Proof of Concept by Travis Rudkin

Proof of Concept

trudkin — 2023-12-12 13:25:15 UTC

I have decided to do a filmed scene for my proof of concept. I've chosen to do a scene from a screenplay that I have been writing as part of my screenwriting module. The film is about a university student called Tom, who becomes a vigilante after his best friend and crush, Kate, is attacked by a gang. The scene takes place after Tom finds and gets the gang arrested. In the scene Tom confesses that he is the vigilante and that he has feelings for Kate and she confesses her feelings too, and Tom decides to no longer be the vigilante. Later in the film he would become the vigilante again after Kate gets kidnapped by leader of the gang.

Tom

trudkin — 2023-12-12 13:31:37 UTC

I envisioned Tom to be a mixture of Batman, Spider-Man and Deadpool. He'll have the broodiness and violence of Batman, with the personality of Spider-Man and the rudeness of Deadpool. He doesn't kill, that's his one rule.

trudkin — 2023-12-12 13:32:34 UTC

trudkin — 2023-12-12 13:33:18 UTC

trudkin — 2023-12-12 13:33:53 UTC

Kate

trudkin — 2023-12-12 13:38:34 UTC

Kate is the typical superhero crush/girlfriend. She worries about what Tom is doing. She's very caring and truly loves Tom. She often gets into trouble with Tom's enemies but she wants to help where she can.

trudkin — 2023-12-12 13:39:05 UTC

trudkin — 2023-12-12 13:39:54 UTC

Location

trudkin — 2023-12-12 13:50:32 UTC

I have decided to shoot the scene in my room in my student house. This is not only for convenience, but I imagine the scene to take place in Tom's room. He is a geek like me so the room is already decorated to be a room for a geek, it's filled with superhero collectibles on the desk.

trudkin — 2023-12-12 13:51:05 UTC

trudkin — 2023-12-12 13:56:15 UTC

trudkin — 2023-12-12 13:56:43 UTC

Casting

trudkin — 2023-12-12 14:01:33 UTC

I have not done a casting call. I have casted 2 of my housemates who are also doing Media & Performance. This will also make it more convenient with transport and timing as they won't have to travel to the filming location.

Writing

trudkin — 2023-12-12 18:09:24 UTC

As I said before I'm using a scene from my screenwriting, so I didn't have to write a whole scene. But I did have to make some alterations to hit the 3-5 minute mark. I'm happy with how the scene has come out in the writing.

Table Read

trudkin — 2023-12-12 18:18:01 UTC

The table read went very well, we went through the script several times and everyone was happy with everything including me. Both the actors fit into the roles very well.

Rehearsals

trudkin — 2023-12-12 18:28:17 UTC

The rehearsals went well. We went through positioning and movement. We went through it a few times to make sure that when we actually film it will go a lot more smoothly. I also took some test shots while we rehearsed.

trudkin — 2023-12-12 18:31:59 UTC

trudkin — 2023-12-12 18:32:25 UTC

trudkin — 2023-12-12 18:32:46 UTC

trudkin — 2023-12-12 18:33:37 UTC

trudkin — 2023-12-12 18:33:58 UTC

trudkin — 2023-12-12 18:34:22 UTC

trudkin — 2023-12-12 18:34:46 UTC

trudkin — 2023-12-12 18:35:15 UTC

Filming

trudkin — 2023-12-12 18:53:02 UTC

We were able to film in one day, it went smoothly and we didn't have to do that many takes. I was able to create a controlled environment as well as making sure everyone was comfortable. It could have come out better, in the end the actor for Tom didn't really fit the roles, we did our best to try and get it to be how I envisioned, but we couldn't quite get it. This may seem different to me after editing though. One problem we faced was moving the equipment when we needed to change the shots as there was not a lot of room, but we managed in the end.

trudkin — 2023-12-12 18:53:30 UTC

trudkin — 2023-12-12 18:54:01 UTC

Editing

trudkin — 2023-12-13 20:27:04 UTC

I'm mostly happy with my edit. Editing isn't my strong suit and I don't really enjoy it. I came across a few problems during my editing process, there was one problem when cutting two scenes together where the actor moved their head down and then in the next shot it wasn't, but they did after, so I had to cut a line out so the head was in the right position. It didn't affect the story so it was fine to remove. The actor playing Tom was better than I expected after cutting the scene together and I'm happy with how his performance turned out.

Critical Reflection as Director

trudkin — 2023-12-13 20:44:52 UTC

I believe I was a good director, The scene I wrote came out the way I wanted it. I was happy with the actors I cast. I was able to make the filming go smoothly without any issues. I could have been better at directing the actors, I needed to be more detailed in telling them how I wanted them to perform. I was also able to direct the crew very well, everyone was comfortable which helped the whole process move smoothly.

Critical Reflection as Producer

trudkin — 2023-12-13 20:52:29 UTC

I believe I was successful in the producing role. I was able to organise dates for rehearsals, table reads and the filming date really well. We ran into no problems as I picked dates and times that everyone was available, which helped the whole process run smoothly as we didn't have to worry about how long we took as everyone was free for the whole evening of filming. My production documents were good, they could have been more detailed. Organising the location and budget was easy as I used my own house and the only money that had to be spent was on transport for collecting and returning equipment from the equipment store. I believe my role as the producer helped the project turn out the way I wanted.