Thursday, 20 May 2010
The End
Our film is complete and submitted, we are all happy with the result and felt we all worked incredibly well as a group. The production Wiki is coming to an end and we have all the necessary paper work in our production folder. We are currently deciding upon which film festival to upload our film onto with a lot of possibilities around it seems quite simple for us to enter our film into one. Encounters International Film Festival in Bristol seems like a very positive opportunity, there is a £20 submission fee but would be worth it to see our film presented in such a prestigious festival. All there is to think about now is what an audience will think of our film when it comes to the Short Film Showcase at the Little Theatre. We each filled out an individual contribution sheet and went through them with Mike and the rest of the team. We all agreed on the roles we played and the tasks we carried out during the enitre production of 'The Cure'. Overall we didn't suffer form any major problems during filming, we worked extremely well as a team and altogether created a film that we were proud of and fulfilled our initial visions. 
All Coming To An End
As we receahed the hand in date for the final edit of our film, it was all was coming together nicely. We weren't highly experieneced in all the feature Final Cut Pro had to offer but we always had help at hand and even used Youtube as a source of tutorials for small jobs like White Balance. This is a good example of a video we used to help with small problems.
We concentrated on sound and music as our last step. It proved relatively simple, as we had some close friends who had created some music for previous projects and they were happy to help us. We had 2 pieces of music from 2 people who were more than happy to let us use their music and Tristan even altered his track so it would fit better into our film. Also we found a very useful Website,http://incompetech.com/m/c/royalty-free/, which was extrmeley helpful as it was created by a man who had produced his own music and allows for the free right top use it in any project. The website had an elaborate selection of music and was categorised by 'feel' such as intense or uplifting.
With all the music added in the right places it did still seem like there was something missing, we debated about using titles or chapters to help the audience distinguish between to different day for example. In the end however we decided to use a voice over, they have always been used frequently for short films and we all felt they were an effective way of teeling the story and helping the audience gain an understanding for the charcters actions. We decided to use a person with a deep voice and tell it as if it was in the past tense. This gave a story book feel to the film creating a sense that there is a message behind it and a moral which can be applied to children as well as adults.
We concentrated on sound and music as our last step. It proved relatively simple, as we had some close friends who had created some music for previous projects and they were happy to help us. We had 2 pieces of music from 2 people who were more than happy to let us use their music and Tristan even altered his track so it would fit better into our film. Also we found a very useful Website,http://incompetech.com/m/c/royalty-free/, which was extrmeley helpful as it was created by a man who had produced his own music and allows for the free right top use it in any project. The website had an elaborate selection of music and was categorised by 'feel' such as intense or uplifting.
With all the music added in the right places it did still seem like there was something missing, we debated about using titles or chapters to help the audience distinguish between to different day for example. In the end however we decided to use a voice over, they have always been used frequently for short films and we all felt they were an effective way of teeling the story and helping the audience gain an understanding for the charcters actions. We decided to use a person with a deep voice and tell it as if it was in the past tense. This gave a story book feel to the film creating a sense that there is a message behind it and a moral which can be applied to children as well as adults.
Putting It All Together
once we got all the footage we needed, it was time to edit it all together. Me, Lyndon and Liz concentrated on the edit and Patrick and Adam stored the production folder, wiki's and some music for the film. I have had a fair bit of experience on Final Cut Pro before so took it upon myself to teach Lyndon and Liz the basics in order for us to have a group input on the edit. We managed to cut the scenes up successfully and had a lot of footage to work with. We needed a way to cut it all down, so decided to take a lot of things out that weren't necessary and also use montage in order to speed things up a bit.
Here is quite a long montage sequence taken from the new Pixar film Up but it's such montages that helped with our own idea for one, basically montages like these speed up something which could have been seen as a long process, like married life in this video and like the creation on miracle hangover cure in our film. It was important for us to take the important parts and show them to the audience, creating an idea of what the character is doing but not boring the audience with repetitive actions.
The edit was quite a long process and we spent a lot of time getting a rough cut ready for viewing but once we handed our rough cut in we took a lot of time again just concentrating on the making the film the best it could possibly be. The rough draft was a basic overview of the storyline, it didn't have any music, sound effects and was still quite long. So we concentrated first on removing some unwanted scenes and minimising dialogue. But then we decided we wanted a short sequence to be added just to make it flow a bit more so whilst I continued to edit Liz and Lyndon filmed a short sequence which was added which genuinely improved the look of that scene. We needed some still shots to be incorporated into the film as well so I downloaded a program i had used before called Capture Me, which allowed us to take still images from our timeline, add them and show them for as long as we wanted.
Here is quite a long montage sequence taken from the new Pixar film Up but it's such montages that helped with our own idea for one, basically montages like these speed up something which could have been seen as a long process, like married life in this video and like the creation on miracle hangover cure in our film. It was important for us to take the important parts and show them to the audience, creating an idea of what the character is doing but not boring the audience with repetitive actions.
The edit was quite a long process and we spent a lot of time getting a rough cut ready for viewing but once we handed our rough cut in we took a lot of time again just concentrating on the making the film the best it could possibly be. The rough draft was a basic overview of the storyline, it didn't have any music, sound effects and was still quite long. So we concentrated first on removing some unwanted scenes and minimising dialogue. But then we decided we wanted a short sequence to be added just to make it flow a bit more so whilst I continued to edit Liz and Lyndon filmed a short sequence which was added which genuinely improved the look of that scene. We needed some still shots to be incorporated into the film as well so I downloaded a program i had used before called Capture Me, which allowed us to take still images from our timeline, add them and show them for as long as we wanted.
Day 2 - Filming
Day 2 got off to a slow start, but once we got going it was an easy and relaxed day of filming. We took a well deserved break once we had large amount of the filming done and just had a few conversation scenes to film at the end of the day. Over the whole weekend we didn't have any technical problems and found using the Z1'S, once again, highly effective. Some improvisation was needed and we made quick decisions to shoot some new scenes which could play an important part in the film.
This scene for example was one that wasn't in the final script but as a group decided it would help the audience understand how the main characters situation was worsening. There isn't a lot else to say about day 2, I feel we worked very well as a team over the duration of the weekend and felt our problem solving skills were excellent. We had a realistic schedule and everyone knew exactly what was expected of them. Liz was an excellent director she was always involved in every part of the filming and me and Lyndon would regularly check with her when it came to deciding the exact angle of the camera. She wasn't afraid to voice her opinions and felt having a strong character in the group was the main reason for such a successful and efficient filming weekend, one which I felt was a lot more relaxed than the last film. We had a lot of fun filming and felt as we were all friends filming it was easy to tell each other what we thought.
This scene for example was one that wasn't in the final script but as a group decided it would help the audience understand how the main characters situation was worsening. There isn't a lot else to say about day 2, I feel we worked very well as a team over the duration of the weekend and felt our problem solving skills were excellent. We had a realistic schedule and everyone knew exactly what was expected of them. Liz was an excellent director she was always involved in every part of the filming and me and Lyndon would regularly check with her when it came to deciding the exact angle of the camera. She wasn't afraid to voice her opinions and felt having a strong character in the group was the main reason for such a successful and efficient filming weekend, one which I felt was a lot more relaxed than the last film. We had a lot of fun filming and felt as we were all friends filming it was easy to tell each other what we thought.
Tuesday, 18 May 2010
Day 1 - Filming
We started early, 9am and we arranged to meet at the Micheal Tippett Centre. Everyone we needed arrived on time and filming ran smoothly until later on in the day when we hit a problem. we had arranged for about 20 extras to turn up about 1pm for our Showcase scene. In total about 7 or 8 people turned up and luckily I found some friends in the library who took a few minutes of their time to appear in our film. As we had less people than what we had originally decided, we thought it would have been best to change our style and the director made a quick decision to alter the showcase scene so it would appear that after all his efforts he didn't quite receive the turn out he had hoped. 
Apart from this one minor set back, the rest of the days filming ran smoothly and we even managed to finish slightly earlier than scheduled. We took some time at the end of the day to discuss our plan of action for day two. We had a meeting place and a time for all the necessary people to be there by.
Apart from this one minor set back, the rest of the days filming ran smoothly and we even managed to finish slightly earlier than scheduled. We took some time at the end of the day to discuss our plan of action for day two. We had a meeting place and a time for all the necessary people to be there by.
The Cure - Pre-Production
As we had now decided on what we wanted our film to be on it was time to prepare everything for the production weekend. We had a meeting as a group and allocated each member a different task.
Liz Scott - Director
Patrick Wilson - Producer
Adam Barrett - Stage Manager
Lyndon McGuckian-Fripp - Camera and Sound
Luke Phillips - Camera and Sound
Once the roles had been allocated we then decided upon a set list of task to be completed. Finalising the script was the first stage, which was a group effort but finalised by Liz. My tasks involved getting location permission and by doing so had a list of people to email to get permission to film on the University campus.
Hello,
We are a group of film students doing a Planning and Making a film module. We are filming on the 13th and 14th of march and would like to use the Michael Tippet centre auditorium as a location. Would it be possible for a few hours on either the Saturday or Sunday to film there. Any help on who we need to speak to for permissions would be greatly received.
Thank you,
Luke Phillips, Lyndon McGuckian-Fripp, Elizabeth Scott, Patrick Wilson and Adam Barrett
We received permission on the completion of a risk assessment form. Patrick completed all the risk assessments and we then received information that we would be allowed the Micheal Tippett on Saturday only. so we then arranged a schedule to make sure we had completed all our necessary Uni scenes by then end of Saturday. This was a minor complication, it just meant we had to arrange props and casting as soon as possible as the uni scenes were the ones that required the most props and the most actors. I made contact with a performing arts student who i used on my last film, Andy Creffield and he was more than happy to play the lead role in our film.
Andy was very helpful and the communication between us was very good. He liked the script and was eager to get started. We let him know what times he was needed and all other details such as clothes needed and props required. Props were important to get sorted as well and we all chipped in to help Adam get everything together. Lyndon used his computer design skills to help produce a poster for the showcase part of the film and I gathered bills, beer bottles and Powerade(which we used as the hangover cure).
Liz Scott - Director
Patrick Wilson - Producer
Adam Barrett - Stage Manager
Lyndon McGuckian-Fripp - Camera and Sound
Luke Phillips - Camera and Sound
Once the roles had been allocated we then decided upon a set list of task to be completed. Finalising the script was the first stage, which was a group effort but finalised by Liz. My tasks involved getting location permission and by doing so had a list of people to email to get permission to film on the University campus.
Hello,
We are a group of film students doing a Planning and Making a film module. We are filming on the 13th and 14th of march and would like to use the Michael Tippet centre auditorium as a location. Would it be possible for a few hours on either the Saturday or Sunday to film there. Any help on who we need to speak to for permissions would be greatly received.
Thank you,
Luke Phillips, Lyndon McGuckian-Fripp, Elizabeth Scott, Patrick Wilson and Adam Barrett
We received permission on the completion of a risk assessment form. Patrick completed all the risk assessments and we then received information that we would be allowed the Micheal Tippett on Saturday only. so we then arranged a schedule to make sure we had completed all our necessary Uni scenes by then end of Saturday. This was a minor complication, it just meant we had to arrange props and casting as soon as possible as the uni scenes were the ones that required the most props and the most actors. I made contact with a performing arts student who i used on my last film, Andy Creffield and he was more than happy to play the lead role in our film.
Andy was very helpful and the communication between us was very good. He liked the script and was eager to get started. We let him know what times he was needed and all other details such as clothes needed and props required. Props were important to get sorted as well and we all chipped in to help Adam get everything together. Lyndon used his computer design skills to help produce a poster for the showcase part of the film and I gathered bills, beer bottles and Powerade(which we used as the hangover cure).
Thursday, 13 May 2010
Hippophant and The Cure
As a group we looked though a few scripts and decided upon a couple that we wanted to use. Yasmine Coles and Mark Gingells scripts were of particular interest to us but decided to pick Myles Mccauliffe's script and adapt it a lot so it wasn't so hard to produce. Myles original idea was based around a Taxidermist, who created a new animal by sewing two animals together. The main character then photographed his creating and posted it online, where it was discovered by National Geographic who were interesting in investigating the new animal. The protagonist fools them and they are interested in showcasing the 'Hippophant' and making him a very rich man, the money and fame takes over but in the end he is found out. We wanted to take the basic storyline but change it so that the creation was easy for us to produce yet still was interesting to watch.
Once we knew we wanted to turn Myles script into our own creation we took the time to speak to Myles about what he wanted form the film. We told him that we were going to move away from the idea of a new animal creation but he then gave us a website to help if we did to decide to stick with it. http://www.headsandtails.co.uk. We investigated the website but decided we wanted to change the creation of the main character. It didn't take long for us to come to a decision that a hangover cure would be something easy to produce and interesting to film and as it was a student project it seemed like an appealing creation to the set audience.
The Next Project
Once a man with a move camera was complete it was time to focus on the next project. The first stage for me was brainstorming an idea for my own script, i looked closely at a lot of other short films and focused on the types of themes running through them. I decided to focus on insanity, a theme which seemed to be presented a lot in the films I watched. However I wanted to put my own twist upon an idea seen in a feature length film, Me, Myself and Irene. This is where I took a lot of my inspiration, but also made it my priority to make it unique.
This films focuses on a man who suffers from Schizophrenia, which is what I concentrated on in my film but I also wanted to show a different side of the problem by giving a point of view from the sufferer as well. I decided the main character would forget his medication and then get into a bit of trouble, this would involve people seeing him acting in an unusual manner but also show what's going through his head as he acts out his emotions. After creating a draft I received feedback on what needed improving.
- More tension was needed
- Some scenes weren't necessary
- less direction was needed
I made sure I corrected these problems by simplifying my script and making sure I took all direction out and made sure I established the scene, described the characters actions briefly and involved all necessary dialogue. once I had done this I shortened the opening scene which didn't seem extremely important in telling the story and finally added more tension by putting the protagonist in some dangerous situations caused by his actions whilst in his schizophrenic state. I was happy with the final result and once completed I took some time to read the other scripts created by the other people in my group and a few from the morning group. We then concentrated on sorting ourselves into groups and then created a group of 5 including me, Liz Scott, Adam Barrett, Patrick Wilson and Lyndon McGuckian-Fripp. Once our groups were finalised it was time to think about what script to consider putting into production and adapting.
This films focuses on a man who suffers from Schizophrenia, which is what I concentrated on in my film but I also wanted to show a different side of the problem by giving a point of view from the sufferer as well. I decided the main character would forget his medication and then get into a bit of trouble, this would involve people seeing him acting in an unusual manner but also show what's going through his head as he acts out his emotions. After creating a draft I received feedback on what needed improving.
- More tension was needed
- Some scenes weren't necessary
- less direction was needed
I made sure I corrected these problems by simplifying my script and making sure I took all direction out and made sure I established the scene, described the characters actions briefly and involved all necessary dialogue. once I had done this I shortened the opening scene which didn't seem extremely important in telling the story and finally added more tension by putting the protagonist in some dangerous situations caused by his actions whilst in his schizophrenic state. I was happy with the final result and once completed I took some time to read the other scripts created by the other people in my group and a few from the morning group. We then concentrated on sorting ourselves into groups and then created a group of 5 including me, Liz Scott, Adam Barrett, Patrick Wilson and Lyndon McGuckian-Fripp. Once our groups were finalised it was time to think about what script to consider putting into production and adapting.
Sunday, 24 January 2010
Post Production
Once we had all the footage we needed it was time to think about post-production. after we watched all the footage back we then picked out the shots we wanted to use, we did this as a group and were happy with the selection we made. Gus and Myles were in charge of editing and they kept me and the rest of the group updated on the progress. They used Final Cut Pro to produce the editied version of our film. The edit ran smoothly until it came to music, we struggled with find right-free music and got us all hunting the internet for relaible sources of music. In the end we came across a website that sold music at a very reasonable price, our options were limited but we managed to find some music which we all felt was a suitable match.
Once the film was completed it was shown to the rest of the class then after we recieved a lot of good reviews however as a group we felt there were a few things that could have been corrected or re-shot. We had a lot of fun during the production of our film and felt as a team we worked well together making sure everyone knew exactley what they needed to do in order for it to be a success. Everyone who worked on the film was a great help and we were priveledged to have dedicated actors and crew members.
Once the film was completed it was shown to the rest of the class then after we recieved a lot of good reviews however as a group we felt there were a few things that could have been corrected or re-shot. We had a lot of fun during the production of our film and felt as a team we worked well together making sure everyone knew exactley what they needed to do in order for it to be a success. Everyone who worked on the film was a great help and we were priveledged to have dedicated actors and crew members.
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