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'A MOMENTS PEACE' - WW1 Short Film (2024)

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Thanks for reading!

Here's to a merry 24/25

<3

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For your viewing pleasure I have neatly organised the PLE into simply titled categories in loose chronological order

Each category functions like a mini-diary of sorts, under which you'll be able to visit my day-to-day entries making real time track of my journey and progress

Enjoy!

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I began my Youtube Channel years before I began Uni - all the way back in the distant days of 2016, when I was only 12. Ever since it's been my main creative outlet and I've been creating content consistently for over 8 years now.

Although I am actively trying to branch out in terms of my creation, which included my decision to enrol in University, Youtube still remains a high source of passion and throughout my education I have done and hope to continue creating content for my Channel.

When I'm not busy with studies, I'll pick up and develop bits and pieces for my Youtube content. As someone who prides himself largely on an ability to 'do it all' and with a drive to teach myself new things, these pieces can range from a wide spectrum of different works, trades and specificities.

For my Channel I;

produce, write, direct, edit, voice, animate, advertise, design music, design props, design sets and design virtual scenes - I use a variety of tools such as Blender, Aseprite, Hitfilm, Adobe Audition, Soundtrap - which I all largely self-learnt.

Therefore at any given evening I could be working as a voice actor, or 3D animating whole scenes on Blender, all in service of the same projects.

Working at University gives me another outlet to strengthen all these skills, as well as acquire new ones as well as develop my knowledge and understanding of the medium. I've been taught the importance of how much this kind of creation aids in a portfolio, which will be crucial in me finding work in the industry when it's time.

It's great to feel like my Youtube project is supported at Uni, instead of being left to feel like a distraction - which is how I was largely made to feel at College when I was studying non-film related topics.

I feel passionate and creatively driven at all times because of these worlds colliding and it goes a long way to help keeping me motivated and in track with my progress.

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Well, what a year. I feel I've grown a lot - it's been amazing being able to dedicate a whole year to film and filmmaking and it's so exciting knowing this is just the first of many to come.

I feel like I've personally come a long, long way from the small projects I was pushing in my Foundation Year - I finally feel like a real film student, developing my own sense and style.

It's been a big year for me and for the trajectory of my life. It feels like the beginning of a new era, one where I'm going to realise a lot about myself and my ability, reach new grounds and strive for bigger things. The world feels at my fingertips. I love this new feeling of freedom and expression, this new drive and encouragement to create. It's all been so incredibly liberating.

Nothing beats that feeling of being sent away to make a project, then coming back together weeks later with something to show - as well as a chance to see what your contemporaries and peers have been able to achieve in the same span.

If I had to pick out a few of my favourite moments;

The first would be producing for a 'Moments Peace', I loved the feeling I had during what was admittedly a stressful fiasco. I felt like a proper film maker, reaching out to Councils for planning permission, filling in safety and risk assessment forms, assembling a crew and picking out a location. It gave the production a sense of scale and felt like a genuine step into the world of real film making.

The second would be implementing special effects into SUMMONING mov. It felt like a real step-up and being able to bring in these skills I've been developing privately for the last year felt like a real statement of intent - like I was making my own personal mark and doing my own thing to stand out.

Lastly would be my work on 'Deathly Imagination', which was a group project. I decided to experiment and step down from Directing to try my hand at being a Gaffer. It was a unique and fun experience, the group I was apart of were all brilliant and I'm proud of my contributions to the final spectacle. It's exactly that though - 'my contributions' - to the spectacle, the spectacle was not wholly mine. This was a real awakening for me. It made me realise how much I truly enjoyed making my OWN films and being able to display my own projects. While working on a group was fun, I was left annoyed by having to concede my vision and work under someone. Perhaps this is a bitter pill I need to swallow, as I'm aware the film industry is a ladder one must climb and working under others is a necessity - but at the same time why should I step down, why should I abandon this vision to make my own films. Is this not what expression is all about? It was a real waking up moment for me.

What a year. What a journey.

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who needs words

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Today we were inducted into our ultimate unit - Experimental Film!

Personally, I'm incredibly excited by this unit. I've always held horror as a genre ripe with experimentation, so instantly I felt engaged, inspired and excited about the unit.

We were given a brief historical rundown on the historic movements and changes that fall underneath the broad and vague 'experimental film' umbrella term. Although horror wasn't explicitly mentioned, my mind immediately ran to the movements of horror also to be considered 'experimental'. My favourite of these movements is what's called 'Found Footage', which encapsulates cult hits like The Blair Witch Project (1999) and Cloverfield (2008). It's a genre that peaked from 1999-2010 and has since resurfaced under as a core function of a new subgenre called 'analog horror', which I've also taken great inspiration for.

I knew almost immediately that I wanted to follow this track and create a found footage horror film.

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Today I was fortunate enough to attend a Cinematography Workshop with Paul Usher.

The workshop covered a lot of the basics introduced at the start of the year that had since been buried by mounts of new knowledge, so it was important and helpful to receive a refresher to help resurface this knowledge ahead of upcoming projects.

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Today I was introduced to LinkedIn, a website I had only ever used before to try and sell myself to whatever minimum wage employer would have me.

The importance of LinkedIn for networking was drilled into my brain and the first thing I did when I returned home was to set one up immediately and add as many class names as I could remember, including Paul to who my delight added me back.

We were also given more general information and advice about networking which helped inspire options for how

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Today I was fortunate enough to attend a great workshop by Michael Chan!

I had the lucky experience to be trained and inducted on several pieces of industry standard lighting equipment, including the full set up, usage and scope.

The lecture re-ignited a lot of the interest in lighting that's been growing for me recently and has led me to consider more greatly a career as a gaffer or spark; and I will quickly be able to put this motivation to use (as well as the new equipment) in my upcoming Year 1 film!

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Today we were inducted into our next unit, which will carry on from the previous and see us develop some of the pitches that were developed into short films.

What was exciting for me was finally being allowed to work within larger groups on a project; it presents an excellent chance to network, meet and work with new people, as well as develop experience working within a larger circuit and as part of a bigger team.

I was invited to take part in a team working on a horror film premise, which excited my interests in particular. I joined this group as the gaffer and as lighting director, looking to push myself and try venturing into more roles - I also hoped to expand upon an interest in film lighting and colouring, which I've noticed has been subtly growing alongside my general love of cinematography and film.

I'm incredibly excited to begin work on this unit and test myself in a new role.

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Today we were visited by Paul Usher, who gave a great presentation on story crafting, concept building and scriptwriting.

With him we explored the concept of story beats, the ways in which audiences can be engaged and the tricks in cinema that help film makers and story tellers catch and keep that engagement, as well as the different archetypes and tropes in storytelling used to attract and invest audiences.

The 'hook, squeeze, poke, punch' concept struck a strong cord with me, particularly the idea of punch (defined as shocking, memorable and impactful endings). This concept was one I had already fallen in love with, note my thoughts on horror, and being able to put a name to this idea was brilliant. I have written these words as a list on my desk-side wall to inspire me when script writing and story crafting and as a note to help me craft impactful and engaging films - as has been my mission statement.

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Today we were initiated on our portrait project, due in December.

After being initiated in our lecture, my first step was to research what a portrait project was and look at published examples online, primarily Youtube. From the notes that I took I summarised a portrait film loosely as 'like an extract from a larger or longer piece that hones in and focuses solely on a singular character, moment, event, story beat or scene.'

Using this summary, I began early brainstorming for ideas. I was first inspired by Jim Cunnings' 'Thunder Road' (2016), which was a short film created as an excerpt from one of Cunning's larger story concepts - this gave me the idea to create a short portrait film as an excerpt from one of my own ideas and focus on a singular scene, event or character in one of those concepts.

I was immediately drawn to two ideas I had previously workshopped; one of a boy suffering mounting frustrations, which culminates until he lashes out accidentally in a single defining incident. The other was of a WW2 British soldier delivering a short monologue reciting his life and fond memories to (as revealed in a twist ending) the corpse of a German soldier whom he had moments prior killed in combat. I was drawn to these ideas as they felt the most honed in on singular characters, themes and events and fit the mould for what is considered to be a 'portrait film'.

My other inspiration was my initial and instinctual own interpretation of what a 'portrait' film was. Before being given an explanation, my mind immediately raced to the photography term for a portrait, ei. a close up of a face. From that thought I developed the idea to frame my portrait film as a literal portrait, keeping close and boxed in to the face of the character. This nicely fit my concept for the young man, as it would reflect his feelings of isolation, disconnect and pent up emotion. For the soldier, I thought it could begin as a close up of his face and gradually zoom out, revealing the broader picture. With this style I was immediately inspired to shoot in a ratio of either 1:1 or 5:4 to capture that 'box' feeling.

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Today we watched the film 'Belle' (2013) by Amma Asante. The movie and the discussion afterwards gave a great insight into the way topics like race, class and sex can be told and explored in cinema and was an excellent introduction into the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion module.

The experience made me wonder what themes and topics I would be interested in exploring in works of my own and what messages I would want my pieces to have.

The film was also not the kind of movie I would typically watch or what I would consider within my 'tastes'. It's encouraged me to go out of my way to watch more films in genres and styles I would not typically watch, to strengthen and broaden my view and scope of film and filmmaking.

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Me strapped into the Easy Rig operating the camera.

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Today was the day of my proper induction into Year One. We were immediately thrusted, after a couple of useful talks and tours, into handling equipment and I loved it.

I immediately got to use a piece of equipment I had never heard of before called an 'Easy Rig'. Although I wasn't a fan of the rig, I had so much fun getting to use it and feeling the radical effects it had on my ability to use the camera. Not just seeing but feeling the changes alternatives sets of equipment can have made me think about the almost infinite possibilities to capture different styles through different methods, and how each creator has a method of their own or which they prefer.

I was also able to use a camera dolly for the first time, which is a piece of equipment I've been wanting to use for years. Operating the camera whilst standing on a moving cart and using the movements to pan the camera was great. It really helped my appreciation for the effort put into creating clean and special camera movements and again how different equipment can help lead to different styles. (The difference being a smooth pan with the mounted dolly and a more shaky, hand held movement with the dolly).

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My admiration for film stems in the ability to create immersion; the artistry to bring to life a world or story that could have previously only been dreamt of or imagined. The simple idea that, through props, sets actors and a little bit of trickery, you can visually create something that could never or has never really exist, or something that has never or could never happen, is amazing to me.

As I've developed, this admiration for immersion became more and more fixated, or at least combined with, my love for horror. Besides the general worldbuilding, story telling and visual potential of the genre, I became fixed on the idea that real, authentic fright can be instilled through the mere illusions of film. Watching horror movies growing up I would always try to distract or sooth myself by constantly spouting the reminder that it's not real, none of it's real. But then why am I scared? This question is one that I'm dire to find the bottom of, by learning and mastering the medium of horror filmmaking. As absurd and perhaps cruel as it sounds, my dream is to make a movie so convincing and so powerful that it has the potential to leave audiences with real, tangible fright; a film so strong it has the potential to leave viewers awake all night, thinking, dwelling on my movie. I simply love that this is possible and that films can truly be this impactful.

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Director of Photography/Cinematographer, Camera Operator, Director

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My favourite movie is John Carpenter's: The Thing (1982). I love this movie for its ability to create such an impeccable and horrifying premise, one that sticks in your mind forever and leaves an ever lasting impact.

The film is also just perfection on every level, Carpenter knew exactly what he wanted to make down to the last detail. He fought to keep the movie true to his vision against executive pushback and the fact the movie went unappreciated upon its release, but proved through time to be an undoubtable classic, is an incredibly inspiring tale to never give up on or abandon your vision. I admire John Carpenter for this film so dearly.

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Today we were invited to a seminar that detailed a brief history of queer representation in history and an overview of 'Queer Theory' and 'LGBTQ Study'; both of which detail and address the way Queer people are presented in media (primarily film and television), the struggle to gain representation and then the struggle to keep that representation positive, through positive portrayals and affirmative casting.

The seminar opened my eyes to a subject I hadn't previously come into much contact with before. Being Bisexual, the subject is one that matters to me on a personal level and has compelled me to look deeper into the subject of Queer Cinema.

With work beginning on our Portrait Films, I've begun thinking of ways I could draw inspiration from Queer Theory and Queer coded media to influence my project, influenced by the viewing of Belle (2013) which contained strong social themes and used its story as a vessel to explore with and educate its audience on the history of progressive struggle.

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The last few days we worked in small groups on a minor creative film project. I served as DOP and as camera man working under a Director. Watching back our piece today I was left dissatisfied that none of my ideas or suggestions made it into the project and I ultimately disliked the final piece. This experience has taught me that in the future I should try and be more assertive in my role as the Director of Photography and try harder to represent my vision and ideas.

Today we also attended a brief lecture explaining the way exposure works in cameras. I took note of the fact I preferred the look of 180 degree shutter angles and deeply disliked the look of the 360 degree shutter angle. I also found myself engaged with the idea of changing up temperature and tint to establish moods, as well as using low ISO to create a moody effect. I have taken notes and hope to use these techniques in future projects.

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Yesterday our group held our first meeting, which was great for breaking the ice within the team. It also gave a general sense of direction and of our intentions as a film team.

I left with the idea to begin developing concepts for the general aesthetic and design of the lighting, before a set location had been found and agreed upon. Although I believe ultimately the location will inform a lot of the aesthetic choices, including the lighting, I thought it would be wise to begin spit balling aesthetic and design concepts early on, to help develop a sense and feel of what we want our film to be. I created a padlet which I shared with the group and began posting ideas that the concept initially gave me - predominantly an overwhelming greyness and bleakness. My hope is to consume as much horror and gothic cinema as I can in these early days to both take notes and draw inspirations where I can.

This will be an interesting test for me. As I usually do, I have a strong sense of how I would wish for this film to be lit and look, however ultimately I am working beneath both a Director and a DoP, so I will have to bite the bullet and compromise - something that comes unnaturally to me. Partially I hope by creating this mood board I can subtly pitch my ideas and hopefully influence the general direction the film takes, although making this board open to the team I have made myself open to advice and suggestion.

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Today I used my self directed learning to finalise and begin developing my concept. I ultimately decided to go with my soldier concept, as I believed it was best suited for the shorter time scale and my idea to shoot the film in a 'portrait' photographic style.

I began by drafting concept art for my scene, including how I would light and block it as well as film it.

For my lighting I fleshed out this idea of using natural backlighting with a frontal shadow (cast by black flags) to create a dazed look, as well as to give the character a more darkened and grief appearance to reflect his mood. The use of contrasting lighting between the character and the environment behind him will also reflect his state of disconnect and detachment from the world around him, which I intend to be the main focal point and theme of the film.

The idea to use natural lighting was partially inspired by my favourite war film '1917 (by Sam Mendes), which used natural grey lighting and muted set/costume colouring to instil a real and gritty look.

I also began considerations for casting and reached out to some friends and colleagues who may be interested in my film.

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As part of my concept development I reflected on Great War movies I had seen that may have influenced my vision.

These films were primarily '1917' and 'Blizzard of Souls'.

As well as their retelling of soldier experiences, I drew inspiration from their muted, naturalistic colour palettes and imagery.

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Over the course of the last few weeks I have began work on various aspects of my research folder, as well as other conceptual developments for my film.

To begin preparations towards writing the draft for my script, I set out on an exercise to flesh out and develop my character. I commenced research on various diaries, interviews and first hand accounts of Great War soldiers, learning what their experiences were and drawing influence from their character and background. I began piecing together the rough concept for my character; a young boy from rural England who was drafted following the introduction of national conscription in 1915. I chose this background off both real accounts, but also so I could also draft parallels between the idealic rural life of England and the horrors of the Great War and the decimation of the French and Belgian country sides, where my film is to be set; which would further support the theme of emotional disconnection from a hard environment and the shock of scenery change on a person.

Using this background for my character I began planting the early seeds of what I would include in my monologue. The main points I want to touch on is the differences in the different senses in his home and current environment (eg. the smell of home baked pies vs the smell of rotting corpses, the feel of soft flowers at home vs the muddy soil, steel and wire.) I also developed the idea that I wanted my character to share a story from his childhood that would be representative of the war itself; the idea I came up with was a story of him and his brothers falling out over who destroyed the family kite, a reflection of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and the ensuing brashness and paranoia that led to the war, as well as the futility and childishness of the real events.

As part of my concept development I worked on various aspects of my research folder. I developed a logline that summarised and reflected the concept of the film, as well as which could serve as a mission statement for the film I wish to create, which I could use a reference if I hit a creative block:

'The year is 1916; amidst the horrors of humanity’s greatest war, a young soldier in Flanders captures a solitary moment of peace and comfort as he reminisces with a fellow soldier on fleeting memories and stories from back home. But around him, the horrors and realities of war wait for no man.'

As well as this concept development I began writing early versions of my call sheets and scene breakdowns using information shared with us in lectures.

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Today we screened the 2014 movie Pride, about the true events of a London Queer Rights group travelling to Wales to show solidarity with the ongoing Miners Strikes. The movie invokes films of solidarity; primarily solidarity between different right advocacy groups, with a particular focus on gay, workers and womens rights groups.

The film demonstrated to me a clear example of how a movie could build itself around a positive social message and effectively communicate this message through its plot and characters. By the end of the film it was clear to me what message the film was advocating - that being the need for solidarity between oppressed groups - and I could examine how each of its characters, events and story beats fit into driving this message.

Although I had my issues with the film on a technical level, I thought it demonstrated a strong example of how social themeing can be woven into a film without the need for subtlety or without being relegated to a sub-plot or side message (although the movie does admittedly do this with other branching themes, particularly women empowerment and coming out, which are only shown through optional scenes and do not directly contribute to the main narrative). It's again encouraged me to think about what messages I can include in my films and what morals I want my films to drive.

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Today I finished the first draft of my script and shared it with an acting student who expressed interest in the project.

As the project rolls towards the start of pre-production I've began assembling ideas for how my production crew will be shaped; I've decided I'll need at minimum:

1 Actor

1 Extra

A Camera Operator

As well as possibly:

A Boom Operator

A Lighting Assistant

A Property Master

I've talked to a few friends and colleagues who may be free to assist me in these roles and have developed a list of names. I hope that once the location scouting has been completed I can have a more thorough idea of how may assistants I will need.

In tune with my own personal style, I will likely assume the role of Camera Operator (& DoP) as well as Director on set; as I prefer to have direct control over how my films look and are shot. This will also allow for increased efficiency during the short production window as well as shortening the necessary crew.

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Today we had a live talk with performers Marilyn and Amy, who came in to speak about their experiences with their disabilities and they way living with disability impacted their creative careers.

My main take away was when they mentioned the idea of "create what you know", ei. that creatives should produce work that reflects their experiences.

This made me consider what personal experiences I've had that I could funnel into my creative process; primarily my Bisexuality, living in 21st Century England and my experiences being short sighted. Although personally none of these subjects excite or interest me, I thought it was interesting to note that I could use creative vessels as a way to channel and present my experiences and frustrations.

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A photo taken at Bourne Wood during my scouting, serving as a rough concept for my set - (05.11.23)

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Today saw major advancements in pre-production.

I ventured out and scouted a handful of locations I had previously written down, which could serve as possible locations for filming. I travelled to Bourne Wood and the Ash Ranges respectively, where I photographed and noted my findings. Upon returning I reflected on my notes and decided upon Bourne Wood as my desired location, with a specific place I had marked in mind.

I chose Bourne Wood primarily for its striking beauty, as well as its easy accessibility; the scenic forest felt suitable for an emotional piece and also fitted in with the colour palette that had previously inspired me. I decided to scrap the idea of setting the piece in a trench and instead set it in a forest, with either side of a trench being replaced by two trees set apart. Not only was this set more easy to work with, but I also believed it would be more visually interesting.

I wrote to the respective authorities to gain filming permission. With knowledge of where I intended to film I was also able to complete my risk assessment and call sheet.

With a location now in mind, I contacted my volunteers to arrange a date. I was able to arrange for the 19th (of November) and included this arranged date in my paper workings. I was able to finalise with all participants their availability and commitment, finishing with a crew of two actors and myself as Director & DoP (the cut down in equipment meant a hand assistant was no longer necessary. I did attempt to reach out to a friend who had previously offered to help with handling equipment as a safety precursor, however his availability did not match the timeframe for recording and so I was ultimately forced to remove him from the project.)

With all this now sorted I was also able to book out my equipment; a Canon EOS 250D DSLR Camera & a Lumix 14-140mm f3.5-5.6 Zoom Lens. Unfortunately, due to the regulations at Bourne Wood I was forced to restrict what equipment I would bring. Under regulations I would be unable to bring lighting equipment - therefore I would have to settle for natural lighting, which is still workable for the visuals I am working to accomplish. I decided to arrange my filming for midday, as I noted during scouting that the scenery was well lit and visually striking around that time.

My date, time, location and crew for filming has now been arranged. All necessary paper work has been completed and everything planned.

Now awaits the fun part! 🎥🎞️

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Unfortunately, my bid for filming permission at Bourne Wood was denied. With my equipment already booked and a set schedule with my cast I was made to try and find alternative locations that I could gain access to for the same filming dates. After a few days of shopping around and failed bids at Ash Ranges, Box Hill and Lee Woods I have one outstanding application that looks on track to be approved - that being at Farnham Park, an area I was already frequent with as a local, one with excellent accessibility for myself and my cast and one that served as a perfect backup to the reasons I found Bourne Wood so appealing. It was not my first choice, however and I am disappointed that I've had to resort to its use, as I'm keenly aware that due to its accessibility a lot of other students will be filming their movies at the same location - however my hand was forced and I can live with the location being unoriginal if it means my story can be told.

A few days after I discussed this with Mary Novoselova in my Greenlight Meeting; I was not given the greenlight however it was made clear that I was perfectly on track and that the location change shouldn't be a worry. I was asked to update my risk assessment which I have done accordingly and hope there won't be any more hiccups in pre-production.

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An unaltered frame from the shoot, showing the lead Veronika Buckwell as the English soldier

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Today was day of shooting! It was my first attempt directing my own film and it was an amazing experience. I was invigorated by a last minute approval from Waverley Council to film at Farnham Park and headed into the day full of steam and ready to roll.

I picked up my cast from the agreed pick up spots and called at the arranged time. We headed into the location and on our way discovered an amazing filming location; a small stream heading through the woodland that looked and resembled a trench, as per the original concept. After briefing with my crew I collected the consent to film in the wet environment and we headed down. Following safety and common sense I made sure to keep all equipment away from the water behind a natural barrier, including the camera equipment and my own home-brought microphone.

Also following standard I made sure to bring arranged snacks and water for the cast and myself, a packet of plasters and set my quick dial for 999 in case of an emergency. I was also made sure to keep adamant to take breaks, especially as my cast would now be somewhat submerged in water (up to roughly the ankle at most). My number one priority, besides filming, was to keep healthy and safety standards, especially as this was my first time directing (and also producing) and knew my inexperience could cause problems. Thankfully, I was able to manage.

I blocked my actors and set up the equipment around them, which I was able to do keeping safe distance from the water. I had conducted tests the days before to make sure my equipment was working. I tested the shotgun microphone I had booked out, but I wasn't happy with the results and decided to use my own microphone from home, which collected audio from a wider angle (allowing for ambience and creating a more natural noise). Using the blocking, I was able to position the microphone out of view and close enough to the camera where I could link it up and record/listen from my laptop using headphones. This setup worked perfectly and allowed me to manage the audio whilst filming. I set up the camera behind the shoulder of my extra as planned and was ready to film.

We rehearsed and went through with three different takes. In order to help myself in the edit, I decided to test out three different film styles in order to achieve my dolly out effect. The first was to manually zoom out using the in built zoom lens, the second was to manually move the camera in a dolly motion and the third was to film at the end point of the motion and remain still, which would allow me to create the motion in post.

The cast were amazing and we were able to blow through the takes in quick succession, leaving room for breaks and rests (although the crew and I were determined and mostly chose to plow through and keep the momentum up). We wrapped up filming and finished by about 2:00pm (having called at 11:00am).

I reviewed the footage and audio and decided to call a wrap. My first full directing experience was over and overall I would say it went incredibly well. When I get home I reviewed the footage again and notice a few mistakes, but I'm content with what we were able to gather, especially in such a short working period and in the uncomfortable conditions we submerged ourselves in.

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A scene from 'Beasts of No Nation' (2015) which influenced my post-production

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When I get home after the shoot I immediately uploaded my files and began playing with the footage. As I messed about, I stumbled upon a unique colour grading visual; a visual split between a warm and cold colour. I started to muck about with this visual and created some striking imagery that I grew immediately attached to. I developed the visual of the frame starting out warm and bloomy, before being submerged in a cold blue reflecting the inevitable creep in of reality. When the full image of the corpse is revealed, the visual split is reversed creating a nightmarish, unnatural image reflect the almost 'unnatural' feeling of witnessing such atrocities.

Although my original concept was to keep naturalistic colours, with striking greens and browns (largely up to my own personal loving for the palette), I thought this new style gave a lot more edge and meaning to the imagery. It reminded me of a scene from one of my favourite movies 'Beasts of No Nation' (2015) by Cary Fukunaga which used unnatural colours and a similar colour scheme to create a dream like, unreal feeling. Although the inspiration was not at first purposeful, it is fully possible that Fukunaga's imagery subconsciously influenced this decision. It was exciting to see one of my favourite films rub off in my own piece of work.

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The frame starts out bright and dominated by the warmth...

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...and then the nightmarish imagery of the corpse.

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Today I completed the finishing touches on the editing, made sure it fit perfectly within time constraints and finished the remaining pieces of supporting content I had left to complete.

As my film exports I am delighted to declare the Portrait Film is OFFICIALLY COMPLETE way ahead of the deadline and perfectly on schedule!

I'm so incredibly excited to share this project with the rest of the year

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The last week we've been briefed about our presentation project and were introduced to our groups for the first time.

Immediately we had some productive sessions and decided quickly on our topic: James Bond and Feminism

Our initial idea was to have each of our 6 members write a 2 minute slide each about individual Bond films in an evolutionary format; but the idea wasn't given the greenlight and we were instead instructed to focus on one or two films instead. In reaction we decided to focus on Casino Royale (initially both the original and the remake, but then solely the remake).

In preparation I re-watched Casino Royale and took hefty notes of all my observations relating to feminism and the films portrayal of gender and sexual identities; primarily how Bond is presented as hyper-masculine and hyper-heterosexual and all other aspects of the movie are accessories to these core facts.

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Today I finally got to see my film on the big screen and it went... terribly. Upon re-seeing my film after a couple of weeks, now on the huge projector, I quickly turned against it. I noticed slight details that I hadn't before, noticeably just how bad some of the errors in the panning was, which took me completely out of the film. I also noticed that the colour correction accidentally over corrected some patches of white, creating blocks of solid white in the corners of the screen which I thought looked poor and neglectful. I was also unhappy with the pacing; although this was partially out of my hands due to the time constraint imposed, I could only feel unsatisfied with the rhythm of what I was watching, with the full acknowledgment that it's not what I truly wanted and that I had not been able to fully realise my concept.

I also realised upon re-watching that I had lost touch with my original concept. The original vision was to film in a ratio reflective of artistic portfolios, as a kind of play on the genre name as well as to creature a literal picture-esc image. However, in development this idea was slowly lost. I believe this may have came during the development of the camera movement, when I began to block my scene and perhaps subconsciously realised attempting to film in that ratio was not compatible with the actual concept I was developing. I would still love to make a film with that idea again, because in hindsight it's one I'm particularly fond of and one I'm angry at myself for forgetting.

Despite my negative takeaways there were still positives, primarily the audience seemed to enjoy the film and there were certain moments I was still incredibly satisfied with.

I think ultimately for me it's a lesson that, in projects where I have full control (unlike this task) I can never compromise on my vision. This is a lesson I had learnt from John Carpenter, but having actually felt it this concept for me now burns much more brightly. Moulding your film around what other people ask or demand of you will always leave you feeling robbed of what you wanted to create.

It's a shame this module had to end with this conclusion, but I think it's an important one and one I'm glad I've been able to come away with.

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Today we delivered our presentation our chosen theme; Feminism in James Bond.

I proposed, for the purpose of efficiency and to evenly split the workload, that each person work on creating an individual slide and talk for one specific aspect of the topic, that being characters, dialogue costumes etc. The group liked this idea and we decided amongst ourselves who would work on which aspect.

My contribution was a piece giving context about the original Casino Royale, produced in 1967. It was not a film I had seen before so I was required to give it a first time viewing. I used the notes I took and applied them to scholarly sources I then researched to develop an understanding of the theme and where it lies in the context of James Bond. Equally I researched the 'Euro-Spy' spoof genre that had inspired its creation and success so as to better understand the culture at the time. I ended up watching some very bizarre works in the process.

The actual talk itself went incredibly well. I was able to recite my piece without need for a script, with a healthy dose of improvisation. From maintaining eye contact with the audience I was able to gauge that they remained engaged and responded positively to the humour I had worked into my slide.

As of writing I am yet to receive my official feedback, but it seems as if all went well and I'm hoping for a positive result.

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Progress! Location Scouts! Aesthetic! - 15.02.24

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Progress! Location Scouts! Aesthetic! - 15.02.24

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Today we held our second group meeting, today with Mary - who helped us clarify our roles, how to proceed and what time we should alot ourselves for certain period of production.

Earlier in the day myself, the director and a few others scouted a proposed location; a small, old looking, student home with flat white walls, minimal decoration and wooden floor. The scout was a success and those at hand believed the location would be a perfect match for the film. My immediate instinct was to map the house out, including all the rooms, doors and windows, as well as figure out which direction the house faced so as to track where the sun would be hitting the house from different times in the day. Assuming this location is the one ultimately picked, I would like to begin work immediately to figure out early the logistics of how each room can be shot in - so that when it comes time to discuss aesthetics and specific shots I will be able to make informed suggestions based on the realities of our location.

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Today we were finally inducted into the storytelling class teased earlier in the year.

We were given a really insightful presentation about directorial vision, which resonated with me strongly after my closing experiences with the portrait project.

We were informed that we would be put into groups to develop the concept for a 5 minute dialogue-less short film. This would include developing a treatment, beat sheets and other conceptual development sheets as evidence of our idea.

We will also be developing video essays about a film of our choice, which for me is incredibly exciting. At first I was positively surprised by the chance to develop a video essay about my favourite film (John Carpenter's: The Thing), but after realising we will also be developing that essay in a group I have had to restrain my excitement so that I remain open to collaboration and compromise.

I'm excited to be working in groups again for a project, it feels as if it's been a while.

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Early development notes from our first meeting

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Today we were organised into our groups, to allow us to meet each other, find out each others interests and begin developing rough ideas for what kind of film we'd like to conceptualise together.

In our discussion we found we had a fair bit in common, primarily a mutual love of horror films, high concepts and mysterious plots.

We actually began developing an idea quite quickly. We workshopped the idea of a man trapped in a hallway, with a different memory lying behind each door. The protagonist, who we roughly agreed to be in some form of coma suffering from amnesia, would have to navigate this mind palace to travel through his memories and piece together the events that led to him falling into his coma.

Before we split up we agreed on a rough plan for how we would proceed. We agreed that each of us would head home and develop our own draft for the concept, which we would then pitch to one another. We would then draw out the ideas we all liked and develop a streamlined outline that we all approved of.

We each had different ideas for how he would find himself in this coma. My idea was for it to be in some way alcohol related; either through alcohol poisoning or an event relating to his alcoholism, ei. being hit by a car. Stemming from this idea I developed two concepts: one of a man whose alcoholism slowly destroyed his relationship with his partner, climaxing in their breakup and an emotionally charge drinking spree that resulted in a coma inducing accident. The other was that the memories would all be of a single night out and he would retrace the different events of the night, going from positively reflecting on a 'good night out with the lads' to realising the ugly state the alcohol had left him in, climaxing in him being involved with some kind of accident.

The overarching theme of my ideas seems to be alcoholism and the destruction it can have on peoples lives. I love the idea of a sober incarnation reflecting on his drunken state and realising just how much effect it had on him; or how his poor decisions impacted his life in ways he may not have fully come to grips with yet.

I plan to flesh out these concepts in the next few days, so that I can properly pitch to my team mates.

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My initial narrative concept; pitched to my group using the ideas and themes we had established

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Happy new year!

Today we received our feedback on our project after a few weeks of hard grafting; unfortunately our pitch wasn't selected to be used in the next unit, owing to a lack of conceptual refinement regarding a conclusion to our story and also due to unfortunate production limitations.

In the few weeks prior my team mates and I worked on ironing out what our premise would be, including the completion of a beat sheet and a rough draft.

Once we were all satisfied with our story we subdivided our labour to ensure we could work as efficiently in the time remaining. I was set on creating the video essay, which I chose to create using the prompted question regarding the 'unexpected' in films and my favourite movie 'The Thing' (1982). This is a film I know like the back of my hand and one for which my passion never ceases, so I was able to articulate, script then visualise my essay incredibly quickly; which left me enough time to work on editing the video to the essay, something I had never done before.

Soon after we all met again to confirm our contributions and ensure all members were happy with what we would submit. We were and thus wrapped neatly with a tidy bow at the end.

Despite our concept not being picked, I'm incredibly proud of the story we developed and I'm positive one day it'll finally see the light of day...

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I've also begun piecing together a complete mood board for the lighting, fitted with several aesthetic concepts and proposals I can pitch to the visual and creative departments. In research for this I've rewatched many of my main inspirational films - including 'Trick r Treat', 'The VVitch' and 'Crimson Peak' - hoping to draw ideas and to take note of how they've been shot and lit.

On my to-do list is to also begin early making a list of lighting equipment that may be needed/we have access to, before we can make any solid creative decisions.

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Something I never would've predicted - I've been making a lot of use of the W107 room this year.

On several occasions I've found myself drawn to the facility, to make use of its sound studio, microphone and available props. I've used it for a variety of manners; such as experimenting with foliage, supporting my voice acting, to messing around with music making - all 'for fun' and outside the spheres of any work or University project.

It's been a great facility this year and has helped encourage me to dabble in areas I likely wouldn't've considered if it weren't available - such as foliage, something I admittedly gave little thought to before it was mentioned in a lecture.

It's encouraged me to explore more of the University and mess around, making better use of the facilities to discover new ways of engaging with my creativity.

An unlikely ally.

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A lot has happened since my last entry...

Progress on the film has been slow in terms of the lighting department. Unfortunately the Director of Photography struggled to produce the shot list, which I needed to progress on planning for the logistics and creatives of lighting the shoot. Currently our plan is to film next week, but as of today (8th March) I am still yet to receive anything from the shot list, which is now being completed instead by the Director.

This means I have been trapped in the speculative planning phase for longer than I'd hoped, with only my set map and notes to help me plan and brainstorm - which was too then set back when late failure to secure permission meant the film had to be moved to a completely new set, one unfortunately much smaller and less dynamic.

I have begun work planning instead around this new set. More talks with the Director and other crew members has helped me work towards a final vision. I have again produced a map of the new location, this time including 'hidden' spots in which I would like to be able to conceal placed lights. The concept of using gels to produce unnatural coloured light has taken much of the forefront in regards to lighting talks, so my current plan is to flood this new set in unnatural coloured - tone matching - lighting, doubling down on style and aesthetic in a new formalist approach.

The delays above me in the production ladder and the ways in which it has impacted my ability to carry out my role has at least been valuable experience in of itself and should hopefully be resolved soon.

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Today we met again with Paul for another interesting lecture.

Much to the despair of many a crushed soul, Paul - through the horrors and width of his experience - gave us a thorough and realistic gage into how the film making industry (particularly production and investment companies) operate in the world of cinema, including the bleak realities of trying to sell a script, develop/pitch a film and how the world of production companies work.

I thought it was an incredible lecture that gave a much needed insider look into what we can expect as we develop our careers; particularly if we wish to blossom into aspiring film makers, directors and script writers. To say it was dampening also would be an understatement, but Paul concluded the lecture with a short motivational pitch with the message that those who keep pushing with always push through, which gave me some words of comfort to cling onto.

The whole spiel reminded me of my admiration for my favourite Director John Carpenter, who fought with Producers and Executives to create his vision - and who in the end was killed by the film industry for it, but still found cultural success and a devout following in the end.

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Today I took a visit to two local Art Galleries; for me it was a new experience, as I had never visited one before. My objective was to both appreciate a different form of art and to gain influence from a new median. As I am currently working on the visuals of a project involving a painting, I thought this would be an excellent opportunity to gain inspiration and to  gain an understanding of the median I was hoping to depict and stylistically replicate.

I enjoyed taking in the different styles and expressions and I felt a lot of similarity between the framing of a painting to the framing of shots and scenes within a film. The famous phrase "every frame a painting" which originated from a quote by Director David Lean really entrenched itself in my head during my visit.

Although I entered with the hope of learning how to replicate paintings for my upcoming project, I actually left with the opposite impression; that paintings are diverse and drastically different and that a median as broad as 'painting' cannot be sweepingly represented in any specific way.

I think I can apply this thinking to my filmmaking when I feel my work has fallen outside the contemporary - every piece of work is different.

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At long last we pushed forward and were able to begin filming. Over 4 tough days on set we were able to wrap filming, leaving a lengthy month for our editors to do their thing.

Fortunately after I received the shot list we were able to move quickly to plot and organise the lighting using equipment we had already pre-booked for intended use on the original set.

Being a gaffer on set was an experience! It was interesting only tackling such a specific part of the production, but I did enjoy getting to keep tabs on certain equipment and being a stickler on safety - it was oddly enjoyable to be 'that' guy on set.

In retrospect I'm not sure I was overly fond of my role, however. Although I didn't particularly dislike serving as a gaffer (besides the incredible pain in my arms after holding a blocker up for over an hour straight) what I found that I did not enjoy was in fact that limitation in role. I didn't enjoy not being able (as in it not being my role) to take broader control of the film, particularly the visuals; and having to work under a different DoP, irrespective of how well we worked together, was a frustrating box to be sat in.

It's given me a new appreciation for independent creation and also the freedom that comes with serving as the head of your own project. It's made me consider if I wish to pursue a job working under others, or if I would ultimately get more satisfaction even if less success out of forever going at it alone and doing my own thing. It's a lot to chew on and ultimately was my biggest take away from this whole experience.

That said, set was fun, crew was great, I had a blast.

Here are some of the stills I'm proud to have produced as a gaffer:

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I would like to begin by expressing my sincere apologies for not keeping a more day-to-day update here of this unit. Unfortunately it came at a time where a lot of work was compiling and admittedly to update this log slipped my mind (until now, that is)

To summarise I would express this unit as having been a mix of great insight into both the inner machinations of the industry and an excellent guide into how to advertise myself to employers.

These last few weeks has had a genuine impact on how I conduct myself professionally. I've opened a linkedin account which I now update regularly, as well as transforming my personal instagram and twitter into spaces with a professional appeal, where I can post my portfolio to both employers but also to an amassing audience (which in just under a month I have already seen begin to flourish).

All-in-all I think this unit has taught me the value of self promotion and has also shone some light onto it as an art. I hope to take these learnings forward as I begin to seek interest into the real business world.

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To go with this unit I was asked to produce a short 4 minute video discussing myself as a person - who I am, what I want to achieve and how.

I struggled at first with how I planned to present this project. I was overthinking it. Once I realised this, I knew that the best approach would be to be genuine. I decided to be myself, use my natural tone, employ my genuine humour and produce the video in the style I used to edit my old Youtube videos - a style I still hold dear. Busting out this style made me feel proud and nostalgic, which I think ultimately was the right feel to be given by this project.

Although I don't typically enjoy discussing or bragging about myself, I found it fun being able to present a piece which felt authentically myself - and I don't mean in an expressive, artistic way, but in a way that felt raw and un-engineered (even if it technically was).

As of the present I'm not comfortable making this video public yet, as I'm holding onto it as more of a possible template for a more 'official' about-me video down the line - however a lot of effort was put into creating it, so it'd be a shame for it to only ever seen the light of day once. As such I've linked it below for you to enjoy if you have 4 minutes to burn:

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A big inspiration in horror for me lately has been Appalachian and Native American mythology. Entities and myths like the 'Mothman', 'Skinwalkers', 'Wendigos' etc. has become almost a new passion as of late and it's something I instinctively wanted to draw off.

As I tend to begin with a lot of my horror projects, I first thought of a strong visual still which I could then draw inspiration from and expand upon. Immediately I conjured this uncanny image of a deer staring through a window, watching from a distance. This began as a deer staring from a line of trees, but quickly developed into a deer standing - out of place - in an empty street.

This image that I created took immediate effect and I began developing an idea from there. "Why is it watching?" was the first question. "Did it know something?", "Did it know what we're doing... OR... what we were about to do?"

BINGO! I had my idea in a flash. Instantly the idea came to me to create a found footage film of two boys performing some sort of satanic ceremony and documenting the process - which would involve this eerie incident of a deer watching them, almost knowing of what evil act they were about to follow through with.

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I immediately set about creating tangible recreations of the visuals that had inspired me, both to preserve that inspiration but also to help trace and craft how I could transfer that visual to film and to reality.

Creating these visuals really blossomed my interest and I knew absolutely then that this was the film I wanted to make - and I was excited!

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A concept image recreation of the visual that inspired me

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Concept art of a deer demon, potentially the result of the ritual

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I finished my script almost immediately, I knew clearly exactly what film I wanted.

I developed an idea for an ending which would see looping rooms, doors appearing further and further away etc.

Visuals that would really test my ability as an editor, but which I feel would be vital to both the action and climax of the piece, but also its nature as an 'experimental' film. I wanted to experiment not just within the broad terms of the genre, but also as an individual.

I am now developing my story boards and looking to recruit. My hope is to begin filming the week starting on the 15th and wrap up by the 17th, leaving me a couple of days to edit.

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Still from the original shoot - showing the now scrapped second friend about to take on the dare

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Yesterday was the first day of filming - suffice to say it didn't go well at all.

Throughout the course of the evening I realised that the script wasn't translating well at all into film. I followed through collecting all the footage I had planned for that shoot, but I had realised pretty early on that a major rewrite would be in order.

The purpose of the film was to reflect peer pressure and the idea of making a mistake you regretted before you made it. This was initially intended to be reflected between the two characters, with one peer pressuring the other into making the mistake and not acknowledging the warning both he and a supernatural force had given him.

When performing the scenes I realised this felt too forced - it was too obvious what was happening and it felt uninspired to just have one character literally peer pressure the other in an unsubtle way.

I woke up this morning with a mission to rewrite - after some contemplation I landed on the idea to cut out the other friend and instead have this mysterious Deer represent peer pressure in a different way.

Keeping the theme of challenges and dares, I have now written the film to revolve around a character succumbing to peer pressure through 'nomination' by unseen classmates. He discusses how he doesn't believe in what he's doing and just wants to be accepted again. As he begins to proceed, the Deer then appears. The Deer now takes on a more subjective role - it can be either interpreted as being a warning, the feeling that you know you shouldn't do what you're doing, or it can be interpreted as that devil on the shoulder, that peer pressure watching you expectantly, telling you to do something you don't want to do.

The latter is how the character reacts in the film now, he witnesses the Deer and checks again and again to see if it's still watching him - that peer pressure is still there and he feels it won't go away until he follows through. However of course once he does follow through the relief never manifests and he now has to deal with the real consequences of what he's done. I feel this has a strong link to the peer pressure felt by young people to engage in activities like drug use. The pressure is there opting you into using, but once you use that feeling doesn't lift and you now have to experience the negatives of drug use - something you may have been aware of but either ignored or were bullied into accepting.

I'm hoping to continue filming as fast as I can and I hope to have the new script fully revised by this evening. Due to the heavy use of practical effects, I want to give myself as much time to edit as possible in the little stretch of time I have left.

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As of writing I have finished the film - the one word I could possibly use to describe the post-victory feeling is relief.

The second script worked so much better, although the second shoot was still a nightmare. I spent 3 hours locked in my bathroom getting take after take after take - the amount of tea candles I burnt through isn't funny.

I'm happy to report that I did manage to wrap filming on the same day I rewrote the script, which meant I remained on schedule and left myself plenty of time to edit.

That schedule ended up meaning nothing, however, as I would manage to finish editing entirely the following day. It took waking up at 7 and editing nonstop until 12, but when that motivation hits it hits and sends you running.

I really enjoyed the post production - I know it's a common phrase but this film was genuinely made in the edit. I was able to bring a project I was unconfident about to life as I had envisioned entirely in post with the footage I got - some of it having been completely improv during the shoot.

Speaking of improv - a lot of improv went into the post-production. It's easy to know what needs to be added to plug the gaps once you have it on a timeline in front of you. For example I felt the theme of peer pressure wasn't coming through enough, but I had the spark idea to have the tape literally talk to the viewer through text, implicating them in the events unfolding. I found this completely wrapped the film together and brought in all the themes and emotions I wanted to include.

I was able to preserve that feeling of impending doom by having the artificial in-universe time creep closer and closer to midnight. In this detail I was able to have fun - like having the clock reach 0:00 during the climax to reflect he had 'ran out of time' (as well as reaching midnight, generally considered a spooky hour), I also had the camera read 10:54 after the character died, which is the police code for a dead body report.

It's small details like that which make me feel that films truly come to life in post and I think it's absolutely true of mine today.

All of the effects came to life beautifully as well which was a bonus - I had prepared all the animations of the demon before hand, which saved me a lot of time.

I made the decision to cut out the 'chase' sequence I had intended at the end, which would see rooms loop and doors illogically move farther away. Although this was one of the founding inspirations for the film, I felt it would drag too long and would be too hard to implement without reaching the dreaded 4 minute mark.

Instead I ended it at the mirror screamer, which in a way feels more thematic. It ends with a completely improvised shot of a spilt cup of water, the same cup also improv included during an earlier scene. It's a subtle way to show the building events had 'spilt over', also that blood/gore had been spilt.

I know, I'm just so fricking clever

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The foreshadowed glass of water - the perspective makes it look like the character is splashing water on his face to calm down

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The Deer in the street, my favourite shot from the film

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Behind the Scenes - Deer in the Street (animated in Blender)