Today was the day that I along with Ze and Hennie shot the short film ‘A day in the life of a security guard’ that I disclosed our plans for in a previous blog entry. I did enjoy finally having the opportunity to get to grips with a video camera that would be totally fitting in any professional television production as well as working alongside two people that also have a keen interest in the media industry. However after our technological introduction into the workings of these cameras we were sent off to commence shooting our short films. It was at this point that we came up against frequent obstacles that ultimately corrupted the plans that I had previously been determined to create for the viewing audiences’ enjoyment. Due to having to drastically modify the remaining elements because of these recurring obstacles the largest of which being that the security desk at the reception of the Maidstone studios which we had planned to film around 60% of the short film was not available for our use damaged the foundation that our narrative was based. Due to having to pull ideas together in order to salvage as much of our original plans as possible the final result was far less than that I had envisioned in my mind’s eye previously. However upon presenting that which we managed to pull together during the few hours that we had to film our short film the final result was not as bad as it could have been and I am ultimately happy in the way we didn’t panic and attempted to work around the difficulties we faced throughout the day. When it came time to present the product to my peers I was readily awaiting the criticism which I would have given myself if it hadn’t been my work along with a suppressing a few compliments which were much appreciated. 
Showing posts with label The Short film. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Short film. Show all posts
Thursday, 3 February 2011
First shoot... and that a wrap
Today was the day that I along with Ze and Hennie shot the short film ‘A day in the life of a security guard’ that I disclosed our plans for in a previous blog entry. I did enjoy finally having the opportunity to get to grips with a video camera that would be totally fitting in any professional television production as well as working alongside two people that also have a keen interest in the media industry. However after our technological introduction into the workings of these cameras we were sent off to commence shooting our short films. It was at this point that we came up against frequent obstacles that ultimately corrupted the plans that I had previously been determined to create for the viewing audiences’ enjoyment. Due to having to drastically modify the remaining elements because of these recurring obstacles the largest of which being that the security desk at the reception of the Maidstone studios which we had planned to film around 60% of the short film was not available for our use damaged the foundation that our narrative was based. Due to having to pull ideas together in order to salvage as much of our original plans as possible the final result was far less than that I had envisioned in my mind’s eye previously. However upon presenting that which we managed to pull together during the few hours that we had to film our short film the final result was not as bad as it could have been and I am ultimately happy in the way we didn’t panic and attempted to work around the difficulties we faced throughout the day. When it came time to present the product to my peers I was readily awaiting the criticism which I would have given myself if it hadn’t been my work along with a suppressing a few compliments which were much appreciated. 
Wednesday, 2 February 2011
Point of view
After discussing and agreeing to experiment with a projection completely shot using point of view shots yesterday with Ze and Hennie I decided to take a short amount of time to look at other productions shot using this technique. These are some screen shots or images that I have found presenting images that we will emulate during our production tomorrow.
Sources:
Motor Bike: http://www.redbubble.com/people/ma9rk/art/2333557-6-flight-of-the-6
A Mother: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2nuFRmtBIo
Taking a test: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UejWmvx1hR0
Holding hands: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2nuFRmtBIo
A Glass: http://www.photography.ca/Forums/f13/april-2010-photography-assignment-different-point-view-8429.html
Tuesday, 1 February 2011
And so it begins...
So I’ve taken the next step in my life towards the career that I want to end up in. I’ve only gone and started university at UCA. I’m doing a foundation degree in Broadcast Media and will be working out of the UCA Maidstone campus and the Maidstone television studios. So this brand new blog is my way of tracking and having a digital record of my work to look back on as and when I need to.
Although it’s been somewhat slow to start what with tours and health and safety talks we’ve now been given two projects to get our teeth stuck into. For the first I have been instructed to work alongside Ze and Hennie. Unlike previous projects that I have undertaken outside of the University environment where the main goal was to have a rendered seamless video by the end this appears to be intended as a thought provoking exercise. Deliberately used to make us think about camera techniques such as angles and shot types that we’re going to use with professional HD Sony cameras. The brief for this task outlined a number of requirements and restrictions that must be met in this task. Mainly the following, the title must include the work ‘Life’, it must run as close to 3 minutes as possible, the locations we’re allowed to use are internal and exterior grounds of the Maidstone studios (where we have access) all of these requirements would be seeming normal nothing to get worked up about right? Wrong! The biggest obstacle to manoeuvre is that we are not allowed to do any post production at all. Meaning that every scene has to be shot in chronological sequence something that I’ve spent time learning how not to do.
So today after a night of individually thinking up ideas for this project Ze, Hennie and I discussed our various suggestions. After our discussion we decided to run with Ze’s idea which followed a shift of a security guard at the Maidstone studios. Due to the fact that everything has to be shot in sequence we sat down and planned out a step by step list of the events that will unfold in our three minute production. Unlike all other productions we have agreed to experiment using exclusively POV shots throughout the entire three minute production.
00.00-00.30:- Security guard closes the car door
- The title ‘A day in the life of a security guard’ is in the window
- walks to the studio entrance
00.30-00.50:- Greets and then changes places with the security guard on shift
00.50-01.10:- Security guard is sat in the booth
- A few employees hand there passes back and leave the building
- Puts his legs on the table
- Looks down
01.10-01.30:- Looks at watch
- Puts pass down
- Falls asleep
01.30-01.40:- Snoring
01.40-01.45:- Looks at watch
- Starts to fall asleep again
01.45-01.50:- Scream
01.50-02.15:- Walking along corridors
02.15-02.30:- Walks into a small dark room
- Using torch
- Heavy breathing
- Loud Smack
02.30-02.35:- Falls to the ground
02.35-02.45:- Attacker walking away
02.45-03.00:- Credits
It remains to be seen how well we can pull of this idea off but I look forward to seeing how the three of us work as a team and if the point of view throughout will result in the audience feeling connected to the character due to seeing everything the character sees or whether the audience will be left bored due to the unconventional technique.
The second project that I have been given information on is the story telling unit, the first gradable piece of coursework of the semester. I am yet to start any substantial plans for this unit of work but I look forward coming up with some kind of exciting and hopefully original story around the title ‘the meeting’.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)