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Today we focused on what assessment two is and what are options are for it. The proof of concept can be either test shots, a trailer, or a filmed scene. I am thinking of doing test shots as of now, as I don't have a clear idea for a narrative / storyline, just a style or vibe.

My initial idea is to film a simple storyline in a very artistic way, like a rock music video. My inspiration is from 90s and 00s punk-ish rock music videos and their particular style. For example fish-eye lens, mixed media, split-screen, wide-lens, quick zoom, etc.

I am also taking heavy inspiration from the avant-garde, postmodernist style music videos of Maneskin e.g.:

Gossip ft. Tom Morello

ZITTI E BUONI

I WANNA BE YOUR SLAVE

MAMMAMIA

OFF MY FACE

I think test shots fits my idea best so far, as I am currently focusing on visual style and aesthetic.

As well as filming visuals, I also have an idea for the editing style, if I did want to try the other proofs of concept. I would like to emulate the editing style of Edgar Wright who is also quite stylistic. The film example which I think shows this best is Scott Pilgrim vs the World (Wright, 2010), specifically the Pac-Man Party Scene - this scene also uses mixed-media and transitions, similar to a music video.

My next step is to figure out a storyline, and then lock in which proof of concept I am going to do.

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I think this week's lecture was helpful in showing e what kind of director I need ot be to make this film efficiently. My main take-aways are:

create a positive work environment where cast and crew feel safe and like they can trust you (director/producer), you are cooperative and willing to collaborate, have accountability.

Playable actions:

Instead of telling an actor to "act tired", give them an explanation like, "you've been up all night and you want to go home".

(From the Nine Principles of Directing Actors - Cohn, 2021, pp: 5-7)

In the second half of the class, I discussed with Georgiana my ideas and she gave advice. The ideas I said were:

I want the film to take place over a few hours or just a few days.

Very simple storyline, just shot stylistically.

Something very quick-paced with a sense of urgency - kind of like Run Lola Run (Tykwer, 1998) but with just the one storyline.

Possible storyline: teenager been left alone all week to housesit and parents come back early so suddenly need to prepare house for their arrival.

Also had the separate idea of adapting a music video into a short film.

Georgiana's feedback:

Adapting a mv into a short film sounds too complicated, wouldn't recommend.

The teenager left home alone story sounds good and she thinks it will work well as a short film, and she'd be interested in seeing it.

Having the timeline of just one or a few days is a good idea too.

Recommended watching Locke (Knight, 2013) - as this has the sort of vibe I am going for.

I think that from this discussion, I will go with the home alone storyline and still fit with my intended rock aesthetic. Although now that I have a vague plot, I think a trailer may work better for my proof of concept.

Inspiration for storyline:

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules - After Party Cleanup Scene

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This week I just carried on with pre-production whilst half of the class were in the TV studio.

I figured out what the plot of my film will be and some specific shots I can get for the trailer.

Here is what I wrote down:

teenager / young adult left to house sit for either parents or older sibling

“We’ll be back in a week, see you on Sunday. Oh and once again. Thank you so much for doing this. You’ve matured so much. I remember when you were just this little kid following me about copying me, now you’re taller than me and going to university! You are gonna do us all so proud” and so on.

So to fast-forward through the different days, it can be matching shots. So the camera does not move. It’s a wide shot showing the whole living room. Text will show up on the screen showing what day it is.

So “MONDAY”, shows them lying about all day. Eating food on the sofa, dropping a bit, going ‘whoops’ but then leaving it. (As in not picking it up).

Different angles and shots can be used for the scenes of the different days. But for the first shot of each day - with the text showing the day of the week - the shot should be the same, wide shot of the living room. Thus showing the house getting more and more messy each day.

“TUESDAY” this is where I can do the split screens of playing the bass. Shot on the right of the hand doing notes, and shot on the left of the hand picking. Or can be above and below. Whichever looks better. This day should show the protagonist getting very bored. Starts to maybe mess about a bit. E.g. seeing how far can throw something into the laundry basket. Then changing to smaller targets like a box, then a bowl, then a mug. This is where we can do whip pans.

So I think it definitely needs to be a parents house, because I want to use my room to be the character’s room.

I think they should be in secondary school and/or sixth form. And maybe hint to the fact that they don’t have a lot of friends and they spend most of their time listening to music on the headphones.

So for example, the film could start with the protagonist sitting at a bus stop or on a bench wearing headphones, listening to music of course, and two students pass by her, talking about her saying like; “oh man I’ve never heard her speak. She’s always wearing those headphones innit” (or something along those lines).

So at one point during the week she gets the idea to throw a party (or a ranger if you will). She finds a video on TikTok of this proper charver giving advice on how to throw a 'rager'.

In this advice (see voice notes) he says to just name drop as many people as you can when inviting people so they don’t want to be left out so she thinks back to her room and the posters on her wall and starts naming famous people some of these can be really obvious for instance the Beatles. “John, Paul, George, Ring… uhhh Richard.” Use this opportunity to be quite pastiche and reference pop culture. “Barbie, Stacie, Nickie, yuh.”, “Barbra? Boris, Johns… John.”

Show the posters of the people she mentions when she mentions them.

I think the protagonist should be a girl who is possibly neurodivergent.

I have created a quick storyboard for a sequence I have in mind - this can be seen attached to this post. I would like to use frame velocity to capture the chaos of some scenes, possibly incorporating rhythmic editing. This specific shot will use quick speed to show the disorder being created as the protagonist is getting more bored. I will use this technique again in the cleaning up scenes as that is when the most haste and tension will occur. Inspiration for sequence: Whiplash whip pan shot (0:17-0:43). Research on this technique: (Bordwell, Thompson and Smith, 2019, p.202).

Title ideas

A Week Left Unsupervised

A Week Without Supervision

The Clean Up

Seven Days Unsupervised

I like Seven Days Unsupervised.

Next steps:

Cast

Crew

Shot list

Shooting schedule

Storyboards

Floor plan

Risk assessments

Consent forms

Budget

Next week I am in the TV studio, but for Week 10, I need to have a clear plan of:

where and when you
will shoot (your schedule)

who you will work with (cast and crew)

So that we can complete production paperwork in week 10, and FILM IN WEEK 11.

References:

Bordwell, D., Thompson, K., & Smith, J. (2019). Film art : an introduction. (Twelfth edition / David Bordwell, Kristin Thompson, Jeff Smith.). McGraw-Hill Education.

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This week I was in the TV studio to practise directing actors. I created my own short script that I gave to Abigeal and Lily, and I let them improvise and ad-lib along with the lines. The script was:

Dave: Oh hello, you're back early.

Linda: Sigh.

Dave: What's wrong?

Linda: McVities fired me.

Dave: What?!

Linda: They were changing the Digestives recipe! I had to revolt!

Dave: [gasp] no! We must revolt at once!

My intention was to direct a comedic scene as I am leaning towards the comedy genre in my assignment. Thus, I thought this would be good practice for that, without actually doing anything to do with my trailer.

I thought this was quite helpful as we haven't had the chance to direct in a TV studio before, so I was grateful for the opportunity. I thought it was also helpful to work with the TV studio staff, learning the different terms and sayings, as well as getting advice from them on what looks best on camera. This was especially good with the lighting, as I was able to describe the type of lighting I wanted to Ryan and he emulated that well.

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This week I was unfortunately not in the class as I was unwell. However, I continued with my pre-production paperwork. I created my two risk assessments - one for the scenes outside, and one for the scenes inside the house. I could not make a risk assessment per 'scene' due to me making a film trailer, meaning I'm not exactly doing full scenes but rather just shots.

I had a little but of trouble in that the actor for my film dropped out due to their schedule. Thus I had to quickly find another actor in time for the next week. This was not ideal, although it was partially my fault in that I should have chosen an actor of whom I knew would be absolutely reliable. However, I did manage to get a new actor, Jess, who I know will most definitely be dependable.

I also created a shot list and discussed this with Jess, along with my production assistant, Inaya. This was useful in letting Jess know exactly what she will be doing in next week's filming, and asking her permission to see if she would be comfortable in performing what I had planned. She was in agreement with everything I put in the shot list, and even provided some more ideas which were very useful.

When explaining my creative vision to Inaya, she added that the aesthetic I am going for is quite similar to Wes Anderson's 2012 film, Moonrise Kingdom. We watched the trailer and I agree that this is certainly the vibe I am aiming to achieve. I won't be as incredibly accurate at Anderson's cinematography and colouring, but similar, especially in the acting style - quite monotone in a comedic way, narrative, and childish (Lannom, 2021).

Looking at the trailer also helped me start thinking of what exactly I want my trailer to look like. Since I have not edited a trailer before and I am not incredibly certain on how to edit a trailer, thus looking at trailers for films similar to my own will surely help to know what my trailer should generally look like.

I also drew up my consent forms, ethical applications and my shooting schedule, ready for filming next week.

References

Anderson, W. (Director). (2012). Moonrise Kingdom. Focus Features.

Lannom, S. C. (2021). The Wes Anderson Style Explained: Ultimate Guide. StudioBinder. https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/wes-anderson-style/#wes-anderson-characters

Morgan, Z. (2023, May 1). Unpacking Wes Anderson’s Cinematic Style. Curzon. https://www.curzon.com/journal/unpacking-wes-anderson-s-cinematic-style/

Universal Pictures Ireland. (2012). Moonrise Kingdom - Official Trailer [HD]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/_eOI3AamSm8?si=f4PhCEI-SPzajbB5

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This week I planned to film on Thursday 28th November as this day was best for me and my actors and crew. Unfortunately filming started a bit later than I wanted as my risk assessments had not yet been signed. Yet, they were signed eventually after I made a few changes to them. I was too vague at first and did not give enough information as to why the actions/risks would be taking place. Therefore I added in more context, and they were then signed. I will remember for next time I create risk assessments to be very precise and detailed.

Filming went decently well, however I was not able to get one shot I had planned and created a storyboard for. This was for the opening scene, where the camera slowly zooms in to Jess's face as she writes in her diary. I did not realise that I got lenses which could not zoom, and since the shot was relying on zooming in, I did not have a dolly booked out to make it a tracking shot instead. Thus, I had to just film some still shots instead (medium and close-up). This was quite annoying as I think the shot would have looked a lot better if I had been able to zoom or track.

I also messed up quite badly when filming the last scene as I accidentally pressed the HFR button, meaning the last shots were filming in half-speed. This was not ideal obviously, so when I noticed that they were in slow-motion when I went to review a clip, I cut filming short for the day as I wasn't sure what I had done and evidently did not want to keep filming in the wrong speed. From the help of people in my class, I figured out what I had done wrong and fixed it. This was very annoying as I wanted to film more this day, however there was nothing much more I could do about it apart from attempt to film the rest on my back-up filming day next week (3rd December). At least I have learned from this to be very careful when positioning the camera to not accidentally press buttons, and to keep checking the footage after scenes to ensure they have been filmed correctly.

Another thing that went wrong was the noise and distractions from the front garden. Unfortunately there were emergency roadworks down the street the house is located, meaning there was a lot more traffic than usual. This meant the shots were quite difficult to shoot and eventually unusable as it was just too loud for sound and the cars in the background were not great for continuity.

This filming day was a bit disappointing but I am glad I got at least half of the trailer filmed, and I am happy with the way the shots look.

I also filmed a youtube video which I have edited and uploaded to YouTube for the protagonist to find when looking up what a 'motive' is. It is quite unserious and fits the silly humour which should hopefully come through in the trailer. The whole video can be found at this link, although only really short clips will be used in the trailer.

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This week we filmed the rest of the shots. This filming day did not go much smoother than the last one but at least I did get enough shots for the trailer. The main problem this week was the camera batteries. Although I had charged them overnight, only one of the batteries seemed to be fully charged. So I had to keep on swapping out batteries, charging one of them whilst I used the other two and swapping them out again once one died. This was not ideal as they were dying quickly, meaning I felt I was rushing filming so I think I would've liked to have spent a bit more time perfecting the shots I wanted. However, due to scheduling conflicts in the equipment store, I was not able to book the camera and lighting out any longer. I did get enough shots, I just would have liked to have filmed another take of the ending shot, as I thought the acting could have been a bit better. But, as I was giving directions to the actor, the final battery died and we ran out of time. I think the acting in the take we did get will still work with the style, as it is quite monotone and silly, but if I could change it, it would make the character more panicked.

As I had a limited number of actors, this limited me in being able to show that a lot of people were coming to Jess's 'motive'. To solve this, I filmed a still shot of three crew (Aaliyah, Grace and Inaya) from the shoulders-down, walking into the living room. I did a few takes with them wearing a few different outfits, to make it look like (hopefully) one continuous shot of many people entering the room. When I edit it this week, I will see if this actually looks plausible.

Apart from the issues mentioned, I think the shots I got this week look good. I particularly like the short post-it notes clips, as well as the throwing of the sweets scene. They emulate the stylistic look I was hoping for. And I think the conversation between Jess and Inaya outside (in the back, not the front garden) looks quite symmetrical.

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I have finished editing and I think I have done the best I can. The final trailer is very long for a trailer, I am aware. However, the brief is that the proof of concept is 3-5 minutes long, which I have followed. Editing is not completely my strong suit and this has definitely helped with it as I have learnt new methods on Premier Pro - such as changing the speed and duration of clips which I had to do for my shots which were filmed in half speed. I think the end product encapsulates the vibes of the film, but maybe show too much of the story. Although, the ending of the trailer would not be the ending of the film, more a climax leading to falling action.