When I began the filming of the reconstruction is to avoid making the production of the reconstruction look cheap and amateurish. Instead I wanted the filming to reflect the style of Crimewatch, using similar filters, shooting angles & techniques which will help me get the consistency and professionalism of Crimewatch.
Before I went in to edit the reconstruction I wanted to first research different BBC dramas to understand to style they are filmed in. Looking into the ways they have been filmed and the kinds of filters they apply on top of the footage. I looked into different dramas such as Luther, The Game, Peaky Blinders and also Crimewatch. From this research I noticed that most of BBC dramas are using the same filters, the majority apply a blue overlay with a vignette to get the dramatise, cold and cinematic look. The cinematic look gives the overall feel of the drama more eeriness and suspense due to the cold, deep blues, making the audience feel on edge and engaged.
With the clear trend happening across these dramas, I decided to reflect this technique into the reconstruction making it apart of the uniform trend happening across the various BBC dramas.
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| Luther |
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| The Game |
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| Peaky Blinders |
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| Crimewatch |
Below are the before and after shots of the reconstruction. Using the Colour correcting effect in After Effects, trying to get the same filter as Crimewatch and the other dramas discussed above. From the comparisons images you can clearly see the footage looking more effective and a lot more like a drama, separating the film from a amateurish look into a more professional standard and more in line with the BBC. The reconstruction also implements the BBC logo in the right corner to make the reconstruction more believable to the audience and links in with the brand of Crimewatch.
Once the reconstruction was complete, I moved on to film the other parts of the footage that will link in with the reconstruction (the bit where Cameron plays the role of the distressed boyfriends who is watching the Crimewatch Reconstruction.) With this footage I wanted the same consistency and style as the reconstruction footage but with a clear difference, so the viewer could clearly tell the difference between the reconstruction, which acts as a drama and Cameron's part that acts as real life. I wanted the film to relate to a tangible scenario and having the same filter for all the film would make the film look like one whole reconstruction, which wouldn't connect as strongly to the audience as they would just think they're watching any episode of CSI. Therefore, I applied the same filter as the reconstruction but at a subtle level where the difference is clearly visible. I weakened the blues and removed the vignette from the frame all while keeping in consistency to how the real Crimewatch programmes are filmed.
The technique for the filming process was still heavily influence by Crimewatch. With no previous experience in filming anything I wanted to make sure the filming was similar to that of Crimewatch, so it would comes across to the user that they were actually watching an episode of Crimewatch and not a dodgy Youtube video filmed on a potatoes. I watch a number of reconstructions from Crimewatch to find the one that resemble the crime I was trying to portray.
In the end I found a Crimewatch reconstruction about the 'Toxteth rape', it was perfectly filmed and the story line was fairly similar to my own, therefore was the perfect reconstruction to study and research the filming techniques, movements of the actors and set up of the environment.
The video : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBTcH2BC4Eo
Below are the side by side comparisons from the Crimewatch reconstruction and then my interpretation of that scene.
It's clear to see from the side by side comparison the influence being drawn from the BBC reconstruction. I didn't want to do a carbon copy of the whole thing as I wanted to articulate an original story line but with a clear link back to the Crimewatch; making the whole thing believable to the user watching and also to the judges. The judges would be able to easily visualise the film within the spectrum of the BBC as it's similar to the real thing and in line with the current style and guidelines of Crimewatch.
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