Evaluation

Throughout this entire creative process, there have been many ups and downs and lots of jumping around ideas. Since starting this project on my own, I've definitely seen a significant difference in manageability in my workload since partnering up with Jacob. I feel as though I do my usual problem of trying to overcomplicate my ideas so after having a few meetings with Jacob to discuss how we could approach the idea differently dropped the idea about the senses as we felt it was far to broad and that focusing on the left and right side of the brain is a topic that is a lot more centred and would make more sense to focus on. Myself and Jacob worked well throughout the process by constantly communicating to one another whenever a piece of work was done so we knew we were on the same page. Although our final outcome might not look a lot like how we planned it in our treatment, we are pleased regardless as the process has been the real learning curve. We feel as though we've produced a piece that is engaging, risky and adventurous to make.

The time management has been a bit of a problem for this project, especially as about 2 months of our term have been put solidly into the set building project. To make matters worse, we didn't actually have a solid idea sorted until a week after the set build so we both now know that we will definitely have to manage out time better in future projects. Another con of the project was that we didn't really get to do as much actual filming as we would have liked. Again, this is down to our poor judgement of time management and like before we know that if we want to film more in the future then we will have to be more organised for projects yet to come.

This is our final outcome:

Inspiration for our shoot

Before shooting, myself and Jacob were looking into artwork and even films that have used baths in them to get an understanding of what sort of framing we'd like to get for our scene with the bath and hoped to get some inspiration. We firstly looked into a photographer called Cindy Johnson who experimented in a shoot using self portraiture in milky bath water. Cindy goes on to discuss her shoot in further detail and goes on to tell about how she was originally supposed to be photographing someone else but at the last minute her model had to pull out. Cindy stated that it didn't phase her as she knew that she was going to do the shoot with or without the model and thus turned the piece into a self portrait series. The thing that drew us most towards Cindy's work is that of her framing. She seems to have created this overwhelming aura about her photographs through the use of where she positions the camera. She favours the use of high angled shots which gives off a lot of vulnerability especially when being sat in a bath tub which is usually a place where people tend to feel a lot of security. We couldn't quite find anything on why she was wearing the clothes that she was but we really like how they are transparent as it really adds to the aesthetic of the shoot.

Cindy Johnson

Cindy Johnson

Cindy Johnson

So Jacob and I didn't look at just one kind of medium, we also looked into different films that have bath scenes and looked at what sort of certain framing created certain moods and feelings. The first film that we looked at was Moonlight and noticed that using a full frame wide shot actually does a really good job of creating the sense of loneliness in a scene as it shows the protagonist in a very isolated and vulnerable light. Of course a lot of this scene is down to the lighting being very minimal which is something we had to think about when filming our own shoot so framing wise this is definitely something we wanted to achieve. Another film that we looked into was Inception. The bath scene(s) in this film are actually a lot more complex and we were completely aware that we wouldn't be able to film on the same sort of scale as they did with this film but we definitely took the scenes as inspiration. The main thing we wanted to take from the Inception was the feeling of submersion which I feel we achieved quite well. 

Moonlight (2016)

Inception (2010)

Studio Shoot - Evaluation

When this project started I was luckily appointed my chosen role as director of the film which is arguably one of if not the most important role in the production. During the planning process I unfortunately had a family crisis which spun my head to say the least. I was also trying to arrange my own production outside of uni at this time which looking at now was probably not the best idea. It became clear very quickly that I was juggling too much and couldn't properly focus on being the director of the group as it would be selfish to ruin the production for everyone else just because I wasn't all there mentally. Thankfully Nina took a very brave step up and said she'd be happy to direct the film, meaning I would slip into her previous role of 1st AD.

Becoming 1st AD for this project was probably one of the better things I've done creatively in my career as a film maker so far. Not only was it a chance to stop stressing over the director role but it gave me a chance to understand a role that I would have never taken on in the past. I found it very interesting reading up on my role and what my responsibilities would be on and off of set. In the planning stage of the film I would have to put my hands up and say that I didn't do the best job with paperwork, mainly as I'd never had to handle this responsibility. Having said this, after going to other members in my group for help I now understand how I am meant to sort the pre production when taking on the 1st AD role in the future.

When it came to the shoot dates I felt like I really wanted to step up and show everyone how much the shoot meant to me after not doing so well in the pre production stage. I knew that during the shoot I'd have to spend a lot of time with Nina, keeping her up to date on how we were doing with the schedule if we were ahead or behind for time. It was also my responsibility to check on the actors to make sure they were satisfied and refreshed at all times. Generally it was my job to make sure everyone on set was happy and calm so the production could run as smoothly as possible. 

Whilst the production was underway I spent a lot of my time bouncing between Jodie, our producer and Nina, our director. Myself and Jodie each had a copy of the call sheet with us at all times and would both write down the time when we started to shoot a different shot so we could compare the times with the call sheet to determine how ahead or behind schedule we were.

I feel as though I did a good job at my role as 1st AD. Taking into consideration I'd never done this role before or didn't know anything about it in general, I feel as though I did it justice. Personally I feel like the key to doing this role properly was to be thorough with my communication, I had to make sure that everyone was on the same page at all times meaning I had to go up to people individually and tell them about changes made. Sometimes I had to be the centre of attention when making an announcement regarding breaks or for matters that concerned the whole team meaning that I had to stand in the centre of the room and use a loud voice to gain everyone's attention. This was a very useful skill to obtain from this project as usually I wouldn't have the courage to project my voice to the whole crew but after doing it in this studio shoot I feel like I wouldn't have a problem doing it again in the future. This whole experience has been really eye opening as its shown me the closest thing to what it's like to be on a professional set and how much pressure comes with it. I feel like this set build has definitely helped me grow as a film maker and has made me respect everyone's individual roles so much more than before. I'd like to thank everyone involved in the project for making it such an enjoyable experience for the few weeks we were building and filming. I'd also like to show my appreciation to Chris who helped us all massively in the actual building of the set and whom without we wouldn't have a set that looked as good as it did.

How we plan to set up our instillation piece

Studio Shoot - Day 2

With the first day wrapped it seemed as though there was a mood amongst the whole group of real determination and pride to do just as well in the second day. We picked up where we left off and began shooting the scenes that were needed. Every seemed very enthusiastic which was brilliant and just made it a nice feeling to be on set. The day was going very well until the point that our actress, Yasmin told us that she had an important hand in that was due which she needed to finish. Thankfully she told us this in advance the day before so we were able to amend the timesheet and make it so we filmed all of her scenes first. When it came to the time that Yasmin did have to leave us it was absolutely fine as we'd successfully filmed everything we needed with her, thus calling a wrap for Yasmin on the shoot. After she left we began to shoot all of TJ's solo scenes and even had time to film some B-Roll footage. Thankfully nothing went wrong when filming on the second day and we were well ahead of time.

Having said this, just before wrapping the whole production it became aware that the footage we had been filming hadn't been recorded on the Ninja. The reason as to why we were using the Ninja was so that we could record in a 10bit Avid codec instead of an 8bit. Obviously this caused a slight upset for the group but it definitely wasn't the worst thing that could have happened; this just meant that for the people editing, they would have to transcribe all of the footage themselves instead of having the Ninja do it for them. After this issue was resolved we finished the last couple scenes and wrapped the whole production. It was a sad moment to wrap as everyone really came together to make this project the best it could be. I really hope to do something like this again in the future as being on set is something that I love doing.

Studio Shoot - Day 1

Day one of the studio shoot was a very special day for everyone in group A. There had been a lot of planning that had gone into this production so it seemed that everyone involved was keen to do the best they could. We had an early start for the day as there was a lot to do in our 48 hour time frame. The day started at 8.30am and filming was scheduled to start at 9.30am, this gave the lighting team time to set up the appropriate lights for the scene and also gave me a chance as 1st AD to go around and make sure that everyone was calm and happy with how everything was going. The first two hours of filming went really well and we were ahead of schedule. The studio we were in was quite small having 13 people all in one space as well as this there were powerful lights that were constantly on throughout the shoot which radiated lots of heat. Because of these reasons it was important that we took regular breaks throughout the day which gave the lighting and camera teams a chance to change over their equipment without being bombarded with other crew members around them. We continued on with the shooting after the break and everything seemed to be going very well, where we'd lose a bit of time in some scenes we'd make up for in others. There were points throughout the day where some crew members didn't see eye to eye but all was resolved and no shooting time was lost over it. After a long day of shooting in the studio for hours it was clear that everyone including the actors was very tired. We cut for the day and managed to get exactly what we planned to film as the director liked it. 

Set Building - Directing Role

In the studio set building project, I have taken on the role as director which is arguably the most important role, meaning there is a lot of responsibility on my part. My team and I have chosen a photograph called 'Basement' by Gregory Crewdson. We played on multiple ideas as to how we could approach this picture and after a while of throwing ideas back and fourth we managed to settle on the idea of going through the five stages of grief. After deciding this we asked our tutors for feedback on the idea and they came back saying that it had a lot of potential but needed improving in places. We took these comments on board and proceeded the brainstorm about the narrative of the film. Several group meeting took place and we have now settled on the idea of a brother and sister feud. The film is going to take place a few days after the siblings have just committed a crime. The sister is going to have a much more laid back type approach to the whole situation whereas the brother is going to be a lot more jittery and uptight. The film is going to revolve around the siblings playing a game of chess and with every move they make in the game, something alters slightly in their reality be it a change of clothes or a piece of furniture in the room. 

When thinking about the look of my film, I have taken into consideration a lot of things from the mood I want to portray to the message I want to send. I have looked at a lot of feature films and short films to get an idea of how I would like the set designers to dress the set. My main inspiration for the film is going to be of similar aesthetic to '10 Cloverfield Lane'. Visually this is an extremely close representation of what I want to convey in the look of this shoot. The film follows the style of a early 90's and the bunker in which the majority of the film is set in has a very dainty and intricate look about it so much so that it gives off a slightly unnerving vibe to the film as the set doesn't correspond with the genre of the film; I'd really like to deliver the same feeling of viewer uncertainty in our film. I have also given the set designers the 1975 Somebody Else music video to look at. I like the look of this set in particular because there isn't actually a lot in the frame but because of the low lighting, it makes the apartment look quite grungy and run down which is the look I'd like in the shoot. I also feel like showing this same clip to the sound department of the shoot as this short is very reliant on audio seeing as there is no camera movement throughout the whole thing.