Unit 1: Story-telling: Project Update

Here is my final cut of Cell...

For the most part, it's not very different to my second rough cut. But I've made some changes to the end that I feel are dramatically different. These were adding in street noise (the real noise from the footage) and making the slow music that plays sound like it's coming from the car radio at a low volume.

I think these changes create a completely different atmosphere and bring the scene to life. Hearing footsteps and street noise will make the audience feel like they're right there with the characters amongst the chaos. Also, I didn't want to completely cut out the music at the end as I feel it gives it that extra dramatic and sad touch, but I agree with my course leader that the film is more realistic and simply stronger without it being the only sound. So I took his advice by making it blend into the scene and I think it sounds much better. The way it sounds when it finishes with that stereo effect on the title feels very eery too, I like that it may leave the audience feeling slightly haunted.

I'm very pleased with my first two minutes of my script / trailer (because it basically is a bit of both). I love how throughout the two minutes the scenes pick up the pace along to the music. I think I've managed to fit both a lot of story-telling about the characters and drama into just two minutes without it feeling rushed, so I'm proud of that.

If I could improve on anything it would be my camera skills, I think I've learnt a lot as I've never used a professional camera before. But if I could, I would go back and have taken a larger variety of shots in each scene so that I could have edited everything together to look a bit more fast paced and I would have practised getting shots into focus a bit more to become more skilled at it.

Although my work has flaws, as to be expected, I'm very proud of my script and my two minute cut.

Unit 1: Story-telling: Project Update

I have officially, completely finished my work for this unit, excluding my post after this where I shall upload my final cut and reflect on it. Other than that, the only thing left to do is submit my work tomorrow.

I have made my final touches to my script, including adding scene numbers, reformatting the way the on-screen texts are displayed in the script, used slightly less dialogue in one scene so that more of the story can be told with actions and so that Aiden's speech won't give away too much of the story, slightly changed the last scene to be more suspenseful, and added a 'THE END' to neatly finish it off.

I'm very happy with my script, I think it has a lot of ups and downs and can make the reader really invested in the characters. There's a lot of suspense and emotion that I think would make an audience intrigued to find out how the story ends. So I am very please with my feel good ending, as my script is of a drama/romance genre, and it's been filled with so much tragedy, the characters and the audience deserve to get a happy ending.

I've never written an entire script before so I think I've learnt a lot about how to format it correctly and write each part to be very effective. I did this by using a lot of emotive words and putting the most descriptive words in capitals. If I could improve I think it would be to have stronger dialogue, I think I need a bit of practice with writing effective speeches and conversations to draw the reader in a bit more. But overall, I'm very happy with how my work for this unit has turned out.

Unit 1: Story-telling: Post-Production

Here is my second rough cut of Cell. I think I'm really starting to improve bit by bit. 

Unit 1: Story-telling: Post-Production

Here is my rough cut of Cell. There are no dramatic difference between this and my final cut but I feel that I have progressed well with the feedback I received.

Unit 1: Story-telling: Post-Production

Presenting my rough cut of Cell to my course leader really helped me. He thinks I've got a strong film and gave me a few tips to improve on it for my final cut. I was looking forward to finding out what his thoughts and opinions were on the film. I think my final cut looks much better than my rough one because of them. I've made changes like brightening up some clips, adding some more shot variations in scenes where I could and adding the title at then end.

The only decision I've had a problem with since getting his advice is the music in the last scene of the film. He thinks it's more effective without the music coming back in, whereas after comparing it with and without the music, I think that the scene feels more emotional and tragic with the vocalist's haunting voice bringing the film to an end. So I've decided to make one version with the soundtrack at the end, and one without. Then he can compare and give me his final opinion on it tomorrow.

Also, something that may dramatically change my work is that Cell is currently 2 minutes and 18 seconds long. That's far from the 2 minute limit we were given. So I've also made a THIRD copy of the film that is exactly 2 minutes long by cutting down the soundtrack on the program 'Audacity', and cutting down my clips before the crash. I'm still happy with it, but I feel that the extra 18 seconds in my original cut allowed me to make the film a lot stronger. So hopefully, after looking at all three copies (sorry) of Cell, he'll be able to tell me which is the strongest and why...unless the first two are obsolete due to their length.

Unit 1: Story-telling: Project Update

Throughout this unit I haven't felt that the name 'The Meeting' fits with my script. But I haven't been able to decide what else to call it. However, after getting to see my work when finishing my rough cut, I have decided on a name...

Cell

I think it suits the script well as a big part of the story is the reliance on and use of mobile phones (or 'cellphones'). The other meaning it can have is a way to explain how trapped Nina would feel when in a coma but still be able to hear her surroundings and not react. As if trapped in a cell.

Unit 1: Story-telling: Post-production

I have more experience with editing than anything else in film-making and I feel that that's what I'm currently the most skilled in. I thoroughly enjoy editing too so I couldn't wait to start straight after getting my clips uploaded.

Seeing as there is no dialogue in the first two minutes of my script (and that's what I've chosen to film), I wanted to edit my clips in a way that made them flow and time with the music playing throughout. So I needed to choose a song that would pick up speed in the same way that my clips and story do, as well as have a slower part somewhere along the way to finish on. I thought of a few different artists, Ed Sheeran, Bastille, Imagine Dragons. But none of their songs had what my film needed.

Then among my 'favourites' playlist I found Florence + the Machine. I already knew that they could be a good fit as she has a very soulful voice and all of their songs have very deep lyrics with a lot of tempo changes. I considered a couple of their songs like Shake It Out and No Light, No Light, before realising that Dog Days Are Over could be perfect. I edited a few clips together and put the song over the top and instantly knew that it was the song I wanted. I think that it changes pace with the film perfectly. And I think that the slow and eery verse at the end of the film will leave the audience feeling quite unsettled.

A big part of my film are the texts that we see. The two characters that we watch in the first two minutes are reading texts supposedly from each other all morning while getting ready. I wanted these to just fall into place in the scenes without needing to cut to the screen of a phone every time. I think displaying them as text makes them a lot clearer and allows the audience to see the character's reactions the them at the same time.

I'm really pleased with how well the focus and lighting came out in a lot of my clips. There were a lot of times during filming where I struggled to tell if everything was in focus or if the brightness was off, and sadly this shows in quite a few of my clips. However, for my first shoot I think that I did better than expected.

The turning point in my film is the crash, it makes the upbeat mood completely change and everything turns tragic. I was on edge before editing over whether or not I would struggle to edit my two clips together to make it really look like the car is about to hit Nina. I filmed it all in one take, having Mary stand alone in the road, reacting to the car that isn't there, then had her leave the shot and Jordan drive the car through the empty road. The plan was to merge the two clips together perfectly, and luckily it was very very simple. Having previous experience with cropping clips in Adobe Premiere, I simply layered one clip over the other and cropped it so that you can see both Mary and the car. Unfortunately the lighting is slightly different on the road in the two clips and creates a line where the clips are separated, but the shot is so fast and short that it's not noticeable in the film.

I've finished my rough cut and I'm happy with it. The only problem is that it's totalled to 2 minutes and 18 seconds instead of 2 minutes. I'm not sure how I can cut it down without taking out very important and effective scenes. I'm looking forward to getting my course leader's opinion and feedback.

Unit 1: Story-telling: Production

Filming day went perfectly. I started filming at 9am and had everything finished by around 3.30pm without needing to rush. I got every shot listed in my shot list as well as extra ones in case I feel that they fit better when editing.

I've only had one previous experience of filming anything before starting this course so I feel that I have a lot to be proud of. I think the way that I organised my shoot went very well, having a shot list as well as a script helped me to stay on track with what needed to be done next throughout the day. I also had specific time frames for when scenes and locations needed to be done with to make sure that I didn't run out of time.

I felt that I put a lot of effort into the shoot. I had a certain way that I imagined every shot looking and I didn't want to leave anything out. I made sure that I had the lighting I needed by filming in specific locations and points in the day and following my shot list by filming everything in a certain shot type, angle and movement.

I also tried to pay attention to the smaller details in the film, such as Aiden having a messy room, wearing lazy clothes and having quite laid back body language. While Nina has a feminine, organised room and gives off a neat and tidy impression.

As well as focusing on my characters impressions and my shot types, I decided to add some props and make-up to make my film stand out just that little bit more. I made sure to have Nina use an alarm clock for her alarm instead of a phone as I feel that her character is too organised and timely to rely anything but a real clock. I had Aiden bat a bit of rubbish on his bed out of the way when searching for his phone as a sign of being a slob. Nina sits at the table with her breakfast and phone perfectly laid out, while Aiden slumps on the sofa, watching tv and holding a bowl of cereal. Nina lays on the ground with make-up on her face to make it look like she had a great deal of impact with the car in the accident. And lastly, I wanted her phone to be damaged from the accident to make it more realistic and effective, so I added a 'cracked screen' sticker to the phone. I feel that all of these extras in my film made a lot of difference as they made everything more realistic and will allow the audience to learn a lot about the characters without them needing to say anything.

I feel very confident with directing and filming now and feel at ease with the equipment. If I could make any improvements it would be to just be more skilled with using the camera, as that would allow my shots to be more professional and artistic. I need further practice with lighting and focus and luckily I will get that with future units on the course and improve more and more over time.

Unit 1: Story-telling: Pre-production

I've managed to keep organised with my shoot and have everything arranged. I have equipment booked out for two days, the first is for me to have my kit ready and to give myself a bit of extra time to completely get myself to grips with the equipment, and the second day is entirely dedicated to filming. I will be starting first thing in the morning and finishing in the late afternoon. Jordan Parker and Mary Green will be both my actors and production crew. While filming one of them, the other will be by my side to assist me in shooting. When filming the both of them in one scene I will act alone as director and production crew.

I decided to create a shot list for my shoot to keep everything organised and to make sure that I didn't leave out any vital shots.

Here it is...

Unit 1: Story-telling: Project Update

I recently received feedback on the first draft of my script from the writer Steve Coombes. It was great to get my first lot of constructive criticism on my work.

I like that he made me question some of the choices I made. For example, he pointed out that the speech that my character Aiden gives in the middle of the script may tell the audience too much about what's going to happen next. I've decided to try and work on that to make it less telling.

He also pointed out mistakes that I made in the formatting of my script, this was very helpful as I want to learn to make my script look perfect with every detail written and displayed correctly. I'm looking forward to making more improvements for my final script.

Unit 1: Story-telling: Research

I only needed to do a small amount of research for my script. My research was for what happens after my character Nina is injured from the car accident.

I researched...

•  The most common types of car accident injuries
•  Broken wrist injuries
•  Types of head injuries
•  Types of comas and their outcomes
•  The way doctors talk to patients

I found www.all-about-car-accidents.com very helpful for finding out about the most common types of injuries when someone is hit by a car. This lead to my decision on having Nina's wrist be broken from the accident as well as her head injury.

Due to deciding on giving Nina a broken wrist, I needed to know how that would be dealt with by the hospital. So I used the NHS website to find out what measures would be taken and how her wrist would heal. I made it so that Nina has her wrist in a cast and sling, and will slowly heal.

As well as her being bruised and cut with a broken wrist from the accident, I needed her to slip into a coma for my story. However, I wanted it to be possible that she wakes up without brain damage. So by researching types of comas on the NHS website and finding out what types of head injuries have what consequences on www.brainandspinalcord.org, I decided that she would suffer from a closed head injury, be in a fairly responsive coma, and wake up about a month after the accident.

Lastly, I needed to use the right terminology and speech for the doctor's dialogue in my script. I thought the best way to do that was by watching coma related scenes from Casualty and Holby City, this helped me to shape what the doctor says to the other characters and make him sound professional.

Unit 1: Story-telling: Course-work

Recently we had camera workshops to get us to grips with using the equipment before taking it out to use by ourselves. Unfortunately I missed some of them due to illness. However, I was still able to take part in the rest and get used to how to work the SONY EX1R camera and the tripod.

It helped me a lot to get to have a step by step from Fergus and from other students on how to set up the equipment. I feel like it was great preparation for shooting my story.

Unfortunately, the files that make up short film that we shot in a group to get used to working with lighting, focus, angles and story-telling seem to disagree with my computer. No matter what I've tried, I haven't been able to open them in any media viewers or Adobe Premiere. So sadly I was unable to edit them, but I'm still glad I got the chance to practice acting as part of a production crew and as director.

Images from our short film

Unit 1: Story-telling: Production Preparation

Story-telling unit: Production Prep Lab

Production Choice.

Which is the best way to sell your story, and is the most achievable:

2 min Trailer

or

Opening 2 mins of script

                                                              

The content.

What are you going to shoot? Which elements are you going to choose?

I’m going to shoot the entire first two minutes of the script.

                                                              

How are you going to shoot it?

Shot list? Story-board?

Style, tone, mood?

I’m going to create a shot list to organise my shooting day. It will be light-hearted with a casual, slightly romantic tone that will turn very dark and shocking toward the end of the two minutes. Everything will be solely focused on the actors actions as their will be no dialogue filmed.

                                                                

Casting.

Who is going to be in your production?

Do NOT cast yourself.  Friends and Family, at this stage of the course, is ok, but make sure they are right for the part. Ie If your script calls for a 45 year old man, DO NOT use your 15 year old brother.

The two characters in my screenplay are a man and woman in their early twenties. I will be using an eighteen year old man and an eighteen year old woman from my course, who both look old enough to be in their early twenties. I feel that these actors suit their roles as they are quite similar to the characters in real life.

                                                               

Crewing

Who is going to help you shoot the film? Camera, sound, assistant director etc?

Students should aim to help each other, but make sure the roles are properly agreed. No last minute texts or pokes!

It’s been arranged so that the male lead in my screenplay will assist with camera and sound operation as well as act as assistant director when filming the female lead, and vice versa.

                                                               

Location & production design

Where are you going to film? Any props or production design elements? Set dressing etc?

I will be filming in my male lead’s home, my female lead’s home, inside the male lead’s car and in a cul de sac. The scenes will be…

   - his bedroom

   - his living room

   - his bathroom

   - her bedroom

   - her kitchen

   - her bathroom

   - inside of his car

   - the street in the cul de sac

   - the road in the cul de sac

Besides the car, the props I will need are minor; an alarm clock, two mobile phones and items of clothing. I will be bringing make-up for the appearance of cuts and bruises on my female lead.

                                                              

Schedule & production kit

When are you going to film? Do you need to use our camera kit? If so, book it!

Two day shoot should be enough.

I’ll be filming on Tuesday 11/11/14, using a SONY EX1R to film everything but the shots from inside of the male leads car, for which I’ll use a GoPro.

                                                               

Post-production elements

Music? Titles? V/o?

I'm unsure of what music I want to use yet, I will decide that after shooting. The only title I will use is the film title. There will be no voice overs.