The rationale behind my professional experience:

I had chosen to do a large mixture of jobs to gain experience for my favoured subject areas within the field of media production. As I am not so sure which direction I’m likely to be heading I thought it would be a good idea to expand across different areas such as documentary, editing, working with music etc. all of which I have an interest in.

Source Radio

Over the past year or so I have attended numerous radio shows on a Friday night on Source Radio, Coventry University’s student radio station. This I see as more of a hobby as I could never imagine myself working as a presenter on any mainstream radio station. However this ‘hobby’ has turned into something of an opportunity to go out and interview famous bands. On the 6^th of April we were asked to interview the award-winning band that is Funeral For A Friend. That day we wrote up a few questions after a heavy amount of research and arranged to meet the band at 6pm before the gig. The interview lasted no longer than 15minutes and afterwards had photos taken of us with the lead singer.

This experience showed that my confidence has been forever growing throughout this work experience module. This in particular has allowed me conquer any anxieties such as speaking to some famous names such as Matthew Davies-Kreye. Music has always been an element I’ve liked to involve media production with and will hopefully be able to link the two in any future career.

Project Champion

For this placement we were given 1 or 2 days to work with our tutor Ken Fero on a Documentary called Project Champion. To “Create a vehicle movement ‘net’ around two distinct geographical areas within the city of Birmingham, namely Alum Rock and Sparkhill. These areas were the focus of a large percentage of their counter terrorist operations.” For this we went around various locations of the West Midlands and either produced sit down interviews of people involved, establishing shots of the areas and vox pops from people living in the area. Whereby my main roles were to set up lighting, film with the secondary camera and operate the boom mic.

This again was a great opportunity to work under pressure amongst figures who where rather experienced within the field of documentary. It was also a good chance to work with various equipment I was not fully familiar with but now believe I can use to the best of my ability. Working with Film makers such as Ken Fero have given me a better insight and idea of how it works within the world of documentary.

Documentary Abroad

A couple of course mates and I decided to spend a week in Norway to film a woman called Asne who had been appearing in magazines around Norway expressing her love for deer hunting. She had agreed to let us into her life and film her each day. We gathered some beautiful shots of her walking through the forests and mountains, not only that but when she was living her life at home with her husband and two children. The idea was to gather footage and ideologies behind this hunter and how their lives differentiate from those of ours.

This was a good chance to use equipment in a completely unfamiliar environment, such as walking with a hand-held Z1 camera through the snow-covered woods. Another good aspect to working as a team was managing the costs of travelling and living together. Teamwork was a massive factor in the success of our project and I believe we excelled in this area, as there were little disagreements throughout job in hand.

BCFA Promo DVD

The Birmingham City Football Association had asked a selection of Media Production students to help take part in creating a promotional DVD for them covering areas such as facilities, matches, referees, power leagues etc. It was our duty to arrange the dates that would best suit us to travel around the West Midlands gathering useful footage that could be put towards the final piece. We would then meet up with BCFA’s PR & Marketing officer Sunny Sahota.

Not only did I attend several of these dates as a last resort had to step in as main editor. Although I had other projects on the go I managed my schedule around it, which has been somewhat difficult. Over the past few weeks I have learnt more about time management and how it is essential to any on going project. We have certainly been pressed for time with this project as the final product date had been shortened. Another thing I have learnt to work with is working with what other people have filmed. The previous module we had to film and edit our own footage. In this case I was using what others had captured and had to skim through it until I found something useful, which also proved difficult, frustrating and time consuming. For this kind of project I believe it would have worked better with less people and the editor would need to work closer with the camera man.

Tennis Showreel

This was a one off chance to get involved in another project for one day. A few of us attended and set up two z5 camera’s at the Warwick Sports centre. There we attended a coaching session that we filmed for over an hour and a half.

This required a lot of innovative camera work, experimenting with a number of camera angles and effects. I feel my main session gave me the freedom to try out a various amount of ways to film a simple event.

Music Vid (Acoustic)

One day I had set up in a park to shoot a short music video for Jack Lord using two cameras. The shoot went perfectly, however it was editing that was fairly tricky and time consuming. I would love to work in doing videos like this in the future and have arranged to start a project with Jack after summer like this one. this website has been rather inspiring and look to produce similar results. - http://www.blogotheque.net/-Concerts-a-emporter-

Studio 113

I was asked to produce a video promoting the show ‘Studio 113’ where I primarily filmed ‘behind the scenes’. The show consisted of roughly 8-10 members who ranged in different contributing abilities. It was a show that aimed to promote local musical talent and brought in acts to perform and answer questions about themselves. After producing a smart video for them and posting it online again I was called up, but this time to help as a cameraman for the show. People were impressed with not only the footage but the editing style as well and considered giving me the editing job for the show.

As well as working hard for the show I was gaining a lot of experience and enjoyment with working with people who shared the same musical interest. As I had joined the show half of the way through I had a sense of what could be improved in terms of camera work by watching the previous shows. Working on the show has also made me feel a lot more comfortable using the cameras and often have learnt techniques and ideas from others. In addition I have met people I intend to be collaborating with for years to come.

BCFA Promotional Video

Day 1 – 22nd Jan

This was the first meeting we had for this project. A few girls – ebony, laurie-ann and lorraine from the journalist course joined me and shaun (media production). We traveled to Birmingham center and got two buses towards the BCFA Headquarters. There we met up with Sunny Sahota who acted as PR & Marketing officer and discussed what she wanted from us as Journalists and Media Producers. The brief was that we would produce a Promotional DVD for the BCFA covering every aspect the football association deals with in the West Midlands. Alongside that we would need to produce a DVD case/cover and insert. Within the meeting I surprised myself when making a few ideas which the table would agree with.

Day 2 – 23rd Jan

Our first shoot was at the same place (BCFA headquarters) but outside on the main football pitch where the under 16s match was taking place. Today I was working with Kelvin and was eager to get started on filming the footy! We began by filming halfway up the pitch between the substitute benches, solely focusing on where the ball was going (where the action is). By doing this I believe we weren’t getting much variation with our shot so i decided it would be better to take the camera off the tripod and film the action around the ball – supporters, managers, players off the ball etc. In my view this was a lot more effective approach to creating a promotional DVD as we were getting a variation of action and different angles.

Day 3 – 31st Jan

It was the last day of January and Adam, Shaun, Anca and I agreed to film at Astons sports center where the power league football was taking place. As soon as we entered the sports hall I immediately realised the florescent lighting in the hall would have a bad affect on the camera. We filmed the whole match and it was intriguing to watch them play with electric wheelchairs as they were rather skillful.

Day 4 – 5th Feb

This day we were filming at night on a grass pitch in West Bromwich in the freezing cold. This time alone with a D90 and no tripod. It was under 14s training under floodlights which was tricky to work with visually, however I did what I could in the limited time I had (with the girls complaining about the cold). Again I had a lot of freedom to work with, which was pleasing and no one standing over my shoulder also eager to use the camera. Later that night I captured the footage.

Day 5 – 7th Feb

This was probably my favourite shoot so far not only was the lighting natural but there were many smiling faces! The coaches were brilliant at what they did and I feel we caught that beautifully on camera. The kids – roughly 6-8 – were also excellent and was very impressed by the skills they had on the pitch. Tayo and I worked well as a team taking turns using the Z1 and my 1000D camera and together captured some great shots well worth using. Once the training was over we asked if we could quickly interview the coach, this was when we started having the problems. The camera started playing up and with our patience and keeping the coach entertained we finally managed to fix the problem and filmed him with a few accompanying questions.

Day 6 – 18th Mar

This day we had to film a meeting. Very different to other days where we have filmed a lot of football action. Now we were situated in The Hawthone – West Bromwich Stadium. As people began to flood in the room where the referee meeting was taking place we started filming as people met up and started chatting around the bar and tables. A few photos were taken of the boss’ running the show and some retired referee’s with my Canon camera. It was more the photo taking that had me under pressure as I would only be given a couple of chances to produce something of high quality.

Day 7 – 17th Apr

Our final day was a short one, Sunny came to our university building to view the rough cut I had made soon after we were whisked away to Birmingham to film some establishing shots of the leisure center and some mens training on the astro-turf pitches. This was all very easy to do, we were very familiar with using the camera/tripod and had no problem filming the action and establishing shots.

Throughout my time over the professional experience module i believe i have shown perfect team work skills and have got on with any client or work mate. I say this because, I’ve made sure if we were given a group task and we share the chances to use camera equally. I have shared my ideas constantly when working on projects and whenever needed I have jumped in to aid others, as an example it was never my intention to edit the FA promo DVD, however because team mates had dropped out I felt inclined to. I have constantly received praise from other team members in the way I have worked alongside them and have never received any negative feedback.

Documentary Film Maker – Ken Fero

BCFA – PR & Marketing – Sunny Sohato

Jack Lord – Music Producer/Artist

Marie Elton – Journalist

Matthew Davies-Kreye – Singer/Songwriter

CV

 

Name: Alex Hacking

—————————————————————————–

Nationality: British/Norwegian

D.O.B.: 27/04/1990

Sex: Male

Birthplace: Exeter

Address: 25 Friars Road, Coventry, West Midlands, CV1 2LB

Telephone: 07904205678

Email: aletim01@hotmail.com

Website: hacking04.wordpress.com

——————————————————————————————————-

Personal Statement:

 

I am a hard working, punctual individual with a considerable passion for creating. I have a strong interest in all forms of Media and take my education seriously, achieving consistent success academically.

I have plenty of experience and worked in various environments so far with qualifications/skills to follow.

I feel I have a lot to offer to any company, I enjoy a challenge, polite when dealing with customers/working with employees and have great enthusiasm towards the job in hand.

 

Educational History:

Coventry University – Media Production  -  2009 to Present

Godalming College – A Levels

 

Graphic Design – B

Media Studies – C

Rodborough Technology College – GCSE’s

Graphic Design – A

Maths – B

English Lit – B

Geography – B

R.E – B

Business Studies/ICT – CC

English Lang. – C

Sciences – CC

French – C

Employment History:

 

Source Radio – Coventry

 

Radio presenter – February2010/February2011

 

Presenter, Interviewing bands etc.

 

Studio 113 – Coventry

Camera Operator – April2011/May2011

 

Camera Operator, setting up the studio, lighting

 

BCFA – West Midlands

 

Camera Operator – February2011/May2011

 

Camera Operator, Editor, Photographer

 

Migrant Media – Birmingham

Production Assistant – Febuary2011

 

Lighting, camera operator.

Spar – Elstead, Surrey

Sales Assistant – July2008/July2009

Roles – Serving customers on the tills, filling shelves, loading stock, taking stock, operating machines,  helping customers etc.

The Squirrel – Hurtmore, Surrey

 

Waiter/Barman – January2008/July2008

 

Roles – Serving Food/Drink, Cleaning tables, Polishing Glasses, Taking Orders

 

Finite Design – Godalming, Surrey

2008 – Present

 

Roles – Filing, sorting VAT, working with design programmes.

Surrey Advertiser – Hurtmore, Surrey

Godalming Tree Surgeons – Godalming, Surrey

Assistant Tree Surgeon – March2007

 

Roles – Cutting branches, moving logs/branches, raking etc.

 

Work Experience:

MustardPost (Digital Post Production) – Cobham, Surrey

 September2010

SitcomSoldiers (Music Video) – Soho/Vauxall, London

Runner – August2010

No Ordinary Trifle (Movie) – Chelsea, London

March2010

 

GREAT ESCAPE music festival – Brighton

May2009

 

 

 

Qualifications:

Qualifications in Health and Safety at work and a Premises License

Special Skills:

-Working with a wide range of programmes such as PhotoShop, Coral, After Effects, Final Cut Pro,  CAD etc.

-Work with cameras such as video camera’s and SLR’s.

 

 

Hobbies:

Sports, Photography, Art, Films, Socialising, Designing, Music, Reading

 

——————————————————————————————————-

References:

 

Ken Fero – Documentary Film Maker

David Adelman – Godalming College Principal

 

Paul Hacking – Finite Design Civil Engineer

 

James Hacking – Film Director/Script writer/Producer

 

Tony Swinney – MustardPost Designer

 

Ben Thornley – SitcomSoldiers Director

The trip to Åsne’s in Førde was indeed a tiring one. It began with a 5am alarm call from my bedroom floor, which turned out to be the coldest morning I have ever had the ‘pleasure’ of waking up to. Soon after we jumped in the car that took us to London Gatwick Airport (South Terminal) with a couple hours to spare.

There was a small upset to our journey when we found that Norwegian.no (Airline) would not accept the camera case as hand luggage. Consequently the camera case was handed in as extra baggage, which again added to the expensive running total of our travels.

Eventually after rushing towards our flight gate we sat in the plane. After a few photos here and there, a pack of fruit gums and what has already been described as a ‘chronic headache’ we touched down around 11.30 (Norwegian time) at Bergen Airport. We soon got the bus to Bergen town center where we decided on a traditional Norwegian Burger king meal, which proved to be the most expensive lunch I have paid for in a long time.

There, Åsne found us and were shortly whisked away in her four-by-four that carried us through West Norway’s beautiful frozen landscapes. Although I visit every year, I would still say I was just as taken away as Jake and Richard who had never travelled to a country similar to this one. However it wasn’t long until I found some kip.

We had now travelled across land and air, now it was the waters turn. We must have queued roughly 20mins for the ferry passing between Larvik and Oppedal but in due course we boarded the ferryboat where Åsne treated us to a Norwegian cheese pancake sandwich.

Driving towards Førde we discussed with Åsne what we would be expected to film, locations in which we could achieve the footage and whether or not friends and family would be involved. The idea of climbing a mountain the next day was also conversed, where we could gather some shots looking down over the fjord. This we thought would work well in establishing the scenery for our documentary.

Not long after arriving at my aunt’s house we decided we would join her in watching her son at a school play. The play was about Alf Prøysen, a writer/musician who had made a significant contribution towards TV, radio, music and literature in the second half of the twentieth century. This was certainly one way of involving ourselves in the culture of Norway.

At the end of a long day (which I have tried my best to condense) we put our feet up, cracked open a Tuborg and discussed the potential happenings of the next day…

My final film based word that needed completion was “music”, this is a word I chose for myself for the “Your own word” category. I chose this purely for my love of music and how my filming skills would work to an advantage alongside it.

Last year I was involved in a TV show, whereby a band called The Reading room had an interview and played for us. Ever since I have kept in contact with one of the band members Jack Lord who now has become a solo acoustic artist. He has always been eager to get involved in film and TV and it’s always good to work collaboratively on projects.

The idea was simple. Ask Jack if he would play a couple songs for me on his guitar while being filmed, arrange an interesting location and have a couple of HD camera’s at the ready. After scouting the web for some good examples of acoustic sets I came across a few. One featuring Ellie Goulding and the other an artist I have followed for a while called Tinashé.

Both were simple in style, yet unlike a live gig recording, as there was only one subject to be filmed, the recordings seemed a lot more intimate. There were plenty of close ups – mouth, eyes, guitar neck etc. What I loved most about it was the soft focuses, low depth of field and pull focuses. Something that can be so simply achieved though looks beautiful on a quality camera.

I particularly took to this video of Tinashé and envisioned a similar scenario with Jack. I had noticed there were only two camera’s filming the set, one of which that had a constant focus on the singers face and the other free roaming, experimenting around the guitar and around his face. In my eyes the ‘free roaming’ camera had not been at best use. I feel it could have focused around the strumming and the other end of the guitar. This is something I would like to better about my project compared to director Luke Monaghan.

The only problem was the lack of sunny days in March and depth the easily mobile cameras had to offer at the university. However I was in luck, sunny days were ahead after a couple weeks after we were set the task and immediately sorted a day of filming with Jack which seemed to be no problem at all. Secondly a mate of mine had a Canon 60D that I then asked to borrow that day, which again I had no problem in getting hold of.

I had only worked with a 60D once before briefly and was more than eager to use it. I knew its potential and thought it was key to my projects outcome and getting those desired free roaming close ups.

When it came to shoot day, I arranged to meet Jack outside my house at 3. I also needed a spare couple of hands to help film with the Z1 (locked off camera), so I showed my house/course mate Richard what kind of shot I want from him and we set out with Jack to the Coventry memorial park. The sun had been out all day, which was brilliant, and more than I could ask for was going to plan.

Once we got there we chose a sunny spot under a tree and not too near the public surrounding us. It took a while to set up the Z1 and choice for the locked off shot but once we had finally white balanced and fully focused we were ready to film Jack’s first song. We did this 3 times and added some establishing shots afterwards, everything went smoothly, and all I could hope for was whether the footage would come out nicely on the laptop.

It didn’t take long until I got editing even with a few other deadlines the next day. The footage looked beautiful and the sound quality was not bad at all. We had recorded all the sound using a rifle mic, closely linked up to the Z1. I had avoided the idea of a studio like sound recording, as I feel you lose a sense of personality within that. The mic was picking up sounds all around the park, which was both a good and bad thing. With this you felt more like you were there, therefore more involvement in the artist. However noises such as screams are slightly off putting and contrasting to the style of music.

Editing

It didn’t take me too long to sync up both footage from the camera, the main sound was taken from the Z1 camera and all sound recorded off the Canon was used to help line up the two and then later erased. Editing also went smoothly, however rendering took abnormally long, after every shot used it would take roughly 2mins to fully render. Unfortunately there was no way around this I just had to deal with the waiting.

When it came to putting in the transitions I didn’t want anything too fancy or over the top, the main focus was on the act and certainly not ‘crazy’ effects in between shots. In the end all there I put in was one fade in and out to black, a couple of cross fades and simple well timed cuts. The important aspects to the piece while editing was the rhythm of the cuts, when to use the transitions and which camera angle to switch to. For instance a shots of the guitar neck would never cut to another shot of the guitar neck. This would be pointless because we would be seeing the same thing while the audience are crying out to see more of the whole subject and its environment.

Transition on the Canvas

A ‘fade in fade out’ transition running from the emotions on his face singing into the centre of the guitar proved to be very effective, not only did it fade well together but also had a lot of meaning behind it. It is my belief that an acoustic set such as this one is very emotive both through the voice, face and finally what the artist plays on the guitar. Its as if the passion passes through him and then down to the guitar. This was achieved by overlapping both clips together and creating an extended ‘fade in fade out’ between the two. The first shot of Jacks face had also been scaled up and positioned to the center of the screen with a slight zoom in towards him. The subtle zoom also helps grip the audience as a stationary shot with no movement lacks a bit of life and does not flow with the music.

Overlapping two clips with a cross-fade

Despite the rendering between each shot it didn’t take too long to whip up his first song. The other two recorded songs I will receive enjoyment out of editing over the Easter holidays. After exporting from final cut to a 60.5MB file I was very pleased with the quality outcome. Not to mention all the positive feedback received from other students.

——————————————————————————————–

Luke Monaghan. (2011). Tinashé – Pieces of Paper. Available: http://www.vimeo.com/16882549. Last accessed 14th March 2011.

Chad Soriano. (2011). Canon EOS 60D Video Test. Available: http://www.vimeo.com/15181980. Last accessed 14th March 2011.

Juldes (2011). – http://www.vimeo.com/9518167

Week 1

So the Short film groups were decided and I was pleased to be working with Jake Humbles, Richard Neal, Adam Davies and Mick Le Mare. Four guys I have bonded and worked with since early into our first year of Media Production, so we were likely to work well together. So I hoped. Our first week consisted of familiarising ourselves with the JVC 700 camera, setting up a blog or website to use as a group work upload page and most importantly developing an idea for future production. We also, in groups, had to produce a nokia short (a very short 30sec clip) on the JVC. An example of this will be placed below. That week we had a skills session with Bex with the JVC knowing that we would also be tested afterwards. We were each handed a questionnaire with 10 questions we had to answer correctly, e.g. Question 1: What is a CCD? – A charged couple device – A movement of electrical charge, a chip within the camera that controls the shutter speed and iris.

http://hacking04.wordpress.com/2011/03/18/jvc-questionnaire/

That same week in our groups we discussed what possible short humorous clips we could come out with. With our groups sense of wit, I assumed it would be simple to come out with many ideas. However we struggled for a while until Jake came out with the interesting idea of accidently leaving your mobile’s video camera on and record what’s going on around while on the phone. We chose to film this at my house, as the livingroom/kitchen was large enough to do so. The narrative would begin with Jake filming Mick as he plays a practical joke on Richard. Jake then receives a call, which leads him to be on the phone to his mum while still recording whats going on around. Meanwhile I climb through the window as a stereotypical looking robber and steal his laptop while he is not looking. Great idea, huh? Well it was an idea, and we were happy to run with it. After production the JVC was fairly easy to use and we didn’t encounter any problems due to our thorough training the previous day. A favourite aspect about it had to be the use of the Sandisk memory card, as it was quick and easy to use with out Macbooks.

Week 2

In the second week we were ready to start brainstorming idea’s for our final short film, I am happy to say we came out with some interesting ideas but it was vital to find one that worked and played out well in our heads. Another aspect to consider was that it would have to be realistically possible to make especially with the limited time we had.

Ideas such as, having ‘3 minutes to live’, two old men fishing and playing practical jokes, a well known artist coming to the end of his life and deciding to do one more groundbreaking piece of art and finally a boy losing himself in a strange surreal Forrest escaping from reality. All of which we were capable of working with. We decided it would be best to each choose our own favourite ideas and go away and write up a synopsis of how each could each work and an idea of dialogue behind it.

So, along with the plan, I decided to write about the boy in the forest. I liked this idea, purely for how I imagined the visuals and playing with effects. As I began to write I was unsure of where the narrative would go, however changed ‘boy’ into ‘man’ and attempted to write something more hard hitting.

http://sampletext.wordpress.com/2011/01/31/short-film-ideas-2/

After writing it, there was a sense of wonder as to whether it was a bit too shocking and inappropriate. One comment from a group mate was that “maybe it’s a bit too… rapey” although the visuals would work nicely, the storyline was a bit of a sore subject for us too be dealing with and thought it would be best to go down a more light hearted road.

So it was between, the artist, the fishing men and new to the table Richards apocalyptic tale. We were to pitch these ideas to everyone on the module the next upcoming week.

Week 3

After such a good response from the room after our pitch we had decided to work on the fishermen idea. The plot was simple yet needed a firm structure. We began to think of the scenario and each time one of us described it, it was if we had all imagined the same thing. The majority of us liked the idea that there would be two old men 60+ on a boat or on a wooden bridge over the river fishing and joking with themselves. Until one loses his keys in the river, the other fisherman thinks it would be funny to  throw his keys in on the end of his line. Then reeling it in and joking that its theirs. The film would end on the man that lost his keys to throw the others in because it isn’t theirs, leaving them both in a predicament.

Within that week we were tracked down after pitching the idea again and shown a video on youtube. It was a short film based on exactly the same scenario we had planned on creating. Not only that, but as the story progressed and we came to terms with the fact that the narrative would play out exactly how are would have done… Fantastic.

A beautifully shot short film, there was no denying. Exactly how I had imagined ours going, however it was back to the drawing board and we knew we had plenty of back ups. It was such a shame knowing we had such a brilliant idea, and even worse to know it had been done successfully before.

Week 4

We gave ourselves a few days to recover from such a blow to our short film plans. We needed something fresh and to do so would have to freshen our minds. Now behind schedule we had to come up with something fast and something that was new and exciting. It didn’t take long, but we believe we found something unique, simple to work with and maybe even better than the original idea. I was good to know our group worked well together, especially in such a pressure time. This would work well to our advantage in the later production stages.

That weekend, I decided to go pay a visit to the south of England in Surrey where I knew of a few interesting locations. I knew of a place where a music video had been shot deep in the woods where rubble from an old gunpowder mill remained. I found the location through a crew member and managed to pinpoint the spot using Google maps.

I thought by going down their alone I could spark up some inspiration, knowing that parts of Surrey are beautiful. The old gunpowder mill was quite interesting and we would definitely be allowed to work their at no charge. I took some photos for my group mates to see:

Other locations in Surrey included an abandoned school and fisherman’s spot on the river  in Camberly, a lake in Peasmarsh which would be great for a boat scene and finally a Shooting Range near Woking.

Once I came back we decided to meet up and have another crack at thinking of a clever idea for a short film. Maybe from the experience of Surrey’s green lands, I liked the idea of working with nature. I thought what binary opposite to nature there was and automatically mentioned that it would be a funny idea to bring technology such as an Xbox into the wild as a form of ‘getting out of the house’. Immediately ideas sparked and we grew more fond of working with camping gear and a tent. Eventually we came to the conclusion of doing a festival orientated film, where 3 old men want to go to a festival, despite being ‘over the hill’.

Once we worked on the narrative a little we had to prepare for a meeting between us and the lecturers, who when we met were very helpful. A good 20mins we had been discussing the possible outcomes of such an idea. There were many pro’s to consider and not a lot of con’s, this could only be a good thing and decided to stick with it.

Week 5

planning/development of own productions: producing final versions of production documentation, test shooting, auditioning, final preparation for shooting

This week we knew we had to crack on. It was time to work on our script, get out some casting calls and consider locations for our film. It was decided we would have 3 best mates all within their 50’s where one is looking to attend a festival and encourages the others to join over a couple of phone calls. So we got on with the draft, our first script and location pictures included –

http://sampletext.wordpress.com/2011/02/09/script-and-some-quick-google-search-location-photos/

It was interesting to work with the prospect of hiring actors. And called upon one website –

www.uk.castingcallpro.com/

We quickly received a couple of applicants saying they were interested in the idea and would be happy to help out if we paid for expenses (travelling, food etc.).

Here are the details:

After considering the options for our three roles, we decided it would be in our best interest to hire Charles Nicklin and his two mates (also actors). We thought as there relationship had already been formed and all three guys have had plenty acting experience there was no reason not to hire them. Based in Coventry it wasn’t too bad for traveling reasons also. Sending a lovely picture of the three of them together and after a couple of lovely phone calls they had already had us wanting them.

Week 6/7

Over the weeks we were happy to receive more applicants for our short film and kept in tight contact with the potential actors. Again, every few days we were reviewing the script and making slight alterations for the best possible outcome. Working on our website sampletext.wordpress.com was helpful in keeping contact, also a Facebook short film group was also set up for extra contact with our group members.

This was an aspect I was very pleased about. Our group communication was top notch. We would ave regular meetings, and would quickly reply to each other online when any issues would arise. The aid of a blog, group blog and Facebook group were key and not forgetting emails and mobile phone, were helpful. Its certainly key to constantly communicate with one another especially over a project as big as this one.

Week 8/9

Our script was ready to be sent to the applicants and it was time to choose which actors to use. An actor named Charles Nicklin had contacted us mentioning that the script was perfect for him and his two close friends. It took a few discussions and we believed it would be best to go with this offer for many reasons – their relationship would show and seem more natural on screen, they would be able to travel together and generally they may get on better with themselves and hopefully with us.

We arranged the date well in advance so both the actors and ourselves had time to prepare and organise ourselves. We chose to meet at London Euston Station at 11:00am on Saturday 12th March.

over-the-hill-script

Big decisions such as location choices were made such as, not going to the angel of the north and focusing more of our attention on London. Now the two friends that were receiving the calls would be based in London then travelling out of London past Stonehenge and over Glastonbury Tor.

Week 10 (The Shoot)

It was time to start thinking about filming and assigned each other production roles. It was down to a group decision as to who got what and decided it would be best that I got the role of Director of Photography. Which I was very pleased with, not only that I had the role I secretly wanted but also that the others had faith in me to carry out such a duty. The other roles were as follows:

Adam Davies – First Assistant Director

We all knew Adam had great organisation skills and seemed the only correct man for the job.

Mick Le Mare – Director

Mick has had previous experience in directing, he directed a TV show myself and Adam were also in and thought Mick deserved the responsibility.

Richard Neal – Sound Operator

Being sound technician, rich has worked using sound on numerous occasions. This way he could work hand in hand with sound and coming to the editing process

Jake Humbles – Camera Operator

Jake has had plenty of experience with the JVC and it only seemed right to give him this opportunity.

It was also decided that editing would be a group project, though a few of us argued it would be easier to edit between a couple of us and receive helpful criticism from the others over the last couple of weeks. So it was decided that me and Richard would be in charge of editing.

The equipment we had booked out were:

JVC 700
JVC Monitor
Tripod
Rain Cover
Boom & Mic Collection
Headphones
2 XLR Cables
Clapperboard
Stop Watch
Reflector
Battery Charger
Gels
Dado Lights
2 Sandisk Memory Cards

The Shoot

On the 11^th March we decided it would be in our best interest to go location scouting around London to find our best shots. This was especially handy for me as I could then picture each shot we were doing around South Bank and Liverpool Street. Once we had finished we stayed at Jakes uncles house in Hemel Hempsted where we would also film the tent scene the next night after filming in London.

London

The next day we were up early for the day knowing what we had in store. We contacted the actors and arranged to meet at Regent Street station to do our first shot of Phil on the phone in a business suit to Charles. Jake and me went ahead to set up the cameras and before we knew it the actors were raring to go.

We started with a sound issue with the camera which was just typical, meanwhile I thought I’d take the chance to occupy the actors by talking and finding out a little about them. I didn’t want the to grow impatient with us and recognise there was something seriously wrong. Nevertheless the issue was resolved fairly quickly and we were ready to set up for the first shot. After about 5 takes we moved onto Regents Park for petes ‘montage’ scene where he walks along with all his festival gear. Here I had chosen to film behind the fountain capturing the water falling in focus. The group agreed it was a beautiful shot capturing the beauty of the park. The day continued in the same fashion, with the odd tube hassle or long walk. Our next stop was Southbank and the London Eye. We had a little trouble with permission but once they found out we were students we continued to shoot Phil walking past in festival gear. Here I had decided a low angle was the best option, to bring out the shear size of the Eye and cut out the public’s reactions from below, focusing on Phil’s emotions. We had to deviate from the plan when we hit the Millennium Bridge as simply the bridge was too crowded and would expect too many people to look at the camera, therefore we picked a spot to the side of the bridge where we shot from distance – Phil and Pete walking across.

Then it was off to Liverpool Street where we would film both Phil and Pete’s surprise meeting and Pete’s phone call. Both of which went extremely well. The street in which we filmed in had a film set vibe to it and looked beautiful on camera. This I believe had to be shot with extra consideration and managed to do the best I could with it. Secondly, instead of filming in a pub we decided it would be more appropriate to film outdoors, with such good light how could we resist. Before shooting we used a bench outside a pub to stop and have a quick lunch, it was at this same bench we filmed Petes phone call. This worked a lot better than I imagined. Again, this was filmed at a low angle to capture the beauty of the London pub in the background.

Tent Scene

It was a long day in London, at this was only the start. Once we got our desired shots before we lost the sun it was time to make a move for the tent scene in Hemel Hempsted. While the actors went to the pub, this gave us the chance to set up the cameras for our already set up tent scene. We made good use of the de-do lights creating a campfire-like tent atmosphere. Over these few days I had learnt a lot about lighting and using gels/filters, I felt under pressure for Charles’ call scene as we were filming at night and I had to create day time lighting using a couple of lights and a diffuser while having to direct the scene as well while the others arranged the tent. With this I think I did an alright job, the others were happy it looked liked daylight, well at least on camera, see what you think:

It was approaching 9 o’clock and we had filmed the final scene with the actors. All in all the actors enjoyed themselves and believe they enjoyed our company, we were polite, professional and respectful of their needs which I think was needed. It made the actors take us more seriously and hopefully would reflect out on their performance.

Stonehenge

The next morning we set off for Stonehenge, this time without the aid of our actors. Now we felt there was less pressure, we had plenty of time to get the shots and time to check out the locations before filming. We started with a lovely panning shot of Mick and Richard (posing as Phil and Pete) walking past Stonehenge and then had a shot of them walking in the horizon on top of a hill. This final Stonehenge shot I feel summed up the title of the film nicely “Over The Hill”. What I found difficult was being able to see the shot well enough in such beaming light, at points I needed to form a cover (my hoody) over the camera and myself. After all I was pleased with both shots and was ready for a landmark I had never experienced before – Glastonbury Tor.

Glastonbury Tor

Without hesitation we set off for Glastonbury for another montage shot for Phil and Pete. Again we had another extreme long shot of them walking over the hill up towards the Tor. The lighting for this was fantastic, the sun was out and the colours blue (sky) and green (grass) were rather striking. Again this fit perfectly with the film title and what the short was trying to achieve. The shot said everything about the film, middle aged (over the hill) men pushing themselves to the limits to achieve something they have wanted to do for a long time. The second shot was on top of the hill (next to the Tor) watching them climb down the steep hill, with this shot you could see the flat lands of Glastonbury. Also used in the recent Yeo Valley Advert. This would then be used to fade into the tent scene.

Reflection

Looking back on each of the shoots I have become more confident in myself to direct the camera. I know that I have a good photographic eye with lots of photography experience. For this it was more of a case of ordering someone else to do each shot while I chose the angle and how to focus and shoot it. I also had a few chances to film using the JVC 700 which also improved my understanding of the camera which I have been quietly avoiding since my last shoot with it. I have never worked with professional actors before and I believe I relished at the chance of directing them in a few scenes. Hopefully when I get the chance to work with actors again I will be as direct and successful as I was then in getting the best out of them and the shot. Finally I surprised myself by using the de-do lights to the best of their ability. I had never really worked with them so much before and fully understand their potential now. For whatever reason they can be very useful in creating the mood of a scene or actor and help indicate the time of day.

As a group, well I couldn’t have asked for anything better. We worked professionally as a team and this reflected nicely upon our actors and their performance. Not only that but with our efficiency too. The actors were excellent to work with and we could tell they wanted the best out of our production. I believe if we did not act as professionally as we did with our roles, I think the actors would have grown impatient with us and not performed to the best of their ability. We did get lucky with the actors in the way that they had this bond already formed, and even mentioned that it was as if the script was meant for them. I can safely say I am glad we stayed well away from student actors as the performance from Charles, Pete and Phil really showed off their experience.

So here we are, near the end of the editing process and am extremely happy with what seems to be taking shape. I’m all for pushing myself and moving away from my comfort zone and Its only this way I can really learn a lot, especially from mistakes. Although there were a few negative’s to consider, I can only accept them and see them all as a learning step and focus on how to better it next time. All in all the positives outweighed the negatives and we managed to produce a tidy looking short film. I couldn’t be happier with how each day of the production process went and look forward to making another!

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