Mara - Directing and Producing Padlet by

Character Profiles

mjrushfirth — 2023-11-07 17:07:40 UTC

For our work directing in the TV Studio I decided to continue with my 'The Tea Ceremony' adaptation 'Serenitea', as that is also what I'm planning to do for my filmed scene. When I had my actors confirmed I sent them the section of 'The Tea Ceremony Script' I had adapted for the session, as well as the attached Character Profiles and Immediate Circumstances. I feel like this was a very sensible thing to do as it allows them to get an idea of the characters and a bit of the context behind the scene they'll be performing. I feel like it will definitely help with their understanding of what I'm asking them to perform, which should mean a better performance from them.

TV Studio - 06/11/23

mjrushfirth — 2023-12-04 00:32:48 UTC

When working in the TV studio with my actors it gave me a really good insight into the role of the Director. I had planned how to use my time prior to the session, and knew exactly what I wanted to achieve and do. I started it off with positioning my actors and the cameras to where I wanted them to be, then briefly describing what I wanted from my actors for the scene. I decided I wanted to repeat the same scene but with two different tones; the first tone being sad and remorseful and the second tone being angry and defensive, much more tense and conflict inducing. I had time to do four takes, so I chose the sad tone for the first one, then gave the actors my notes on the scene and did another take with those notes in mind. I repeated this for the second tone I wanted for the third and fourth takes. I believe I was clear and understandable when communicating my notes and intentions as I saw definite improvement between the two takes, before and after giving my notes. Overall, I felt the experience was very helpful and gave me good experience.

mjrushfirth — 2023-12-04 00:36:16 UTC

The Next Steps

mjrushfirth — 2023-12-05 21:38:50 UTC

When first going over the script, I felt like this scene would've been the best for my filmed scene, as it had good conflict and different emotions to explore, and seeing it performed in the TV Studio confirmed this feeling. As Cohn said in Directing Actors: a practical aesthetics approach : "every scene must involve opposing forces fighting for what they want” (2021), and this scene had an extremely obvious and powerful conflict. After the session I was excited to work on and develop this scene further for my filmed scene. I really like Joseph Cotham's performance of the character of Ryan, and felt like he suited Ryan in my directorial vision for the character, so I asked him if he would act for me when I filmed the full scene for my proof of concept, and he agreed. Then I contacted Lily Oliver and asked if she would act in my filmed scene in the role of Aimee, and she also agreed. I chose Lily for this as I really liked her acting style and felt like she would fit the character really well. Casting is a very important part of any project, so I had to make sure I put thought into my actors and what people would best suit the characters.

Working on the Script

mjrushfirth — 2023-12-05 21:45:08 UTC

For the TV Studio scene I'd only adapted just over a page of 'The Tea Ceremony' Script. Therefore, if I wanted to do the full scene for my proof of concept, I needed to finish adapting it. I struggle with writing, especially writing scripts and screenplays, so I was worried about rewriting the scene, but also excited to push myself out of my comfort zone and challenge myself. It was helpful that I had something to work off instead of having to start from scratch, but I did change and add several things, and once I got into the flow of writing I actually got quite excited developing the script. I am very pleased with the finished scene and think I created a good scene; I even got several people to read it and give me their opinions and suggestions for the script. Writing the script increased my excitement and passion for the project so I'm really excited to do a read-through of it with my actors.

Café location inspiration

mjrushfirth — 2023-12-06 01:09:39 UTC

Ryan Character inspiration

mjrushfirth — 2023-12-06 01:10:52 UTC

Initial ideas

mjrushfirth — 2023-12-06 01:42:08 UTC

When deciding what to do for my proof of concept, I knew I definitely wanted to do a filmed scene, because I really like working with actors, and doing a filmed scene would allow me to put my full focus and energy into the performance and getting the emotions and intentions of the scene across. When thinking about what I wanted to do for my filmed scene, I was still feeling very inspired by the directors brief of 'The Tea Ceremony' that I had been adapting for the first part of the module. After putting together the presentation I felt extremely excited and passionate about developing this project further, and I really wanted to bring the world I'd created to life. Therefore, I decided to stick with my adapted version of 'The Tea Ceremony' - 'Serenitea' for my filmed scene, and I couldn't wait to start developing my ideas and directorial vision further.

World-building inspiration

mjrushfirth — 2023-12-06 12:46:44 UTC

Still from Shooting day

mjrushfirth — 2023-12-06 13:05:07 UTC

Ryan - Character ideas

mjrushfirth — 2023-12-06 13:06:23 UTC

When thinking about the character of Ryan, the human-AI hybrid, I knew obviously, due to budget, I was limited with what I could do with the character appearance-wise. I had to lean into the human aspect of the character more than the robotic aspect, but I still wanted some subtle AI aspects. In the end, I decided I was going to basic make-up on my actor, just to smooth out his face to make him look a little more unnatural, then I was going to do some silver eyeshadow on his eyelids, for a subtle metallic look. I'm also thinking of seeing if I can put a small circle on the side of his head or neck, to look like some kind of charging port or a place to plug something in. I'll have to try some things out before the shoot to see what will look the best.

Costume wise, I wanted to keep the cooler bluer tones of the sci-fi genre in mind, and when conversing with my actor to see if he had anything that would work we decided on black trousers, a blue jacket, a white shirt and a blue tie which has hints of yellow on it. I really like the hints of yellow on the tie and its the only warm colour of his outfit, and it makes me think of Ryan's humanity peeking through his programming.

Aimee - Character ideas

mjrushfirth — 2023-12-06 13:06:49 UTC

When thinking about Aimee's design, I knew that simplicity was the best way forward. I still liked my initial idea from the presentation of the AI having cooler sci-fi tones while the humans would wear warmer earthy tones and colours. Therefore, when discussing costume ideas with my actress, looking at what she had, we decided on an all black outfit with a brown shirt over the top. I was happy with the costumes as they coincided with my directorial vision of using costume to create a visual binary opposition, and having Ryan in blue and white and Aimee in brown and black made this idea really work.

mjrushfirth — 2023-12-06 13:07:38 UTC

Binary Oppositions

mjrushfirth — 2023-12-11 14:15:50 UTC

As a director, I am very interested in Lévi-Strauss' binary opposition theory, where in his Structural Anthology he explores how in stories, two different fronts form with conflicting ideologies and stances, and this is used to create tension and meaning (1963). In my piece there is the clear binary opposition of AI versus Humans, and this binary opposition is what the plot of my film revolves around. Therefore, I wanted to make this binary opposition clear through the characters of Ryan and Aimee, AI and human respectively. I am clearly showing this binary opposition visually through the use of costume as I have spoken about. My location is also very interesting in the way it contributes to this, as it is filled with warm lights and warm tones, which further makes Ryan feel out of place and not belonging, as his cool-tones attire clashes with everything around him.

Location

mjrushfirth — 2023-12-11 14:36:33 UTC

Location finding was difficult at first, as I had originally planned to film in the TV Studio, but unfortunately that fell through. This made me extremely stressed and worried, but I knew that I didn't have time to dwell on it, and, with the help of my module leader, I came up with a new idea for my location: the Student Union's bar 'Atmosphere'. So I researched and found email contacts for managers and emailed them inquiring about using the space for filming. I was feeling hopeful about this location as it was on the university campus and I was aware that they were usually very accommodating of students filming there for university projects. I also feel proud of myself because instead of succumbing to worry and stress and just giving up, I collected myself and was proactive in my search for solutions.

Location access emails

mjrushfirth — 2023-12-11 14:43:38 UTC

Location access emails

mjrushfirth — 2023-12-11 14:45:12 UTC

mjrushfirth — 2023-12-11 14:50:43 UTC

Assembling cast and crew

mjrushfirth — 2023-12-11 22:23:32 UTC

Regarding crew I wanted to keep it to a minimum so I've asked one person to help with the camera, one person with sound and the three of us working out lighting between us. Once all the people I asked for cast and crew agreed to help I created a group chat so I could easily communicate with everyone effectively. I made sure to keep everyone updated and aware of everything that was planned, and sent them my synopsis and character descriptions so they could have a better understanding of the project.

Actor rehearsal 25/11/23

mjrushfirth — 2023-12-11 22:25:08 UTC

Cohn say that another one of the most important principles for directing actors in a directors preparation: "the director must identify the nature and conflict in the scene and have a clear idea of what each character wants...a clear agenda and an understanding of the mechanics of each scene". (2021) Therefore before rehearsal I was sure to make sure I had a deep understanding of the scene, characters and conflict, and I knew how to express this understanding to my actors. The day before my shoot I organised a rehearsal with my actors in the New Adelphi Building to go through the script with them. I did this so I could see how they initially interpreted the script and give them notes on what I wanted from them so filming could go as smoothly as possible. It also gave me an opportunity to answer any questions they had about the shoot, characters or scene.

Unfortunately, one of my actors had to cancel an hour before the lesson because of an emergency. I still got the other actor to come and rehearse and just had to focus on them and their performance and questions. At first I was reading in for the other actor but I didn't like this as I was finding it hard to focus on the actor's performance because I was too busy looking at my own lines. To fix this problem, I found a friend who was nearby and willing to help, and he came up to the rehearsal room and read in the other lines in my place. This meant that I was able to fully concentrate on my actor and their performance, and give much more effective and detailed direction. By the end of the rehearsal I was very happy with my actor's performance and felt excited for tomorrow. After the rehearsal I messaged the other actor to make sure that they were okay and would still be alright to film tomorrow. When you are in charge of a project, it is important to look after your cast and crew, and make them aware that you are there to support them if needed.

Shot List and Storyboard

mjrushfirth — 2023-12-12 12:18:37 UTC

When thinking about what kind of shots I wanted for my scene my most important consideration had to be the scene itself and its context. The scene is just two people sat across from each other at a table, apart from one key moment where Ryan stands up. It is also a very emotional scene with a lot of tension and conflict. I wanted to focus more on the scene itself: the dialogue and performance from the actors, I didn't want people to be distracted by unnecessary flashy cinematography. Therefore, I had very simple shots just going back and forth between the two actors, having closer shots on the more emotional moments, and just having the camera pan up and down when Ryan stands up and sits back down. I think this is the most sensible thing to do as the main focus of the scene is the emotional dialogue rather than any complex technical things. In the end I ended up with 14 shots I planned to do, and I went to my filming location beforehand to find the best place to film and found a section in the corner that I really liked and felt suited my scene. Going to my filming location definitely helped my shot list and storyboard as it helped me to visualise my scene now that I had a specific location in mind.

Location colour inspiration

mjrushfirth — 2023-12-12 19:05:40 UTC

Preparation

mjrushfirth — 2023-12-12 19:43:22 UTC

Before the shoot I sent my shooting schedule and marked up script which coincided with it. This made sure that everyone was aware of what the plan for the day was and helped them to feel more prepared. Ideally I should have sent them earlier than I did but I spent a lot of time looking over them and checking and changing things to make it perfect in my eyes.

Photo taken at the end of the shoot

mjrushfirth — 2023-12-12 19:46:38 UTC

Day of Shoot - Setting Up

mjrushfirth — 2023-12-13 16:44:59 UTC

The Atmosphere opened at 11:30, so that was when I arranged for cast and crew to meet, apart from Joseph, who I met 45 minutes earlier to do his makeup for the shoot. Once I had done his makeup, we brought the equipment down to The Atmosphere, where the rest of the cast and crew were, and began setting up the equipment. As the equipment was being set up, I went to speak to the staff briefly to make them aware of what was going on, as my scene did have shouting. I also asked them to turn off the music and televisions in the area that we were filming in, which they did.

Day of Shoot - Read-through

mjrushfirth — 2023-12-13 17:07:30 UTC

Before we started filming, I did a script read-through with my actors, as one of them wasn't able to make the rehearsal. This gave me another opportunity for pre-filming notes and answering questions from the actors. The read-through went well, and I got to give the actor who missed the rehearsal important notes which were taken on very well.

Day of Shoot - Filming

mjrushfirth — 2023-12-13 17:29:24 UTC

For my filming, I stuck to my shooting schedule well and filming went relatively smoothly. Some takes had to be redone because of actors forgetting lines, which is expected, so we went through the script again until they felt ready to give it another go. Other times actors wanted to redo takes because they didn't like their delivery or performance, and felt like they could do better, and I of course let them, as I feel like actors know their abilities best, and if they think they could do better then of course I'll agree to let them do it again. Both the actors and the directors should be happy with the performance for the best results.

The only problem we ran into while filming was incredibly frustrating but completely out of my control. I only had 2 shots left to film, and then the football started. It was on in the other rooms, and it was very distinguishable and loud. It was clear that we wouldn't be able to film the shots because of the sound. I instantly became stressed and began thinking of solution, because it would be difficult and inconvenient to arrange another day of filming at The Atmosphere and find another day where cast, crew and equipment were all available. Therefore, I spoke about options with my cast and crew, and they all agreed to stay for 45 minutes to wait for half time and then film the last shot. This gave everyone an opportunity to have lunch, and when half time happened we were ready and set up to begin filming. We filmed the last shot and that was a wrap! It was very frustrating having to wait 45 minutes just to film one shot, but things don't always go smoothly while filming so it is important to be prepared to solve problems and find solutions.

Day of Shoot - Overall

mjrushfirth — 2023-12-13 17:56:58 UTC

Overall I think filming went very well, and I was proud of myself for what I had accomplished. I am happy with my scene, and feel like I expressed my ideas and intentions successfully to my cast and crew. The overall environment while filming was very positive, apart from the stress regarding the football, and I feel like my cast and crew felt happy and supported throughout the shoot. I could have avoided the issue of the football by going online and seeing if there were any matches on, then plan my shoot either around that or on a different day, but at the time that didn't even cross my mind as a thing that might become a problem.

The only other bad thing, that I didn't realise until after we'd finished, is that I completely forgot to record a room tone, but that is a simple enough fix as I'll definitely be able to find one online while I edit.

Editing - Camera

mjrushfirth — 2023-12-13 20:32:35 UTC

Editing is something I tend to enjoy, so the editing process was fairly painless for me, I had a lot of different shots and takes to choose from and play with. I unfortunately found out during my edit, neither my camera operator or I noticed during filming, that a couple of my shots were out of focus. There was nothing I could do about it at this stage, so I just had to use the clips anyway and keep it in mind to double check that my shots are in focus before filming.

Editing - Audio

mjrushfirth — 2023-12-13 21:05:29 UTC

Another issue that I wasn't aware of until the editing process was the quality of some of my audio was not the best quality, for some of Aimee's audio was very loud, meaning it peaked in a lot of places. I tried to fix this through a combination of audio editing and searching through all my audio files to find the ones that peaked the least. I was able to find alternative takes where the audio didn't peak for most of them, but there was one shot where every audio recording peaked at some point. So for that shot I just had to find the take where the audio peaked the least and use that one. This was not ideal as it vastly limited my choices for takes, and the ones I had to use weren't necessarily my favourite takes, but, same as the camera issues, I just have to double check my audio quality next time I film.

Editing - Colour Grading

mjrushfirth — 2023-12-13 21:34:29 UTC

Colour Grading was the aspect of editing that I was dreading the most. Initially, I was very unsure about how to go about colour grading, so I researched websites and youtube videos which had tutorials on how to colour grade in Premier Pro. Through a combination of using those websites and my own experimentation, I manage to colour grade to a quality that I was satisfied with. I think that my colour grading made my scene look higher quality and more professional, so I'm glad I took the time to research how to do it.

Shot before colour grading

mjrushfirth — 2023-12-13 22:10:31 UTC

Shot after Colour Grading

mjrushfirth — 2023-12-14 13:35:23 UTC

Critical Reflection

mjrushfirth — 2023-12-14 13:59:24 UTC

Overall, I am proud of my work and proud of what I achieve. Performing the roles of both a Director and a Producer seemed like a very daunting task initially, and I very nervous that I would feel overwhelmed. However, I actually found the process fun overall, despite several instances of stress. I think I enjoyed it so much because I chose to do a project that I was passionate about, meaning it excited me working on it and bringing my directorial vision to life. I'm glad that when problems occurred I didn't allow stress to overwhelm me and I instead was able to use my logic and problem solving skills to find solutions quickly and effectively. I put a lot of time and effort into my pre-production work so when the time did come to shoot I felt very prepared. This project has also given me a lot of new experience with being in the role of Producer. I've never been a Producer before and therefore it was interesting having to consider these new factors and aspects if producing. Honestly though, I feel like I let my responsibilities as a director overshadow my responsibilities as a Producer, so if I ever am Directing and Producing another project again I need to make sure that my roles are balanced in my mind.

Although I am proud of my scene and my work that does not mean that I think it is perfect. I have discussed previously how some of my shots were out of focus and some of my audio is not the best quality, and I am not happy about these things. They make me feel incredibly frustrated, especially because they are problems that would have been easily preventable if I had just taken more time looking at and listening over my footage and audio on the day of filming then I could have noticed these problems and rectified them on the day. By the time I noticed the problems it was unfortunately too late to fix them. However, this has taught me an important lesson for the next time I am directing or leading a project I will make sure to double check everything to make sure it is correct and easily avoidable mistakes won't happen again.

Regarding my personal experience with the project, I feel like I have learnt a lot and built important skills that will undoubtably aid me in the future. This project has helped my confidence improve a lot, as being solely in charge of an entire project, and a cast and crew requires a person to be very confident and self-assured. It also helped to improve my communications skills as I to do a lot of messaging and correspondence to organise everything. The fact that I have actually been able to complete this project without feeling like I'm drowning in work and responsibilities makes me feel proud of myself, and now I actually feel like I am capable of more than I give myself credit for. This project has been a very interesting learning experience for me, and although I am not completely happy with the final product, I know exactly what to do for my next project to improve my work and my skills and a Director and Producer.

Working on set

mjrushfirth — 2023-12-14 14:45:38 UTC

Edgar-Hunt says in his book Directing Fiction that there are certain skills directors require to work successfully with cast and crew on set:

"Key people skills include:

•Leadership: Everyone knows you are in charge and you have to act accordingly.

•Vision: Demonstrate the artistic qualities everyone expects.

•Communication: Make your intentions clear but also listen to your team.

•Knowledge: You are a director, know your medium.

•Humility: Admit when you are wrong and acknowledge that other people might know more than you.

•Patience: Film production can be tense; patience certainly is a virtue.

•Humour: Shoots can be long and taxing, keeping things going is a collective effort." (2009)

I tried my best to keep these skills in mind when shooting my scene. I feel like I definitely displayed clear leadership while also taking into account any input from my cast or crew. I made sure to keep my directorial vision clear in my mind and tried to make sure others understood my intentions. I did feel quite stressed throughout, but I tried not to show it as I didn't want my stress to have a negative impact on my cast and crew. I feel like I displayed these skills to a good quality while maintaining my role of Director throughout the shoot.

Bibliography

mjrushfirth — 2023-12-14 15:54:44 UTC

Cohn, L.M. (2021). Directing actors : a practical aesthetics approach. Routledge.
Edgar-Hunt, R. (2009). Directing Fiction. Ava Publishing.
Levi-Strauss, C. (1963). Structural Anthropology. Basic Books.