Evaluation Question 3

Storyboard

DLR Reccy 1

Having taken the DLR route (through Canary Wharf) which is where we intend to film our sequence, I now have a better idea of what to expect. The DLR itself was not monumentally busy, meaning it should be easy enough to film on board the train. However, we may not be able to achieve our desired effect of having the train empty unless we go later at night, when the line is presumably emptier than it was in the afternoon, as there will be no difference in the light (now that the nights are earlier). The stations themselves are also not particularly busy, and there are some particularly cinematic locations surrounding the DLR such as Canary Wharf, which I have taken a few shots of with my camera to gain an understanding of what filming will be like.

Film Plot Overview

Our film follows the story of Frank, a young assassin who operates on the streets of south London. In the opening scene, he is shown working in his normal fashion: he receives the time and place from anonymous contacts, and makes his appearance before meeting another contact instructing him on who to target. However, due to the nature of this particular task - he is told only to target someone with a 'red hat' - and the fact that he had come unprepared, due to a tight schedule, for a busy platform due to a football game, he executes the wrong target. After the finger of blame is pointed to him by his employer, and the police begin to target him for murder, Frank takes to the streets in an attempt to avoid confronting those who are after him. However, staying in a run-down one bedroom apartment in Lewisham with blood on his hands, Frank must also confront his inner demons. While his life is spiralling out of control and he is slowly losing his grip on life, he comes across, by chance, Vincent, a friend from his past. Like Frank, Vincent is highly vulnerable: he produces heroin for a brutal drug dealer. The two attempt to reform themselves and make an honest living - Frank working in a car garage, and Vincent in a local primary school. However, Vincent's past comes back to him and his violent boss leaves him hospitalised after attempting to have him shot to death in the street for abandoning his business. Seeking vengeance, Frank confronts and brutally murders Vincent's boss and henchmen. However, those who had contracted Frank in the film's opening, and subsequently the police, find him out. Before the police arrive, the anonymous man who Frank had met on the DLR in the opening of the film finds him by the Thames Barrier. Frank is shot from behind, though is still able to confront and shoot his anonymous employer to death. The police arrive at the scene and a wounded Frank jumps into the river to avoid detection as the film ends, his fate being left ambiguous.

Deptford Bridge + DLR Photos

These pictures were taken of the cityscapes surrounding the DLR. It is easy to see how they would look impressively cinematic in our film, especially at night time when we would be able to capture the lighting and reflection of the buildings.

These are all pictures of the DLR station. It seems to have a good view over the streets in Deptford, which we may be able to use to add impressive aesthetics to our film.

Though the stairs of the station will not take up much of the film, these pictures demonstrate how it is an impressive, cinematic location and could make the film more visually thrilling, especially when it is darker and there are artificial lights.

Production Research

I am looking at films on which to model ours in terms of production. I am beginning by looking at Film4 Production's production list to find films similar to our one i.e. low budget, British, gritty, thrilling. Film4 don't appear to made a lot of thrillers but have made many dramas so I will look at those as well.

One of the thrillers that Film4 have made is Dead Man's Shoes, a psychological thriller starring Paddy Considine and directed by Shane Meadows (who went on to direct This is England). It had a very small budget - £723,000 and was all shot in England. Although it seems a bit darker than our film and is rated an 18, it seems similar to to our film in some ways and thus I think Film4 could be a good company to produce our film.

Film4 also made the drama This is England which had a medium budget of £1,500,000. It was all filmed in England, although not in London where our film will be filmed. It did well in the box office, grossing $8,176,544.

Clearly Film4 specialise in films that are low-mid budget and are not averse to thrillers. I think they would do a good job with our film if they were to produce it and that they would be a strong choice if we were to look for a production company.



BBC Films produce and co-produce around 7 or 8 films a year. Previous projects include Eastern Promises (2007), a British thriller about the secrets surrounding a Russian mob family, and Brighton Rock (2010), another British thriller about small-town gang violence. And more recently, We Need To Talk About Kevin (2011), a psychological thriller based on the novel by Lionel Shriver, and The Awakening (2011), a World War I thriller depicting a woman who is haunted by a child ghost.


BBC Films aims to showcase the best of British talent and British independant films. They commit themselves to finding and developing new talent. I think they would be a good company to produce our thriller, as we are still fairly new to the process and they could help bring publicity to our film as they already so well established in the production industry. Their films also tend to be low to mid budgeted, and I believe our film falls comfortably into that bracket. Although they don't limit themselves to thrillers, they seem to specialise in them, therefore they would have the capacity, resources, and expertise to produce our film, as it will be a thriller.



Film London are a film and television production company whose credits mainly include low budget British films such as Shifty. They have also been involved in the production of films such as My Week With Marylin, a popular Oscar contender, and Is Anybody There?, starring Michael Caine.


Aside from being involved in films as producers, Film London also offer resources to aspiring or independent film makers. They can offer application or permission forms for directors to film in certain parts of London and help independent film makers with advice on and what to film in London.


We would most likely aim for this production company as many of it's resources would most likely be of use to us. Half of our film is set on the Docklands Light Railway and the stations surrounding it, meaning that we would be able to use Film London to secure permission to film on it. Furthermore, some of the films it has produced seem to be of a similar budget and style to the one we are currently making, meaning it would be a useful production company for our film.


We have decided to use BBC Films as our production company, in partnership with Film London and another independent production company. This is because we feel like we would be in safe hands with BBC Films as they have a lot of experience with making the type of film we want to make. We think Film London would be a safe bet because they have helped many independent British Films in the past and we feel like our film could be successful with their help. An independent film company would be useful as they would know a lot about producing independent films and be experienced with it.