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The World, The Tone, The Style, The MUSIC! All elements I wanted to capture with this trailer.

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Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty — Official Launch Trailer

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"A man of honor, a patriot, a comrade...."

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Cyberpunk 2077 PL introduced me to Soloman Reed (Played by Idris Elba). I wanted replicate his characteristics, someone who is bound by their duty and despite the cruel odds stacked against him, does not turn his back on who he serves.

RYAN is a AI Human-Hybrid submitted to the shackles of his AI Overlords, he is a used at their disposal and tossed away when it is over.

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"(…)Each and every time, I thought I'd found a home. And each and every time, I came away disappointed."

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Judy (Voiced by Carla Tessara) Someone who finds themselves losing those close to her, time and time again. Lashing out, only to be met with repercussions. She eventually escapes but at what cost.

AIMEE wants to be free & leave the burden of the city behind her. She lost her mother, she is still grieving, however, she hold onto numerous amounts of rage.

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The visuals are pure perfection! The music harbours the tone of a spy thriller, there is a darker undertone of sorrow.

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Dawid Podsiadło, P.T. Adamczyk — Phantom Liberty (Official Cyberpunk 2077 Music Video)

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Originally, my ideas circulated around this cinematic and aiming to create a similar video. However, I wanted to "test the waters" and opted for a Trailer instead of a Filmed Scene.

The interaction, relationship & this looming upcoming threat, makes us go from zero tension to peak tension within moments.

(It is listed as a Trailer, however it draws more parallels to a Filmed Scene.)

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Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty — Official Cinematic Trailer

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Aside from Cyberpunk 2077's world written by Mike Pondsmith, Blade Runner was a film that inspired me through its Cinematography, Acting & Scenes.

RYAN's outfit was inspired by Ryan Gosling's Character, Officer K.

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High tensity, standoff between friends. V carries Songbird to a shuttle to get her on the moon. However, Reed appears and is the final obstacle in their way. These friends collide both with different intentions but with similar goals. In the end they fail to meet eye-to-eye.

This is a scene which would have been a great 'Filmed Scene' to produce & direct. It isn't one note, with good actors, there is a real sense of tension & sadness.

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Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty | V Stalemates With Reed

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Ignoring the 'Gameplay', this trailer has some nice story-beats and cinematography.

'Like A Dragon' as a series has a slow paced story and the same goes for its promotional material, it is not afraid to set the tone and introduce the whole story to us. Does it work? From a fans perspective, Yes, but if it was someone new to the series it might not have the same reception.

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Like a Dragon Gaiden Gameplay Reveal Trailer

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Adaptation of 'The Tea Ceremony' by Giorgia Di Pancrazio.

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I decided to continue my pursuit from the previous assessment and took 'The Tea Ceremony' script and adapted it into 15 pages for the purpose of making it into a 3 minute trailer.

The writing process was simple due to most of the storyline is given to you and it was up to me on what I chose to use, cut out and what to change to suite the ideas I had for what I wanted for the final product.

Overall I was pleased with the script I had adapted, it had tension, calmness, suspense & mystery.

"The director needs greater understanding of actors, acting, dramatic structure, and the psychological processes of human perception that underlie film language." (Rabiger. M & Hurbis-Cherrier. M, 2013.)

Would I write differently in the future? After this experience, 100% YES! I would had changed my writing to be less focused on exposition and have it centred around the relationship between RYAN & AIMEE.

This experience has definitely inspired me to write more and has shown me what works and does not work.

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Based on the 'GK Tea Room & Gallery' located in Salford.

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I pictured the café, with three rooms in mind, the main café area, backroom & bedroom. Three locations which can be simple to replicate and film especially for the trailer.

The Cafe should have a warm inviting feeling, puts you at ease and you could not imagine anything bad to occur.

The backroom is where the behind the scenes stuff happens and this mysterious operation is revealed to us and we sense something more sinister.

The bedroom is our place of mourning, AIMEE finds herself lighting a candle everyday next to picture of her mother as a tribute. The tone needs to feel scattered, lost & sad.

"In the absence of the money, the stars and the industry machine, a filmmaker must get lean, smart, resourceful, innovative, and creative— and that’s when things get really interesting." (Rabiger. M & Hurbis-Cherrier. M, 2013.)

Getting resourceful, with the wide range of resources at my disposal helps to shape the film. Money shouldn't be a factor which holds me back.

However, a noticeable element in my trailer is the setting. It is closed off, heavily utilizing the black curtain backdrop. If I had put extra thought into my shooting location I could create a more cinematically impactful setting. In the future, my focus needs to be on what is also going on in the background rather than blurring it out completely.

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"A director answers to the producer and is responsible for the details, quality, and meaning of the final film." (Rabiger. M & Hurbis-Cherrier. M, 2013.)

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Preparation was key, I made sure my cast had all the resources available to them on Microsoft OneDrive with scripts, character descriptions as well as inspiration for my trailer in the form of videos listed above. I did not want to leave a single stone unturned, this is my first time directing and having the cast on the same level of knowledge that I have about the content that I want to produce, they brought a plethora of ideas from them viewpoint which shaped parts differently than how I imagined but worked amazingly.

"Although the director must lead the way, they are also best served by creating a spirit of collaboration, inquiry, and openness to all ideas." (Cohn. M, 2013)

Directing in The TV Workshop showed me how to approach actors and how to direct actors, I came in with ideas distinct ways to play a scene for each character and I wanted to carry over those aspects into the shooting of my trailer, give the cast options on how to perform the scene. I also wanted to allow collaboration, having my actors take control can help deliver a comfortable & effective performance.

I went in with a positive mindset & focused solely on the shots in the order I designed them. This was based on the cast schedules & content within shots based on length. I completed every shot & scene within my shooting days and overall it was a fun experience and I learnt an incredible amount about directing.

Next time I am acquiring a crew! I switched out actors to record with the sound equipment (thank you, cast.) while I handled the camera/lighting. However, I would of greatly preferred to be solely dedicated to directing and allowing others to focus on those other roles. Potentially this would not fully distract me from directing as I could focus more on the actors, the set and shots.

Admittedly my interests are more on action style films, approaching drama is difficult from my perspective however it is about the escalation of tension and I tried to convey that through progression of the scenes I shot. I would love to continue, exploring different genres, test the waters on what works and does not.

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The Workshop helped lay the structure for what is expected of a director. I came out more confident in the direction of where I wanted to lead the production.

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References from books and quotations I have used with my Critical Reflection.

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Rabiger. M, Hurbis-Cherrier. M (2013) Directing : Film Techniques and Aesthetics (5th) Taylor & Francis Group.

Irving. D, Rea. P (2013) Producing and Directing the Short Film and Video (4th) Taylor & Francis Group.

Cohn. L, (2021) Directing Actors : A Practical Aesthetics Approach (1st) Taylor & Francis Group.

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Editing & Post Production Process.

This is what I was most looking forward to and what I would dedicate most of my time towards. Editing is the final stage, creating the final product and bringing your vision fully to life to display it on the big screen.

I used Adobe Premiere Pro, Originally i organised my clips, shots and scenes from beginning to the end. However, I noticed how this was not the entirely the way to create a trailer. A trailer needs to allude to story details, mixed with cinematics, character details, etc. But it needs to be mixed up, scenes need to introduce themselves and come to an end within seconds. A trailer should help set up the story so it was crucial I kept throwing in story details but not spoil the entire story, just tease the things that will occur.

"The importance of sound and music to a picture should not be ignored. Having been brought up in a predominantly visual environment, novice filmmakers can distinguish a wonderful camera move or visual effect more readily than they can identify an effective sound or piece of music." (Irving, D. & Rea, P. 2013)

A problem arises when trying to find the perfect balance between Dialogue & Music. You want both to be distinct but impactful. When splicing the music, I had to pick moments which suited what was occurring on scene while raising the atmosphere. Dialogue needed to be a step above the music, but still sound immersed into the scene it originally came from. Slight reverb would be the route & mixed with vocal presence.

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Testing the GoPro Hero 4 on Rob with a head mount.

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Using a GoPro was the drastic change in the visual style of the production. I drew inspiration from FPS Video Games and how immersive these perspectives make you feel.

While entirely experimental, I thought it would be unique idea and wanted to see how it would work.

I am placing RYAN in the audiences shoes as he goes through this moment of realisation, that he has been deceived.

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Utilising Blackmagic 6K Cameras, the trailer has multiple, wide shots, close-ups, mid shots, low and high angles.

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This has been a unique experience, where I have learnt a lot about the core values and responsibilities of being a director & how to make a trailer.

Everything I learnt will pave the way for future project where I must grow from this experience holding myself to higher standards with each new project I complete.

I am extremely happy with the trailer I have created, SCI-FI is a genre I am a huge fan of and while I should have used more SCI-FI elements, it is possible in potential future works as I would like the opportunity to expand on from this. I want to continue to challenge myself, assisting other directors in their projects has helped shaped the ideals I want to live by when in the role of a director.

Be more cinematic, confident & experimental. I want to find my own style to directing, something that stands out and sets me a part from other directors. I will continue to explore this going forward from this module.

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In a Producer role I was tasked with preparing documents such as shot lists, call sheets, consent forms, etc. I completed these and it has brought me an insight into all the preparation that goes into productions to make sure it is executed perfectly or to the best of its ability.

Typically these are collaborated pieces of work however taking control of these documents allowed me to have full creative control. Initially, it was quite frightening looking at the abundance of work that must be completed and while it is a long process it is entirely useful and effects shoots, making them easier when filled out.

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Due to my budget (or lack of) I casted my friends for the roles in the trailer. They delivered a great performance and understood my goals and intentions with the production.

"The final arbiter of good direction begins with a simple question that must be constantly, relentlessly reiterated: is this actable? For the less experienced director, it’s sometimes hard to draw that distinction; one’s brilliant literary and psychological insights into a story and the characters who populate it do not necessarily help the actor when it comes down to the nuts and bolts of actually playing a scene, and sometimes those well-intended ideas actually prevent actors from doing their best work." (Cohn. L, 2021)

This the area where I noticeably tripped up, with the structure of the trailer's script plenty of dialogue and interactions were not in the performance. Scenes began in the middle of their conversation so it was left up to the actors to determine what happened previously, I should have provided more context to the actors, let them play out these extended parts of the scenes to become comfortable with the character.

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Details on the equipment used within my trailer:

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Camera:

BlackMagic 6K Camera

BlackMagic Batteries

BlackMagic Charger

BlackMagic Plug

CANON EF Lens -

14MM

35MM

50MM

Video Tripod

Sound:

Rode NTG-2 Shotgun MIC

Shotgun Pistol Grip

Boom Pole

XLR Cable

ZOOM H6

Clapperboard

Lighting:

5 in 1 Reflector Kit

Aputure MC Compact Lights

LEDGO LG-600CSC LED Light Kit (x2)

LEDGO Batteries

Portable Telescopic Stand (x2)

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Acquiring permission to use the New Adelphi was quite simple, it was not entirely difficult. I contacted Mark Fox with my attached Risk Assessment and within a couple of days I had got permission to use a room on floor 7.

I am aware that these are fortunate circumstances and in any other location I would need to film out location release forms and go into further discussion on what I intend to film.

However, this was a nice simple insight into the types of ways to communicate with people about location filming and something to remember if I plan to film in different locations.