Technical skills

There is a lot of equipment and roles that are required to make a film and there is a level of competence and skill that is needed to carry out the jobs. Scripts need to be written and re-written until they are deemed ready, then actors need to be cast for roles, locations need to be found, equipment needs to be sourced including lighting, sound and cameras. Then it all has to be moved to where the shoot is and set up correctly, with a crew behind the scenes who all know what their job is and where they should be. My roles included production, set design and also a part in writing. In the production role, it was my job to ready the camera and sound for a shot and keep track of the continuity. In my role in set design it was my job to move everything out of the shot that was out of place as well as rearrange furniture to make room for equipment and add/position props (e.g. beer cans) Also in the time when the script was being written and re-written, I wrote a script as a general idea and looked at the final script that Matt wrote and made some suggestions. Whilst in my role in set design, I found a small bird ornament which whistled every so often. I made sure to inform others as I felt the noise might affect the filming. Also I was told that my idea, though not pursued in the end, was good, and the suggestions I put forth where taken into account when finalising a script.

Reviews

Short film: Driven (2013/14)
Produced by signal films for the BFI course last year, driven follows the story of a lost man who's sat nav appears to be running him in circles. At first, the viewer may be expected to find this situation almost comedic. However, as the film progresses and the sun goes down, its revealed that there is a far darker reason behind the mans unfortunate situation. Plot wise I feel like the film achieved the twist it was looking to achieve. The point at which the twist is revealed and the tone changes is so fast that it hits hard. the cinematography is also very well done. the use of over the shoulder shots to shoot the interior of the car whilst driving and stationary was well executed and the wider shots established both the feeling of isolation and being lost that the main character was feeling.

Foreign film: He loves me, He loves me not (2002 "À la folie... pas du tout" (original title))
This is a film of French origin, which focused on telling the same story from multiple perspectives. each time revealing that told us more about motives and plot, while at the same time changing the tone of the film dramatically. Colour is used a great deal in the film. There are moments when the film is very vibrant and other scenes where there is little colour. This follows the shift in mood throughout. the sound and music in the film play another key factor as the same song is repeated, again like the colour, played differently to mimic the tone. The plot is clever, at first making the viewer believe they are watching a romantic film and then slowly dismantling that façade to reveal a darker story, almost turning the film into a thriller, focused on a girl with a severe mental illness.

British film: 24 hour party people (2002)
Directed by Michael Winterbottom and written by Frank Cottrell Boyce, 24 hour party people is a biographical comedy set in the 1970's, and follows the establishment of Factory records by Tony Wilson (played by Steve Coogan) The style of the writing seems very fast. The film seems to skim through numerous real life events. However, the viewer is never really lost and wondering what is happening as the main character is constantly breaking the forth wall and telling you exactly who people are and what's happening. At the very start of the film we are even told how the plot of the film with go, telling us it parallels the story of Icarus. The cinematography is also very interesting. the film is filter to look as if the entire thing was filmed in the 1970's and there are parts where the film is spliced together with real life footage of the bands that are supposed to be playing. I feel this sets the tone of the film well and helps us understand who the main character is talking about or interacting with.

Behaviour and working practices in the film industry

Behaviour in the film industry is similar to behaviour in most places of work. Its important to keep a positive and healthy working relationship with your co workers. This means being polite to one another and treating everyone as equals and with respect. It is also important to act professionally. In a career that is focused on recording over a progressive long period of time, its important to know what your job is and to not do anything to jeopardise a shoot (e.g. talking when you shouldn't be).

This link shows further detail about working relationships:
http://testsite.cmcnet.co.uk/awctraining/sites/default/files/Effective%20Working%20Relationships.pdf

Health and safety is also a factor, as it is in many other professions. it is the job of the producer to make sure basic health and safety checks are done for every area of the production and that appropriate risk assessments are carried out.

Further information:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/filmnetwork/filmmaking/guide/production/health-and-safety

Finally, the film industry works to a very tight schedule and contains a lot of deadlines that need to be met. This makes time keeping extremely important in this career, arguably more than many others as one job being slow can effect every other afterwards. Its also important to expect to be working late and for large periods. Breaks should be provided and planned however.

Careers in film

In a session with Christine Pyke, we were informed of the many different careers in film and television, and where we should begin if we wished to pursue them. We were told about how the different types of funding affect what sort of content is published by the different television companies. We were told about the importance of focusing on a genre and researching that area if we wished to go in that direction, for example, having a knowledge of an area of history if you wished to pursue a carrier in documentary. There seemed to be a over arching message that it wouldn't be an immediate path to your desired career. Many would start doing running jobs but being placed on the sort of program you wished to work on and working your way up the ladder.
We have also learned about how the relationship between film and other wider media has changed in recent years. Online media has made films easier to access as well as television programs. there are also other media films have effected, such as music (and artists making music specifically for soundtracks) and clothing inspired by certain films.

Film roles

Each role in the film industry has a place and certain people won't be expected to ever talk. For example, the Marketing director will never need to talk to the sound technicians. Though jobs may be done completely separately from others, each must be done to complete a film. In this flow chart, the lines show who may need to communicate in that area.

The three main roles out of all these are the writer, director and producer.
The writer, obviously, is the one who has the original idea for the film and develops characters and a script.
The director has creative control over the film from the start of production to the end.
The producer is organiser an handles the crew, money and makes sure everything is ready.

Further information:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/filmnetwork/filmmaking/guide/production/cast-and-crew
http://creativeskillset.org/creative_industries/film/job_roles

Film production process

1. The idea is the first ideas of the story and genre of film.
2. Development finance is getting funding to start the project and making sure key roles are filled i.e. writer.
3. Script development is the process of completing the script.
4. Packaging is planning out how the film will be made and who will be in it.
5. Financing is gaining the money required to fund to bulk of the project.
6. Pre-production is the planning of how the shoots for the film will go and what is needed.
7. The shoot is the filming itself.
8. Post production is the process of taking the rough footage and putting it all together.
9. Sales is production of advertising materials and screening of the film.
10. Marketing is the advertisement of the film and finding the target audience
11. Exhibition is the premiere and showing of the film.
12. Other windows is what happens to the film after release

Further information:
http://www.inspiredfilmandvideo.co.uk/content/stages-of-production

Copyright

Copyright effects all types of media including film. There are a list of areas that should be taken into account when making a film, in order to avoid copyright infringement:


Literary
The writing has to be an original concept. Dialogue can't be taken from other pieces and claimed to be the creation of the writer

Musical

compositions should be in the public domain or independently created 

 

Artistic

Photos or brands (logos) require permission if you wish to use them

 

Sound recording

Sound effects should be in the pubic domain or independently created

 

Film
video footage cannot be taken from another film without permission to use by the original creator

During the production of our film we managed to avoid most problems that may have occurred. Music was composed especially. Sounds where either recorded during the shoot or within the public domain. All film and writing was original. The only real problem we faced was the branding on a prop (a bottle of whiskey). However, the problems were avoided as the scenes were only short, most had the logo obscured and those that didn't were left out.

Further copyright information:
http://www.copyrightservice.co.uk/copyright/p01_uk_copyright_law