This is the Preliminary and below is everything
prior to being able to create this recreation of the opening to Reservoir Dogs.
Planning Stage:
The very first thing I had to do in order to
recreate the opening to Quentin Tarentino's legendary film is actually watch
it. Upon watching it several times, I noted the types of shots I would have to
execute, the amount of actors I would require, type of locations and
every other little detail. This is what I came up with.
Actors
The opening sequence of Reservoir Dogs has a total
of 8 actors in it and six of them are dressed in sharp black suits. The other
two are wearing different clothing; Chris Penn is wearing a retro style
American jacket and the other is wearing a black shirt without a blazer.
So immediately I had to start gathering the actors because I knew this would
logistically be very hard given the short time frame.
Filming Locations:
Finding the right location for each shot
replication was paramount. The majority of the opening revolves around a tall
brick wall. This was hardest to find. Rather than physically go scouting with
the crew around Harrow to find a suitable wall, I utilised Google Maps's street
view with a little local knowledge and after about ten minutes of digitally
surfing the streets of Harrow I came across this.
I decided
this would be ideal as the road itself was quiet and was wide enough to get the
tracking shot.
Also I had intended to use a place I knew near
Harrow Bus Station for the last scene of the opening but whilst actually
filming, I stumbled upon what I saw as a better location so decided to film
there instead.
Storyboard:
Storyboarding was integral for this task to ensure
perfect execution because it was a recreation task and so I storyboarded the entire
opening of Reservoir Dogs by taking screen grabs from Youtube of every shot of
which they are a total of 11.
Props:
Props was important in making our recreation as
close as possible to the actual thing. After going through the opening sequence
countless times, I concluded I would need cigarettes, cigars and toothpicks and
a gold chain worn by Chris Penn.
Equipment:
We ended up using two DSLR cameras; a sony and one
NikonD3200, a tripod, a H1 Zoom (for the voiceover), an iPad and a car (Range Rover).
Execution/Filming Stage:
Filming this wasn't as easy as I had envisaged and
I faced a number of last-minute problems. As I already mentioned the original
had a total of eight actors but due to last minutes personal affairs, two
actors who had agreed to be in the prelim pulled out on the morning and I took
the decision to do it anyway, as I had six actors there all suited and booted
and rescheduling wasn't feasible due to weather and limited time. I had to
compromise and anyway, the show must always go on. We also didn't film the
shots in the order they appear on screen but from most time consuming to the
least time consuming. Furthermore, to the shoot I took an iPad with a
downloaded copy of the opening of Reservoir Dogs which enabled me to watch the
opening over and over and ensure things like framing was right and also as a
guide to the actors.
Tracking Shot:
This was definitely the hardest shot to film. When
you have a limited range of equipment (camera and tripod) getting a tracking
shot is difficult. I decided to do the tracking shot using a car and what
better than a Range Rover. RangeRover has dynamic stability control and you can
adjust the suspension so that it absorbs all bumps in the road ensuring an
extra smooth ride thus an extra smooth tracking shot. To the top is the
tracking shot that was later edited and features in the video. I used
the Nikon D3200 as the resolution is high and stuck it out the front window
of the car as it was driven along alongside the actors.
Character Shots:
To get
the shots where every member of the Reservoir Dogs team is introduced we used a
stationary camera set up by the wall on a fully extended tripod as seen on the
left. Then I made sure the actors were in their right positions respectively
after they were all given their roles. They then walked up to the camera which
i later slowed down in the editing.
Cafe Scene:
The Caf é scene was probably the most disorganised
part of our filming. We had booked a cafe before hand but had not been round to
see it. Upon arrival at the Caf é we realised it wasn't really ideal for
replicating the first scene. We were fortunate enough to come across a cafe
owner who was more than willing to let us film in his cafe and we ended up
doing so.
Walk Away Scene:
The scene where all members walk towards the main
road was easy to film. I mean this in terms of framing and actual capture. What
wasn't easy was finding the right location. In the real thing they are a fair
distance away but we simply couldn't get that distance due to location
practicality. We compromised by placing the camera as far back as possible and
using an 18mm, so very wide frame.
Editing/Finalising Stage:
The editing stage was really the moment when we
were able to really review all the footage and realise all the mistakes we had
made. It was edited on Final Cut Express. the most notable but was due to the
street being a one way road -something we hadn't expected- we had teh actors
entering the frame from the left and not the right. We solved this by flipping
the frame which using Final Cut's "flop" function. We also rotated
the image anti-clockwise slightly so they appeared to be walking downhill. The
only effect I applied was at the end of the prelim where I darkened the frame
so the title would be better visible. I used a H1 zoom in a confined space to
record the voiceover so there was o ambient sounds as the microphone is very
sensitive. I googled the font that was used in the original so that I could get
the font exactly the same.
Problems that occurred:
As I already mentioned we had a number of issues.
The most prominent problem was the lack of actors. Having the extra two actors
would of resulted in not having to use actors more than once to fill spaces and
a smoother finish. Finding the music wasn't as easy as I had imagined it would
be. However, after searching YouTube we found a version of the sound track and
changed the pitch of it so it sounded more like the original and converted it
to MP3.
EVALUATION:
At the end of every task where I have a finished
product to show, I ask myself the same question: Am I happy with it? On the
whole I am relatively pleased with the end result but nothing short of perfection
is nothing worth boasting about. If I could redo the whole thing I could make
it considerably better. One thing I would definitely do differently is ensure
the background is out of focus for the character close ups and also have a
camera on wheels so I can move back as the actors move forward so they don't
come too close to frame. I would also ensure I have the full amount of actors
necessary and film in better locations.
What I've learned?
What this preliminary has taught me is priceless. I
made many mistakes on the preliminary such as poor framing due to having a
stationary camera/shot and not a tracking one. I will ensure all framing in my
actual thriller is done perfectly so it looks professional and not kid-like. I
have also learnt a considerable amount with regards to the logistics of
actually bringing everything together. Everything from getting the locations
right to getting actors dressed in the appropriate attire.
I look forward to implementing all the skills I
learned through acquiring the footage but also the skills I picked up by facing
unexpected barriers/obstacles. Overall, this has been a very useful experience
and will aid me in my actually thriller.
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