Shooting Dates

With shooting eminently round the corner I had prepared a shooting schedule of when I felt was the best time to shoot. 

This was to give myself more time to prepare, organise and do whatever else needed to be done, so I scheduled my shoot dates as the 14th-16th of April.

But as I am also sound technition (I used the word technition to make it seem more important than it is) in another group they only recently decided to shoot then, even though I had prepared those dates a while back.

So I must decide whether to re schedule or tell the director of the other shoot I can't do those dates.

Bedroom Recce

For Jacks bedroom I plan to use my bedroom as the character profile matches me.

Below are some photos:

Library Recce

One of our locations we are using is the radio studio for the library, as it has computers, tables and chairs etc

Here are some photos:

Pitches Be Trippin'

So today (Thursday 27 March) we had to pitch our ideas to the tutor who is responsible for our end of year films and the technician of e3.

This was simply to check whether we had everything sorted for our film such as: actors, locations, props, style, shooting schedule etc organised and planned out, which we do.

We were told that everything's great and going under way which is good

The Team

As you may have seen in the last post, I talked about roles and my team.

So hear is a more personalised view of my team.

Writer/Director/Jack

Myself

Sian

Katrina Watson

Producer

Niamh McQuigan

Camera

Anya Patton

Sound

Eamon O'Neill

Roles…?

I haven't actually touched up on the topic of this post, yet; but we were told when we first started the unit that we needed at least 2 roles when completing the unit.

The roles I will play out are both for my film. I wrote and will be directing the film along with acting in it.

As for carrying out a role for other peoples productions, I can't recall being asked by anyone but if I am needed I would be happy to help.

The crew for my film are:

Niamh McGuiggan - Producer

Anya Patton - Camera Operator

Eamon O'Niell - Sound

Along with myself acting in it I will have a friend who is a great actress, Katrina Watson. And that is my team.

Style

Lately I've been thinking a lot how I'm going to shoot the end of year film.

I've been thinking about cinematic style, cameras and lenses etc as it is going to be on the big screen I want it to look professionally shot.

Although I may not be the best cinematographer in the class I am not the worst, and I know quite a bit.

I was considering what camera I should shoot it on; whether it be my own Canon 550D DSLR, which I know how to use and know how to get great pictures or the broadcast standard Sony XF100.

Although both shoot in 1080p HD, I don't feel as if I would be in either a advantage or disadvantage using either. The Canon like i said, is my own camera and I've used before; I know how to use it and how to get great quality images the Sony (again) I have used before but not as often and I had a bit of difficulty with the cinematography for the my documentary.

I did a little research and found that most cinematic films are shot in 55mm lenses and my DSLR posses that lense

I just want to make sure that I give myself every advantage and when it comes to watching it on the big screen I'll be proud.

Do I Need a Producer?

Don't let the title fool you...yes I need a producer, everyone does when making a movie, but my predicament is do I need one for this project?

I assume that the majority of student and short film makers don't use a producer but as we are learning to go into the business, it's good practice to have one and having one can improve the production and quality of your film.

My producer only recently joined me for this project so hasn't in fact done much work or needed to. I done all the production work on my film so far myself.

I got the locations, I got the actors, I got the crew, wrote the script myself and everything else

In fact all my producer has done is give me one idea. I'm not saying I have a bad producer or anything I'm just saying I have no real need for them. And to be honest I don't feel comfortable or willing to give someone credit for a job in my film they didn't even do.

I have worked with this person before for a documentary project and to be honest (again!) last time they done next to nothing there. I done all the production work, the directing, meeting with the subjects and teachers etc, the editing, the majority of the camera work (which was their job) the production folder and written work, all they were really there for it seemed was for moral support.

So this leaves me to question...do I need a producer?

To Do List

In my last production meeting I kind of surprised myself with how much work for my end of year film I actually had done.

I have a script

I have actors

I have my locations

I have a cinematic style/inspiration in mind

I have almost about everything; I'm not yet ready to film however.

I still have some things to do such as do a read through with my actors, experiment with playing the downloaded files on a bigger screen, maybe a re-write or 2 and do out a shot list…but I also want the camera operators opinion with that because although I have in my head what I want, I still want the cinematographer to not feel limited.

So still a bit to go but I'm happy with the profess so far.

Script Issues

While I gave my script to one of my lecture's to read over; one possible issue came up:
The screen scenes...There was worry about filming screens but I never really planed to record footage from the screen. I did however like the idea of using the glow of the television and showing it on his face.

Using camera techniques: shots and angles, I can show the character, the screen and the glow emitting from the screen without showing what is on the screen.

My original plan is to download files from YouTube and use those for the screen scenes in the film, like how I showed in my previous post On Screen but I would like to incorporate the idea of the glow from the screen.

Another possible issue that could come up is when the downloaded file is blown up on the cinema screen how it could be effected. The file was downloaded at 720p HD but I will have to experiment by playing the file on a bigger screen to see how it will look.

Character Profile - Sian

This post co-resides with the previous character profile post. This character profile is of the female lead - Sian.

Sian is a well-rounded, well-organised person; she tries to stay on top of things as best as she can (and she usually does) she does make time for her, to have fun, have a break and take a breath.

She put this down on the fact that she does take a break. She knows when she's done enough work and when to stop; mostly because she's exhausted at the end of it.

She's kind considerate and caring, she'll help her friends without a second thought and she doesn't like to see them in trouble or look as if they're struggling.

She will go out of her way to help, she sees herself more mature than she actually is, when she's working anyway.

Her and Jack are very close… best friends from their class.

Character Profile - Jack

For my end of year film I worked on character profiles for making my script/story progress further and making it an overall better story.

I thought figuring out the characters more would make the film, and characters, more authentic. This character profile is of the male lead - Jack.

Jack is a hard working individual in what ever he does, he sets goals and completes them. He almost has an addictive personality in the sense he either works too hard or plays too hard (no balance) and that's were his dilemma starts.

"All work and no play make's Jack a dull boy"

He however doesn't see himself as having a problem, he sees it as he has too much work to do to leave or ignore it so he tries to get it all out of the way so he doesn't forget about it…he is very cautious.

He then compensates by thinking… "Oh well I've done all this work I deserve it."  This is how he gets into his dilemma, from one extreme to another.

So work and play conflict each other, he spends one time working too much and another playing too much.

On Screen

Right so one question that popped up when I started writing my script was; how will I get the game play stuff on screen to edit? Because we all know when you film off a screen how bad it can be, with all the lines that appear on the camera.

I do have a plan however... you remember how I talked about the YouTubers in my previous posts? Well I was planing on download video files from YouTube of the game play and importing it over to the editing software to cut for the film.

To show you what I mean I am going to upload a video file I got of YouTube using the same method.

Script Extract

So I finally finished the first draft of my script (although I had some trouble with saving the file and then it wouldn't open) I plan to show it to a few people get their thoughts and then re draft it to make it better.

So here is the first draft:

SCENE 1 - INTERIOR - BEDROOM

CU of two hands can bee seen typing away on a keyboard of a
laptop, the camera pans slowly up to the screen were many
words are typed up and the cursor goes along as many more
appear on the screen.

Camera cuts to a CU of eyes focusing on the screen and
following along the cursor.

Camera cuts to a LS of the boy, Jack, who is frantically
typing away on the laptop, he wipes his face with his hands
and sighs.

Camera tracks along fading to black.

SCENE 2 - INTERIOR - LIBRARY

MS of a girl, Sian, is sitting at a table reading over a
text book and witting down notes. A boy sits down in front
of her.

Camera cuts to a MS of the boy as he buries his face in his
arms and exhales.

The girl looks up as if waiting for the boy to start
talking.

                    SIAN
          What’s wrong?

The boy looks up slightly

                    JACK
          I’m so exhausted from all the work

          we’ve been getting lately. Last
          night I stayed up to 4 in the
          morning.

                    SIAN
          Why? We have a while before it’s

due

                    JACK
          I know but if i don’t do it now

          then it will play on my mind and
          then I’ll start to get stressed

Sian interrupts Jack and goes back to looking at her books

(CONTINUED)

                    SIAN
          All work and no play makes

Jack interrupts her.
                    JACK

Shut up

Sian looks up again and gives a half a smile. She then sits
up and gives him her full attention

                    SIAN
          Listen, there is nothing wrong with

          having a little down time, you have
          loads of time before the work has
          to be in so just take a little
          break and recharge your batteries.

Jack looks off as if he is mulling her words over.
Fades to black.

SCENE 3 - INTERIOR - BEDROOM

CU of a closed laptop on the bed, it zooms out as Jack sits
down on his bed and opens it up. Just as he is about to
start work he gets a text from Sian, reading: Don’t forget
some you time ;)

Script Writing

So I recently started writing the script for my end of year film (I don't have a title yet). I put it off for a little bit because I was nervous incase it was no good since I haven't wrote a script in a while, but when I started it all started to flow, now I'm not saying its great or I'm a natural or even that I'm 100% happy with it... but I am happy with it as a first draft.

So I plan to finish writing the script then give it too a few people to read; see what they think and then re-draft. At this point I think that's what I'm most excited about.

I've already got some pointers from my teacher on how to rite a good script and make it seem authentic, so I just have to apply these tools when it comes to finishing it off.

Some of the notes I got are:

• Dramatic Question - what is my film saying or about?
• Goals - what are the goals of your film or even your characters?
• Characters - Who are they? Flesh them out.
• How does the central character act or commit to the goal?
• Give story a start, problem and resolution (Cause and Effect)

I will keep referring to these points while writing/re-writting my script.