I started the first day with a power point detailing crew roles, character bios and confirmed locations. Ensuring to stop frequently to check if anyone had any questions or queries to raise, we then moved on to a script read through and discussion about the plot, themes and intended audience reaction. Following this, I asked everyone to get into groups of their departments (e.g cast, continuity/editing and sound/lighting/camera). I encouraged a more in depth discussion amongst these groups to make sure everyone had the same understanding of what they needed to do. I went round to each group to add to these discussions, answering any relevant questions. As I was aware that Eleanor (sound) was not confident in her role, I took the time to listen to her worries and ensured her that we have planned her an induction and that she doesn’t have to worry. I explained to her the music I wanted for the first scene and which scenes might be difficult to record sound for (e.g. external shoots). After lunch, I sat with props and costume as I felt that this was the department that needed the most time to get everything ready. Following this, I re-joined Imogen and the cast and did a hot-seating exercise, exploring the characters lives before and after what we see in the script. This gave myself and the cast an extremely more in depth understanding of our characters. I also listened to the character bios that Imogen and I had asked them to prepare earlier on in the day. It was rewarding to see the cast get so involved and begin to bring these characters to life. Lastly, I spoke with Chloe and Laura (editors) and showed them my storyboards for the script, explaining key transitions, sound bridges, match on action shots and the key one shot at the beginning. To conclude, I then messaged the group thanking them for their hard work and troubleshooted any questions that they had from the day.

 

On the second day, Eleanor, Brett, Rachael, Martina and myself did recces of the Treehouse café and Alan and Lillys house. Following this, we met the rest of the cast and crew and I went to the costume department with Tasha, Oliver and Sotie to look at potential costumes. During this time, I encouraged the actors to continue learning their lines. Following this, they had fittings with the costume department whilst I went through my storyboards in more detail with the editors and Rachael (DOP). That afternoon, I went to a Black magic induction to refresh my knowledge followed by a meeting with Clare to document our progress so far.

 

On the Wednesday, we began again at 10am with a brief of the day ahead. I worked with the actors and began to block the scenes as the cast had been instructed to be off book by today. We followed this with a series of different improv exercises ran by myself and Imogen, including the power step exercise and then I gave each character 2 imaginary scenarios for them to act out with another character. After this, I told the actors to make up their own scenarios and watched them act this out with their partner. Towards the second half of this day, we began to block out the first scene using the floor plan of the Living Room. We did a test shoot using the gimbal and the camera.  I ensured that all the movements for both cast and crew were choreographed and ensured that everyone was prepared for the size and exact movements of the gimbal on shoot day. 

 

We used the next day to continue to block out the first scene with the full cast, sound, DOP and gaffer. As well as this, I choreographed the movement for all of the other scenes and worked on characters intentions and objectives for each moment. I then filmed all the scenes to distribute among the necessary cast and crew that would benefit from reminding themselves of the choreography. I then met up with the costume and props department to ensure they were on the right track with their purchases and to answer any questions they may have. 

 

 On the last day of pre production week, we had a full tech and dress run with the full cast and worked through the script chronologically. We began this day with a series of warm up games to get everyone motivated. As well as with my actors, I worked closely with my DOP, Gaffer, sound and the editors as we went through the script and storyboards. Following completion of the dress and tech run, Imogen and myself fed back to the cast and decided which scenes needed the most work. I then continued to use the remaining time to work on those scenes more thoroughly with the actors.

Amy Fretter. @00467853.A.Fretter@edu.salford.ac.uk. 

Link to padlet: https://padlet.com/a_fretter/videoprojectlogs                                                                  
Remote is a psychological drama with rom-com aspects featuring throughout. The script follows our lead Jamie and his wife Emma as he faces a growing addiction to his video game and the virtual life that he has created. The result of this addiction is a developing confusion between the real and the fake, as his real-life relationships, work and life plans begin to fragment. The scripts themes reflect our current social climate of being completely absorbed with technology. A sociologist that I studied named Philip Zimbardo (2012) believes that young men are using games as a form of extreme escapism from the worries and responsibilities of real life.We chose to base our film on this topical and relatable social issue following the recent success of Black Mirrors latest episode, Bandersnatch. (2018) We took inspiration mainly from Bandersnatch and an older episode named Nosedive (2016) which both show the damaging results of your life being absorbed by a virtual, online presence or gaming world. 

 

In the initial stages of the project following our pitch, we realized that our first script plans were flawed in terms of copyrighting issues as it featured The Sims (2000) gameplay. After our pitch, Imogen, Eleanor and I held a meeting straight away to brainstorm how we could solve these issues if our project got greenlighted. Although during the pitch we were able to offer alternatives to the issues raised, our lack of understanding into copyright became a weakness and it could have been avoided by conducting more thorough research into this area. 

 

When we heard the news that our project had been greenlighted, Eleanor and I began working straight away to combat the previous issues with the script. We worked closely with Claire and Imogen to create an entirely new narrative that still held the same themes. Although this was disheartening to abandon our initial idea, I knew that the changes had to be made and as we began developing the new script I began to realize that our new plot was more engaging, interesting and had more depth to it than before. 

 

As I had already had previous experience as a Director from taking the Directing and Producing module and directing in the Documentary to Mockumentary module, I was already aware of how much responsibility, pressure and work was expected from this role. Rabiger (2013) describes “the task of film directing is formidable and doing it well takes determination, resourcefulness, creativity and tenacity”. The main reason that I wanted to be allocated the role of the director was to improve myself not only in these areas but also to give me the opportunity to create something that was personal and that I had complete creative control over. Although I expected the role to be extremely time consuming, the number of hours dedicated during before pre-production, during pre-production, shooting and editing were much more than I had anticipated. Previously when directing I had never been in charge of such a large number of people and was only responsible for a much smaller crew and cast. This was the biggest change that I experienced between my past experiences compared to directing Remote, but I felt that I adapted extremely well and remained confident and in control at all times throughout the process. 

Luckily, I already had a strong rapport with many of the individuals amongst our cast and crew. I think as Director it is extremely important to be respectful and patient towards your team at all times, especially when the ability levels vary throughout our course. I learnt that you have to constantly be aware of the line between being strict and coming across as rude. By respecting my cast and crew and making each role feel valued,  I felt that my authority on set was respected in return. 

 

One of my biggest strengths overall was the positive, encouraging energy that we managed to maintain throughout the entirety of the project. Eleanor, Imogen and I had previously discussed the importance of having a constructive, exciting energy and to keep this ethos running from the first day of pre-production until the very last day of editing. As we were aware the crew and cast had just completed a tiring video project already, we felt that this was extremely important. We made sure that the atmosphere on the first day was calm, happy and friendly to reflect how we intend to be on the rest of the project.  

            Although overall our entire team got on extremely well and developed a strong bond, due to a few long shoots in small, warm rooms there were a couple of occasions where my DOP would become irritable due to the stress of her work-load. Eleanor and I communicated extremely well at all times throughout the process, so as soon as we noticed this change in behaviour we spoke to our DOP straight away to remind her of standards of professionalism and the importance of keeping the positive energy whilst on set. Although it felt awkward to confront one of our peers, I was extremely pleased with the outcome as it reset the energy back to its former positive tone and it meant that we could carry on without further confrontation. 

 

During pre-production week, I learnt very early on the importance of knowing every tiny detail about my creative vision, my characters intentions and the story. This is the only way that as a director you will be able to extract a believable, engaging story. Because of this, I devoted a lot of my time during pre-production to the actors to make sure they had back stories. I think that leading the improvisation workshops and the hot seating exercises was an effective way of achieving my aims during shooting week as the cast and I all shared a joint understanding of the motives, plot and character relationships/development. Weston (1996) agrees, stating that if directors know the characters and the script structure inside out, then they “will have insight and understanding that you can communicate to the actors.” 

 

One of the main things I focused on with my actors was the difference between their roles in the ‘real world’ and within Jamie’s game in the ‘virtual world’. I understood that I was putting a large amount of pressure on my actors as they were essentially multiroling, playing two contrasting characters within one film. It was extremely important to me to create very subtle differences between both worlds that would translate on screen without giving too much away. When rehearsing the fake world scenes, I would pay particular attention to the delivery of the lines, making sure that they spoke with correct grammar and didn’t use slang or abbreviations at all. I also ensured that in the fake world they never spoke over each other, as in a game each character would have to pause and wait to respond as they were programmed to do so. In terms of physicality, I held workshops to focus on this in pre-production week where I would tell the actors to walk around and then conduct certain actions in the real world, and then in the fake world. I think that this really helped them develop an understanding of the differences between the worlds, and how it needed to be subtle to be effective. For example, in the real world their bodies would be relaxed, slouched and more fluid, drawing parallel to real life. However, in the fake world, I reminded my actors that every muscle needed be stiffer, even down to the straightness of their fingertips. For this characterization, I took inspiration from Channel 4 series Humans (2015) which follows extremely realistic ‘synths’ who perform similar physicality and speech patterns that I used to direct my cast.

 

In addition to the actors characterization, I also portrayed the real/fake world by using the color grading and set/costume design. As well as on set, we used the color grading in post-production to make the fake world scenes much brighter, with more use of whites and making the hues of the pastel colors more noticeable and vibrant. This was to replicate a clean, perfect and almost clinical world with no mess, dullness and minimal use of greys and blacks. As I mentioned previously, Nosedive (2016) and Her (2013) were my two main inspirations in terms of color palette, blending whites with vibrant pastels; pinks, mint greens and duck egg blues. I was extremely particular about the props I had on set and worked hard with the art department to make sure there were no patterns throughout the film. 

On a few occasions, I found it difficult to communicate with my head of costume as he struggled hugely with reliability and sometimes time-keeping, meaning that on a couple of shoot days I had to completely take over the wardrobe department and source costumes myself last minute. I learnt that the difficulty of working closely with your peers is that it can be a struggle to be strict and tell people when they are doing wrong. However, as production went on, I found it easier to be assertive and strict with costume to make sure I was getting the results that I needed. If I were to have this opportunity again, I would make sure that I was stricter with this department and I would allow myself more time to check in with costume to make sure he was prepared before every shoot.

 

I think that one of my strengths as director was my technical skill in terms of camera ability and previous acting training. My ability to communicate the correct terminology to my DOP and then to my actors about their techniques such as internalization and beats helped create a professional atmosphere on set. This also meant that I was able to evoke exactly what I needed  from my cast and crew when shooting. During pre-production week I went to a Black Magic Induction to familiarize myself with it to make sure I had a strong understanding which would mean I could confidently ask for certain things from my DOP. 

 

The main issue I faced throughout the process was that when we got to post-production and put all the edited footage onto one timeline we had exceeded our 15-minute maximum time by at least 10 minutes. I had realized that when directing the scenes with no dialogue I had not taken into account how much time they would use up, especially as our opening tracking shot was already 3 minutes long. Luckily, through working closely with Clare and my editors, we were able to come to a number of harsh compromises in terms of cutting scenes. I studied the scenes and got rid of lines and scenes that weren’t vital in presenting the stories development and progression. I had realized that I was spoon-feeding the audience too much information, and that they would definitely have the ability to piece the parts of the film together without me explicitly showing it. An example of an unnecessary scene was where Emma walked through the park to get home but instead we just showed her arriving at her front door, and the same with Jamie’s journey to work. Cuts like these to show characters travelling along with trimming down some of the dialogue made me realize that not everything was needed. In conclusion, I am glad that I was forced to cut it down because I believe it made the film stronger, more engaging and less long-winded. Rabiger (2013) encourages cuts like these, stating that “Removing extraneous time and territory is called elliptical editing and is a common cinematic technique”.

 

Although each scene shared equal importance to me as director, the opening shot was one that I put more effort into as I wanted to start the film with a strong, beautiful, tracking shot that set the scene and introduced us to our cast. However, during this shoot, my Producer Eleanor fell seriously ill with mumps which meant her contribution was limited and she wasn’t able to attend. Although it was extremely challenging to create a 3-minute one shot/tracking opening scene, this was my proudest day during production. This is because I had truly seen my creative vision come to life despite the absence of Eleanor and I saw my hard work paid off after successfully choreographing each actor and crew members movement using the floor plan, test shoots and many rehearsals during pre-production to do so. 

 

Overall, I have learnt so much from my experience as a director and I am extremely proud of the standard of Remote. I believe that the themes and intentions of the piece have been communicated effectively alongside my personal creative vision. Although there have been obstacles as there is within any film making process, there have been no major mistakes or issues throughout and I have developed a variety of transferable skills. Myself and Eleanor worked extremely well as a reliable team to troubleshoot any problems quickly and efficiently come to a conclusion. I think that I quickly learnt to trust myself and make executive decisions quickly which is something I have definitely struggled with in many past projects. Kid In The Front Row (2012) advised that “You'll have a lot of those moments yourself where you, as director, can see something that nobody else can see.”I believe that I successfully demonstrated effective leadership and communication in the directing of actors/performers and I have thoroughly enjoyed the entire process.

 

Bibliography

 

Brooker, C. (Director). (2018). Bandersnatch [Television series episode]. In T.C. Kearns (Editor), Black Mirror.London: Endemol Shine UK.

 

Brooker, C. (Director). (2016). Nosedive [Television series episode]. In T.C. Kearns (Editor), Black Mirror.London: Endemol Shine UK.

 

Jonze, S. (Director). (2013). Her. [Film]. L.A: Anna Purna Pictures, LLC.

 

Kid In The Front Row Film Blog. (2012, 13, September). How To have Authority On Set When Directing a Film.[Blog post]. Retrieved from http://www.kidinthefrontrow.com/2012/09/how-to-have-authority-on-set-when.html. 

 

Rabiger, M. (2013). Directing. (5th edition.) Abingdon-on-Thames: Routledge.

 

TED-Ed. (2012, 16 Dec) The demise of guys – Philip Zimbardo. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=19&v=xA3j_btaz_0

 

Vincent, C., & Brackley, J. (Writers). (2015). Humans.[Television programme]. London: Channel 4.

 

Weston, J. (1996). Directing Actors: Creating Memorable Performance for Film & Television. (1stprinting edition). San Francisco: Michael Wiese Productions.

 

Wright, W. (Creator). (2000). The Sims.[Video game]. California: Electronic Arts.