I believe overall my Product Management assignment has been completed with great success. From the planning stages all the way though to post-production everything seems to have run smoothly.
I had initially come up with the idea for 'Left and Right' earlier on in the year whilst we were working on our Thriller assignments. I didn't like the idea of not being able to do individual Thriller projects, and having to share the 5 minutes out within a group, so I sat down and scripted 'Left and Right' within a few hours over one night.
I showed the completed script to Dan Creed the next day and received some excellent feedback in regards to the layout of the script and the storyline itself. Providing several corrections with the format of the work, but nothing about the story or dialogue itself; deemed realistic for the story.
The concept of the film revolves around the idea of slowly built paranoia and the uncertainty and surreal emotions one experiences after a dramatic event that comes completely out of the norm. Events you aren't used too and eventually become so dominant, unusual and immediately prominent in your everyday life that they never seem completely real or real at all. Unsure if it ever even happened.
For example, the number 'infinity,' the concept of 'infinity' exists but it's a number no one can imagine, or really get their heads around on a realistic scale how large the number is. This is the same theory except 'infinity' is Michael being beaten up for his money; an event larger than his mind can comprehend.
That must have been around January/February time and I was, as expected, unable to use the script for the Thriller assignment. The project sat dormant for a very long period of time. As the Product Management assignment was presented to us, there was no real questioning what I was going to do for mine, the only thing I needed was a client looking for a short film.
A quick Google search produced several results I could choose from, including my initial selection 'Syncthink Films' providing a professional brief as required. I was slightly put off by this selection once I noticed the finishing date (12/06/09) was only 2 weeks away and I realised this was an unrealistic proposal.
I eventually found BigStar.tv, another competition offering a $1000 (£600) award and an extended deadline giving me over a month to complete all stages of production.
Storyboarding was a fairly easy process to complete as I'd already written the script with locations/actors and camera angles in mind, it was a simple case of sitting down with the script and a pencil and spending the rest of the night drawing away.
I took this simplistic approach towards all of the paperwork. As I'd completed the script months before the assignment was handed out, I found myself with more time than everyone else to complete the extra verification paperwork needed before production could begin. This included the initial Treatment form, all of the location risk assessments, Call sheets for each actor at each location and obviously the script. Other such paperwork such as logging forms and shot forms couldn't be completed until after production.
Filming began after the actors were all given a weekend with the script to get used to their roles and learn their lines. As with the pre-production stage, the production time also went extremely well, with one very evident hiccup at the very end; dan being accidentally injured in the last take I took.
Other than this there was no problem whatsoever between the Monday and Wednesday 08/06/09 and 10/06/09 filming period. Despite only being given 40 minutes to film on the Monday the majority of the scenes 2/3/4 were filmed very quickly indeed, concentrating on various corridor scene interludes and scene 5 on Tuesday.
This rapid production schedule could have only been achieved with the help of considerate and hardworking, good listening actors, who shared the same spur of energy and dedication I had towards making the project as realistic as possible; making filming a very quick and relatively hassle free process.
The only major problem I encountered throughout pre-production/Production and post-production was Dan Glynn's accident in the fight scene filmed in the closing hours of day 3 (Wednesday) After hitting his head on the wall after being thrown into it as required, the state of my product management was literally hanging by a thread as all of my paperwork was taken away immediately after the accident for evaluation (I suspect risk assessments were the tutors main priority)
I was uncertain for several days if I would even be allowed to begin the post-production stage after the film potentially being deemed far too unsafe due to real life injury on set. Luckily a few days later my paperwork was given back and after a review of the footage I was told not to use the footage of Dan hitting his head, thus turning it into a snuff film.
Post-Production was clean and again, a relatively quick process with a few inevitable bumps along the way. After the beginning drag of having to log the footage (had to be done twice after Avid Liquid started overwriting the footage previously logged) it was all a matter of putting the correct clips in the correct order in the timeline.
There were many new techniques used in the film, camera wise and during post production. I had never used different camera angles to this extent before, a requirement to keep lengthy conversations up to pace and interesting for audience. Using a mixture of close ups, low angles, Mid shots, Long shots and high angles to represent different characters and their dominant or subpar status' in the film. keeping a realistic shake on the camera as I held it in my hand rather than place it on a tripod to represent the paranoia, a crucial element to the understanding of the film. Filming a fight scene and creating fake, realistic looking blood and blood splatter (Golden syrup/red/blue food dye/coffee and water mixture)
Also the use of audio was new to me including having to create the entire score myself due to copyright. It was definitely more prominent, making me appreciate it a lot more. getting rid of an audio track or repeating sections etc can change the entire atmosphere and mood to a piece of film instantly.
One shot in particular which seems to receive a large amount of praise involves Michael walking into the meeting room holding a cup of water. Instead of using a normal front Mid shot I decided to rest the camera on the actor's arm and focus in on the cup in his hand as he walked towards the door, giving the impression the cup is floating across the corridor.
The majority of scenes stuck very closely to the original storyboards and script, but during the 3 days scenes 1 and 5 changed considerably. It was decided upon to include a speech in the 5th scene before the final outcome and the fight scene changed completely from the original storyboards. They were changed as seemed fit on the day of filming. I found when actually on set, initial ideas don't always tend to work as well as imagined, requiring rewrites, something that happens in the industry a lot.
Every project brings new challenges to the table. After thinking you know everything on creating a film, you start a new project and find new obstacles you never thought you would have to encounter, coming your way. I now have a much larger gratification towards the audio in any film and I am now more wary about the future and predicting further problems and ideas I can make a success in projects to come.
Thursday, 2 July 2009
Production Management Evaluation
Wednesday, 1 July 2009
Upload problems
Tuesday 01/07/09
I seem to be experiencing a few problems over the last 24 hours in regards to actually uploading the video onto the www.bigstar.tv website. The first time I tried uploading the footage at home last night (Monday) every time I attempted to write a description for the video after the upload was successful, the next page refused to load and so the video hasn’t been recognised on the website at all.
I tried again during today’s morning lesson, but this time it froze at 70%. Though I blame this more on the inefficiency and slow internet speed of the College MAC computers.
Strangely last night I attempted to upload the footage three more times, all of which failed, giving me the message 'Error with upload' each time the counter hit 100% with no other explanation provided to inform me why the upload keeps failing. The file size is far below 500MB (210), the film is between 3-15 minutes in length (8) and file format is MP4, specified as a valid format on the website.
This may well be an error on the side of the website itself, but it's irritating non the else as the final entry date draws nearer.
I seem to be experiencing a few problems over the last 24 hours in regards to actually uploading the video onto the www.bigstar.tv website. The first time I tried uploading the footage at home last night (Monday) every time I attempted to write a description for the video after the upload was successful, the next page refused to load and so the video hasn’t been recognised on the website at all.
I tried again during today’s morning lesson, but this time it froze at 70%. Though I blame this more on the inefficiency and slow internet speed of the College MAC computers.
Strangely last night I attempted to upload the footage three more times, all of which failed, giving me the message 'Error with upload' each time the counter hit 100% with no other explanation provided to inform me why the upload keeps failing. The file size is far below 500MB (210), the film is between 3-15 minutes in length (8) and file format is MP4, specified as a valid format on the website.
This may well be an error on the side of the website itself, but it's irritating non the else as the final entry date draws nearer.
Dan's opinion
Monday 29/06/09
I showed the final product to Dan Creed for the first time today and It was greeted with extremely good and warm reception. Dan commented saying it was a very good piece of work and ran through several sections complimenting the shots and angles used (close up of cup as walking to the office door) for example.
The only changes Dan suggested I should make were in the first scene (Fight scene) The original clip ran on for roughly a minute and a half, which Dan said was far too long for the opening. He said the scene should use extremely quick editing; leaving out several interludes between punches being thrown. Leaving only a few of these interludes in to calm the audience after a dramatic rapidly editing montage of kicks and punches to excite the audience.
He also suggested leaving several outcomes to the fighting out, making the audience guess what the outcome was, leaving it to their imagination, a technique which will enhance the impact as an audience will always expect the think the worse of a situation.
Dan was correct in all counts. It definitely builds on the tension I was looking for a lot quicker than the original cut did and, for lack of a better word, the oompf, gave to the opening scene not showing every blow is a vastly appreciated piece of input.
I showed the final product to Dan Creed for the first time today and It was greeted with extremely good and warm reception. Dan commented saying it was a very good piece of work and ran through several sections complimenting the shots and angles used (close up of cup as walking to the office door) for example.
The only changes Dan suggested I should make were in the first scene (Fight scene) The original clip ran on for roughly a minute and a half, which Dan said was far too long for the opening. He said the scene should use extremely quick editing; leaving out several interludes between punches being thrown. Leaving only a few of these interludes in to calm the audience after a dramatic rapidly editing montage of kicks and punches to excite the audience.
He also suggested leaving several outcomes to the fighting out, making the audience guess what the outcome was, leaving it to their imagination, a technique which will enhance the impact as an audience will always expect the think the worse of a situation.
Dan was correct in all counts. It definitely builds on the tension I was looking for a lot quicker than the original cut did and, for lack of a better word, the oompf, gave to the opening scene not showing every blow is a vastly appreciated piece of input.
The Final Touches
(22/06/09 - 26/06/09)
I had a feeling the audio editing wouldn't go as smoothly as it seemed to be going. Life is very deceptive indeed.
My initial thought was that if the memory stick with all of the music samples on was inserted in the computer, and all of said clips has been dragged into the sequence box on Avid Liquid, that all of the new audio would be instantly recognised in the timeline and all I'd have to do is drag and insert.
Wrong, unfortunately
I spent all of Monday afternoon effectively redoing the audio again as all of the sound clips in the timeline were silent. It wasn’t too much of a hassle just a very time consuming exercise when one is so close to finishing. Especially as I had mixed a few of the audio sounds myself, lopping sections to make the sample longer for my own benefit and adjusting audio levels at specific points; all had to be remixed.
Other than Monday afternoon and spending Tuesday morning in the editing room making sure there were no audio quips with the main footage audio (of which there were several) including one of me yelling action! (How did I miss that?) I spent the rest of the week working on John's Student Magazine assignment.
I had a feeling the audio editing wouldn't go as smoothly as it seemed to be going. Life is very deceptive indeed.
My initial thought was that if the memory stick with all of the music samples on was inserted in the computer, and all of said clips has been dragged into the sequence box on Avid Liquid, that all of the new audio would be instantly recognised in the timeline and all I'd have to do is drag and insert.
Wrong, unfortunately
I spent all of Monday afternoon effectively redoing the audio again as all of the sound clips in the timeline were silent. It wasn’t too much of a hassle just a very time consuming exercise when one is so close to finishing. Especially as I had mixed a few of the audio sounds myself, lopping sections to make the sample longer for my own benefit and adjusting audio levels at specific points; all had to be remixed.
Other than Monday afternoon and spending Tuesday morning in the editing room making sure there were no audio quips with the main footage audio (of which there were several) including one of me yelling action! (How did I miss that?) I spent the rest of the week working on John's Student Magazine assignment.
Audio Editing
22/06/09
So I've spent the majority of this weekend (20/06/09 - 22/06/09) with my own copy of Avid Liquid open and a muted copy of the film, minus the soundtrack, sliding royalty free music samples provided by www.lopperman.com and www.Flashkit.com in the timeline to create an ambient and disturbed soundtrack, consisting of repeated loops, deep guitar plucks and low drums, with the odd SFX like wind or crackling; An element I was unsure would work effectively, but it all comes together as one product of audio production and appears to flow rather smoothly. Well, in my opinion it does at least, as it's the first time I've ever had to produce my own musical score; new territory for me.
Next week, starting 23/06/09, I will insert the new track, run through the films audio one more time and inquire on Dan for his expert opinion on the editing.
So I've spent the majority of this weekend (20/06/09 - 22/06/09) with my own copy of Avid Liquid open and a muted copy of the film, minus the soundtrack, sliding royalty free music samples provided by www.lopperman.com and www.Flashkit.com in the timeline to create an ambient and disturbed soundtrack, consisting of repeated loops, deep guitar plucks and low drums, with the odd SFX like wind or crackling; An element I was unsure would work effectively, but it all comes together as one product of audio production and appears to flow rather smoothly. Well, in my opinion it does at least, as it's the first time I've ever had to produce my own musical score; new territory for me.
Next week, starting 23/06/09, I will insert the new track, run through the films audio one more time and inquire on Dan for his expert opinion on the editing.
Editing week Post-production (14/06/09 - 19/06/09)
23/06/09
I've just finished an extremely tough week of editing for my video (Audio included) and it's all pretty much done. I've spent the majority of the week within lesson time locked away in the editing suite clicking away on Avid Liquid and dragging clips all over the place to create some vague order that makes sense. Don't worry, it actually makes sense now.
You don't realise how hot and stuffy it gets in the suite until you spend a considerate portion of your life in there.
All of the editing has gone fairly smoothly thus far. I was forced to relog the entire 2 tapes of footage when Avid strangely started logging over sequences I'd already logged, so instead of creating new sequences it was overwriting existing ones. Something I didn't notice until I'd gone through the tapes once.
But after finally logging all of the correct footage onto the system using the PD150 camera, editing the clips together was fairly easy. I was starting to think the fact I hadn’t filmed all the of scenes in order would disrupt the speed in which I'd be able to find the clips and put them in the time line, but it didn't seem to be a problem and after a quick look through and renaming everything appropriately finding the correct part was fairly easy
This is the first project I've done that involves a conversation of any considerable length, so varying the shots are making sure the interest is retained for the audience became a crucial element.
Although to the frustration of my actors, I filmed each shot several times in a variety of angles, so my choice was in no way limited and syncing each clip together and muting individual scenes, running separate sound track over the top for consistent audio quality wasn’t as tough of an exercise I first believed it would have been.
When you look through your footage on the camera after filming, you never really get a good sense of what the footage will look once placed in the correct order in the timeline. The use of very shaky and unnerving camerawork, using several unique camera angles really emphasises the paranoia and uncertainty reflected in Michael's mind. The camera is effectively a visual representation of the confusion in Michael's mind in this case.
I couldn't use the original soundtrack I'd used over the week to edit too due to copyright rules in the competitions rules. This was a factor I was perfectly well aware of whilst editing, simply using the tracks (Mobb Deep, Xela etc) as a rough guideline to give myself an good idea of the type of sound I was looking for in the final product.
I've just finished an extremely tough week of editing for my video (Audio included) and it's all pretty much done. I've spent the majority of the week within lesson time locked away in the editing suite clicking away on Avid Liquid and dragging clips all over the place to create some vague order that makes sense. Don't worry, it actually makes sense now.
You don't realise how hot and stuffy it gets in the suite until you spend a considerate portion of your life in there.
All of the editing has gone fairly smoothly thus far. I was forced to relog the entire 2 tapes of footage when Avid strangely started logging over sequences I'd already logged, so instead of creating new sequences it was overwriting existing ones. Something I didn't notice until I'd gone through the tapes once.
But after finally logging all of the correct footage onto the system using the PD150 camera, editing the clips together was fairly easy. I was starting to think the fact I hadn’t filmed all the of scenes in order would disrupt the speed in which I'd be able to find the clips and put them in the time line, but it didn't seem to be a problem and after a quick look through and renaming everything appropriately finding the correct part was fairly easy
This is the first project I've done that involves a conversation of any considerable length, so varying the shots are making sure the interest is retained for the audience became a crucial element.
Although to the frustration of my actors, I filmed each shot several times in a variety of angles, so my choice was in no way limited and syncing each clip together and muting individual scenes, running separate sound track over the top for consistent audio quality wasn’t as tough of an exercise I first believed it would have been.
When you look through your footage on the camera after filming, you never really get a good sense of what the footage will look once placed in the correct order in the timeline. The use of very shaky and unnerving camerawork, using several unique camera angles really emphasises the paranoia and uncertainty reflected in Michael's mind. The camera is effectively a visual representation of the confusion in Michael's mind in this case.
I couldn't use the original soundtrack I'd used over the week to edit too due to copyright rules in the competitions rules. This was a factor I was perfectly well aware of whilst editing, simply using the tracks (Mobb Deep, Xela etc) as a rough guideline to give myself an good idea of the type of sound I was looking for in the final product.
Wednesday, 24 June 2009
Filming Day 3 (10/06/09)
Friday (10/06/09)
Today was the last day of filming. Having filmed everything requied inside the College, it's the only part of the video left unfilmed.
Filming a fight scene is surprisingly difficult. But to fit with the camera style I decided to use throughout the rest of the filming period, I simply started rolling and filmed everything from beginning to end, keeping the camera low down to the ground and spinning around the characters in a rough manner. This technique seems to have worked extremely well as it looks like a genuine fight if you didn't know any better and only saw the footage ion the tape.
The blood used is a mixture of Golden Syrup, a very small pinch of coffee, red food dye and in small part, blue food dye. This combination made perfect and very realistic looking blood when dripped onto Daniel’s face with a pen.
The day regrettably ended in trouble. Daniel Glynn, playing Michael, slammed his head into the wall when he required to be thrown against the wall to end the fight scene. Unfortunately, the fake blood looked so realistic that no one on set could recognise the difference between the fake blood and the real blood coming from Dan’s head until sniffed.
Fortunately I decided to film the fight outside directly opposite the First Aid room, in the event of an injury. So it didn't take long to call security and have Dan seen too immediately. After seeing the First Aider, Dan was advised by all of us to go to Hospital with his mum to get the lump now protruding from his head checked out properly, simply for reassurance.
I have talked to Dan and he appears to be fine.
This ends a rather exhausting and quick filming schedule. Next week will be dedicated to logging footage and editing.
Today was the last day of filming. Having filmed everything requied inside the College, it's the only part of the video left unfilmed.
Filming a fight scene is surprisingly difficult. But to fit with the camera style I decided to use throughout the rest of the filming period, I simply started rolling and filmed everything from beginning to end, keeping the camera low down to the ground and spinning around the characters in a rough manner. This technique seems to have worked extremely well as it looks like a genuine fight if you didn't know any better and only saw the footage ion the tape.
The blood used is a mixture of Golden Syrup, a very small pinch of coffee, red food dye and in small part, blue food dye. This combination made perfect and very realistic looking blood when dripped onto Daniel’s face with a pen.
The day regrettably ended in trouble. Daniel Glynn, playing Michael, slammed his head into the wall when he required to be thrown against the wall to end the fight scene. Unfortunately, the fake blood looked so realistic that no one on set could recognise the difference between the fake blood and the real blood coming from Dan’s head until sniffed.
Fortunately I decided to film the fight outside directly opposite the First Aid room, in the event of an injury. So it didn't take long to call security and have Dan seen too immediately. After seeing the First Aider, Dan was advised by all of us to go to Hospital with his mum to get the lump now protruding from his head checked out properly, simply for reassurance.
I have talked to Dan and he appears to be fine.
This ends a rather exhausting and quick filming schedule. Next week will be dedicated to logging footage and editing.
Filming Day 2 (09/06/09)
Tuesday (09/06/09)
Didn't do too much filming today as not a whole lot more was required without filming the fight scene. Which is something I considered filming today as we ended up having a lot of time lazing around and talking between shoots. But unfortunately the cloudy weather persisted and didn't want to risk taking the PD150 camera outside with the potential for rainfall and having to refilm tomorrow.
Finished shooting the conversations between Michael and Jacob using more of the same Mid shots and close ups and filmed any walking sections in the corridor. We also shot the whole final scene in the corridor when Michaels' emotional pain comes to its' final conclusion.
The initial plan for this scene was for Michael to point the 'finger gun' and to move the camera around to Bradley o the other side of the corridor. When it came to filming, Lewis suggested that he simply walked up to the gun and make a speech daring Michael to pull the trigger.
Kudos to Lewis as, after watching the tape back, this appears a lot more effective. A real close final encounter between the two who hate each other the most. Using close ups and an unsteady camera makes the scene feel very gritty and realistic.
Tomorrow will be the fight scene outside and filming will finally be finished.
Didn't do too much filming today as not a whole lot more was required without filming the fight scene. Which is something I considered filming today as we ended up having a lot of time lazing around and talking between shoots. But unfortunately the cloudy weather persisted and didn't want to risk taking the PD150 camera outside with the potential for rainfall and having to refilm tomorrow.
Finished shooting the conversations between Michael and Jacob using more of the same Mid shots and close ups and filmed any walking sections in the corridor. We also shot the whole final scene in the corridor when Michaels' emotional pain comes to its' final conclusion.
The initial plan for this scene was for Michael to point the 'finger gun' and to move the camera around to Bradley o the other side of the corridor. When it came to filming, Lewis suggested that he simply walked up to the gun and make a speech daring Michael to pull the trigger.
Kudos to Lewis as, after watching the tape back, this appears a lot more effective. A real close final encounter between the two who hate each other the most. Using close ups and an unsteady camera makes the scene feel very gritty and realistic.
Tomorrow will be the fight scene outside and filming will finally be finished.
Filming Day 1 (08/06/09)
Monday 08/06/09
After delaying last week, I've finally managed to get production underway. Today we spent the entire shooting time in T46 filming the middle section of the video. Including the meeting in which Michael Cole discovers who he'll be working with, the conversation between Michael and Jacob on the phone, checking everything is ready for the meeting the next day and the face-to-face conversation between Michael and Jacob before the meeting begins.
Filming went extremely well, managing to get almost the entirety of these sequences filmed within the 45 minute timing period allocated by Dan Creed. A very productive day and very responsive, understanding and hardworking acting group, with those watching in the background remaining quiet and out of shot, causing no problems to the shots or camera angles at all.
The camera angles used were predominantly eye level mid shots or close ups for the conversations between Jacob and Michael, representing Bradley in low angle shots to show off his immediate dominance despite being the new man.
I feel I've been pretty creative, not all of the angles match with those in the storyboards; I feel alterations made after seeing the set have been an advantage in regards to cinematography. The majority follow those in the initial plans.
My plan is to leave the opening fight scene until the last day of filming Wednesday (10/06/09)as this will be the trickiest and most complicated scene to film and the most tiring for the actors involved.
After delaying last week, I've finally managed to get production underway. Today we spent the entire shooting time in T46 filming the middle section of the video. Including the meeting in which Michael Cole discovers who he'll be working with, the conversation between Michael and Jacob on the phone, checking everything is ready for the meeting the next day and the face-to-face conversation between Michael and Jacob before the meeting begins.
Filming went extremely well, managing to get almost the entirety of these sequences filmed within the 45 minute timing period allocated by Dan Creed. A very productive day and very responsive, understanding and hardworking acting group, with those watching in the background remaining quiet and out of shot, causing no problems to the shots or camera angles at all.
The camera angles used were predominantly eye level mid shots or close ups for the conversations between Jacob and Michael, representing Bradley in low angle shots to show off his immediate dominance despite being the new man.
I feel I've been pretty creative, not all of the angles match with those in the storyboards; I feel alterations made after seeing the set have been an advantage in regards to cinematography. The majority follow those in the initial plans.
My plan is to leave the opening fight scene until the last day of filming Wednesday (10/06/09)as this will be the trickiest and most complicated scene to film and the most tiring for the actors involved.
Thursday, 11 June 2009
All those finer details before filming
04/06/09
I was going to begin filming the first Wednesday after half term ended (03/06/09) but decided against the idea because the actors have only had the scripts in their hands for roughly 48 hours So I delayed filming until next week (Monday 08/06/09)
Actors:
Daniel Glynn - Michael Cole
Lewis-Dane Fry - Bradley Wescotch
Harry Gee-Woolley – Jacob Morrison
Locations:
T46
4th Floor Corridor
Outside college (Under Tower Block as it's close to first aid)
Props/Costume
Water
Golden Syrup
Red/Blue food dye
Coffee
Lots of random papers for desk
Suits or smart casual (Bradley should wear a much more distinctly sharper suit to highlight his superiority complex and dominance in every situation, whilst Michael should look unorganised and simply your average man making money to feed his family. (Nothing special about him.)
I was going to begin filming the first Wednesday after half term ended (03/06/09) but decided against the idea because the actors have only had the scripts in their hands for roughly 48 hours So I delayed filming until next week (Monday 08/06/09)
Actors:
Daniel Glynn - Michael Cole
Lewis-Dane Fry - Bradley Wescotch
Harry Gee-Woolley – Jacob Morrison
Locations:
T46
4th Floor Corridor
Outside college (Under Tower Block as it's close to first aid)
Props/Costume
Water
Golden Syrup
Red/Blue food dye
Coffee
Lots of random papers for desk
Suits or smart casual (Bradley should wear a much more distinctly sharper suit to highlight his superiority complex and dominance in every situation, whilst Michael should look unorganised and simply your average man making money to feed his family. (Nothing special about him.)
All I need is a location
22/05/09
Everything seems to be sorted now for filming. I have a actors:
Lewis-Dane Fry - Bradley Wescotch
Daniel Glynn - Michael Cole
Harry Gee-Woolly - Jacob Morrison
A script for 'Left and Right' which I wrote a couple of months ago when an idea spontaneously popped into my head and storyboards/treatments/call sheets and risk assessments (Especially for the fight scene) have all been filled out and completed in advance.
My initial plan would have been to film during the upcoming half term break when the college is completely empty to cause as few distractions as possible to the production time. Unfortunately, non of the 4th floor media teachers are able to come in during either the morning or afternoon College sessions to supervise and the security aren't allowed to remain in one place whilst they have an entire college to patrol.
A slight inconvenience. Will have to film after college hours and during various lessons instead.
Everything seems to be sorted now for filming. I have a actors:
Lewis-Dane Fry - Bradley Wescotch
Daniel Glynn - Michael Cole
Harry Gee-Woolly - Jacob Morrison
A script for 'Left and Right' which I wrote a couple of months ago when an idea spontaneously popped into my head and storyboards/treatments/call sheets and risk assessments (Especially for the fight scene) have all been filled out and completed in advance.
My initial plan would have been to film during the upcoming half term break when the college is completely empty to cause as few distractions as possible to the production time. Unfortunately, non of the 4th floor media teachers are able to come in during either the morning or afternoon College sessions to supervise and the security aren't allowed to remain in one place whilst they have an entire college to patrol.
A slight inconvenience. Will have to film after college hours and during various lessons instead.
Wednesday, 10 June 2009
Treatment
Programme Title: Left and Right
Director/Camera Operator: Mark Kipling
duration: Approx 10 minutes
Format: DV
Audience: The initial audience will be the general public voting for their favourite shorts in the public vote before the end submission date (July 23rd) But ultimately the main audience I need to impress consists of the Bigstar.tv panel of judges who will view the video with an open mind to any genre of film as the Amateur competition is open to any type of film the contestants come up with.
Story Resume:
Local construction budget supervisor Michael Cole finds himself slowly spiralling downhill after an attack leaves him without a penny to his name. Once the new job opening is filled by the same man tormenting Michael, paranoia and a sickening lust for revenge takes over, and immediately, the clear line between what is going on in the real world and the events taking place within Michael's own mind become blurred and almost unrecognisable.
Character Resume:
Michael Cole - Daniel Glynn
Beaten in the street and tormented mentally as new man Bradley Weschoth tortures him for all he has.
Bradley Wescotch - Lewis-Dane Fry
Gains the new position as head budget manager on the new construction project in the area at Jacobs' firm. One reason Bradley is so quickly hired is because of his financial success, but where is it coming from? Michaels' pockets, is where.
Jacob - Harry Gee-Woolley
The overall overseer of the budget, making sure it doesn't collapse in on the project. Doesn't play a large roll, but as Michael delves further into his imagination and secret, sick desires of an outcome, it raises the question whether or not Jacob is leeching off Bradleys' financial gain.
Director/Camera Operator: Mark Kipling
duration: Approx 10 minutes
Format: DV
Audience: The initial audience will be the general public voting for their favourite shorts in the public vote before the end submission date (July 23rd) But ultimately the main audience I need to impress consists of the Bigstar.tv panel of judges who will view the video with an open mind to any genre of film as the Amateur competition is open to any type of film the contestants come up with.
Story Resume:
Local construction budget supervisor Michael Cole finds himself slowly spiralling downhill after an attack leaves him without a penny to his name. Once the new job opening is filled by the same man tormenting Michael, paranoia and a sickening lust for revenge takes over, and immediately, the clear line between what is going on in the real world and the events taking place within Michael's own mind become blurred and almost unrecognisable.
Character Resume:
Michael Cole - Daniel Glynn
Beaten in the street and tormented mentally as new man Bradley Weschoth tortures him for all he has.
Bradley Wescotch - Lewis-Dane Fry
Gains the new position as head budget manager on the new construction project in the area at Jacobs' firm. One reason Bradley is so quickly hired is because of his financial success, but where is it coming from? Michaels' pockets, is where.
Jacob - Harry Gee-Woolley
The overall overseer of the budget, making sure it doesn't collapse in on the project. Doesn't play a large roll, but as Michael delves further into his imagination and secret, sick desires of an outcome, it raises the question whether or not Jacob is leeching off Bradleys' financial gain.
Bigstar.tv
After a quick search on Google I was able to find a suitable film competition to enter on the website http://www.thinksyncfilms.com/ providing a professional brief to follow in the form of competition rules. The rules state allows complete freedom over the content of the film; the only real visible restriction judging from the rules the musical requirements. The competition holders have provided entrants with a selection of songs that they have gained the rights too, stating that any music used in your film must be from the list and the visual must work well with the audio chosen. The competition originally opened in December, giving entrants 6 months to film and edit their production. Unfortunately, at the time of the Professional Brief assignment being handed to us there was very little time (Just a little under a month) for me to go through the entire production process. Also, with half term falling in the middle of this period and my script requiring the use of the College Campus, I was forced to find a new competition over the break with an extended deadline.
In the end, as my back up plan I have decided to enter a film/video competition at www.bigstar.tv The competition is divided into many different categories covering almost every common genre of film, ranging from comedy to documentary, Thriller to horror and Amateur. All with varying closing deadlines stretching through the year, the last one closing it's doors on September 11th.
I have chosen to enter the Amateur competition as this gives me an extended deadline of July 23rd, and gives me free reign over every aspect of the films production from script ideas, camera angles, locations, actors, and the music, unlike Thinksync Films.
My initial worry with Bigstar was how I was going to go about entering my piece if the contest was American. Luckily entries are submitted purely in an online manner, instantly uploaded onto the website for the viewing public to cast their votes. Bigstar is the sponsor of the competition. The contest is hosted within America but is open to everyone including inside Europe, with a first place prize of $1000 (approx £600) out of the 5 finalists ultimately chosen by a panel of judges after an initial open vote to the general public.
In the end, as my back up plan I have decided to enter a film/video competition at www.bigstar.tv The competition is divided into many different categories covering almost every common genre of film, ranging from comedy to documentary, Thriller to horror and Amateur. All with varying closing deadlines stretching through the year, the last one closing it's doors on September 11th.
I have chosen to enter the Amateur competition as this gives me an extended deadline of July 23rd, and gives me free reign over every aspect of the films production from script ideas, camera angles, locations, actors, and the music, unlike Thinksync Films.
My initial worry with Bigstar was how I was going to go about entering my piece if the contest was American. Luckily entries are submitted purely in an online manner, instantly uploaded onto the website for the viewing public to cast their votes. Bigstar is the sponsor of the competition. The contest is hosted within America but is open to everyone including inside Europe, with a first place prize of $1000 (approx £600) out of the 5 finalists ultimately chosen by a panel of judges after an initial open vote to the general public.
Think Sync Films
After a quick search on Google I was able to find a suitable film competition to enter on the website http://www.thinksyncfilms.com/ providing a professional brief to follow in the form of competition rules.
The rules state allows complete freedom over the content of the film. The only real visible restriction judging from the rules the musical requirements. The competition holders have provided entrants with a selection of songs that they have gained the rights too, stating that any music used in your film must be from the list and the visual must work well with the audio chosen.
The competition originally opened in December, giving entrants 6 months to film and edit their production. Unfortunately, at the time of the Professional Brief assignment being handed to us there was very little time (Just a little under a month) for me to go through the entire production process. Also, with half term falling in the middle of this period and my script requiring the use of the College Campus, I was forced to find a new competition over the break with an extended deadline.
The rules state allows complete freedom over the content of the film. The only real visible restriction judging from the rules the musical requirements. The competition holders have provided entrants with a selection of songs that they have gained the rights too, stating that any music used in your film must be from the list and the visual must work well with the audio chosen.
The competition originally opened in December, giving entrants 6 months to film and edit their production. Unfortunately, at the time of the Professional Brief assignment being handed to us there was very little time (Just a little under a month) for me to go through the entire production process. Also, with half term falling in the middle of this period and my script requiring the use of the College Campus, I was forced to find a new competition over the break with an extended deadline.
Professional Brief
The current assignment requires me to find a client and perform a live brief for a product that has the potential to be useful in the outside world. These products can range from posters to leaflets or even designing blue prints for a product, as long as the outcome is Media relation in some form; more commonly than not, in the shape of advertising a company.
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