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During our first lesson we were given a little introduction to the module. We found out

that we are making short films which I was very excited to hear because one of our previous

modules was to create our own interpretation of the first scene from Scream and I loved

learning new production skills. However, there was already a script and a story there, this module

we get to create our own storylines and write our own scripts which I am very excited about. I think

that this module will give a lot of room for creativity and will be exciting as I have never created a short film from scratch

before! Watching some short films during the lesson such as Doodlebug helped me to get an idea of what kind of a story we can create for our

short film. In this module I have been thinking that I may want to be cinematographer as I have not done it before but would love

the opportunity to try. My only concern is that may not be very good at it, but I would love to try!

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Doodlebug - A Christopher Nolan Short Film (year: 1997)

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We started brainstorming ideas of what we could do for our film and James came up with an idea about a clown giving people balloons and then they turn into clowns too and creating almost a clown army. This got us all on the idea of clowns being a main part of the film.

Going further into the clown theme, we came up with other ideas such as, a clown in a non-clown world, living as an ordinary man and masking who he really is. However, gradually he comes out of his shell, clowning up more and more and by the end he accepts who he is and goes full on clown mode. Once again, just another brainstormed idea, but staying with the clown theme. We then thought of a brief character description for him and thought he would should have a very ordinary middle-aged man name; we settled on Tony who is rough looking, quite worn out kind and this lead to Tatty Tony. We thought he should still have makeup of a clown but quite washed out and sad looking, then wearing a suit and holding a bride case and we just follow him as he goes about his day. All of the ideas from todays lesson don't seem quite right for the film as none have properly stood out to us, but we are definitely going to keep with the clown theme. Over the time period between lessons I am going to think of a few clown themed ideas that could be used for our film.

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Idea:

Mischievous clown in circus already

Starts taking his act outside of the circus

Is it an act anymore?

Has he taken his clowning too far?

He then gets in big trouble outside the circus

(have not thought of what could happen yet)

Gets fired from the circus, looses his clown gear and becomes depressed

Goes into a home for retired clowns

I am not sure where this idea came from and am not precious about it but just thought it would be a good to try and think of some ideas. This is my first time trying to think of an idea for a short film and I found it fun, however, I realised that as soon as I am put on the spot to think of ideas my mind goes blank. After a bit of thinking though it eventually came to me and became quite fun using my imagination to create a scenario of my choosing. I definitely want to improve my ability to think of ideas for short films and that's why I am excited for this module.

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We decided as a group that none of the characters should have names and they should instead just be The Wife, The Husband, The Clown. This is because we decided

that we want our film to be an almost completely non-verbal short film as we want to create an off-beat, non-naturalistic feel to it. None of the characters really need to be named as there won't be much dialogue so also adding to the non-naturalistic feel we want.

The Wife:

dressed in red dress

silky dark brown hair, curled

red lipstick, glittery eyeshadow, gold jewellery

very glamorous, smiley and overly happy

The Husband:

wearing creased white shirt, expensive watch, expensive phone

seems like he is well off but looks rough at the moment

obnoxious, obsessed with phone, ignoring wife

The Clown:

quite creepy clown makeup

maybe tall and skinny

sort of old fashioned clown costume

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In lesson we learnt the responsibilities of the director and the producer which I found interesting to learn about for future reference as for this module I am hoping to be cinematographer but would like to try directing and producing in the future.

The director has the role of communicating their creative vision, marking up scripts/storyboarding and working with actors both on and off set.

The producer has the role of organizing the work flow and schedules, resourcing (securing locations, release forms, health and safety checks, financing, equipment etc) and budgeting.

At points during the process their roles may overlap, however, primarily these are the responsibilities of the director and producer. The main thing that differentiates.

One director I really like is Tim Burton. I love his quirky and obscure ideas and I think the way he presents these stories is very creative and engaging to watch. He also has done a variety of different kinds of films ranging from stop motion such as Frankenweenie to live action films such as Alice Through the Looking Glass. This creepy style that Tim Burton follows in his movies is something that correlates to themes in our short film as we are trying to achieve something that is quirky and a bit off-beat.

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During this lesson we shared ideas we had thought up over the weekend and ended up sort of merging ideas together, tweaking things and after discussion came up with a

rough idea of the final idea for our film.

Rough storyline:

Husband and wife are having their anniversary dinner. The Husband is ignoring The Wife and looking at his phone, however she seems very happy, almost excited.

There is a knock at the door and The Husband ushers The Wife to get it without even looking up, but she has already gone in a very excited manner.

The wife opens the door and brings into the room this clown and presents it to her husband almost like a gift.

The Husband who is clearly scared of clowns is very annoyed with The Wife for bringing over this clown but she doesn't seem bothered at all. There is a very strange mood in the room from the presence of this clown.

The Clown is being a nuisance and making clown jokes but not very well which is making the husband more and more worked up, The Wife on the other hand is laughing hysterically at every single thing he is doing.

The Clown becomes slowly more sinister and eventually The Husband tried to stand up and the Clown puts his hand on his shoulders, sits him down and then pops a balloon above his head. The Husband's head then drops to the table.

The Clown takes his wedding ring off his finger and puts it on his own, pushed the guy off his seat and takes his place. He then takes a glass of champagne and cheers with The Wife.

Camera pans around and The Wife has got a face full of clown makeup and cheers back with a wide grin on her face.

There is then a wide shot and we see them finishing the dinner and the husband on the floor while they have dinner.

I love this idea and am really happy with the place we are at currently. I have do have an image in my head of what the film may look like but am so excited to see how all of our ideas merge together to create something maybe totally different from what it was at the beginning. As within just a week the idea as changed so much, however, I think this is a solid draft of the final idea.

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The Wife - Mid twenties, looks very glamorous and has clearly spent time making this meal for their anniversary. She has a face like thunder and is either acting like The Husband isn't their or glaring at him with dead eyes. We can see she no longer cares for this relationship.

The Husband - Mid twenties, looks a bit disheveled with messy hair and a creased white shirt. He doesn't show much attention or appreciation towards The Wife and seems like the kind to not care much about others.

The Clown - Middle aged, imposing figure with a dead look in his eyes and terrifying smile. He brings an uneasy presence for The Husband.

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Genre - horror

Themes - broken relationships, new relationships, circus, death.

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The Husband and The Wife are eating dinner in a very solemn manner with Jazz music playing in the background. The Husband gestures for the The Wife to fill up his wine and she drinks her own, fills up her glass and then continues eating.

There is then a knock on the door. The Wife jumps out of her seat for the door, leaving The Husband alone and confused.

The Wife goes to the front door, freshens herself up and opens the front door with a massive grin on her face.

There stands The Clown holding a balloon by his head with a dead expression on his face.

The Wife then parades The Clown into the dining room, presenting it to The Husband and says "Happy Anniversary!"

The Husband is very confused and a bit on edge by the presence of The Clown.

The Husband tries to stand up in protest but The Clown puts his hands on his shoulders, sits him down and puts a party hat on him.

The Clown then goes over to the record player and turns over the record which then changes the music to circus music.

Two spotlights then shine on The Clown as he attempts to blow up a balloon but fails sending the balloon smacking The Husband's face. The Wife laughs hysterically, clapping to the music.

The Clown then places a hand on The Husband's shoulder and gestures for him to sniff a fake flower. the Husband is not convinced but does it anyway, getting squirted in the face with water.

The Clown then waltzes over The Wife, taking her hand and escorting her to chair and they both look at The Husband with grins on their faces.

This is the last straw for The Husband, he rips off his party hat, marches over to the record player and stops the music.

The Clown glares at The Husband and slowly begins to approach him taking a pin from the top of his party hat, backing The Husband into the chair at the head of the table.

The Clown towers over The Husband and pops the balloon causing The Husband's head to drop onto the table with a smack.

The Clown and The Wife are now sat at the table. The Clown pours The Wife and himself a glass of wine, cheers and then continue the food leaving The Husband head down at the top of the table.

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My sister's university house, Fallowfield

Lily's Nan's house, Whitefield

Em's university house, Salford

I am really glad that at this point in the process we already have three possible locations we could use. The most ideal would probably be Em's house as it is in Salford so would mean less of a travel. However, I don't think travel will be that problematic as we can spilt ubers if needs be. One issue with my sister's house is that they don't have a dining table so we would have to try find one which would be difficult to find and also get to her house.

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clown costume (may be able to get from equipment store)

red helium balloons

food

costume for wife/husband (may be able to provide)

candles (Olivia has some) - risk assessment

face paint/ makeup

tablecloth (may be able to borrow one)

party decorations (bunting, party hats, balloons)

joke water flower

red wine which will be juice

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For my practical research I booked out a camera and went with James (producer) to our location so I could get some test shots. This meant both me and the producer could check and approve the location. It also meant that I could start creating my floorplan and storyboards as I knew what our set looks like. Getting some test shots already made me start thinking about ideas for shots and how it will look when we have the lighting and set all done up. One issue we did encounter is there is a big mirror on one of the walls which will limit shots and some point. However, I think it is definitely manageable.

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At the beginning of this lesson we still didn't have some people in our group so I almost was doing camera and lighting which would have been fine just a bit more work. However, everyone ended up turning up which was really good as we were able to confirm that they are both free for all filming dates and caught them up with what we had done so far.

I feel a mixture of nervousness and excitement for filming. I am excited to get on the camera and start the practical element which isn't just storyboarding and shots lists. However, I'm not sure if some people in our group have been in enough to understand the story and mood we are going for which could mean they haven't done their pre production tasks for filming, meaning filming may not be as efficient.

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On the Wednesday before we started filming me and James made a booking with the costume department to have a look at what they had, both of us were praying they had something that would work. We ended up being very successful and secured a full clown suit, clown shoes and a clown wig which all worked perfectly with the style we were going for. James was able to secure all props that we needed so we were all set for filming!

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Getting to know the role of cinematographer:

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Getting to know the role of cinematographer:

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I am really enjoying getting to know the role of cinematographer as I have never tried it before and feel as if I am teaching myself along the way. During this process I have found that this role is a lot more than just operating the camera and saying camera rolling. You need to prepare so much before the shoot and a lot of imagination and creativity has to go into it as you are just trying to visualize what shots would look good and create the effect we want for that moment.

I have also really enjoyed familiarizing myself with different shots through doing the shot lists as I knew what the shot I wanted looked like however was not sure of the technical name so couldn't write it on my shot list. I enjoyed doing my shot lists however I found it tedious at times but overall I liked getting a better understanding of different shots and camera angles.

Storyboarding has been difficult as I am not the best artist, however it did definitely help me a lot with visualization. I think in the future I would try doing my storyboarding before shot lists as while storyboarding I found a clearer image forming in my head of what the shots will look like, adding to my vision for the piece.

When completing floorplans I was pleasantly surprised because when I first looked at the software I had no idea what it was or how to use it. I have never really done any digital design apart from in secondary school but it was a different software and a long time ago. I started having a look at the different tools and understanding what I can use and how. Once I had a rough understanding I started recreating the room from memory from the visit and found it really fun and oddly satisfying.

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Sep 13, 2020 — A complete guide to types shots and angles in film. Covers types of camera shots by shot size, camera angle, framing, focal length and…

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When thinking about the character of The Clown the first image that came to my head was Pennywise and IT. This obviously is a very well known example of a creepy, killer clown so looked at some clips for inspiration.

When visualizing the character of The Clown it reminded me of another character which I couldn't put my finger on for ages. It then suddenly came to me. When I am visualize the scene of The Clown backing The Husband into his chair it reminds me of the scene in The Shining when Jack is backing Wendy up the stairs. I am thinking that I can take inspiration from those and show it from the perspective of both characters in the moment, however because this is the climax of the film will make the shot changes switch faster top create tension and suspense.

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Chuck Has A Meltdown And Passes Out | Nailed | Better Call Saul   (watch from 3:45-4:15)

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I have no past experience in being cinematographer or really using a camera at all but have always thought it looked really interesting and fun. I have been trying to think about different types of shots and how I can make it look interesting to watch. After a bit of thinking I realized when put on the spot again I can't think of cool shot ideas. I then decided to actually just watch some tv so I could look at what other people have done and how specific shots made me feel as the viewer. Doing this really helped me have some ideas for shots and has gotten me more excited about starting filming and seeing how it turns out.

I watched Better Call Saul and was looking at the scene when chuck hits his head, the close ups aren't stable and are quick cut shots of Chuck and the lights which are tinted giving the viewer a better insight into his delirious state. When he hits his head there a close up of the impact and a quick shot change to see him fall down. This gave me a shot idea as in our film we have the husband slam his head down on the table when the balloon pops, so I could use a similar shot of a close up and may rest the camera on the table and have a close up then quick change to The Wife and The Clown having a drink. I have now realized that once you start taking notice on different shots you never stop analyzing shots in anything you watch which is a blessing and curse, however, it is helping me broaden my shot ideas.

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Chuck Has A Meltdown And Passes Out | Nailed | Better Call Saul

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James Conwell - Producer

Oliwia Kielch - Director

Leah Memmory - Lighting

Emily Salkeld - Sound

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We have now decided on location which will be Lily's Nan's house as it is works best for the film and also another group are already filming there but at different times so we are going to share equipment with them, saving the risk of broken equipment and easier for travel. We also have now decided on roles and I am really happy as I am cinematographer which I was really interested in giving a go. My responsibilities are having all camera equipment and SD cards, to communicate with the director and producer so I understand their vision, look at the marked up script, checking and approving locations and making shotlists, floorplans, and storyboards. During this week all of us will go away and do our pre-production tasks so we are prepared to start filming on the 16th until the 23rd.

I am slightly worried that production may go off track a bit as we haven't had a whole group in a while and I don't think they know their roles or much about the story. We are just going to try keep them updated with what is happening until they get back and hopefully they will be here for filming.

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https://floorplancreator.net/plan/edit/3845466

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Our filming was supposed to start on the 16th however I had completely forgotten that I was getting the train back to London for a job interview so we ended up starting filming on the 19th. Overall filming didn't go very efficiently. It took us a very long time to set up and realized we had forgotten food for the dinner they were eating to had to do that. Once we eventually got filming things were going all well and we were getting some good footage, the only real issue was that the mirror limited some of my shot ideas but I was able to work around them. We then get to doing a scene with balloons so go to fill up one of the balloons with helium and one of our actors accidently let all of the helium out of the canister in about 3 seconds with a massive pop (this got added to our risk assessment). This then meant we were unable to film so much that we wanted to film as we didn't have the balloons. After that we ended up only being able to do a few other shots as most of them needed the balloons so didn't get much done. Overall, filming today wasn't very successful as we didn't get much done, however, definitely and learning curve and we will definitely get balloons pre-filled with helium next time.

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Filming day 2 went better as we got a lot more footage done, however there were other problems that we faced. The first problem we encountered was before filming even started, the other group had accidently given back all of the equipment forgetting we needed to use it as well so I had to quickly book out all the camera, sound and lighting equipment as the others apparently couldn't take out equipment from the store. I was lucky that they had everything we needed as it was about half an hour before we started shooting. However, when we got to the shoot because I don't really know much about sound equipment I had accidently booked out the wrong boom mic for the right boom role, so we had to improvise. This didn't end up being to much of an issue as our film is mostly non-verbal. Once we set everything up we realized that we hadn't taken into consideration that flowers don't live forever so the flowers that we had on the table were dead meaning we had to rush out and find flowers that were as similar as possible, which we did successfully. Once we got to filming we were able to get nearly everything done, however due to complications of filming days and the helium issue some stuff got pushed back so we were missing a few shots in the end. This was okay though as we still had our reshoot day that we could use for those shots. Filming was going fairly smoothly and until both of our aputure lights died. We were lucky to find a matching cable and charged them up, however this meant more waiting around so more time wasted. Overall, filming today went alright, we encountered lots of issues but were able to solve them and get as much as we could done.

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I think that today's filming was the best yet. I booked out all of the equipment in advance and made sure to come prepared with multiple aputure lights so if one run out we could swap them out and also got battery charges in case the camera battery died ect. We then set up quickly and efficiently and got the clown makeup done quickly. The only issue we had was that the camera was on a strange setting causing some functions of the camera were invalid to use. This setting made it harder for me to focus as there was something blocking parts of the screen, but I was able to get it in focus and work around it. We were able to get all of our filming done quickly and all left feeling pretty happy with the footage we had gotten. Now the only thing we are missing is sound effects that Em (sound) can do as it is just cutlery in food, doors opening, wine poured ect. Filming is now all done and I am really pleased with what we have got and just hope we have enough for when we start editing next week.

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Overall, I found the production process very stressful but really enjoyable and fun to do. I found even the most annoying and tedious parts a good experience as it is setting me up for the future as by making mistakes now means I will learn from them and then when I am in the industry I will know what to do and how to get things done more efficiently. I found being on camera a lot of fun and found myself just thinking on instinct and trying to stick to shot lists but often straying and doing what felt right at the time. I really enjoyed using the New Adelphi equipment store and realized how much they have to offer and have been inspired to hire some stuff out of my own and create my own little project or just play about with the equipment to get a better idea of how to use it. Overall, this module has definitely challenged me and has made me come out of my comfort zone but I have enjoyed taking on these challenges and problem solving my way through it. I guess the only thing that was disappointing was that we didn't have the whole group most of the time which at times was difficult and a bit annoying, however, we got there in the end.

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Overall I have really enjoyed the editing process and feel that I have a much better understanding of how to use Adobe Premiere Pro and how to edit in general. I found our editing lessons really helpful as a lot of tools that I had no idea how to use before became a lot more manageable and I realised that I actually do really enjoy editing and find myself really getting into the zone of it and not being able to stop. Even after I had thought I had finished my edit I found myself going back to try and challenge myself and make it look as smooth running as I could.

One problem I did face was with our sound. During filming our sound effects person accidentally forgot to record any of our audio on the second day and on the third day the mic didn't fit onto the boom pole so we ended up having no sound effects. However, we realised it was manageable as there is not really any audio, so we said she would be able to do them separately and send them over. We then didn't end up getting any of our sound effects so I spent a lot of time finding more online which was difficult for a few of them but manageable.