suitable intro and may possibly improve the overall feel of the final movie trailer. Many studios change their name at some point, for example Disney-MGM Studio changed its name to Disney’s Hollywood Studios in 2008.

Update: My group has now decided that instead of creating our own unique production company introduction we shall be using a shortened version of the Lionsgate introduction.

The Lionsgate introduction is shown below:

Film Storyboard

One of the stages of planning our film was to create a storyboard. Creating the storyboard allowed us to see how our trailer would look in a visual format. It was important for deciding the sequence of events, the particular actions in each scene and the shot types that are to be used. The storyboard shall aid my group and me immensely as it’ll mean that less video footage will need to be taken to display the story. Without the storyboard we would have likely taken a vast amount of unnecessary video footage thus wasting both time and space on the video camera’s SD card. The scenes were decided in a group meeting and the storyboard was drawn up by Joseph Inns whilst being supervised by Tom Nelson and I. Joseph Inns was chosen to do the art work for the storyboard as he had most experience in drawing pictures on paper.

Film Title Survey

One of the problems the group was facing was what to name the fiction movie that we were producing a trailer for. As a solution to the issue we decided to create a small survey via the use of the website SurveyMonkey (https://www.surveymonkey.com/) to select the name of the movie. We came up with a selection of seven potential names. These seven names were The List; Revenge; Dyer’s List; Payback; Dyer’s Days; Cold Hard Killers and The Thug. This survey was then sent to 20 different people to answer.


The layout of the survey is shown below:

What do you think would be the best title for my action/thriller movie? (the movie is about a man who has his money stolen from him and is out for revenge)

Choice 1 - The List

Choice 2 - Revenge

Choice 3 - Dyer's List

Choice 4 - Payback

Choice 5 - Dyer's Days

Choice 6 - Cold Hard Killers

Choice 7 - The Thug

The results of the survey were as follows:

The List – 3 votes

Revenge – 2 votes

Dyer’s List – 6 votes

Payback – 2 votes

Dyer’s Days – 0 votes

Cold Hard Killers – 4 votes

The Thug – 3 votes

From the survey we were able to decide that the name of the film should be ‘Dyer’s List’. I believe that this is an appropriate name as it intrigues the audiences as well as including the name of the main character and one of the major plot devices.

Film Trailer Mindmap

Mind maps are a type of diagram used to display a set of information. They usually start with one word in the centre (generally the theme or name of project) and have words branching out from it (generally divided into themed clusters), connected to other relevant words with lines. Mind maps can include a range of other things as well such as different images and colours. They are one of the most popular forms of pre-production and are taught to students in many schools. In addition to this they are also able to be created either digitally or by hand. In the pre-production process they are used to map out the ideas, themes and a variety of other information (e.g. characters, props and locations). They can be used to easily communicate the ideas to other project members as well as giving the creator a stronger idea of what they wish to create. They are generally used before creating the storyboard or script.

Software which can be used to make mind maps includes: Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Word, Photoshop, Prezi and more.

'Dyer's List' Mood Board

A mood board is a collage of text, images and other objects. Mood boards help people to visualise the general feel and direction in which they are wishing to take their product. In addition to this they can be used to communicate people’s ideas to other project members. One of the purposes of a mood board is to map out the ideas which they have had and aid them with deciding what to do. In the pre-production process, mood boards generally come before even the storyboard. In terms of usefulness they are rather useful but I would consider the other methods of pre-production to be far more effective, as mood boards are essentially just a collage of assorted images and text made simply to convey the general themes, ideas and flow of the product.

Software which can be used to make mood boards includes: Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Word, Photoshop, Pintrest and more.

Production Studio Title Sequence Variations (First Edits)

For the preliminary task, I created an animated title sequence for my groups’ fictional production studio (‘Unstable Productions’). I was very happy with the result of it in my preliminary task. However I decided that for the actual trailer I am producing it would be unsuitable. The factors which I believe make the old title sequence unsuitable are its music and brightness. When it was first produced these factors were fine as the video I created for the preliminary task was an abstract comedy in a partial documentary style. Due to the main video project being an action/thriller movie, I believe that darker music and visuals are required.

In my attempt to produce a better title sequence I created three different versions of the video. In these versions I have changed the background music and experimented with various effects.

Below are the various versions I created of the production studio’s title sequence:

Version 1:

This version is the original video I created. It has bright visuals and upbeat music as it was made for the practice video I made with my group. As mentioned previously, I have used this to create a set of other potential title sequences to appear before the advert.


Version 2:



This second version of the introduction contained the same visuals as the first version but had different music. The music was changed as audio used in the first version was not appropriate for an action/crime movie.

Version 3:



Version three is essentially the same as version two but with a special effect added to it that gives it the appearance of being filmed with old fashioned equipment. Unfortunately this version seemed to suggest that the film was going to be in the horror genre and was therefore not appropriate for usage.

Version 4:



This version is the same as version two but with a different effect added to it, thus giving it a more artsy feel. I felt that this was more appropriate than the other title sequences that I produced. I will likely be using this in the final trailer.

Location Scout

Before filming, my group and I decided to a location scout. The location scout was done in order to find good locations for filming our film trailer and to familiarise ourselves with the areas before shooting there. In addition to this we were able to assess the problems that we may face in each zone as well as deciding on which scenes we were going to shoot at each location.

Location: Pembury

This church was ideal for giving our film some religious symbolism. One of the main positive factors about the building was that it was always open so that people were able to pray there whenever they wanted to. This would allow us to access the building and film the scene needed without encountering anybody. Another positive thing the church had to offer was its beautiful stained glass windows. We decided that the stained glass windows would make a perfect backdrop for a shot. 

Location: Tunbridge Wells

This area was an empty car park with a bridge. It was possible to get past the gate below the bridge thus opening up additional possibilities for filming. We concluded that we would be able to shoot multiple scenes at this location if we filmed from different angles. The scenes we have in mind for this location are an encounter in the car park and an interrogation on top of the bridge.

Location: Pembury

The graveyard we decided would be good for symbolizing loss and possibly the deaths of Jason Dyer’s targets. It is a pleasant area and has strong ties to religion.

Location: Pembury

This is another shot of the graveyard pictured above. As can be seen, it is a large area and could be used in a variety of different situations. It is unlikely to be populated by any people when we film there.

Location: Pembury

This was a small deserted communal area. It seemed very grotty and unpleasant; we therefore decided that it would make for a good area to film a fight scene. It was easy to access and is unlikely that anyone will be using the area when we film there.

Location: Tunbridge Wells

This is another shot of the empty car park with the bridge. As can be seem, it can be used for multiple scenes.

Location: Tunbridge Wells

This was a location outside a busy supermarket. It is likely to be highly populated and will make a good contrast as the other areas are mostly unpopulated. The only issue would be if people were to interfere with the filming e.g. staring at the camera thus making the footage unusable.

Location: Tunbridge Wells

This dark abandoned tunnel would provide our group with a great filming location. The only issue was that the ground was flooded. However we could still use the tunnel as a backdrop for one of our scenes.

Location: Pembury

This bushy area will not of major importance but could provide us with a nice natural background for one of our scenes.

Location: Pembury

This is another picture of the empty communal area in Pembury. As can be seen, it would make for a good fighting zone.

Location: Tunbridge Wells

This is another image of the empty car park; it shows the area from further away.

Location: Pembury

This bridge goes over a busy road. It would be useful for filming a dramatic moment on. One of the shots we had in mind was an over the shoulder shot of the main character staring at the traffic below.

Location Pembury

This memorial has religious symbolism and linkage to the world wars. However we are unlike to film here as it’ll give a wrong feeling to the film and possibly confuse its message.

The location scout was very useful for deciding on the area which we shall be using for the filming. However we were unable to visit all of the areas which we are intending to film at due to time constraints.