This week we had two workshops with the director Steve Finn. We were split into two groups of six, given three scripts and we individually decided on which ones we'd like to shoot. My script is called Ted & Jo, a scene taken from the film Kramer vs Kramer - we were told this at the very end of the workshop so that our ideas would be completely original.
I planned the shoot by writing out the certain ways I wanted the characters to say the lines and how I wanted them to be positioned, I listed the props I needed and created a shot list.
Using the five people in my group I had Dannie play Jo, Jordan play Ted, Wez as my sound assistant and Harry as my camera operator as I directed the scene.
Overall I'm happy with my work. I managed to get every shot from my shot list in the short amount of time I had and I managed to portray the scene in the way I intended. However, I didn't give good enough instructions to my camera operator so my 'close-up' of Jo's face is a mid-shot of the side of her face for the most part. I think this clashes with the successful close-ups of Ted.
Steve told me he liked my master shot and how they continue to move throughout the scene once she's done with the list. He also picked up that my 'close-up' of Dannie didn't work and was too similar to the master shot and I found that very helpful.
I feel like I still need more practice with directing as I need to be a lot clearer with my camera instructions. But I enjoyed the workshop as it was the first time I've ever directed someone else's script.
Having recently found out about Casting Call Pro and how I can use it for free to find suitable actors for my film, I have created an advert for my main character and my drug dealer character. Having spent a lot of time on the details such as shooting dates and benefits, as well as hours more time on character and story descriptions, I'm pleased with the end result of my advert. As of tomorrow it should be live, I'm very excited to find interested actors!
For my directions film I have figured out that so far I need to have the following ready before shooting: Props: - Drug mess (spoons, lighters, empty plastic packets, syringes, flour or icing sugar, belts, pill bottles, pills) - Other mess (empty food packets, empty take away containers, dirty dishes, empty bottles of alcohol, clothes everywhere, cigarette butts) - A cheap bed (thinking of a camper bed or even a sun lounger laid flat, with old sheets, pillow and duvet) - Photo frame with a picture of my main character and her mum - A few Starbucks cups (as used throughout Fight Club) - Bottles of beer - Bottle opener - Mobile phone - Money (notes) - Prepared 'drugs' (small plastic packet filled with flour or icing sugar) Costume: Main Character: - Make-up (black pencil eye-liner and eye-shadow, pink/purple eye-shadow for creating bags under the eyes and track marks on the arms) - Fake piercings (possibly plugs, ear cuffs, eyebrow, nose) - Possibly a fake tattoo of a flame to go on the side of the neck - Tatty and dull looking vest, joggers, t-shirt to be bought cheap and worn down - Tatty and dull looking jeans and shoes to be borrowed - A black leather jacket (already owned) - Black fingerless gloves Flashbacks and photo version of main character: - x2 for a scene and a photo: Lightly coloured tops, neat jeans or leggings & neat shoes. Possibly a necklace and earrings The mum: - The scene with the main character: White t-shirt, joggers, possibly a cardigan - The photo: Possibly a colourful dress and neat shoes The drug dealer: - Dark and dull hoodie, jeans and shoes (to be borrowed)
Part One: Characters: Female lead(loner) Sequence: Introducing the character Costume: Messy hair, tied up. Smudged, dark make-up. Piercings. Track marks on her arms. Possibly a tattoo. Effortless, dull coloured bed clothes. Possibly a vest and joggers Location: Her bedroom
Production Design: Low-key lighting, practically empty room except for some mess, possibly a decaying appearance Camera work: Silhouettes, wide shots, low angled shots, close-ups, zooming in shots, static shots Editing: Creative title sequence that expresses the theme of the film,single frame inserts for flashbacks, blue tinted colour temperature for the present, yellow/green colour temperature for flashbacks Sound: A small amount of sound from the scene. Music by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross Description: Starts with a creative title sequence, images of a dirty spoon, a lighter, an open bottle of pills, open spaces. The scene starts with the main character laying in bed, asleep. The camera over her. It zooms in on her ever so slightly and slowly, while she fidgets a bit with a pained look on her face. During this there are single frame inserts of flashbacks, starting happily, ending badly. They're of her and her mum, first of them laughing together, then of her mum crying. She suddenly wakes up gasping, throwing herself closer to the camera while catching her breath. The shot changes to one of her sitting up in bed, head in hands, as a silhouette. She gets up and walks to the window. She looks out of it for a while looking sad. Then down at a framed photo of her and her mum looking happy. She looks at it slightly angrily for a while, a single frame insert of her mum laying on a bed with her eyes closed plays. The character closes her eyes with the same expression, then places the frame face down on the table. __________________________________________________________________________________________ Part Two: Characters: Female lead (loner) Sequence: Mealtime Costume: Still messy hair, tied up and slightly smudged, dark make-up. A loose fitting top and jeans, scruffy shoes, all dull colours, no accessories but the piercings Location: Her kitchen Production Design: Low-key lighting, practically empty room except for some mess, possibly a decaying appearance Camera work: Wide shots, low angled shots, close-ups, static shots, a shot looking inside a fridge Editing: Blue tinted colour temperature Sound: A small amount of sound from the scene. Music by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross Description: The fridge being opened, practically empty inside except for beer, empty containers and possibly mouldy food. Her hand is seen taking a bottle of beer out and the door slams shut. She opens the bottle and takes a swig, leaning against the kitchen counter looking around at the mess on them and the empty space in the room. After a while she take her phone from her pocket. She looks at the time; 3:11pm (reference to the band 311 - used in Fight Club, and Zodiac). She puts her phone away and walks out of shot. __________________________________________________________________________________________ Part Three:
Characters: Female lead (loner) & male character (drug dealer) Sequence: The conversation Costume: Her: Still messy hair, tied up and slightly smudged, dark make-up. A black leather jacket over the same outfit as part two. Black fingerless gloves. Him: Average hair (not necessarily neat or messy). A dark jacket with a hood, but the hood is down. Jeans and average shoes, both dark and dull Location: Two streets and an alleyway Production Design: A decaying looking area for the streets and alleyway, low-key lit alleyway Camera work: Wide shots, low angled shots, close-ups, static shots, a single hand-held shot, fluid tracking camera shots, static shot: unfocused background with character walking into focus Editing: Single frame inserts for flashbacks, blue tinted colour temperature for the present, yellow/green colour temperature for flashbacks, end credits scrolling downward Sound: A small amount of sound from the scene. Music by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross Description: The female lead walks out of the front door and along the street, looking down, average pace, hands in pockets. Elsewhere, the male character walks down a street, hands in pockets, looking forward, slightly fast pace. She stops in an alleyway, looks around and leans against a wall. Shortly after, the male character turns the corner into shot, coming into focus as he walks into a close-up and stops. They say the lines in the script in a manner where it seems as if he's making conversation and she's trying to end it. About two thirds into their conversation, while still talking she takes some money out from her pocket. He then takes a small plastic bag from his pocket filled with a white powder. They carry on talking as they exchange these, she puts the bag in her pocket while he checks the money's authenticity by holding it up. The female character says "I guess we should cut out early, keep the audience interested". The male character replies "And how would your director do that?". She looks away for a moment, looking distracted and sad. A single frame insert of her mum laying eyes closed on the bed, next to an empty bottle of pills plays. Followed by one of the same scene, including the female lead with a softer costume, crying and screaming. A last single frame insert plays of the female lead standing in a graveyard. Back in the present she closes her eyes and twitches, as if she's shaking the flashbacks off. She takes the bag of drugs out of her pocket, looking down at them. She looks up at him and in response to his question says "By making it all go away". She puts the bag back in her pocket and slowly walks away from the camera. The end credits roll, scrolling downward. __________________________________________________________________________________________
On Friday we learnt how to use the Canon 7D cameras. We were shown a step by step of how to use it, how to get the right amount of light and focus, how to control sound, and how to control shutter speed when taking photos. In a group with Wez and Jess, we started the workshop by taking photos that were as clear as possible and tested out using different shutter speeds.
A photo I took of Wez in auto focus mode. It came out very vibrant and I think it's a nicely focused, sharp image.
A photo taken with average shutter speed
A photo taken with a slow shutter speed
We also experimented with light using our phones and a slow shutter speed. I think it looks very effective.
Once we'd gotten used to taking photos with the 7D, we moved onto shooting a short film. Our task was to create a 1-2 minute video without sound, and then put a pop song over it when editing. We chose to create a fun, light hearted music video to Shake It Off by Taylor Swift.
We took turns directing and filming each other and focused the camera before filming when shooting a scene involving all three of us. Although I think we managed to get a lot of good clips for editing the video in the style of the song, most of them came out looking quite soft. I think we all need more practice in getting a moving object into focus. However it was great practice for using this camera to film and a lot of fun to create and edit. We created a rough cut of Shake It Off as a group but sadly it didn't export properly. So the above cut is my own final cut along with a cut down version of the song that I made in a program called Audacity. I'm very please with this edit.
Our last task was to practice using sound with the 7D. Using a Rode Mic, we took turns filming short interviews with each other, asking questions about our directions unit.
We all used lighting equipment and took both over-the-shoulder shots and close-ups of the interviewer and the interviewee so that our edited clips could be varied. I'm happy with the lighting and angles in my interview and I think I find it easier to use manual focus as it allowed me to get quite sharp shots. The problem we all faced is that there's no way to monitor sound as you film on a 7D. So when it came to editing, some of my clip's sound wasn't great due to a lot of background noise, as well as Jess and Wez's voices not being picked up at a high enough volume. But overall I think it had a good outcome for a first try.
I found this workshop very useful, and while I still need practice with sound and focus on the 7D, I think I learnt a lot and created some good practice work.
I've just finished watching the only David Fincher film I had left to watch; Gone Girl (for anyone who doesn't want any of the film to be spoiled for them, I warn you that there are spoilers below!). I absolutely loved this film. I think it's brilliant at manipulating it's audience into believing what the character, Amy, wants you to believe.
At first it seems like a standard domestic abuse based storyline of a great marriage turning tragic bit by bit - as the family cat watches the marriage crumble throughout. But I personally didn't see the twist coming because of how drawn in I became by the story that Amy tells us in her narrations and flashbacks. I love the constant shocking moments, it felt like there was twist after twist throughout. We see a lot of changes in the characters as the story goes on, being made to have sympathy for Amy and hatred for Nick. But it gets completely turned on it's head the more that secrets and plans are revealed.
Of course in Fincher's usual style the film ends in a very disturbingly downbeat manner. As if I wasn't disturbed enough by some of the film's shocking scenes, it ends with Nick being trapped in a loveless marriage with a pregnant psychopath. Yet even if he had a way out, he admits that he doesn't want one. He seems to be addicted to Amy's manipulations and games.
I found it very effective when Fincher used the 'bookend' technique, similar to Fight Club, starting the opening of the film with a very similar sequence to the closing one. The shot being a close-up of Amy's head resting on Nick as he strokes her hair, with a voice over of him saying "When I think of my wife, I always think of her head. I picture cracking her lovely skull, unspooling her brains, trying to get answers. The primal questions of any marriage: What are you thinking? How are you feeling? What have we done to each other?". When I first listened to those words I felt like they made Nick sound quite villainess, especially with the addition of Amy's face looking quite sad and innocent. But when it's repeated in the closing sequence, I feel like I can hear pain in his voice when he repeats those questions, and fear when he adds "What will we do?". The evil smile Amy gives in that final moment left me feeling very disturbed, which I find very strong as it was obviously intentional by Fincher.
Of course along with a downbeat ending I found almost all of Fincher's recognisable trademarks in Gone Girl...
Fluid tracking camera shots
Low-key lighting with a green or blue tinted colour temperature - I found that most scenes in Gone Girl with a bad, unsettling tone were tinted in blue, while the more upbeat scenes were tinted in green/yellow
Wide shots
Low angles
Back stories filled with flashbacks
Music by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
People with poor social skills and few friends
Static and highly controlled camera movements
A single handheld shot (when Nick is told that Amy is pregnant and gets escorted away from the crowd and into a police car)
Production design was stark and modern for the most part, but decaying when Amy was on the run and in hiding
Shot looking inside a character's fridge - now this one wasn't actually featured, however we see Nick's sister, Margo, standing next to the fridge, hear the sound of a fridge being opened and slammed shut out of shot, and then her standing back in the same place with drink. It felt to me as if we were supposed to have missed it
I think Gone Girl is a really emotional and affective film. With so many trademarks of Fincher's being involved I think it's easily recognisable as one of his films. It's great inspiration for my work.
Our second directions workshop was similar to the first. I acted as director while choosing one person in my group to star in my short film and another to operate the camera. This time we created work in our chosen director's style. We were to decide on what type of main character our director would most likely use and then create a short film introducing them. As my chosen director is David Fincher I made my main character a loner and tried to create work that included the following trademarks of his...
Low-key lighting with green/blue tinted colour temperature
Wide shots
Low angles
Music by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
A character with poor social skills and few friends
A title sequence that expresses the theme of the film
Static camera movements and a single handheld scene
Shot looking inside a character's fridge
I wrote my idea out step by step and then created a shot list for this project to make sure I could include every single trademark and be thorough when it came to filming. I think the best way to film even very short films is to create a shot list as it kept everything organised, timely and none of my ideas got forgotten or left out. I filmed for about 30-45 minutes. I named this 'Insignificant' as it describes exactly how a loner character like mine feels, unimportant and meaningless. I used dust floating in the air in my opening titles and closing credits as a representation of something so insignificant and small that no one even notices it, similar to this character. I used the song 'One Particular Moment' by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross from the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo soundtrack, a Fincher film with a loner main character.
It took a long time to finally get to edit this as I was once again having issues with Adobe Premiere and the film's file type, but I finally managed to solve the problem and I'm pleased with how this has come out. I think you can clearly tell what kind of character he is and I think I've managed to capture some of Fincher's style. I'm especially proud of my technique of using a spotlight lighting effect on all of the clips (except for the fridge) to make light behind the character appear brighter, make the room around him look darker and draw more attention to his face. I'm even more excited to get more in depth into our directions unit. Anyway, here is my work...
