My actor will be one of my old school mates Seon Salam who is also a close mate of our late friend Ronnie Khan.
This story will pull together real life stories of the “Ends” (Our Homeland) were death has become just another common reoccurrence. Most young people in South London have either lost someone close to them or know someone who has lost someone close to them.
Seon Salam will be my protagonist, he is an actor that has just come out of university studying performing arts. He is also a media producer as he also makes short films him self. Seon grew up around the area the film is set in aswell as attending the school the film is set in.
Our protagonist’s dad will be played by Anthony Warren, Anthony is a friend of mine who is a professional actor who has played roles in films such as Shank and Marksman and the contract.
Both of these actors have been willing to offer there time for free in return for credits and special thanks. As for the extras I will be using the local schools drama department to find some real life school children to use as extras. This will help me save on costumes as they can wear their school uniforms. As for the friends of the protagonist I will be using young youth that live on the estate. I am very involved with the Rockingham estate, the estate where the film is set and will be filmed in. Iv been a youth worker/volunteer in the area since I was a 13 year old boy, I grew up seeing and fighting between a life of good and evil. Being close to Southwark councils head of youth services will allow for me to introduce this short film as a project for the young people of Southwark.
The aim is to make a piece that is visually pleasing as well as being mentally stimulating. I want to steer away from the stereotype that most young black drug dealers in inner city are not academically gifted. Our story is different, we don’t have a single mother family, we have a single father family, what I am trying to do is show more of reality than just the common stereotype.
Our protagonist is very very smart, he is a natural thinker and being the eldest of 3 siblings he is able to deal with situations effectively.
This film will try and capture some of the hype created by the drama Top Boy about inner city London life. Being a inner city Londoner and growing up and living through the life made me realise that Top Boy did not feel natural.
I want to show the harsh reality of London and the social issues in part of inner city London. Cold blooded murder is a common site and the relation between drugs and murders have always been common talk around deaths of many young local boys to name a few David Essiet and Ronnie Khan. Being a Inner City boy I have seen and lived what I want to recreate. There is no one better than me to tell this story.
Whilst growing up alot of young people including my self listened to very explicit music which gave us reality in the “ends” and it was something we could relate to (READ THE LYRICS BELOW) This song is a very prime example of power in the words coming from the artist. This is the sort of power i want to create with this piece. i want all the young people to be able to relate and feel emotionally touched. The first verse is very emotional and touches me deeply as i recently lost a very close friend someone id like to call a brother, who gives me inspiration. One part of this song represents me well “The real shit that I layed down shows my ends rep, The deep shit that I write down shows my pen’s depth,” these lines represent me personally, I left the ends to come university in Coventry but the work I make shows that my DNA is still South London.
****LYRICS PLEASE READ WHILE LISTENING TO UNDERSTAND THE NARRATIVE.***
Looking at my troubled life,
Thinking if the grass looks greener on the other side,
And God knows that my mother tried,
With me, myself Hollowman, and my brother grind,
Thinking about the gutter times,
Peanut butter, jam, one bread and a butter knife,
It’s no fucking lie,
I lost Big Lee and it felt like my brother died,
Some woulds say I’m a lucky guy,
I’m 26, they thought I wouldn’t make it to 25,
And I know niggas hate I’m a heavy guy,
But if they wanna snake me I’ll take it to any height,
Take me on any ride,
Got a full clip, there’s no space in my semi nine,
And I’m impatient and very high,
Puttin’ ‘em to sleep motherfuckers say your beddy-byes,
And I’m racing to better my life (yeah, yeah),
Fam I set a time,
I ain’t talkin about the bass with the treble type,
Fam I’m talkin about the base that you pebble [? ] grind,
God don’t forsake me for getting mine,
Cause I know I’m doing great in the devil’s eyes,
This is blatently petty crime,
Throw me down a contract let me get inside.
[Chorus: x2]
I’m caught up with the fat black hammers out,
(Where?) Pecknarm, black bandana town,
Slap that banger round,
Clap that faggot down.
[Verse 2:]
The pain in my head says,
That my life’s messed, I ain’t far from my death bed,
[? ] as I lay down on my bed spread,
Pested by my lifestyle and my friends deaths,
Fed’s locked everyone down, got no friends left,
[? ] and had a breakdown from your [? ] stretch,
My ends said nigga slow down, but my head’s stressed,
I said yes, nigga slow now, need my head checked,
Check back to the playground, only ten then,
Ten years later spraying rounds on your ends’ set,
[? ]
The real shit that I layed down shows my ends rep,
The deep shit that I write down shows my pen’s depth,
Wanna take it to the next step,
I’m a street-sweeper, get your end’s swept,
Feds dressed in their plain clothes on my set rest,
The next step’s to get some info where the tec’s kept,
My best bet is to lay low, so I rested,
My head’s wrecked cause the hydro got molested,
Promoters’ on the feds dick,
When they ban me from the show, they’re against it,
But I sensed it,
Fuckers show the roads where my strength is,
Made a new flow and I went sick,
Nigga fuck the five-0 little bent pricks,
Bunch of fucking homo’s and your stench whiffs,
And the haters rollin’ round in their rent whips,
All upon me and I send six [? ],
You won’t see me on some bent shit,
Niggas know I’m straight ‘Narm when my strength kicks,
And my ends is coming out of every other end’s lips,
And in every mouth like a dentist.
[Chorus x2]
This next song is also a influence to the narrative structure of my story. This song tells a story that is all to familiar in parts of South London.
Image via Wikipedia
This song allows me to visualise parts of the film that are yet to be scripted.
This film is a prime example of how the language sounds natural, one of the young actors Simon is my old neighbour and he grew up with my little brother. I will also be asking him to get involved he will be scripted in if he wants to be involved.
Dad wakes up and goes to work- Glide track Slide right as she walks out from the house. Mid shot.
We see his phone on his desk and we see Chris in bed in the distance. Chris wakes up and finds 7 miss calls on his phone from josh cat so he calls him as soon as he wakes up. He picks up His door says don’t enter.
Chris gets a shoe box from under his bed, it has rolls of money in rubber bands and he also has scales weed and small button bags. He mentions to the guy on the phone that the bags will be 1g but we see he bags up at 0.9.
Chris goes and wakes up his siblings and gets them ready for school, he also makes them breakfast.
He has a shower and we see him dress in his school uniform and grab his bag and walk the siblings to school, we see him waiting for the cat to come, and watching his watch as it ticks closer to 9am
He makes his deal outside the school and walks into the gate as it is just about to close, he walks into class and apologies for being late to science class.
We see Chris being really smart in his science class. At the end of the lesson we see the teacher calling out names to collect essay results. The teacher calls him over at the end. We see the class empty chris is the last one sitting there. The teacher comes to chris unlike before when the kids where going to the teacher. The teacher eaxplains to chris that the work he is doing is so amazing, he asks if everything is okay in chris life, chris is a little hesitant to answer but he says he is okay. (Time Lapse of class emptying)
We see a group of 4 boys getting together with £2.50 each they need a Benz, we hear them talking about how this is all their dinner money, the ask for Rizzla and cigarette and Chris says how the 4 guys are grinders.
It is lunch time but unlike all the other kids queuing up for lunch, Chris has other things to do, his phone starts to ring and he has customers waiting for him in school. He goes around making drops all over the school. This will be a POV of Chris; it would be a little euphoric, maybe in fish eye or very wide angle. Chris will be smiling while his cash rises.
The bell rings sounding the time for next period of school, chris does not go back to school but rather goes home to reload his business. This time we see him take not just weed but also crack (quick cuts from stairs till he comes back out again and looks both ways before closing the door)
Do right and have nothing or do wrong and have everything. What would you choose? This is a criminal drama intended for audiences aged 15 and over. Short Film 20 mins.
This short film will explore the social and peer pressure in inner city London were a 15 year old school boy makes the wrong choice of getting involved in the drug trade to get the riches fast. We see our protagonist make hard choices through the short film, some choices end up affecting people closer to him than he thinks. This film explores one afternoon and how lives can change in a matter of seconds.
This film will be a short film set in inner city London.
Genere. Criminal drama
Format: HD Digital Video, To Be filmed using Canon 5D Mk II & 60D, Will create a visually aesthetic piece. Using a small budget.
Duration: 20Mins
Audience: Young People across the world 15+
USP: The brain child of a born and bred south Londoner.
Do right and have nothing or do wrong and have everything. What would you choose? This is a criminal drama intended for audiences aged 15 and over. Short Film 20 mins.
This short film will explore the social and peer pressure in inner city London were a 15 year old school boy makes the wrong choice of getting involved in the drug trade to get the riches fast. We see our protagonist make hard choices through the short film, some choices end up affecting people closer to Chris than he thinks. This film explores one afternoon and how lives can change in a matter of seconds.
Squares.
How would you like to make your bank balance to have 5 figures in it with just a click of your mouse? This is a criminal drama intended for audiences ages 15 and over. Short Film 20 Mins.
This short film explores the current increase in online internet fraud. Some say it was what caused the financial down turn. We will leave that to the stats makers to decide.
The term Square’s having become the street name for a credit card. This new kind of home friendly fraud has made the geek very wealthy. Our usual view of criminals will change after watching this film.
Henry only 1/8th
The modern man who is involved in the illicit drug trade. Living like a king Henry has women at his feet, Love can come in many forms and shapes. Henry falls for a whore names Kathrine who wants to change to get his love. This crime/romantic drama is aimed at audiences aged 15 and up. 20 Mins short Film.
This film will explore our legendary king Henry the 8th as a modern tyrant. Henry holds a batch of loyalists in his power and ordering hits and wars across London. This film will try and show how even the harshest of people can fall in love and change their outlook on the world.
Kill Or Be Killed: today is the day. For the past 3 months Chris banks has been an active money maker some may not like his commodity of choice but when we are desperate to fit in with the crowd we put our self in harms way. Today he will have to make a choice.
Squares: Credit card fraud. the crime of choice for this new breed of geeky criminal. we know criminals to be ruthless harsh and psychotic. This story will show how crime is not as stereotypical as it used to be.
Henry The Boss: Modern man who is Henry. He is a ruthless tyrant that is on the rise and has a batch of loyalist
I am satisfied with power as it was the first time I tried something different. I gave the viewer the power to change the narrative. It felt both endings were equally as pleasing. Power was also insightful from the theories I had come across, although I had prior knowledge I was happy to see just how much you can expand you knowledge about a topic just by using various media sources.
My favourite artefact was memory as it was around a topic which was sensitive and personal to me. One thing I have realised is bereavement brings people closer, the day I went to film this piece I saw many people from my past since school days. With this piece I wanted to let the emotion speak for itself and this was my way of gripping the viewers. This piece was also the most rewarding piece for me at a personal level, my friend told me before he died. “Abu your so luck you have left London and have gone away to uni, I wish I was as lucky as you” I want to get a good degree to honour his name, it is hard for a young person from south London to get educated as there is to many distractions and headaches to deal with.
All three of my pieces were successful in achieving the goals of informing the public and expressing the themes we needed to portray. Overall the module has been fun and very very informative, Petes lectures were great and was very enlightening. I had a hard time balancing my new job with university, it has been very stressful. There was many occasions were I had to miss university lectures in order to go to work. Looking back on things i really wish i didnt take up a Job as i feel it interfered to much with university. I wasnt able to apply myself properly to the lectures or in producing my artefatcs aswell as bloging.
The module has helped develop my views as a person, it made me be critical to things happening in the world. The 3 words Power Spectacle and Memory have all be etched in my mind and i always relate things to them now.
I honestly feel throughout this final piece I have adhered to the module aims. I have created mind provoking and creative work appropriate to the chosen specialisms. I believe I have gained more experience in theoretical analysis of contemporary issues. How has this helped professional development. Issues and how I over came them. Self evaluation. Working in a team but effectively alone. I have built upon prior knowledge from lecture material by conducting my own independant research and looking at a range of accredited sources.
My peer reviews from each artefact are presented in the reflection. i have had great people surrounding me that have commented constructively on my work. In the near future i plan to explan on the idea this module has intorduced me to through my extensive research .
Most of all I think my blogs have served as an education tool for the wider public.
My analysis of the artefact was easy. I wanted to focus on the cultural ways in which we portray our memories. The process in capturing this way even easier as the realism and emotion stood out. from the video you can see the freinds of H recollected memories from their childhood, these are all semantic and meaningful memories which they can recall accurately from what i have seen from the evidence in the artefact.
I aimed to represent my artefact which consists of real world situations. To observe memory it was traditionally thought we should conduct laboratory type situations so there were no external influences, i.e. something which could affect how I portray memory. But I had decided to take a page or two out of Sir Francis Galton’s book. Galton challenged traditional views and saw the environment as serving cues and this enhances our recollections.
When on camera and trying to recollect memories people seem to be not focusing in the real world but on their inner self. One’s body language changes, your eyes become still or look into a spacelass distance.
So the idea I am trying to achieve is to display examples of memory in a social setting in which the environment can serve as a cue to generate memories. My inspiration of the idea is…
for my memory piece i had decided to go to london and ask my close friends about there last memory with our friend “H”
I wanted to just do short interviews with simple questions, such as what was your last memory with H or whats your fondest memory with H.
To my surprise the filming process went well however the final edit was corrupted with a couple hours to submission, so i have panicked and made a quick edit to show the main interviews.
Please be aware that the blogs for memory are scarce due to me being in a bad emotional state after the death of my best friend.
This story will pull together real life stories of the “Ends” (Our Homeland) were death has become just another common reoccurrence. Most young people in South London have either lost someone close to them or know someone who has lost someone close to them.
