Commission - Planning update

Rapidly moving toward the allocated shoot week I am happy to announce that both planning and arrangements for shooting are coming along nicely. The characters that we are having in the film are now as follows


- Presenter, this will be Fran considering previous on camera experience I can't see any issues with her for this role.


- A member representing the youth, this will be my younger brother Jack. Followers of my work will recognise him from my 'The Journey' piece. He is a confident person that I expect to bring energy to the screen.


- A member representing the adult/middle aged views, this will be my father Dick who is again confident but with having a long spanning career in the Fire Service he is more than capable of remaining serious when needed.


- A member representing the older generation views being told by my lovely old Grandma Patsy,  although she's not an expert on anything technological she was more than willing some would say excited about being featured in the doc. 


- A member representing a member from the academic community is a secondary school English teacher from my old school who again has been more than accommodating in his assistance.




Arrangement wise it has been confirmed that we can film with the teacher next Thursday morning  and my Grandma on Thursday afternoon. 


Arrangements to film with my brother and father although not confirmed yet but it should be easy to sort out. 

Documentary - This is the result of our workshop

Direction unit - Episode 11 BURN NOTICE

Direction unit - Production

Review of productions

With the planning completed and the excitement building I was more than pleased that the first scheduled production shoot for the ‘Directors 13’ internet series was my very own. My take on the American television action drama ‘Burn Notice’ had developed an increasingly British feel swapping the built up city of Miami location for a fairly typical secluded British countryside setting. Along with the change in location came a change in the age of the characters this was more of a practical decision due to the ease of accessibility of available cast members. On this subject the availability of cast members was one of the more difficult elements that I had to attempt to organise. After one cast member dropped out and another being very limited as to when he would be able to shoot I attempted to recast these parts in order to proceed with the scheduled shoot just a couple of days later.

A majority of the footage captured for my edit was shot over a period of two days. These days were very diverse in regards to the way I felt during them and the footage that was produced by the end. At the commencement of the first day of shooting my cast and crew arrived at my home where I briefed everyone as to what I was looking to achieve, showed the original scene from ‘Burn Notice’ and finally had a group read through of the script before making our way to the location for the days shooting. After resolving an issue with the location’s occupying horses that were intent on scaring my cast and crew by charging at them I was able to finally block out the scene with the two cast members that would be taking part. Due to high winds and a very unlevel location shooting was far more difficult than I had anticipated whilst planning the shots for the shot list and storyboard. The pressure of trying to get the shots I wanted at the same time as making sure everyone was alright and getting their lines right got to me on this occasion and I attribute this to be the main reason that upon reflection of the footage I realised that I hadn’t got as many shots as I had hoped for and some of those that I had got were not as powerful on screen as I had imagined. More disappointingly the image quality was dramatically inferior to that I had hoped for considering the fact we were using high definition cameras but I did not know the cause for this issue. 

Skip forward a few days to the second day of my shoot and the person that I had recruited as my camera operator Lauren Howard revealed that between herself and Lauren Woodfall they had adjusted various settings on the camera resulting in a greatly improved image quality. This being great in most respects it does mean however that when I come to edit the footage from the two days shooting there will be an unwanted rise and fall in image quality. The shoot on the second day felt however far more professional and exciting and thankfully nothing monumental went noticeably wrong. Apart from the images I saw on the camera viewfinder at the time of the shoot and upon a quick review the footage on the computer I do not know whether the shoots will be as good as I hope. All I can be sure of is that there are some powerful images contained within that captured footage. At this point all I can hope for is that the edit goes smoothly and the changes in image quality do not affect the resulting final piece too greatly. 

‘Directors 13’ productions I have worked on

Considering that there will be a total of 13 episodes in the ‘Directors 13’ series I take great pleasure in saying that of those 13 I have in some shape or form taken part in the production of eight covering every position from directing my own episode to operating the boom mic on Jo’s shoot, helping set up the lights on Lauren’s as well as operating the camera. I also operated the camera on Hennie’s, Maddie’s, Abbi’s and Dean’s episodes and then finally going onto acting in Matt’s episode. In each of these roles and on each of the shoots I defiantly feel I have learnt something different and transferable to future productions.

Johanna’s shoot

The job of the boom mic operator is a far more difficult one than I had given credit for in the past. I now have a respect for the men and woman that do it to earn a wage especially those who are operating when they don’t know who’s going to speak. It isn’t something that I get to excited about because I feel for this type of project it is possibly more about physically endurance of how long you can hold the extended pole in the air before your arms begin to ache. I don’t know how Jo felt about her sound but she hasn’t come and complained so I can only assume that it wasn’t too bad.

Maddie’s shoot

Maddie’s shoot was the first that I was behind the camera for and by the following day I dare say she wished she hadn’t been. At the time of the shoot there was a really good atmosphere amongst both cast and crew. It was the nearest to what I imagine it would feel like being behind the camera of all of the productions that I worked on to that I have experienced from the working industry. Maddie was confident in the shots she was asking for at the same time as being experimental in the methods that some of those shots would be achieved. I think we all came away at the end of the day thinking it had been a job well done. This would have become so if it hadn’t been for the tiniest of silver switches that control the gain. Not having ever been caught out by the effects or even really knowing what gain did in the past I felt awful when Maddie was clearly disappointed with the image quality. I know she has gone back and re-shot a couple of the scenes and is making the best of the footage I took. Thankfully she has not held anything against me and I think it will be a mistake that none of us involved on that shoot will make again.

Abbi’s shoot

What a trooper Abbi is! Choosing to shoot at halls I dare say wasn’t her first choice of locations for her episode yet through adding a fair number of candles she changed the look more than I think I would have achieved. Fresh from Maddie’s shoot the day before and upon discovery of my mistake I was extra careful not to make any stupid little mistakes. Being set in one location and for a majority of the episode having her three characters sat around a table the shoot went very quickly and easily.

Hennie’s shoot

In her family home located in Dartford Hennie’s shoot ran almost as smoothly and quickly as Abbi’s had. For someone that claims not to be confident when telling people what to do she defiantly know that shots she wanted from me and when there are hot dogs on offer as well you can’t go far wrong.

Lauren’s shoot

Arguably the best looking set of the entire directors 13 series Lauren’s shoot took place in the Drakes pub founded in 1636. The interior had a quality that was perfect for her episode and she really used the location to the best she could. Being the only production on the series that I worked on that used the additional studio lights she really knew what she was trying to achieve. Working alongside Lauren Woodfall we both shot her content. The actors she used were brilliant, shoots brilliant and her direction brilliant over all the nights shooting was... brilliant.

Dean’s shoot

After struggling for a far while to find an actor to play his lead Dean eventually was forced to throw in the towel and follow somewhat reluctantly in the footsteps of some Hollywood great and play the lead role at the same time as directing his shoot. Passing a lot of the responsibility onto myself and Lauren who was capturing the scene for him he was still able to convey exactly what he wanted and checked the footage back and re shot where he saw fit. He experimented with some camera moves and wasn’t afraid to trust in the footage that he had rather than shooting the same scene for the sake of it. Overall when faced with the challenge of being in front of the camera and directing I think the shoot went really smoothly and I hope that the footage would reflect this.

Matt’s shoot

This was the final shoot that I was involved with and it took place a bit too close to the final deadline for my comfort, however, this time I was to give over my comfortable role as the camera op and take on the part of an actor. Not something that I have ever really been interested in it really did give me an appreciation for just how difficult it would be to be an actor. Knowing exactly what the line is when the camera isn’t rolling and then my mind going blank as soon as he called action. I don’t know what people will think of my performance and as I told Matt on the day I thought he could have done with shooting a bit more coverage but this will remain to be seen when the series goes live.

Direction unit - Pre Production - Shot list

Direction Unit - Pre production - Characters

Direction Unit - Pre production - The script

Direction unit - pre production - storyboard

Direction Unit - Complication resolved

In my previous blog entry I said how one of my actors may have to pull out of his role. It is also a fact that my brother who was down to play one of the minnor roles is at school during the day of the shoot limiting when I could shoot the portion of the sceen that he would need to be present for. Therefore a few switches have been made meaning that of my original four actors only one is playing their original role.

The cast now stands as follows:

Michael - Dean Ross
Evelyn - Amber Moody
Sam - Myself Dan Baugh
Doug (to be renamed) - Maddie Ireland

Direction Unit - Complication

After I’d planned everything down to the last detail and everything seemed to be going so well something had to come along and throw a spanner in the works. The guy that I had booked to play my lead went and got himself a new job which means there is good chance that he won’t be available to play his role. I have sent a number of text and emails out to other people that fit the part. However another solution is existing due to the fact that I cast my ‘actors’ younger than the original characters in the show the possibility that should I not be able to find another actor in time for my shoot on Wednesday I could continue by following in the footsteps of Clint Eastwood, Sylvester Stallone and Ben Stiller as well as many others by starring in the same film as that which i would be directing. It isn’t ideal however it would mean that everything would continue as planned. By looking at the direction unit work of the second year students it looks as though it is possible to achieve a good standard film in this situation.  

We’ll see how it pans out.

Commision unit - Pitch

Txt talk

The vast amount of technology that was introduced and embraced during the ten years that form the noughties is immense in comparison to every previous decade. Various forms of the introduced technology have led to people communicating in very different ways, many of which it would now be difficult to imagine day to day life without. One such form of communication is the use of text messages sent from one mobile phone to another. As this form of communication grew more widely used a seemingly endless list of specifically intended abbreviations, acronyms and combination of symbols was created that would later be broadly known as text talk.

My intention should this subject matter be commissioned for creation is to explore a number of interconnecting elements that the use and understanding of ‘text talk’ has had on the way that people communicate. These elements will include the social and academic impacts, generational opinions, professional opinions and posing the questions in order to discover and structure a well rounded view as to what the public as a whole think of the use of text talk in regards to whether it is a good or bad element of communication. Ultimately leading to a discovery of whether if normal people living in Briton are even bothered by its use or believe it to simply be the next eventual stage of the progression of the English language.

The way that I intend to present this to the audience would be through a mixture of interviews with professional individuals such as linguists, teachers and possibly representative from the English dictionary. I would also be keen to include a section where people that are aware but not necessarily frequent users of text talk would attempt to decode or interpret the meaning of pre set phrases written in text talk form which should keep the commission light hearted rather than hard hitting.

Direction unit - The series titles

After a long mornings editing the titles are finally finished who would have thought 10 seconds worth of titles would be so much effort. Hope you like them. 

Direction Unit - Opening title development

This is just a quick before and after now that we have the photos that we will be using for the opening titles to 'Directors 13'. 

BEFORE

AFTER

Direction Unit - Character profile of Michael Westen

For the Performance workshop tomorrow we were asked to write a character profile and due to the fact that I forgot until about 15 minutes ago I have adapted one that I found on the internet. Luckily I think it would help anyone that doesn't know the character to have a far clearer understand than I would have been able to verbalise.

See below for the character profile of Michael Westen

Direction Unit - Idea development

I managed to find a spare hour earlier today so I took the short journey into the village of Loose where I intend on shooting for this unit. These are some of the images I took:

I have also got my four cast members confirmed provided I can find a date that works for all of us. Plus the crew which I am yet to arrange.

Direction Unit - Idea Development

From the point that I finally settled on which scene from my selected series of 'Burn Notice' that I will be re-directing for this unit I haven't stopped progressing with ideas and decisions. Making numerous phone calls, making a number of deals and calling in a couple favours I have a cast that should everything run smoothly will be able to re-create the action within the scene. I have not yet arranged who will make up my crew but I am aiming for at least two people from the course to help me if not more. My ultimate goal is for this production to reflect all of the knowledge that I gained from the first semester combined with the added information gained via the workshops and lectures in this semester. Having written out the script along with an initial shooting script I am more excited than ever to get moving with this project. I will endeavor to take a walk to the locations that I have in my head as to where I would like to shoot the scene over the weekend to make sure that everything I have planned will be possible.

As part of the group responsibilities for this unit we had to come up with and create a title sequence that would be used across the series. I am happy to note that the idea that I proposed to the group has been meet with a great response and it has been agreed that the mock up clip I created will be adapted into the final opening titles over the forth coming week. Below is the mock up version I will upload the finished opening titles at a later date for you to compare.

Direction Unit - Project update

My chosen drama for the direction unit is the US TV series 'Burn Notice' which is now in its fifth series. I wasn't sure if the show would qualify as a tv drama because of the high level of action in each episode so to make sure I went to that always reliable website imdb which has burn notice down as an action and drama. I know that a lot of people haven't seen this series but it is a show that I have really got into over the past few years. So to give you a taste of what the programme is like here is a promo that I found on youtube. 

Commission Unit- Early Research

The following list is the basic outline of the research that I did in regards to events from the noughties that have the potential to be formed into a documentary later in the process.

-       The increase in texting, e-mail and social networking (Emoticon words without letters conveying emotional responses, such as smileys :-) )

-       Facebook launches 2004

-       YouTube launches 2005

-       The legalization of gay marriage

-       Technology increase in people’s lives

-       Has it come to a point where you can live without needing to leave the house?

-       Euro introduced 2002

-       Ways of Communications

Direction Unit - Project update

A mere week has passed since we received our direction unit brief and we have already completed two workshops. The first workshop entailed me directing a combined cast and crew of four. This was my first experience of directing a crew and I must say I really enjoyed it. The one element that I wasn’t so comfortable with was handing over control of the camera to someone else. When I got the footage taken during that workshop onto the computer it didn’t quite cut together just right like I would like to. This is because of, and which was highlighted in Simons lecture earlier this week I was editing my film whilst shooting and it is because of this I was limited to what shots I had available in the edit. I think that is what I will take away most from that workshop and when I have edited the clips I do have from that workshop together I will put it on this blog.

The second workshop was my first introduction to how to light a scene using three point lighting. Although it was a very informative workshop I wasn’t as interested personally in this workshop as I was in the direction workshop.     



Paris

On the same note as my previous blog entry here is the short video I edited together from some of the random footage I took over a couple of days in Paris and every big kids playground disneyland with my better half.

Evening All,

This blog hasn’t seen much action in the last couple of months but now that September is nearing and the prospect of returning to UCA and the studios draws ever nearer I thought it was about time that I wrote a new entry for you to digest where ever or whenever that may me. When semester one ended I left having passed each of the three units assigned feeling happy yet determined to improve the marks and therefore the quality of work that I will produce upon my return to the course. In order to do improve and secure the skills acquired in the first semester. Not having a camera that would reflect the quality that could be instantly accomplished with the cameras sitting idly waiting for us use upon our return I thought that I would focus on pre writing stages and then writing a few short scripts to explore some of the ideas knocking around in my mind. Admittedly I haven’t managed to get as much done as I would have liked to but before you condemn me for being lazy let me present my defence. Film making is the art of storytelling from the point coming up with an idea to deciding how it should look has to be down to how the film maker transfers the event in their life into the films they make. So that’s what I’ve been doing over this summer LIVING!

See you all when we get back to uni

When silent movies get their sound

After a number of weeks trials and errors I have finally completed my sound unit here is the resulting piece.

Howdy Partners

So Monday has rolled around again and I am sat in the studios waiting for the camera battery to charge.  So what better time to update you all in respects to how my sound unit is going. Last weekend I pulled together my cast of one of my brothers (Jack), his girlfriend (Gemma) and my old man and over the period of about and hour and a half I was able to take all of the photos that I would need for the unit to tell my story. As you can probably tell from the image on the left this journey isn't as simple as going from A to B. Like many people I find myself often drifting off into day dreams where you become the man every woman wants and every man wants to be. Now I'm pretty sure that that must mean something if you was the analyse it but hey ho. So using this recurrent element of my own life I formed a narrative around it so the story goes something like this...

Billy Salter, has never satisfied with his life fed up with not being the smartest or the strongest but more importantly never getting the girl that he desires. So with every passing day he finds himself drifting off into more and more daydreams through which he likes to imagine that he is a hero who experiences fantastic adventures. In his daydreams he becomes a biker, a karate master and a cowboy right out of the west. Billy soon finds himself in the middle of a recurring battle with a mysterious bad guy whilst getting closer and closer to wooing the girl of his dreams. 

So I've got all of the set photos into final cut pro and I'm now ready to start getting my sound tracks recorded or found on the internet. 

Break... what break?!

So we've been on Easter break and I have been going non stop with one thing and another. Importantly my laptop that had my media strategies essay on it died before I had chance to hand it in. I sent it off to be fixed, that was two weeks ago and at this point I don't know when I'll be getting it back. I did however still have my notes so I sat down a wrote another essay thankfully I think this one is better than the one I very well may have lost.

As for the storytelling unit I was determined to come up with something original and I think that is something I have done. I came up with a sort of fictional variation of metaphorical journeys that I have found myself having since I was very young. This would be where I would be out and about, in the garden sometimes even just sat in my bedroom and I'd drift off into daydreams. I don't know if that makes me strange or if everyone finds them daydreaming so often that sometimes it takes a few minutes to work out what is real and what is fantasy. Well I took the photos yesterday and I'm very content with how they turned out.

They think it's all over ...it is now

So today was the deadline for all of the storytelling unit coursework elements to be handed in. Happily I was successful in as much as I got everything in on time. So tomorrow we move onto the next unit 'SOUND'.

Here is my trailer for anyone that hasn't seen it.

So close ... I can almost touch it

\

So we are now two days away from the final, no second chances, don't look back or you'll miss it dead line   for the whole of the story telling unit. A recap for those of you that weren't paying attention this unit revolved around the title 'The Meeting' now as has been proved by the diversity of everyone's products this title could be interpreted and moulded to take on many different narratives. For the unit we needed to learn how to and then write a pitch of no longer than 25 words, a one page synopsis, a ten page short film script, draw out a storyboard which depicts the shots that would be present in a film trailer of between one and two minutes long. The trailer which we would then have to organise, shot and edit all before the deadline. It was a very enjoyable and at the same time a very intense process one that at times I had doubts as to whether I would be able to complete all of the tasks and meet the deadline on the other side. But here I am sat in the UCA production office and as I look around I can see people coming to the end of their edits, i sit here in the knowledge that some have already finished  and are off no doubt enjoying themselves. Myself I have a few empty gaps in my storyboard where I wrote what was going to be drawn but got so caught up in my whirlwind shooting process that I realise only now that they remain. However I'm not worried in the slightest because as I said I know what is going in those gaps and it shouldn't take any longer than this evening to complete them. Once this is done I will have completed all of the needed elements of the unit I will put them on a CD and I will be able to focus on the next task the daunting Media Strategies essay.   

The Meeting Synopsis #3

The first two paragraph are the same as the previous draft but upon Simon's recommendation I have reworked the third paragraph as to read in the same style as the first and second.

Football is the greatest passion in the young life of Luke Wood. He will play anywhere he can. So when he comes across an empty goods yard on a journey home it proves simply too tempting an opportunity to pass up. One powerful kick is all it takes to start a chain of events that leads him into terrible, life threatening danger. It is that one kick that sends the ball high up onto the roof of an old derelict factory. The decision to retrieve it is the step that triggers a devastating series of events that will remain with Luke forever and inevitably touch lives other than his own. When he steps onto a rotten wooden cover it suddenly gives way and he is plunged into a dark and threatening abyss leaving him trapped, frightened and yearning for the light and safety of the outside world.

Britain’s fire fighters engage in countless hours of training in preparation for every conceivable scenario. So when the call comes in the members of the specialist urban search and rescue team move swiftly and seemingly effortlessly into action. But on duty today is a fire fighter who has his own particular reasons for wanting to secure a successful outcome to this job. Oliver knows only too well the heartbreak of losing a child through a senseless, tragic accident. Having just returned to work after an extended absence and still raw from the loss of his own daughter he understands the fragility of young life and is plagued by the realisation that this shout could turn out just as badly. With complete disregard for his own safety this rescue attempt will either help him find closure for his daughter’s untimely passing or end his career and destroy his soul.

As the terrifyingly dangerous and rapidly developing events of the present come crashing down around the cowering young boy are intertwined in Oliver’s mind with the painful details of his past, he will be continually tested to his extremes. Not knowing if he can overcome physical, emotional and spiritual barriers Oliver must let himself be taken over by an unexpected and unformulated determination. To do anything possible to snatch Luke from the jaws of death, that focused and unchangeable goal which he must complete to save himself as well as the injured boy. 

This is the result of not blogging

Between my last blog entry and this there have been a lot of developments in my life but I’m sure you’re all more interested in the developments of my ‘the meeting’ production. As I disclosed previously I was faced with a rather large predicament when some of the members from Maidstone’s urban search and rescue team were sent to assist with rescue efforts after the tsunami that ran through Japan. Left not knowing what to do I was close to breaking point my cast was gone, my shooting schedule was therefore gone and unless they returned my storyboard would be rendered useless. Well what could I do? Not knowing how long the team would be in action I could only see that I was left with two options. Firstly I thought that I could create a totally different trailer to that which I had intended to create originally with the later half focussing heavily on the USAR team. Alternatively I could hold my breath and hope that the team would return in time for me to film and edit what I needed to before the deadline.

Looking back I probably shouldn’t have taken the more risky of the two options, but, that is what I did. I would watch the news daily to see updates about the events unfolding in Japan, one of those days I did see the men from the team that I had intended to be my cast being interviewed on the BBC South East today news program. During this time of not knowing I was asking my father who remained my first point of contact with the Fire service to find out how many members remained of the team remained here and whether he’d be able to talk them into being my new cast. Through this time the efforts in Japan where brought to its end but by the time I had been able to arrange to film with them again I would be in a great rush as I would be sharing the camera with other people from the course, as well as doing it before I went to Amsterdam. It was all getting very intense but low and behold before the team even returned home my father informed me that a temporary USAR team had been formed from members from various smaller USAR teams from around the county. Was my luck really going to be in? Yes it was the temporary team agreed very kindly for me to film them the Sunday of that week.

But you know that good old thing about life nothing ever did go exactly to plan because the problem I was now faced with was that this happened on the Thursday and I knew neither Simon nor Helen would be in on the Friday in order for me to get the camera signed out for me to film. PANIC! So I turned to this very blog to seek the Yoda like wisdom of Simon on my next step. He told me that Lauren Howard had a camera booked out and if I could get hold of the camera she was using BOOM my problem would be solved. So this is what I did, but it wasn’t until Friday morning that Lauren called me back ‘she was walking to the studios and as much as she wanted to the twenty minute walk from the home to the studios carrying both camera and tripod simply wasn’t going to happen. But Lauren being the diamond that she is said if I could get someone with a car to drive to her house over lunch she would had the camera and tripod over to me and I would be able to get the use of the camera over the weekend. So I turned to another diamond Fran who agreed that if I bought her some lunch that she would drive to get the camera for me and God bless both of them because that is what we did.

So Friday evening I convinced my father to come with me and my younger brother Luke who was to be the star of my trailer to Maidstone fire station on Saturday afternoon after I had finished work to film the outside scenes and he happily agreed. So Saturday afternoon went so smoothly I was given a renewed enthusiasm for the project. I got the shots that I wanted, so now secure in the knowledge that I had something that I could use in the final edit I was happy but I didn’t begin to relax no sir not yet as the next day I was going to have a onetime only chance to film with the members of the mish mash USAR team that had agreed. Happily the Sunday shoot went as smoothly as the Saturday and I got some shots that I dare say some people would have been sceptical about me getting if I had told them before shooting.  

So I had my footage and I had a sound track picked out I thought the next section would be the easiest of the whole process. WRONG AGAIN! I got my footage onto the mac and some of the outdoor shots were sadly over exposed, this is somewhat heartbreaking for me for two reasons. One I know that due to location, time, and permission I won’t be able to reshoot those clips and probably more heartbreaking is that if i had used one of the filters on the camera the footage would be as close to perfect as it ever could have been. But after a rough edit I thought that I was making the images work for the purposes of the trailer. It was at this point that Simon reviled to me that the soundtrack with to epic and grand for the images that I had created. Slightly disheartened I set about looking for a new piece of trailer music. This is where I made my second mistake I decided that the Batman - the dark night trailer music would work. “ERRR NO!” not only was it still to grand this piece was also to recognisable. Right being a little bit stuck for ideas as for music to use I though ... “hey why don’t I go for an emotional bit of music, that’ll defiantly going to be less epic”. So that’s what I did but rightly pointed out the footage I shot wasn’t for an emotionally trailer. So that brings you to the point at which I am at now. I still haven’t found that piece of music that will marry with my trailer but at least I have an idea of what I am looking for.

Developments

So I drew up some of my storyboards and showed what I had to Simon today. He seemed to be somewhat concerned with the amount that I had produced. Okay yes there was quite a lot but I knew in my head that I wanted and needed each of those shots in my trailer, but to be sure when I got home I put the images from the storyboard into my video editor with the music I had already selected and I was happy to see that if everything goes to plan in regards to timing it should fit nicely within two minutes.

The issue I am now faced with is that to shoot the exterior elements of the factory I would have to be film over a weekend which would mean I am stuck with two options I can either use my personal video camera and film it this coming Sunday which will be of a much lower quality than that of the camera in the studios, or, I can film those elements with the cameras from the studios after I come back from Amsterdam which would mean it would be after the deadline.  SIMON PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT I SHOULD DO!?!?!

When the walls come crumbling down you just rebuild

So it is official the team members from Maidstone’s urban search and rescue team that I had intended filming for my trailer have been sent out to help with the relief efforts in Japan. I am therefore going to have to focus on the team far less in my ‘the meeting’ trailer than I would have liked to originally. But I am nothing if not resilient with my planning process and so I have switched to a new plan it’s in a vague outline stage but I’m happy in my own mind that I still have something I can film that would still be a strong trailer even if it doesn’t have the same exciting elements that would come with the fire services cutting rig.

On a linking note I have written my second draft of my script and have asked Simon to have a look over it. Also in my tutorial we discussed an idea Simon had regarding how to establish and strengthen the character of ‘Oliver’s back story which I feel will make my script that much better I look forward to seeing how Simon rates the most recent draft of my script. Now I just need to work on the next draft of my synopsis, storyboard for the trailer and prepping for shooting not much of course.

What a difference a day makes

So yesterday I wrote on this blog that I was going to commence shooting for my trailer on Sunday. Those plans may well have gone straight out of the window. For those of you that haven't been paying attention today a huge earthquake in Japan measuring 8.9 has caused a devastating tsunami with waves expected to run across the Pacific region in the coming hours. I wouldn't for a second suggest that my project should interfere with any rescue efforts but the Urban Search and Rescue team at Maidstone fire station may well be flown out to the affected areas. This leaves my trailer ideas redundant as if they do go to help I will be faced with the challenge of shooting my trailer without the largest aspect of my script. Anyway will be sure to keep a close eye on the situation and should they be deployed out I will put some of my world famous creative mind to the challenge and come up with a method to shoot the trailer without them. Those of you that have read my script anyone got any ideas how you would create your trailer if you was in my position?

The Meeting Update

So the first draft of my pitch, synopsis and script have all been handed in, reviewed and given back. Thankfully with bit of re-working each of those three elements should be in a presentable state in the coming week and I will have all three elements re-examined by Simon. The whole pre-production stage is a far more intense process than I had anticipated. However I've got to move really quickly as I have been communicating to the USAR (Urban search and rescue) department of the Fire Service through my father and as to save putting them out as much as possible I am intending filming them around their schedule. This of course is fine with me, however, it does mean that I have to commence shooting on this coming Sunday. VERY SOON! So I have been working on the storyboard elements that involve those boys and hope that all of those elements are ready to go by Sunday morning and I record shots that will end up in and more importantly benefiting the trailer. 

Soft Trailer

Over the past few days I worked alongside Jane in creating a trailer to draw in an audience for the short film 'Soft' directed by Simon Ellis. Over all I'm quite happy with the resulting product. It comes to exactly one  minute as laid out in the brief and I think the clips we used would draw people in enough to make them want to watch the short film. However with every piece of work I do there is always something that I would want to do differently should I do it again. In this case it would be the second of two sound tracks which was the first 30 seconds of Michael Buble's Cry me a river because it is such an epic piece of music I think it may simply be to grand to match up with the clips from the short. But I'm posting the trailer below anyway in order for you guys to let me know what you think about it so don't hold back.

The Meeting Synopsis #2

So I've finished the first draft of my script I'm quite happy with it not sure how Simon will respond to it if it’s anything like my synopsis he’s going to find far too many things wrong with it. Speaking of the synopsis I have written up my second attempt taking on board the notes that Simon made on my previous. So here it is:

The Meeting

Football is the greatest passion in the young life of Luke Wood. He will play anywhere he can. So when he comes across an empty goods yard on a journey home it proves simply too tempting an opportunity to pass up. One powerful kick is all it takes to start a chain of events that leads him into terrible, life threatening danger. It is that one kick that sends the ball high up onto the roof of an old derelict factory. The decision to retrieve it is the step that triggers a devastating series of events that will remain with Luke forever and inevitably touch lives other than his own. When he steps onto a rotten wooden cover it suddenly gives way and he is plunged into a dark and threatening abyss leaving him trapped, frightened and yearning for the light and safety of the outside world.

Britain’s fire fighters engage in countless hours of training in preparation for every conceivable scenario. So when the call comes in the members of the specialist urban search and rescue team move swiftly and seemingly effortlessly into action. But on duty today is a fire fighter who has his own particular reasons for wanting to secure a successful outcome to this job. He knows only too well the heartbreak of losing a child through a senseless, tragic accident. Having just returned to work after an extended absence and still raw from the loss of his own daughter he understands the fragility of young life and is plagued by the realisation that this shout could turn out just as badly. With complete disregard for his own safety this rescue attempt will either help him find closure for his daughter’s untimely passing or end his career and destroy his soul.

It is a fast paced race against time as the fire fighters are tested to the extreme as each action packed scene unfolds and one problem follows another. Will it be time for Luke to meet his maker? Will the fire fighters be able to snatch him from the jaws of death? Will Luke become their latest success story or will they suffer the frustration and despair that accompany defeat?

Let me know what you guys think.

Writing, editing, writing, editing, writing, editing, and so it goes on

I’ve not blogged in a little while so I guess it’s time for an update. Been working hard lately trying to get my script for the story telling unit into an understandable state as well as keeping it as interesting  and exciting narrative as possible.  I still have four days until I have to hand in my first draft of the meeting script but I must admit I am expecting to use each of those days to work on it. On a related note I got my pitch and synopsis back today with notes in relation on the improvements that can be made. In fairness I agree with the notes that Simon made regarding my synopsis and will get to work on improving that but I do have my reservations about how necessary the changes to the pitch will be. I guess I will have to query this with Simon when I next see him. Anyway today was the first time I used final cut pro and another first I actually had some instruction in regards as to how to edit video. Granted I have done a fair amount of editing in the past however it was completely self taught so nice to have someone so me a couple of features to the software that may speed the process along when I comes to editing my trailer together and other video projects that are yet to come. So with the new editing techniques and the camera workshop we did at the beginning of the week my ‘the meeting’ trailer should be far stronger that it would have been otherwise. We did a couple of different edits during today using random video, sound and text clips from sea world this is my absolute first final cut pro edit enjoy.

Pre-writing nearing complesion moving onto the script.

Today was a very informing day I’ve now got all the information I need in order to start writing my script for the meeting. But there are so many decisions to be made before I start. For example I need to decide whether to use the two or three act structure. Happily having done the recommended pre-writing tasks I am very secure with my story and characters’ I even have some shots that I know I what to shoot, however writing a script still feels like a very daunting task ten pages may not be a lot but having to put all the little tricks of the trade that I’ve learnt over the past couple of weeks into my script my prove more difficult than I would have anticipated. Anyway I’ll keep you updated with how it goes.

On another note during my tutorial with Simon the other day he asked me to upload a link to my YouTube account as I wasn’t interviewed by him and he wanted to see some of my previous stuff. So here you go Simon. Has anyone else got a YouTube account with some of your own created videos? I’d like to see what other people have done in the past.

        

First draft of 'the meeting' synopsis

After a number of tweaks I finally finished my first draft of my synopsis for the meeting so here it is.

Playing football with friends after school on a spring day was a regular occurrence in the young life of Luke Wood. Having played for an hour or so he would walk home with his little buddy James laughing and joking along the way. That was the typical, enjoyable and invariably safe routine that had never given rise to a problem before. But one day James didn’t come into school and Luke’s routine went out of the window with potentially disastrous consequences. A gap in the fence surrounding an abandoned factory was too tempting for the youngster to resist, particularly as the goods yard would make an ideal football pitch. A powerful kick of his football, however, which sent it hurtling into the sky and come to rest on a roof top, was the first step in a chain of events that would lead him into terrible danger. Making the decision to climb up onto the roof top of the run down factory building the naive boy would not realise the consequences of his actions until it was too late. When stepping on an old and rotten wooden cover that lay on top of the factory roof it suddenly gives way sending him plunging from the safety and light of the outside world to the dark, threatening abyss that lies below. Meanwhile his mother begins to worry when her little boy doesn’t return home and sends her other older son, Jack, to look for him. Knowing the route his brother usually took home it doesn’t take long for him to find the school bag Luke has left just inside the fence. A build up of gas which has leaked into the factory from adjacent cylinders adds an extra dimension to Luke’s predicament. Conscious but unable to see or move the terrified little boy has no idea how he will get back to safety and all he can do is cry out for help. From a distance Jack hears the faint cries of his brother and launches his self over the fence and runs toward the factory but before he gets there an explosion rips through the building causing parts of it to collapse. Jack calls 999 not knowing if his brother is hurt or worse. The everyday hero’s of the Fire and Rescue Service jump into action. It’s a race against time to locate and reach Luke in this unstable building. Will it be time for Luke to meet his maker? Will the fire fighters be able to save him from an untimely death? Will Luke meet salvation or will the fire fighters meet defeat?

What you think? Any ideas on how I can improve it?

First draft of 'the meeting' PItch

I have to admit I have found writing this pitch very difficult to convey the amount of tension and drama in 25 words is close to impossible, but here's what I came up with.  

A race against time as the fire services’ finest fight to save a trapped boy’s life, this meeting will change the course of lives forever.  

What you think? Any ideas on how I can improve it?

PAUL

What with having focused on SPACED earlier in the month and being a big fan of Shaun of the dead and Hot Fuzz anyway it seemed only fitting that I should go and see the newly released film Paul. The film stars the same comedy duo from the fore mentioned films Simon Pegg and Nick Frost who i think bring a totally inspired and original type of comedy to any film they’re in. After the film received a somewhat mixed review on the BBC’s Film 2011 program I was a little apprehensive with what I was going to be faced with when I got into my cinema seat. Although the style of the film was vastly different to the pair’s previous films largely due to two elements firstly the director of this film has a vastly different style of storytelling, secondly due to the location, director and a large amount of the cast the film became ‘Americanised’ with the comedy emulating that that wouldn’t be out of place in any generic American sit-com I still found myself investing in the characters and the story as a whole. On a purely media based note I’ve thought of a little game for anyone that going to go and see the film, try and keep track of how many science fiction movie and television references are used throughout the film. I went to see the film with and few of the other students from the course and the amount of times Fran and I turned to one another and gave a look like do you get that one during the showing and how many Jo and Matt were able to point out after it would seem as though there were literally dozens used to great effect. On a quick side note this is not e.t. there is swearing and sexual reverences throughout the film so if you were thinking about taking your kids to see the film I would really think again, this film really aimed and was intended for people in their later teens and there after. Anyway that’s pretty much all I have to say about Paul and I leave you with the encouragement that if you are thinking about going to see the film do it because you will leave smiling to yourself especially if you’re a bit of a loser like us and pick up on the sci-fi references.

Character Profile of Luke Wood

As I said in my previous blog entry I have two lead characters in mind but I'll only planning on using one. So here is the second character profile for my records.

Character Profile of Jack Wood

After finding out about the pre-writing stages of the pre-production stage yesterday I set about planning the most important element of any fictional drama production, the characters! I have two lead characters in mind but I know I only want to use one and as I'm not settled on which one that is I thought it wise to think about the elements that make up both. This mind map depicts the first possible contender Jack Wood.

And the alarm goes up... for the BAFTA awards and the meeting.

So tonight is the night of the Orange BATFA awards and as much as I would have loved to be up in London to stand alongside the red carpet to see the celebrities and film makers, well if I’m being totally honest I would rather be one of the film makers walking down it. But alas I could n't be one of them, well not yet anyway! I’ve been to work and now I remain at home thinking about the nominated films and daydreaming that one day it will be one of my films that all the news and review shows are saying that is the front runner to win all of the big awards. Until then I will just have to put my effort into my story telling unit and I guess I should start putting some thought into my essay project. 



My Grandfather who retired after
30 years with the fire service.



As for my story telling unit I have been thinking and focusing on one idea quite a lot. I’ve not quite worked out the ins and outs of the plot yet but it revolves around the meeting of a boy that is trapped and the hero’s of the fire service as they fight to save him. There are so many elements that and variables that I have been thinking about both from a creative point of view as well as having a practical and logical approach as some of the elements that I write in my script I’m going to have to recreate in my trailer. As the entire script is only going to be for a ten minute film beginning, middle and end the extravagant feature style film that I had originally envisioned is simply going to be too much for this project.

Having worked with the media team at Kent Fire and Rescue Service last summer and having strong family links with the fire service as my mother worked in the call room when I was growing up and my father still does and his father before him worked as fire fighters and fire officers I would love to portray the fire fighters as the hero’s that the men and women in that profession are. Anyway still lots of work to before I get close to having a working script or I even think about shooting but I am really looking forward to pushing ahead and exploring some of my ideas on this subject.