Problems During Production / Feedback

Due to the fact that we had so many issues with actors and the fact our time was quickly running out we filmed all of our shots to late. We were unable to attend a tutorial to get feedback and even if we did we would be unable to do reshoots. I believe that this really affected our final film. If we had shot earlier and had time to go back and do reshoots with feedback in mind we would have had a much better final product. I will admit that some responsibility lies with the group and how we may have been unorganised during some parts of production. However, a lot of what happened was out of our control and we were unable to do anything about.

Shot List

During the production of the film a shot list was written so that we could keep track of what we had shot and what we still needed to do. This was extremely helpful as it allowed us to be precise and not miss anything during shooting.

As you can see a different table was made for each scene, this also was a great help when it came to the edit because Richard was able to go straight to the clips that we wanted to use rather than go through every single one to find the good ones.

Although this table was used through the majority of filming, when it came to the apartment sequence we were in such a rush that we managed to miss an entire scenes worth of filming. We worked around this in the edit but if we had still been using this during the apartment scenes that probably wouldn't of happened.

Behind the Scenes Photos (Light Set Up)

These two images illustrate the two setups used in the studio for the opening montage scene and the main audition scene.

This first image shows the set up for the main audition scene between the actor character and the producer character. We decided to use the lighting above the set as it offered great image quality and shadows were minimal. I wanted the image to be bright and vibrant in contrast so this worked really well in getting that particular image. The white backdrop and the green on the green screen were bright and vibrant in contrast to the grey and dullness of the previous scene which is something i aimed to achieve.

In this image it shows the set up for the opening audition montage. For this scene i aimed for it to look very amateur much like a real audition tape. We made sure that the lights we used were tungsten or slightly orange to give it that kind of amateur feel. In the final image i think it worked really well and conveyed the ideas that Tom and I wanted from the scene.

Technical / Aesthetic Approach

After deciding to go with an adjusted version of my idea, i worked closely with Tom (Director) to look into the certain way we wanted the film to look. In terms of the colour and lighting we wanted the images to be quite bright and colourful. For this we took reference from Damien Chazelles film 'La La Land' as they use colour really well in keeping the image bright and eye catching.

Im not sure what camera to use as the image from the XF100 and the 70D can be quite different. I have decided to take both cameras to set and do tester shots when under the lighting to see which one is better.

During the first audition montage we will use the black backdrop and two point lighting, the goal is to make it look like an audition room so quite simplistic in style. The camera will be set up on a tripod on a tripod and be cut into a montage with the actor changing shirts after each section in order to convey the passage of time.

During the apartment scene we will use mainly natural lighting and possible reflectors to bouncing light in certain directions. This will allow us to get some really good shadows on the actor. The apartment scene will mainly be shot using a shoulder rig to allow for fluid movement while the actor walks around.

When filming in the hallway prior to the main audition it will mainly be filmed using the tracking dolly and tripod, using natural lighting. The lighting in the hallway is a lot better than expected so no extra lighting will be needed.

During the main audition scene it will mainly be filmed using a jib that is placed on top of the tracking dolly. This will allow for real freedom  of motion when filming the scene. i decided to do this because I took inspiration from films like 'Birdman' that have lengthy takes but have a number of different shots within those lengthy takes. I will be attempting to do something similar which will allow Richard (Editor) to play with later. The lighting will be three point but will also have the overhead flood lights on for some extra lighting.

Pitch Ideas

During this project we were tasked with pitching two ideas to the group in order to get feedback on them and so we were able to choose an idea to move forward with. We also had to write some script so that we could do a read through with a pair of actors in order to get a real feel for the story we wanted to get across.

The first presentation was of my idea of an up and coming actor who finds the industry is not all as it seems. He keeps getting rejected and eventually decides to quit but when he bumps into a producer on the street, he realises nothing can make him quit for good. After pitching the idea it was said that my idea was good and solid but didn't really follow the brief as it didn't explore a relationship between two characters. i agreed with this and decided i would save the idea for a later date and make it outside of uni.

The Second idea was thought up by Tom our director. It followed a young dance prodigy who messed it all up and now has a anger and resentment field relationship with her mother.

After pitching this idea it was clear that this idea would work better as a much longer film and the themes wouldn't come across well in the 5 minutes that we had to tell it. However we continued with this idea during the rest of the session due to the fact it was the strongest script we had to work with during the actors session.

Short Film Analysis - Drama - Pudding Bowl (Dir. Vanessa Caswill)

Vanessa Caswill's short film 'Pudding Bowl' is a well shot film depicting a small girl and the relationship she has with her older brother and her mother. This relationship is conveyed through the actions of the characters, the cinematography and direction of the characters. As i will be taking on the cinematography role for this project i will be focusing on how the camera positioning and movement conveys the thoughts, feelings and emotions of the characters.

During the opening few shots of the film we are shown what this little girl feels, wants and aspires to purely from the use of shot choice. we are shown extreme close ups of magazines full of models and beautiful women, then are shown this young girl with reflection of those models in her glasses. This shows us that this is what she aspires to be, she wants to be just like the people we see in the magazine. we are shown purely from the cinematography and shot choice what our main characters emotions are and what they are thinking. I wish to attempt this type of story telling through my role in the drama project.

The short film also has a clear style in its cinematography with it being set in the 50s-60s there is a clear old timey feel to the image. It looks like it was shot on film, which it may have been, but if not it has been manipulated to look that way. This adds to the feeling it is set in the 50s or 60s. I will attempt to adopt a this in terms of creating an image that links well with the idea. if the themes of the film are dark or sad i will attempt to create an image that is high in contrast and has a lot of shadows. possibly even shoot it in black and white. if the themes are happy i will attempt to add a lot of colour to the image by shooting it flat and allowing more contrast between colours for further enhancing later in colour correction.

Final Film Link

we finished our film this week, i am really proud of what we have put together. Our film tells the personal stories of our many contributors and their adoration for tattoos.

https://vimeo.com/205757533