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!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

For the word ‘time’ I chose to show a way of ‘making the most of your mornings’ instead of wasting your time in bed. Which is definitely something I could relate to. For a few weeks before production I had strong visuals for the film running through my head, where to shoot from and how to shoot it. This was simple to do as I lived in the area I was going to film in. Although I believe we need to film outside of our ‘comfort zones’ I assumed the potential strength strength of the cinematography could out weigh this. As you may see from the film I have experimented with different angles and camera effects. This for me was a good learning curve as it gave me a good chance to use the Z5 camera to its best ability and help work on my Director of Photography skills. Selecting interesting yet effective angles is definitely something I would like to work on especially as I will be the DOP for a film we will be shooting around London, Stonehenge and Glastonbury.

Within my ‘time’ video I have begun with a time-lapse of the street as it moves from night to day which gave off the sense of which time zone we would be in, in this case, morning. I had to find out the time of sunrise that was around 07:14 and recorded for roughly 30mins. The second shot I needed help with, after choosing the shot angle across the desk I got Richard Neal to help with a simple pull focus from me sleeping to the clock just before the alarm sets off. There are a few shots in this piece I am really happy about, however the majority I believe could be improved. Aspects such as lighting, steadiness and angles I feel I could have put more consideration into. As an example, the ‘peep’ show style shot where I am coming off the bridge and pass a man on the pavement, this could have been clearer by keeping the camera locked tighter. I think this would have been easier for an audience to watch, as it wouldn’t be too shaky. Here’s a good example of how it should be done. The camera is steady enough for the audience to take in what is happening:

I’ve been searching for similar idea’s and comparing the outcomes. I found a video on vimeo.com where a boy gets ready to go out, some of the shots are similar, such as putting on shoes and inserting headphones into his ear. However this was all shot using stop-motion, which would have been interesting to work with in my film. For me, it is more appealing to watch as its more unique compared to typical footage such as mine.

The piece begins with a simple time lapse of the street I live on, which indicates the time of day, sunrise (early morning). This then fades into a shot of me in bed, which then pull focuses to the clock on my table. Really well timed by Richard Neal, the shot focuses on the clock just before it hits the alarm time – 07:17. This shot works well, it’s a slow focus which signifies that time is moving by slowly. This is until the alarm is set off, and cuts to quick shots in between each alarm sound creating a sense of urgency. The next shot is a POV of me selecting a song on the Ipod, and whats more appropriate for a morning jog than the song Low Rider by War? Probably quite a lot, but I just couldn’t get it out of my head at the time. The tone of it is suitable for a ‘jogging paced’ film and also feel it has a comical element to it as it strongly reminds me of the Marmite adverts years ago.

As the music kicks in, I am seen running up the middle of the street, filmed again by Richard out the backseat of a car. Preparation for this shot meant that we had to do it on the weekend, preferably Sunday when the street is not so busy. We also had to arrange for a car to drive while we filmed and that it was early in the morning to keep the continuity. Next was the bridge scene, I wanted 3 shots each with a different purpose. Shot 1 – was getting onto the bridge, shot at a low angle capturing the movement of my feet, locked off on the floor. Shot 2 – a voyeuristic view, maybe from a passer by, underneath the bridge watching me run through the middle over the ring road. Shot 3 – this time I had the camera in my POV again, this was a technique I had not tried before on film and was keen to take this further, by having a scene where I pass a stranger on the pavement. This had worked fairly well, though when it came to editing it was apparent that the view was too jittery.

This then would zoom into my back from the view of the passer by. As the zoom heads in behind me the shot transfers from my view, however sped up at an 8000% speed of the journey from the bridge to the park. To keep the camera steadier I ended up walking the rest of the way, maybe for the best judging by my stamina. This would eventually cross-fade into a shot of my casually jogging along a path and treading into a puddle followed by a beautiful shot of a tree trunk fully in focus with me running away alongside it. What I love about this shot is that it captures some of the beauty of the park, even on such a horrible day. It cuts up the screen into two halves giving the viewer more to take in and think about, it also gives a lot more depth to the piece. Not everything has to be focused on the subject.

As the short film comes towards an end I believe the shots start to get a bit more sloppy, I have never believed in simply standing and pointing a camera at the action, however in this case shots such as the puddle shots were shot at a very plain angle. This for me was the downside to the piece. It’s a shame as the slow motion really added another level to the action. More thought could have been put into framing the shots to draw the best out of what was happening.

One of the most ambitious shots was filming out the back of a car, while I was running. Although it wasn’t very steady it was a good attempt and also worked well for the piece. Ignoring the shots towards the end (jumping into the puddle or bunker) I was quite pleased with the shots I had imagined and experimented with. I don’t think the shot of me diving into the sand was needed in the end but like with the end puddle it added a sense of humour to the piece and was pleased to hear people laugh as we all watched it in the seminar.

Compared to what others have produced over the word time, I don’t believe my piece ‘stands out’ as such, however I feel I have pushed myself to produce a quality bit of work. A lot of dedication, time and effort has gone into creating it, though I don’t think it has been justified. If I were to remake the short film I would experiment more with different styles such as stop motion to give it more artistic flare. In editing I would drop a few shots and make it shorter because the piece did seem to drag on a bit during the sand bunker scene.

Overall I was happy with some of the running shots. Similar examples I managed to draw out were Trainspotting, James Bond and the shining – where the same similar shot is used where the actor is running towards the camera, with a centered shot.

What drew me to this montage was the thumbnail shot of ‘Run Lola Run’ a German film Directed by Tom Tykwer where the majority of the film is done with ‘Lola’ is running.  Without losing the audiences interest many different styles of shots would need to be used for each running scene. There is one particular shot which would have been easy to do where the camera is stationary aiming directly at the torso, Lola runs straight towards it and then the camera is flipped round so now she is running away from the camera. A very simple affect that I could have used on the bridge for instance.

(4:04)

The kind of criticism I received from the class did sum up exactly how I felt overall about the short film. It drew out a few laughs, positive feedback and a well deserved round of applause, however a few comments included – that some shots were unnecessary, could have experimented with a different location (out of comfort zone) and some shots did look rather plain. Its not my proudest piece of work, though I am happy with the skills I have picked up on along the way.

Representation/Meaning

The semiotics within my piece could include the type of clothing. the early introduction of a sweatband for instance could mean there will be exercise and sweating. Also the addition of trainers, tracksuits and trainers would also imply this. Obvious denotations  would be for instance would be the time, a clear indication is given for this. You could also say my piece plays on Barthes theory of Myth, that “myth always involves the distortion or forgetting of alternative messages so that myth appears to be exclusively true, rather than one of a number of possible messages”( Bignell 1997:22). In the case of ‘Time – Make the most of a morning’ it plays on the myth that getting up early for a run is actually good for you and more people should do it because its fun and worthwhile doing. It has been represented in a good way, even the title suggests so. Who knows, maybe soon everyone will be diving in dirty puddles in the rain.

In terms of ideology this film has taken a neutral path, in the way that it provides light entertainment, it reflects a value system where entertainment is its form of consumerism. Though it can also be considered that I have produced a piece that has an implicit ideology as the protagonist (me) offers a message though consent from the viewer could be transparent as they accept it how it is. As the genre is a comedy the audience can take or leave the given ideologies of this text.

Narrative

“The term ‘narrative’ broadly relates to the idea of telling a story. More importantly, though, it refers to the idea that the production of any media text will involve the construction of a narrative though the selection and ordering of certain elements into coherent structure.” – Dawkins & Wynd

I’m sure my film has a coherent structure as each shot fit well enough together to give the impression of running through close locations. Also parts such as time-lapses give the idea of moving forward in time. Nothing seems out of place, for instance, there is a shot of me running towards the bridge, stepping onto the bridge (low angle), running through the middle of the bridge and then eventually coming off the bridge. All done through completely different shots, however works perfectly in terms of coherent narrative structure.

For Bordwell and Thompson (1997: 90) its ‘a chain of events in cause-effect relationship occurring in time and space’ this allows the audience to connect the events in a cause and effect relationship, connect the events temporarily and finally connect them spatially. I believe this is the case with mine, however, though the title is a slight give away as to what is happening the story is told up until the unexpected change towards the end.

———————————————————————————

Steve Dawkins And Ian Wynd (2010). Video Production – Putting Theory Into Practice. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

Channel 4. (2008). Peep Show | Normal Human Being. Available: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnmlVpTDTpQ. Last accessed 17th March 2011.

Gabriel Bisset-Smith. (2010). Scroobius pip and Dan la sac test. Available: http://www.vimeo.com/7516825. Last accessed 17th March 2011.

brutzelpretzel. (2009). Running Movie Montage, Vol. 2. Available: http://www.vimeo.com/4608750. Last accessed 17th March 2011.

Wearefuckedup. (2010). RUN LOLA RUN PART 2 (ENG SUB). Available: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sfJ7yUpClM. Last accessed 17th

Run Lola Run. Available: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0130827/. Last accessed 17th March 2011.

Being one of the first projects to kick off “A Montage of Beautiful Things” it felt only natural to do a lot of research into the topic of ‘wall’ and where to go with it. The obvious way to go about it was to go out and examine the walls around Coventry. We set out as a group to view some walls, such as the Coventry Cathedral walls where we conjured up deeper meanings such as, defenses, sheltering and symmetry through bricks/architecture. All of which had potential for my chosen idea. Wall was a very open word, and we knew we could make whatever we liked out of it as long as you could relate it.

I wanted to move out of the ‘physical grounds’ of the word wall and find a hidden deeper meaning behind it. I remember seeing a video uploaded by another peer called Wall – A Silent Movie by Sam Soane. This video especially stood in my head, it was humorous and tackled the idea of wall as subject of comedy in the style of a black and white old silent comedy. Unlike Sam’s approach I was set on producing something that did not include a wall as such. Instead focus upon the psychological or mental wall that we hit within our days.

Examples of this could include:

Phobias – A wall which is put up in our minds, it prevents us from doing something

Relationships – setting boundaries, closing yourself off to someone

Rules – Not being allowed to do something due to authority

Morals – The idea of doing something different, unable to differentiate from the norms

Plenty of thoughts where jumping out and with each idea, grew a new one. At first I thought it was a ridiculous idea to do a project on the word ‘wall’ however there were many possibilities, it just depended on how far you could stretch them.

I couldn’t get enough of the idea of working with the time in which we fall asleep and how this area could be seen as a form of wall. I wanted to play with the idea that sleep stops us from behaving in ways of freedom and that we need it to help us stay alive. So why not call it a wall, a wall that we all have to hit often to carry on living. It could be seen as a vague link, but I however saw strengths within doing a piece around this topic.

There was a lot to think about in terms of what to shoot and how to shoot it. Sound was also an issue and I had considered doing a silent piece, linking into what we hear while asleep. It was found that we do hear while sleeping however our brains selectively discriminate between sounds we do or do not need to hear. So maybe I could work with sound bites throughout the piece giving it a dreamy atmospheric feel. The camera shot style would also be important and have decided to work with a slow shutter speed that I think will work well for this dream-like state. The images shall be blurred and soft on the eye making it more surreal.

An example I could think of based around sleep and dreaming was a film called The Science Of Sleep (La science des Rêves) – a French film by Michel Gondry. Throughout the film we jump between times where the main character lives his life and dreams about it at night. Although the scenes where he dreams, we can still work out where he is, though it’s very surreal. Another point I picked up on was the use of sound, there is music to help the text along however all the dialogue has been blurred the same way when we try to remember convocations during our own dreams.

Another piece that also tickled my interest was Andy Warhols film called ‘Sleep’ in 1963 he decided to get footage of John Giorno sleeping over 5hours 20mins. Of course I didn’t want to produce something that would last that long, especially with someone just sleeping. However I wanted to experiment with shots of people asleep for my piece without boring people so much so they would leave half way through (unlike when Warhol premiered his).

For this project I wanted to include text to firmly get my point across and the link between ‘sleep’ and ‘wall’. A fact I found interesting and decided to share in my video was “The average human will spend 1/3 of their life sleeping”, to me that was quite shocking as I feel a part of my life has and will be wasted. This is the kind of response I wanted to get from the viewer in order to create awareness but also to make it entertaining.

I found this website very helpful when gathering facts.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/sleep/articles/whatissleep.shtml

“So why do we sleep? This is a question that has baffled scientists for centuries and the answer is, no one is really sure. Some believe that sleep gives the body a chance to recuperate from the day’s activities but in reality, the amount of energy saved by sleeping for even eight hours is miniscule – about 50 kCal, the same amount of energy in a piece of toast.”

The best way around this was to try and break down this wall I had proposed. It certainly is a hard Wall for me to knock down as I do love my sleep. The idea was to spend the whole night awake and see what film outcomes I could get. I began by filming in the house, other students that were awake and various room such as the bathroom and a tap dripping. It wasn’t long until I wanted to film outside, the empty traffic was nice on the eye, it was a strong visual of lights in the nighttime. I also took a journey in the car to see what footage I could get around Coventry. Fortunately Tesco’s would allow me to film for a little while in their shopping store and also thought this was suitable for my project, connotations such as the bright lights and emptiness gave off a late shopping trip feel. It also reminded me of the film ‘Cashback’, where a boy works night shifts in Sainsburys, some of the shots were inspired by this.

Excuse the quality – though this is a good example

If I were to go back and do it again, I would spend two nights in collecting footage. Although I got some nice shots there is surely a lot more I could get out of filming the nighttime. Shots such as filming outside a nightclub and receiving the drowned out noise you get from outside the club. I especially liked the slow shutter speed and feathered edges to each shot, apart from working well with the music it gave out the essence of time passing by slowly and a very dreamlike state. Everything felt peaceful when watching it and yes the music did help that. I was very pleased with the music choice. To end on a high note, I received a lot of positive feedback from the group, the piece was original, it had its own style and the shopping trolley shot worked very well. In my own opinion I would have to agree with most of the statements, I don’t think it was edited well enough and there could have been more unique shots such as the car wing mirror and inside the trolley. Other than that I was fairly pleased with the outcome and how people responded to it.

—————————————————————————————————

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=paHSFXQfL5E

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErSj1GkBF3M

http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/sleep/articles/whatissleep.shtml

vimeo-http://www.vimeo.com/18859925

youtube-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRDX9fP6ao4

Dawkins & Wynd (2010) Video Production – Putting theory into practice

For symmetry we had many ideas such as mirroring and dividing the screen. A thought I had in my head for a while was to have a single person jumping from different areas of the screen into a different environment. When it came to the shooting date I happened to be working with my ‘short film’ group, therefore I suggested my idea to them in order to make it into a group project. We began by brainstorming, starting with me jumping off a tall wall to the ground. This then escalated in to more ideas such as me starting in one box and jumping into another receiving a ball and then throwing it up to the box above, and so on.

For me, apart from a few mistakes this was a rather successful piece, in both creativity and originality. The feedback was mainly positive from students and tutors, which also made me think that another similar project could be on the cards. It was fun yet slightly frustrating to make, though I can only look forward to making another.

The main aim of the project was to make it enjoyable to watch and believe we managed to achieve that. Often comments from students suggested that they were happy to watch it more than just the one time, as there was so much going on. We were more than happy to accept any criticism and where over the moon to find out one of our lecturers, Jonathan, had recorded himself and his two children offering their opinions about the video.

Although the idea has more than likely been done before, if not similar, its not often people would have seen that style of text. An example I found on Youtube (Cibo Matto – Sugar Water) offers a vaguely similar idea, staring two women crossing paths one night, shot as two constant shots of them separately going about their day. Despite the music, the inventiveness of the video makes it appealing. Its incredibly unique and sometimes gets the audience asking “how have they done that?” which also works well to grip a viewers attention. Another way in which the video grabbed me up until the end was that throughout we do not know what to expect within the narrative. It also has a strangeness about it, which could be considered abnormal to the real world. This is also near to what we expected out of our video. It had to grab the attention by offering a sense of unpredictability.

Another example I could think of was ‘Cant Stop Feeling’ by Franz Ferdinand and how the band members interact with the edge of the camera shot, therefore stretching, pushing or squashing each scene. And like my video, each time something happened, it would interact with another shot. Although this style does fit into the same category of my piece I do feel it also tackles a different level of this approach to film.

The editing process was passed onto Richard Neal (top left) as he was eager to get started on it. Although I would have liked to be involved I thought I had put a fair amount of effort into the production of the video. The only things I would have changed was the text at the beginning “You will have to watch this more than once” which i felt would be slightly offensive to any audiences. It too much of a command, the viewer should have the option to watch at their own will. In addition the timing of some actions in between the squares is slightly off, which I would have liked to brush up on. There are also some continuity issues such as when Adam moves into the other screen his hat disappears.

We received a brilliant response/feedback to this video from Tutor – Jonathon and his two kids. Its things like this that make me pleased to produce a video like this, as long as it has entertained any age or gender this will only want to make me produce more or a better version. Overall we were happy with the outcome especially in terms of originality as it was something none of us had really tried before and is something we will definitely be trying again whether it be longer or more precised.

——————————————————————————————-

youtube-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EN9auBn6Jys

vimeo-http://vimeo.com/20802069

vimeo-http://www.vimeo.com/20753789

youtube-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58IM48-EU9E

Dawkins & Wynd (2010) – Media Production – Putting theory into practice

Our chosen genre for Short Film would be comedy as we aim for a light and humorous situation starring three middle aged men, ending in a comical twist at the end. Short films of this style would usually have a happy ending, It can be argued that what we have produced does not have the most happiest ending for the characters, however the amusing situation is pleasing for the audience.

Comedy is one of the oldest genres in film and its important to mention that comedy thrived in the early 1900’s through silent movies and then through cartoons such as Mickey Mouse. It’s clear to see that nowadays short films still use the style of ‘silent movies’ where there is no sound for dialogue or in most cases find ways around having to use dialogue at all.

An example of this could be the famous Short by Patrick Hughes called ‘Signs’ where two office workers meet through their office windows directly across the road. They communicate by writing on pieces of paper and placing it up against the window. What I appreciate about this is the originality Hughes has produced within the piece, through such a clichéd narrative.

In this case, we have our hero played by Nick Russel. He is lonely, connoted early on in the short where he wake up alone, in a dim flat, and prepares himself for a day of work. Therefore the disequilibrium has already begun, and we want for him to become happy again. Then comes in the ‘princess’ played by Kestie Morsaai who brightens up his days. Equilibrium is created for a few days until he finally plucks up the courage to go and meet her in person. Back again into the predicament, he finds out that she doesn’t appear at her office any more. You can see as each mood changes, so does the mood of the shots. For instance at the end where the two finally meet the mood is much happier and brighter than the lonely shot at the beginning where the hero wakes alone.

In our film “Over The Hill” its apparent within the shots that this is a light hearted film simply through the lighting and choice of shots. Each shot has not positioned to confuse or make the viewer consider too deeply. Although I would have loved to mix up the camera angles and play more with the light, it would not have suited this style of genre. A very good example of interesting cinematography is Darren Aronofsky’s film Requiem For A Dream.

Each shot is so interesting, unique and could even be described as bizarre. This fits perfectly for a psychological thriller especially one as weird as Requiem For A Dream as it constantly keeps the audience on edge as they will be unfamiliar with the style of shots. Even the lighting is often very harsh. This would not be apparent in our film, as each shot is devised to be easy on the eye and not made to make the viewers feel on edge.

This as an example, thrillers have a completely different narrative. There is a lack of binary opposition between our characters. Thrillers create a lot of narrative tension through opposition and conflict often through different ideologies. A high-tension thriller such as The Departed is a good example of this, the conflict between police and gangsters has always been around, and throughout the film there is plenty of conflict due to mixed ideologies.

For comedy although ideologies and conflicts may still occur, there will be a more light-hearted approach to it with no intent other than to amuse. With the exception of Black Comedy of course… Black humour, coined by Andre Breton in 1935, whereby laughter could arise from cynacism and scepticism. An example of this could be In Bruges, staring Colin Farrel, it is considered to be a black comedy as it touches on life within the mafia, the film is surrounded by death and murder yet Irish director, Martin McDonagh manages to find the funny side of it all. Even with a dark ending.

In “Over The Hill” there is no unhappy ending, I believe with this it would be unfair to the viewer as they would feel disappointed and unsatisfied after such a cheerful short piece. Our film has followed the codes and conventions of a typical comedy drama – with a happy ending, through to funny lines and situations. It would be strange to class our film as a straight out slapstick comedy (such as Monty Python), therefore in my opinion I would call it a comedy-drama.

As soon as we had envisioned how each shot and how each scene would play out we decided to create the storyboard. We thought the best man for the job was Adam as he has had a lot of experience with drawing caricatures.

As DoP it was much easier to picture each shot and used this to my advantage when shooting the film.

Director of Photography

Dawkins & Wyne – Director Of Photography – The DoP’s role is to work closely with the director to ensure that everything is visually perfect and meets the intended style in terms of light, colour and camera movement both for individual shots and the drama as a whole.

Being a director of photography requires a lot of responsibility. For the film ‘Over The Hill’ I would be in charge of camera direction, lighting and accountable for achieving artistic and technical decisions related to the image. In some cases the cinematographer would not have a lot of say over the director, however this would not be the case between Mick Le Mare and me. I would constantly be working over the shoulder of the camera operator Jake Humbles, directing him to bring out the best of each scene and where to shoot. In this case Mick may explain what he wants from the shot, close ups, establishing shots etc. and will allow me to bring the best out of it.

One of my favourite cinematographers has to be Rob Hardy. Being the DP for such films and programmes as Boy A, Red Riding and Is Anybody There? I have always loved his style and for me, can easily be recognised as I have studied his results time and time again. He certainly isn’t afraid to try something new and you can often find a lot of symmetry within a few chosen shots. Being a DoP I would like to think I have the confidence to explore with different shots, but do not want to get too ‘experimental’ as it would not fit this style of genre. I believe “Over The Hill” should be easy on the eye, and with each shot, making the most of the surroundings, as we will be working with some famous landmarks.

Here is a trailer marking the work of Rob Hardy:

Continuity

What I will need to look out for on shoot, especially, would be continuity issues. For every shot we do we must be sure that the actors where the same clothes/items the same way between scenes. Although there are ways around this in the editing process, it would be much easier to keep to a high level of continuity.

over-the-hill-script

This was the final script, before any alterations on shoot day.

outline

A brief outline about the film.

shooting-schedule

A schedule set up, to keep on track of time and shots to use.

Short Film Distribution

After scanning the web, it’s easy to come across many film festival sites that would be possible for our film to enter. A simple search on any search engine will come out with many choices so I felt it was worth investigating them further. Examples could include festivals such as:

Encounters Festival – Held within the harbour side of Bristol the submission dates for this would be perfect (April 3rd til June 30th) and also the location would as the main tent scene/Glastonbury Tor are featured near by. So there will be a sense of familiarity.

FlatPack Festival – This takes place in Birmingham, the location is convenient for us, as we’d only need a simple car/train journey there. The event however is taking place over next week (23rd – 27th March) so therefore submission dates would have passed.

Rapid Eye Movement Festival – Another that could be on the cards, its situated in Warwick Arts Centre though this was held last week, so maybe next year…

Call the Shots – A film making organisation who are based in Coventry/Westmidlands and are open to anyone. http://www.calltheshots.org.uk

Short films

Over the years I have seen many exciting, enjoyable and even horrific short films but the majority I have crossed are cheerful. I’m glad with the narrative we have worked on, its not too shocking or hilarious but it certainly is a feel-good short film. A trend I have noticed within short film is the purposeful lack in dialogue and the great attention to detail for every shot. A very recent example (2009) of this I found through the FutureShorts channel on Youtube is called ‘Crazy Hands’. Where “a man wakes to discover that his hands have a life of their own”. Before beginning the film I could only imagine how utterly ridiculous the short would be, however being intrigued I hit the play button and expected the worst.

After watching that, I loved everything about it. David Sneider who is recognised through many films such as Mission Impossible, 28 days later and a Knights Tale plays the difficult acting role of losing all control over his hands. What a brilliant and hysterical performance throughout. Each shot is so perfectly crafted and I struggle to find any downsides to it at all. The lighting in the pub is so carefully considered, and contrasts so beautifully on the elderly peoples wrinkled faces.

Now that we have created our film it is strange to see the similarities in some of the shots used. Especially the ones in the cycling montage, for instance there are two shots, one where he cycles in the distance over the horizon past a tree and another where he rolls down a hill that is similarly framed like our Glastonbury shot.

From watching many short films I am fully aware that a successful short will need certain basic components, these would include:

• An effective storyline which the audience can engage in.

Our storyline is definitely one that audiences can lose themselves in. It takes us on a journey and is surely one the majority of ages can relate to. E.g. teenagers interested in music/festivals will understand the joke that middle aged at a festival is a rarity and even audiences of an older generation would imagine there position and empathise with the characters.

• Convincing actors who deliver credible dialogue.

Through the casting call website we were very thankful to discover such dedicated actors with a lot of experience behind them. As soon as we were brainstorming ideas for short film we wanted to step aside from using student actors (taking the easy way out) and hire more believable/veteran performances.

• Appropriate locations, costumes and props.

Well we certainly went all out on appropriate locations, searching across surrey, considering northern locations such as Gateshead – Angel of the North, landmarks of London and Western England spots such as Stonehenge and Glastonbury Tor. Although we made it seem as though Phil and Pete were traveling to Glastonbury though their montage the final tent scene/the initial phone call was taking place in Hemel Hempstead. To avoid any confusing, the establishing shot of the house was in the countryside outside Glastonbury Tor. In terms of costumes, it was fairly easy. We asked actors to bring smart/casual clothes and clothes they would take to a festival. Hats were provided by us to disguise the fact that we would take the actors roles later in production. Props also we didn’t have to consider too much. As a few of us attend festivals it was easy to provide the essentials – wellies, tents, chairs, bags, sleeping mats etc.

• Imaginative use of cinematography and editing.

The cinematography aspect of the film was solely down to me. So it was very helpful going location scouting around London before the final shoot date. By doing this I was able to imagine each shot and create a stronger form of storyboard in my head. It was only until we filmed in the night at Jakes Uncles house we were less prepared and I had no plan of shot choice in the livingroom (initial phone call). However I had to think fast, and feel i recovered the situation nicely directing each shot in the confined space of the room. Editing was always going to be a group project, though we thought it would be in our best interest that 1 or 2 took charge of it and every other day received reflections off the other group members.

The Development of Short Film

The development of short film is one that would seem difficult to discuss. The way I would look at it would be the idea of technological advances in film equipment, social and political factors influencing what filmmakers produce and how historical factors such as war have been touched upon through many films.

In the early 20^th century Shorts were popular especially within the genre of comedy, it can be safe to say this trend has certainly not gone away. A large amount of what we see as short film is still ones considering humour. Not until the mid 1900’s the short film productions began to diminish. Nowadays cameras and video equipment are coming down in price, not only that but powerful computers and editing software, broadband and dedicated websites for distribution. It seems the majority of people in the UK own a video camera, even on their phones. Platforms such as Youtube have offered the public the chance to produce their own films and post them up online for free.

One of my favourite short films, “Eight”, was strongly influenced by the Hillsborough disaster in 1989 where 96 people died along with 766 injuries. It remains the deadliest stadium disaster to ever occur. In the film we follow the life of an eight year old that comes to terms with his fathers death. This film has heavily been influenced by a shocking historical event, and its not until the end of the film we learn this. The director plays with the audiences feeling until hitting them with the twist at the end, and what’s best – something a lot of us can relate back to.

Another aspect to consider is the expense of producing short films, and how nowadays anyone aspiring to make a film can. Gareth Edwards recently made an incredibly successful feature film with a budget of 15,000 called Monsters. There is so much freedom in the direction of films today, surely anyone can do it?

For our short film we are lucky enough to be working with top quality camera’s such as the JVC 700 and also equipment including macbook pro’s, finalcut and excellent sound tools. A tool I am not familiar with is the monitor for the camera. This will help considerably, especially as a DoP, to frame shots, check the colour and angles. Due to such technological advances I have the opportunity to be working with such equipment to better my work output.

Within our short film we will not be dealing with issues as such, yet Glastonbury is recognised sociably worldwide therefore audiences will find it easier to relate to the text. If we were to change to an event such as Brighton Great Escape Festival the film would attract less of an audience due to the festivals popularity. Social factors such as Glastonbury’s popularity are ones to consider when making a film of any kind. It’s whats going on in the world today that will effect the majority of the media’s output.

International Short film

A foreign film I decided to pick out was a film called “Just A Love Story” where we follow a man each day as he enters and leaves an elevator.  What I liked about this was the simplicity of its shot locations, and the drama drawn out from getting in that same monotonous lift each day. Its amazing how the director has found so many interesting ways in which to film a scene taking place in such a dull looking box-like room. The tone and colours are not exciting which fits the mood of the film, something that I will need to consider more in future productions. However I feel we managed well in terms of colour, lighting was bright, clothes where rich in colour and so were the locations. We kept a constant cheerful mood throughout

A man walking through the woods minding his own business, touching the bark of the trees, running his hands through the bushes with a smile on his face. This person is like-able, there is nothing strange or out of place about him.

He see’s a child sitting happily on there own scratching into the moss with a stick. The child smiles at him and the man nearly smiles back while the child runs out of shot. We know this is not real, almost dream-like as lighting is bright with a soft focus. With this he begins to describe his childhood… loving happily married parents and never too much trouble in school. Details would be picked out to bring the audience into a more personal level.

He finds an interesting location within the woods and decides that this is a good place to lie down. All is peaceful, shots give of the idea of calmness yet close-ups of his expressions suggest otherwise. There is something noticeably bothering him.

“What was she thinking?” – he thinks to himself, “she didn’t know where she was, and certainly had no one to look after her”.. Flashbacks/visuals of two drinks on the bar, one a beer, the other a cocktail. “Why else would she be like that?”

While laying down and staring upwards the man turns his head to the side, only to see another dream-like figure. A middle-aged woman is watching him, smiling. This time the man sits up and looks ashamed of himself. The woman’s expression quickly changes to a resentful one and turns away from him, walks and disappears.

The man then looks back up into the sky as a tear rolls down the side of his face. “Maybe I could have just got her number…” (vision of a hand sliding over a number on a napkin)…

“Please..(a woman’s voice)” – a soft but powerful word that he replays in his mind hits him like a sudden headache. The audience begin to work out maybe what the problem is. Voices in his head get stronger and more painful to contain, he is now tense and presses his hands against his head until he begins to run. Rushing through the forest he has no idea where he is heading, he just wants to escape his thoughts somehow. He continues to run and appears out from the woods and up onto a bridge. Standing in the middle looking down towards the road below he contemplates. Its all calm again as he pears ahead preparing to jump. He looks down again and there is a woman standing in the road, where there was nothing before. Shaking with tears pouring down his face, he whispers “what was I thinking…”

Pro’s -

Chances to experiment with flashbacks, visions etc.

Fairly simple to find locations

Could be a powerful narrative

Con’s -

1 main actor, 3 other small roles

Finding a suitable bridge

Needs developement

Always a bit risky doing something on suicide, rape etc. however the audience interpret it