Session 9: Rushes

In this session, after a long break, we finally got to see the footage we'd come out with after shooting. Of course, these are just rough rushes and the sound hasn't been fully worked on yet so all we had was the audio from the cameras and mics to play with, but It was interesting to see the sheer quantity we had produced. The audio was synced to the video so we were tasked with trying to cut it down and try and decide the order of shots. We did find some hurdles. We had a lot of shots but sometimes we couldn't find a way to switch between them cleanly. We also struggled with switching between different audio and syncing it up with the actors. However, This may be combated in the next session. All in all though, when we cut down all the footage, we had a nice short run time that seemed to get our story across.

Shoot day 1 & 2

On the first shoot day I was doing production. The day was split in to two for everyone. One half would do a job for the first half of the shoot, then the other person who had that job would take over. For the first half of the shoot I was doing production backstage. This pretty much consisted of doing odd jobs like making tea for the crew, as well as helping take pictures of the shoot. After tea, I got to take over the role of producer. This consisted of watching out for continuity errors as well as readying the sound and camera crew for the directors command. I felt Like I learnt more about what production was and I decided after the first shoot day that it wasn't really for me. I understand its a very important role but I didn't really feel like I would want it as a carrier. The reason I think I didn't enjoy this job was mostly because it felt like there was a lot of pressure on what I was doing and where I had to be. The first shoot day went very well and we managed to fit in all the shots we had scheduled for the first day. However, towards the end of the shoot, as it was getting late, the elder actor did seem to get progressively more tired.

On the second day my role shifted to my second choice, set design. my role took place in the afternoon segment of the shoot which was quite important as I was a part of the movement from our first, main location, to the second location. This meant moving the equipment required as well as all the props we needed. Me and Holly were set with the task of turning the front room of the house we were shooting at, into that of a drunken fathers. we also had to move around some of the furniture in order to make space and set up the shot we would need. a way of making sure everything was right was to have one of us sat in the corner where the camera would face and check what would and wouldn't be in view. When our job was done we helped return things to the main sight. I preferred the set design job as I enjoyed the process of placing the props and checking they were in just the right place.

Day 1:

Me reading the shoot schedule on the first day:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/signalfilmandmedia/15824526748/in/set-72157649732721051

Pictures being taken behind the scenes:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/signalfilmandmedia/15389671504/in/set-72157649732721051

Day 2:

Moving the equipment into the house:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/signalfilmandmedia/15899384328/in/set-72157649886201882

The table we covered in empty cans:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/signalfilmandmedia/15826412207/in/set-72157649886201882

Session 7 & 8: Pre production

In these sessions we chose our roles for the film and were told what each of those roles did during production. We watched some shorts with May, who took us through the different types of camera shots that were used and that we may use, as well as differing types of recording devices and the importance of lighting and set design. My chosen departments were production and set design. My role in pre production was to help write up the call sheets and risk assessments, as well as find travel routes to the set for transport. The process of the film starts in the preproduction. all the planning an setting up needs to be done if the shoot is going to go according to plan. the day needs to be timetabled so that there are adequate breaks for everyone. So that everyone knows where they need to be at what time, what their job is. Meals need to be booked or sourced. Set up time and makeup needed to be taken into account. Even the time the sun goes down had to be checked for our film so we knew how much of the day we'd have to shoot the day scenes. The set designers job is to make sure that a set is ready for shooting. Everything that is required to give a room atmosphere is positioned correctly and anything that can break that atmosphere must be removed. We also looked over the script and made some final alterations until we were happy with everything.

Bellow is a blank call sheet. In the planning sessions, it was the job of the production team to fill it in. The call sheet shows what scenes are being shot on that day, the times shooting and breaks should be happening and who needs to be where.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/95522743@N02/16086662142/lightbox/
This is the call sheet for the first shoot day now filled in.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/signalfilmandmedia/16086661882/in/photostream/lightbox/

Session 6: Script writing

When we returned to construct the script, I decided not to put forward my idea. Though I was happy with it, I felt like it would be more fitting to begin a fresh with the ideas of the entire group and see what we could come up with. Both Zosia and Matt spearheaded the writing and did a superb job. We decided that the green house was our favourite of the location ideas we had come up with, also night being our favourite time setting. After that we developed both story and characters from the ideas that had come from the activities in the previous sessions. An elderly person and a young person seemed to work quite well in the setting, both were later decided to be male as that sex seemed to fit. It was decided that our conflict in the film would be caused by the father of the boy who then would get angry and destroy a plant in the greenhouse which would later be revealed to be the old mans. after this, the boy would meet the man, feel guilty, but ultimately end up tending to the plants for the old man. Matt wrote up a draft of this after the session which was sent out to us to read for discussion in the next session. However, everyone seemed pleased with the concept.

Session 5: Character and story

In this session we were introduced to writing and the writing process by Zosia Wand. We did a number of activities which helped us to understand the methods of creating believable characters with depth. these activities varied from reading short statements and attempting to relate to how a person would have felt whilst writing them, to sharing a piece of paper and adding a trait each until a full character and back story was created. Story wise we were told to take inspiration from anywhere. Both feelings and places can be expanded upon until an entire story is created. We ended the session discussing our film and we created a list of components we may all wish to see in the script. When I got home, I decided to take these new skills and develop a short script of my own using the list we had created. I really thought that what I had learnt about character development helped me to create something I was quite proud of.

The story of a film is split into 6 stages.
The first stage is the setup. this is around the first 10% of the film and is used to establish a setting and main characters. At the end we should also get a feel for what the main plot of the film will be.
The second stage is the new situation. this is 15% of the film and is the point at which the main character must react to the new situation they have been put in.
The third stage is the progress. for the next 25% the main character is shown working towards their primary goal that has been brought on by the previous stage.
The forth stage is complication. this is also 25% and raises a problem for the character to overcome and/or makes the end goal more important.
The fifth stage is the final push is 15% of the film. It involves the run up and completion of the end goal of the film.
The sixth stage is the aftermath. This is the final 10% of the film and shows what happens after the final push and what has happened to the main characters.

Further information:
 http://www.storymastery.com/story/screenplay-structure-five-key-turning-points-successful-scripts/

Session 4: Documentary

In the forth session (our second with Roy Stafford) we were taught about the history, production and marketing of a documentary. We were shown propaganda used during the second world war and part of a recent documentary about the fast food industry. It was interesting to see the juxtaposition between both the times they were made and the content in terms of how they were shot and the tone they gave to the audience. We were told that documentaries differed from drama. Documentary usually has a narration and footage of non scripted events, whereas drama may take a real life situation or problem to build the story upon. In terms of commercial success, documentaries seem more tailored to television as they can be segmented and easily advertised. they may struggle in cinemas as they lack a story to keep an audiences attention for a long period.