Evaluation

Liverpool Documentary

Documentary is one of my favourite forms of film. After receiving the brief, Myself, Alice and the team (Shelton, Luke, Chris and Jay) met for the first time are started searching the internet and looking at newspaper achieves, we originally thought of the idea to look at the food of Liverpool, we then found out/realised that this was no specific enough for a five minute film. After looking further we saw that it was Chinese new year on the coming sunday from the day we were researching, and that there was some sort of celebration in the China Town in Liverpool. After researching further, finding out that it was the largest china town outside of the capital, we genuinely wanted to know more, and we knew if we wanted to know more, an audience would too.

I would think our film is aimed at people will an interest in ethnic minorities,  or different cultures. Our film focuses a lot on how the Chinese community have integrated into Liverpool, this is a key point and is an interest for some people. From the off set, we didn't initial have a target audience, we decided to make it quite open because documentaries about different cultures could inform anyone from the age ten to one hundred, so we thought if while making decisions about the film, we wouldn't try and make it so it wouldn't appeal to a certain age range. I feel as though we have achieved that, we have fun/colourful visuals with rhythmical sounds of china in the background, then serious informative shots along side our interview with Simon Wong which at times takes a serious note when talking about war.

Visually I think we have some great shots, shots including strong colour and detail of the Chinese gate, or supermarket. One thing I would of changed if we were to do this again is the amount of techniques we used, I know we wanted the film completely stylised and artistic but I think we have too many pull focuses but this does not distract too much I don't think. I think Alice, Shelton and Chris did a great job of keeping to the treatment in terms of the style of the film. Before going to Liverpool we discussed that we wanted shallow depth of field and dramatic camera angles, I feel we achieved that in which i am very happy. One thing in the film I am a little disappointed in is the interview, Simon Wong who is the owner of the Chinese supermarket just across the road from the big gate. He is the head of business in the area, Mr Wong has a wealth of knowledge about the area, including its history. I think the interview was edited great, I just think the visuals weren't as good as I had hoped, this was partly due to technical issues, the shot is stripy, which isnt really noticeable but I know it is there.

During this project I was the producer, this was the role I wanted. I originally didn't know that much about being a producer and the role of the producer, only what had been taught in the seminar. I found that being producer improved my organisational skills, I was able to plan the visit and communicate via telephone and e-mail with possible contributors. I would really like to produce again, learning from the mistakes I made this time, which i feel were making sure we stuck to the call sheet. There were times during the shoot when we would finish early or late and this would mess my call sheet up a little bit. Next time I produce I will be sure to leave time before we begin the shoot for us over running.

During planning, shooting and editing I have learnt a lot, being producer generally I have learnt that organisation really is the key, with this you can plan your day, and leave nothing out. This way you can insure the editor get everything they need to create a great cut. I have learnt more about shooting film too, working along side Alice, Chris and Shelton closely I was able to listen to their technical issues and watch them over come them, and at times contribute to over come then.

I feel myself, Alice, Shelton, Luke, Jay and Chris worked well as a team, one reason for this was communication, we were able to meet regularly to discuss and work things out about the project even before shooting had started. Me and Alice (director) at times met on our own to discuss things she wanted from me, vice versa. This allowed us to communicate with other members of the team to bring to life the vision that Alice and I had about the project. Chris and Luke (editors) were also very keen to mould this image, one issue was getting archive footage, this is an example of when myself and chris sat down together researching, and at the end of it we were able to get some footage. I feel I can improve my team working stills by planning better and letting the team know that I want certain things a certain way, and that we cannot slack as we need to fit the deadline. In conclusion I think this project was a great success and the whole time is happy with the outcome. Overcoming some issues at times were difficult but we were able to turn the project around.

The Drama Project

For the second half of the semester the brief was to create a Short Drama film, in relation to the theme of a Journey. Being in a group with Jay, Alice, Shelton, Chris and James. Both Jay and Alice came up with some great ideas, in which we pitched during the seminar. I didn't particularly have a preference, I had a brief idea of maybe basing the film on a emotional journey, for example grief, anxiety or depression. The group and I decided it would be too performance based, and maybe too deep for a first year student film.

After getting a good response to Alice's idea of a Young boy delivering a letter to his young love, she began to write the script. Everybody kind of simply left it to her because it was here idea and she seemed to have a very clear vision of what she wanted to film to look and sound like. We later met, I think after the two week easter break, Alice read out the her script. Everyone was extremely happy with it, and personally I was very inspired due to its wittiness and how clever it was, creating a very innocent yet funny character. I then went on to thinking about how take this script and transform it into something very visual. The producer Chris told myself and Alice about locations so together we started storyboarding, this took a while and we mostly storyboarded the opening scene because during the filming stage and editing, we wanted to get it just right, because it sets the tone for the rest of the film. After watching the film 'Once' I considered changing the style in which we filmed it but I discussed this with Alice and we didn't feeling it was right, looking back I think that really was the right decision.

Unfortunately I couldn't attend the first day of shooting due to unavoidable commitments, so Chris filled in for me, I showed him some of the storyboarding so he could film in the style I wanted. After this day I looked at the footage which I was very happy with, they filmed the travelling scenes, from a car. We planned another shoot, in Selby. This shoot was for the opening scene, the end senses and some quick shots to slow the pace of the film down if we needed too. I felt this went well. I've never had to work with child actors so this was an experience, with them being Alice's cousins, they were excited, the female mainly. The male child, Max, was very professional he did what he was directed to do, at times he even suggested things to put in, which was nice. The female actor, was a little more excited, she laughed and chatted sometimes during shoot, we simply ran the camera in the hope to get the smile and flash back scenes, which we did actually get. We simply directed her to go down the stairs and smile.

During the editing stage of the project, I kind of left Jay to it, Alice was very clear about how she wanted it. At one point, several days before the deadline, I went in and had do part of the sound edit, which I didn't mind doing.

As a whole I felt we worked well as a team, there was times were people weren’t 'pulling their weight' but that was normally quite brief. On shoots everyone got involved, suggesting shots, setting up shots. The main ideas mainly came from Alice as she had a very clear vision in her head, so overall we worked great and there was real problems. Looking at the finished project, the quality of sound and picture wasn’t as good as I anticipated, which is disappointing, I like the film, I think its funny and light hearted, also I love the children’s performance, I just think some of the technical difficulties are clear.

The Semester

As for the semester overall I feel as if i've learnt a lot, more so because in this module I get the imply the techniques that I learnt in skills. With this first hand learning it became very easy to learn at my own pace, also being on a shoot with other people doing their jobs I could easily talk to them about what they're doing and how they're doing it, learning other parts such as sound too. I personally enjoyed being producer more than camera, I felt more involved with the overall project rather than just one aspect of it like on camera, or sound. I feel like I am an organised person and I enjoyed talking to people in Liverpool, organising meet ups and such a little more than having a smaller role during the drama. I also think I prefer documentary a little more than Drama, I do feel as if with drama you have a little more creative freedom, without limits you create your own idea. Overall I have enjoyed this semester, getting the opportunity to work in different creative positions, in different types of films.

Shoot #2

For the hopefully, final shoot we planned to shoot the opening scene and part of the end scene with the female actor. Setting off at around 2pm we got to Selby at 3 roughly and started shooting at half past. The actor (Alice's cousin) Max was great, he was open to sudden change and was patient while setting up. It was quite a productive shoot, we got most of what we wanted filmed apart from the school scene, were William is meant to be sat outside a school while there was a disco going on. This was not possible due to us being later finishing our other shoot and wanting to wait to get a better location rather than making something that isnt a school look like a school. Being camera operator I didn't particually run into any issues, apart from one at the start when after around 3/4 seconds the camera would bring up a message saying 'Movie Recording Stopped Automatically' inwhich we didn't understand but Jay searched through the options and found the route of the problem, which was easy to fix. 

We made sure we got some cut aways, which weren't orignally planned, Jay thought (as the editor) they could be useful to fill some of the gaps, or transitions. When filming the female child actor, also Alices cousin,  we did quite well, I wasn't particually happy with the lighting, it was all room lighting so it came out very orange and firey'. If possible this will require some attention in post production but it's only really about 10 seconds of footage. Overall it was a good shoot, now all the attention will be on editing with Jay and Shelton.

StoryBoarding.

 Being camera operator, I had a meeting with Alice and we came up with some ideas for the opening scene which I am quite happy with. So I drew these story boards help show the group and visualise what the finished piece will look like. We are quite open to changes on the day but Alice wants us to know exactly what we will shoot.

We will start not actually showing the character, we will show him walking down the stairs, doing his shoes up, zipping his coat, picking up his letter, and licking it and the back of him walking out the door. Mostly with close ups, this with the music I posted about in the previous post, will create some humours mystery surrounding the character. Most of this will be shot on a tripod, still. We chose this because he is just starting his journey, not even setting off yet, we need to keep the pace quite slow, so we can build it up later when he begins his journey, then delivers.

Unfortunately I have a previously organised commitment on the day we actually shoot the journey part of the film, but I am shooting the opening sequence and the last scenes a couple of days after in York. I chose to be camera so I can learn more about operating cameras with actors, which I haven't done much at all. Along with this, I feel I need to learn more technically with cameras, Jay, Alice and Shelton will be on location if I have any problems, so this will be a good learning opportunity to get to grips with the camera.

In terms of the physical journey I have story boarded in the top image, although I wont film some of this, I drew the story board and showed Chris (who will be filming in my place) the storyboard and the Lying To You video I showed in a previous post. So he knows what kind of style we are looking for in terms of cinematography.

Keaton Henson's 'Lying To You', Directed by Autumn De Wilde.

For this Drama project the protagonist is on a physical journey through a town, from experience in the Edale project, it is hard to capture a journey and keep the audiences attention. So I remembered this video, I am a fan myself of Keaton Henson myself, so I had seen this video before. I feel this video, directed by American photographer; Autumn De Wilde really captures an interesting way to film a journey, from a cinematography point. I like the way the director makes the location a focus point in the video as well as the travelling character. The angles facing her feet are my favourite, they really show the purpose; the journey.

This music video has really aided my problem solving. Due to there being virtually no budget for the film, we are unable to have any kind of rig, as the cinematographer would of used some kind of rig/track. The closest and cheapest way of replicating this in our style is by filming from a car. Myself and Alice will have to discuss this, but Lying To You certainly has helped overcome this issue.

The Soundtrack/Sound

Pink Martini - Let's Never Stop Falling In Love

Although being camera operator, i've had input on the different aspects of the film, Directing/producing/sound, the same applies to other people in the group. Jay suggested this as the sound track, and at first I didn't understand the suggestion but now, I couldn't imagine the film without it. At first I thought of the soundtrack being quite cheerful (as this is) but something classical, to reflect the character, I didn't have anything like this in mind but I realised this really captures the mood of the piece, light hearted and with this music, kind of poetic. Alice's script is really light hearted, cheerful and witty, and I feel this song reflects this so well, I think it should be introduced at the start, introducing the tone of the film from the off. This creates a mood/tone of the film straight away, creating a positive feel, hoping this will help the audience relate to the child.

Ella Fitzgerald - My Funny Valentine

This is another song I think would fit the tone and message of the film. It is a little show for the pace we have planned but I just thought that maybe it would suit it well. 

Once (2006)

Once stood out for me, because of its cinematography and its unconventional love story. Directed by an Irish film maker, John Carney, the film Once is set in the heart of Dublin, the main character, a busker struggling get by by playing on the streets of Dublin, meets an immigrant and from there the story is told of their eventful week, writing, making and recording music about their love.

'The formula is simple: two people, a few instruments, 88 minutes and not a single false note.' The New York Times 2007

This is a totally unconventional love story, there a no moments when definite love is obvious, no kiss, or hand holding, only through music is the love evident. Along with this type of story telling, the camera work inspires me. The majority of scenes are shot hand held, sometimes simply circling the action, with a sudden zoom or movement. Once is a very low budget film, but even with this the crew/cast manage to create something so simple and powerful.

A Wagon Fording a Stream by Peter Paul Rubens.

While visiting London I looked around the National Gallery, I found many pieces inspiring, but this in particularly stood out. I feel this captures the protagonist child; William Arthur Swift's lifestyle, or his personality. When looking at this I can imagine William Swift walking through fields desperately but proudly on his way to deliver this letter to his young love. The colours in this piece influence me also, I feel Rubens has chosen very traditional colours, almost royal colours. I feel that the colour that William should be wearing is mustard, or dark reds/crimsons. This will connate a rich background, creating a story about the child as soon as the audience looks at the character. Here art direction could dramatically change the audiences perception of our main character, I want the audience to like the character, not snobby, as the costume could imply if not picked right.