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We sat there, all 3 of us, in our house together after our Video Project meeting. We had a discussion about possibly making a film together but it is in the New Year when serious discussions were had. Me, Alex (Director) & Brad (Scriptwriter) eventually decided that we were going to make a film, and wanted to centre it around gentrification. This is a key issue in todays society - but the question was how do we make this a plot for a short, 15 minute film?

The answer was not exactly a simple one. Before our pitch, some devising meetings were had, to discuss what could possibly be the overarching story. We liked the idea of a young couple, forced to move out of their home, due to rising costs - and put in a place that helps people like them to start working again, to get back on their feet, ran by the government (or so it is implied).

But with this, we were scared of losing the underlying theme of gentrification. After more discussion, we decided that we were kind of okay with losing that theme, and making the theme more government control/mind control & experimenting with the loss of individuality. We looked to some films such as Don't Worry Darling (2022), Vivarium (2019) & Midsommar (2019) for inspiration and reference.

After this, we created our presentation and pitched our idea, which got selected! Next was over to Brad to write the script. Me and Alex offered Brad any help he needed over the course of writing, which mainly consisted of him checking themes and references with Alex, but also checking things were doable within location and budget with myself.

After a few meetings with our Supervisor, Khieng, and the other group he was supervising, we were ready to hold our auditions and interviews.

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Auditions and Interviews were an interesting, if not a slightly challenging process. As Producer, I received a sheet with everyone in our groups preferred choices of what role they would like to be. Our partner group received the same sheet. Now, we had a lot of requests for Actor, 1st AD and Production Co-ordinator.

Obviously, not everyone could be placed into these roles and we also had to collaborate with the other group on what they wanted, to make sure no one was placed into the same role twice.

I then scheduled interviews and auditions to take place on Thursday 9th February. I worked with the other group around timings and we stated that they would go in the morning, and we would go in the afternoon - however, once we had started, it became easier to just take people in once the other group had finished with them. It made the process that little bit quicker and was more simple for us and them.

Once we had finished, we went home that evening and me, Alex & Brad had a meeting about our top choices for each role, knowing that we would probably have to compromise with the other group. We also had some people where roles were set, and we had to put them in those certain roles, which threw us off slightly.

In our meeting on Friday 10th May, with the other groups Producer, Director and Scriptwriter, we went over their preferred cast and compromised where we could. The process took around 90 minutes but was fairly straightforward. We both wanted Cameron & Royia to be our actors, however, we gave them Cameron and they gave us Royia, and that was the compromise we made. Kira had to be first AD in one of the films & an actor in the other, so we decided that Kira was going to act for us and be their first AD.

There was a struggle to find an editor for our film, but we called Jasmine to see if she'd be happy to edit for us, considering we know she has good ability to edit - but this was not one of her options. She agreed, and that concluded the meeting and signalled the end of the audition and interview process.

I have included some examples of my posts to the team during this process below.

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After wrapping, we were made aware of an issue with Scene 18 by Jasmine, our editor. It had seemed that because of an issue with formatting, we had lost it. Again, gutting, but not the worst scene to lose in terms of the overall film.

After Easter, I gave our group the option of what they wanted to do - 2 options, to reshoot the same scene or to write and reshoot if availability was scarce. Unfortunately, availability was an issue and we had to rework the scene to contain just Lauren on her own.

The scene still turned out well and I am proud of it, but making sure everything is processed with the editor is definitely something to remember for next time, and I am grateful to have experienced this learning curve.

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Being a Producer on the second block of the project came with both benefits and hinderances. Yes, we had more time to prep for pre-production, but we were in more of a tight schedule with filming days due to Easter being close. I knew this production had to run like a tight ship. In speaking with Alex, our Director and Brad, our Scriptwriter, I decided to make a schedule for Pre-Production to ensure that everyone was making the most effective use of their time. You can find the schedule enclosed.

Here you will see, that I took a rather different approach to the other projects taking place in my year. Instead of keeping everyone in 9-5 everyday, I decided to hold meetings with individual or groups of people in 1-2 hour slots either on some or all of the days, dependent on scale of work that was to be completed. I let the cast and crew know though, that even if they weren't required to be there, we had a room where they could do work or come in and rehearse. However, if they were not scheduled in, they could get on with the work or rehearse from the comfort of their own home, or anywhere. I kept up to date with all cast and crew however, to make sure the work was being completed.

In doing this, we allowed more time for important things like the shot list to be completed, costume to be fitted, and rehearsals to take place in a more relaxed environment than a stressful one. Taking this decision, I believe was the correct one as the group dynamic was always upbeat, everyone came to meetings energised and from what I could gather, everyone was enjoying themselves. That's what I tried to put at the heart of this project - enjoyment. I understand this was our last project, so if handled in the right way, could be one to remember.

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During the edit process, Alex & Jasmine really took the lead on this, but with Premiere Pro experience and a good technical ability - I was there on call or on hand if they needed any help whatsoever. I was in the room during the edit to oversee and make sure that everything was going to plan, alongside Brad - enjoy this images of the edit process, provided by Jasmine.

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Submission, Screening and Links to Film & Critical Evaluation

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Submission, Screening and Links to Film & Critical Evaluation

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Finally, the day came and it was time to submit and screen our film. A more in-depth review you'll find on the critical evaluation but I was incredibly proud of everything that I had done. We had to submit the film on Medial in 720p but we uploaded a 4K version to YouTube, which you can find linked to this post.

And that's it! Process over.

Here is a link to my Critical Evaluation - Critical Evaluation - Final.docx

Thank you for reading.

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Over the weekend, I tried to get in touch with Keepmoat homes but had no reply until Monday evening, when I got the unfortunate news that the deal with them had fell through. I was gutted. They offered us alternative dates however these were all not aligned with our schedule that had been planned to availability and would mean the film would be a rush.

We were filming in our normal Allerton building room and I'm not needed for any major jobs on set so my entire day today was dedicated to trying to find an alternate interior location to film. I rang over 20 housing agencies and estates in Manchester to see if any of them had a show house or room where we could film. All of them said it was either too soon or they can't let students film there without insurance, even with the offer of a location agreement.

Luckily, our 1st AD pulled through with a filming location (her family home) - it was suitable. One issue was the logistics however, as it was a 40 minute drive away. I asked if people would be comfortable driving there as we were unable to get fuel reimbursement - however, because the production had gone off without any issues so far and the incentive of wrapping tomorrow was a big factor, we were able to sort out cars pretty quickly.

After filming had wrapped up, I sorted the car schedule which you can see below for the following day. Also, you can find below some pictures from shooting today, as today was the last day as a big crew - which meant it was some students last practical day at university.

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Today was scheduled to be the final day of shooting - and it was scheduled to be a busy one. We had originally 37 shots to get done today, which we had scaled back to 32 before the day began to keep it under 10 hours. We first filmed scene 18 which was at the Sanctuary EXT location, so we again used our house as headquarters.

At around 10:45am we finished filming so it was time to have a 15 min break and then get everyone ready to go to Chorley.  I made sure everyone was in their respective cars and off we went.

However, on the way, we hit standstill traffic and didn't reach our destination for at least 80 minutes, on a 30 minute journey. Once we were outside of the standstill traffic, we get even more bad news, and the car with our lead actors in has broken down on the hard should, and were going to be at least another 90 minutes. This was devastating and definitely a stressful environment. However I remained calm, and when we arrived at the destination I found out we had an extra 3 hours to film, which was incredible, but I still wanted to start as soon as possible.

We eventually started, and me, Alex & Brad got Olivia's parents & Royia's Dad some chocolate to say thank you for being such a help on a day that was going so so wrong.

We eventually ended up filming 27 shots that day, which is impressive by any standard, but on the day that we were having, we were delighted - and even more ecstatic that we had now wrapped!

See below some pictures from the chaotic shoot!

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After wrapping, we returned everything we had booked out to the equipment store the following day and I had a meeting with Mark, head of finance, to return all the props that we had bought with the budget.

In the end, we spend £152.20, which meant we came in about £100 under budget - which was an incredible feat. Very happy with this result. With this all done, we now were heading into Easter and then - post-production.

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Filming: DAY 1 - All of that preparation we had done - it was time to put it into action. We began with a morning shoot at Atmosphere. Filming scenes 4 & 9D. However, since Cameron was in this scene, was also on sound, I had to jump on sound for these scenes. Props and Set Dressing were also done by myself & the Prod Co-ord as we didn't have Set & Props.

Filming ran rather smoothly, however the sound wasn't the greatest. Unfortunately, there was a low hum from a humidifier that we couldn't completely get rid off and some chatter was taking place in the downstairs bar that we have tried to mask within the film.

This was a short filming day, with everything only taking around 3 hours. Everything also ran smoothly from a health and safety standpoint.

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During filming today, I was in Glasgow for a personal matter, so my duties were transferred to the Production Co-ordinator who was overseeing the production, and for the call sheet the duty was transferred to the 1st AD. This was to be a short shoot - and I was on call for anything that was needed.

From reports back to me, everything ran smoothly, except for the character within shoots. The 1st AD and the Director reported back that it was proving somewhat difficult to drag the characters out of the actors.

I was back tomorrow, but the 1st AD still offered to do the call sheet for Thursday, to which I agreed. I also emailed Keepmoat again as I hadn't heard anything and was getting worried.

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Back from Glasgow, I joined the team filming today. We were filming all of the Exterior shots inside the 'Sanctuary' compound. This was a longer shoot day, and it did not seem like the weather was going to be on our side.

Our house became the sort of headquarters as it was only a 3 minute walk - so to save everyone being on set and set being too busy. I was in-between both set and HQ, making sure everyone stayed in good spirits and everyone was on top of their jobs.

We filmed all scenes bar scene 18, due to the weather and it needing to look like a different day.

Find some pictures from this shoot day below.

Below that, see the RA's I got signed at the weekend.

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After a weekend of planning and creating the pre-production schedule, the first day had arrived. I had everyone scheduled in at 11AM, for a welcome meeting and a table-read. I know they had a busy experience on the previous project and we wanted to give them some ample time to replenish their energy as this week would also be a busy week.

We had some no-shows unfortunately due to working arrangements but the majority of the cast and crew turned up on-time and ready to work!

During the welcome meeting I explained how the project would run and more specifically, how pre-production would run. I told everyone the plan, about scheduling people in at certain points throughout the week to maximise performance and utilise our time as best as possible. I also explained the open-door policy, so that if you were not scheduled in but you wanted to work at university, you were more than welcome to use the room to work in.

We then had a table read which went well. Alex noted the points where he wanted to develop character and I told costume and props/set on each page what would be required from them. After the table read, I explained the location ideas for the film and said that if anyone knew of locations (for places that hadn't been confirmed yet) to let me know.

I tried to utilise the teamwork skills and highlighted the fact this was our last project at university.

I then had a meeting with continuity and told them what I wanted them to capitalise on this week, which was ways to make sure we had absolute continuity especially with a lot of costume & location changes.

Me and Alex then had a meeting with the Editor, which was mainly him speaking to her about the vision he saw the film going in, what sort of grading he had in mind and the effect he wanted the film to have.

Most of the time after was spent doing the shot list, which I was present for, but also trying to secure more locations and preparing for further meetings tomorrow.

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Tuesday was a busy day in terms of cast and character, but also we had meetings with Costume, Makeup & Hair, Set and Props. Contrary to the schedule, I was able to fit my continuity meeting in the day before so I was able to help out on the shot list for a while before I started my meeting with costume.

I told her that we wanted a natural vibe to the film, at least to begin with, and then as Libby and Set started to arrive in Sanctuary, we wanted everyone to be in similar colour, more professional clothes. This would become clear in the montages. We then moved onto hair and makeup - in which she told me that she envisioned after reading the script that everyone in Sanctuary would have a sort of shine sheen and I totally agreed. It would give a creepy vibe that everyone was perfect. Costume was mostly to come from the costume store but if things needed to be bought, she would consult me.

We then discussed scenes 14, 17 & 18 in which she would need to do SFX to give the impression that Angela had her mouth cut open (seen via scar) &  Libby's mouth being sown shut. We discussed what was needed to do this and this was purchased on the budget.

I then had a meeting with Set & Props and we discussed everything from the read-through yesterday that was needed, and pinpointed little things like the flasks and watch that we had missed, that we'd also need. We were able to source most of the things without dipping into the budget. The things we needed buying were the Alarm Clock, the Flasks, and a Stationary set. We also needed some leaflets and posters making, which I tasked him to do.

The rest of my day was spent location scouting and doing risk assessments, as well as helping out with the shot list.

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Wednesday was a cast rehearsal day, as well as a full shot list day. I scheduled it so that the 1st AD would be taking the characters either one or two at a time to work on their character, their persona and asked her with trying to bring this script life.

Today was relatively quiet in terms of meetings but I was trying to secure our INT filming location as well as help out with the shot list.

This location had proved a challenge this week but I was determined to try and get somewhere today. A friend of mine on the Film Production course told me about a company he was able to get a showroom with called Keepmoat. I tried emailing and then ringing at multiple points throughout the day but for some reason I kept getting diverted to different areas of the country. I eventually got through to someone who said to ring back tomorrow for availability. I was hopeful.

After the rehearsal day we did have a Camera, Lighting and Sound meeting where I sat people down and told them what equipment to book out. We had a kit list as well as a Check In - Check Out list I worked on with the Production Co-ordinator. We agreed that we would book out this equipment tomorrow and if any cast or crew were available, to go and help people with the equipment.

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This was to be the final day of Pre-Production that I had on the schedule. We did have Friday to use in reserve but with the planning that I had implemented, we were on schedule to have a long weekend to make sure we could hit the ground running on Tuesday.

I had meetings with all departments individually with the Production Co-ord to see where everyone was up to. Costume and their fittings this morning and everything seemed to be flowing nicely, mostly completed. The same pattern followed with Makeup & Hair, with all purchased products arrived and hair plans ready to go. Set & Props wise, set plans were ready and most props were sourced, we were still looking for a stationary set and we just needed to print the leaflets out, as they were all designed.

Continuity told me how they were going to work over the next few weeks, and after the continuity meeting, I rang Keepmoat, who said we were okay to use their showroom for INT Filming. This was a massive win. I finished up drafting some location agreements for the shoot.

After this, we had been running a vote all week to decide on a name for the film. We had gone through many names like 'Subject to Change', 'Prism' & 'The Way Forward' but the vote decided almost unanimously, 'Sanctuary'.

To finish the day, we had a big cast and crew meeting with everyone involved - and explained the week ahead. We had wrote on the whiteboard over the week about what filming blocks would come first and details like that. You can find a picture of that below. You will find some emails I've sent below and also some RA's, and the call sheet I sent over the weekend. You will find attached to this post the filming schedule.

Furthermore, dotted along this Padlet, you will find some Location Release forms as well as an Actor Agreement (electronically signed example from Brad)

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During Crew Interviews, we had come to the conclusion that there were an insufficient amount of people to have a separate Location Manager. We felt peoples talents would be maximised in other roles and consequently, as Producer, I took on Location Manager duties.

In my quest to find the best locations for the film, I started local, because I wanted everyone to be okay with travelling individually. I struck lucky in our main outside location, which was a housing complex around 10 minutes walk from the University and around 2 minute walk from our front door. I enquired about it and asked for both an empty house or show-home (for interior shots) as well as the exterior. They could only help us out with exterior shots - however, I still saw this as a huge win as you can see from some pictures below - this was perfect for the film.

The next location I secured prior to pre-production was Atmosphere Kitchen & Bar. I put in a filming form through originally for the Southside, but we used the bar upstairs instead as this was much more appropriate for the scenes we wanted to film.

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Now one thing I've certainly learnt while on Media and Performance is that Risk Assessments are a key element to any shoot. No matter what you may be filming, any location and shoot will need its own RA. Before Pre-Production, I started to think about possible locations for the film, as I had read the first few drafts for the script.

In the weekend before Pre-Production, I secured our first 2 locations. As a result, these were sent off ASAP

Once I had these first few confirmed, I wasted no time in making sure these Risk Assessments were done. There were only 1 or 2 to begin with, but you'll see as we go through the Padlet more and more being signed off for each location.