A small Hiccup

Well, The weather is absoloutley fowl at the moment and we are supposed to be shooting outdoors tomorrow. However we have come up with a backup plan. There were seveal options. The favourite was to shoot in the Graves Gallery. Ben had previously got permission to film there so I thought I would try. After a few phonecalls, I managed to get permisssion and they seemed quite happy to help us. So if we needed to use them I could contact Chris to let him know we'd be there and he's sort us out a place to shoot and makesure that all the staff were aware of the situation. Because of the weather I have had to follow up on this plan so I have phoned Chris who has said that it is fine for us to shoot there. We will be shooting in Gallery 6, 'the blue gallery. My only quarm with this location is the acoustics, the sound in Gallery's tends to not be brilliant, however I'm confident that this nis an issue we can overcome.
Another option we had was to shoot it in Mike's bedroom, this would not have been ideal as it could have made the film seem a bit on the dull side location wise. I think with the Gallery, it is an interesting location. I know the group had their hearts set on the park as it is a spectacular locations but sometimes you have to allow for constraints that are out side your control. I believe beaing able to deal with these situations is part of being a producer and I try to take any bumps in the road in my stride and overcome them while still aiming to create the best film possible. I think that the Graves gallery will be an appropriate indoor substitute for the park. After all we can't play god, we just have to make do and mend sometimes.

pre production

Pre production (30^th March-20^th April)

For the Drama project I have undertaken the role of producer, Therefore a large proportion of my work has been during preproduction. As a group we began panning this project very early, having a production meeting as soon as we were set the brief. This was incredibly productive as by the time we were finished we had a fully formed idea, which was them taken by James and crafted into a script over the Easter holidays. It was definitely to start planning early as if we hadn’t we could have ended up in the horrible situation, that during the Easter holidays we’d be trying to plan and with people being all over the country and working etc, being left with one week for preproduction. To my mind this would have been a nightmare. As we had started early it meant that I could start planning actors and locations over the Easter holidays, giving me more time to sort things out. When I got the script, I felt that it was number one a great piece of work, nut secondly achievable in the timeframe we had. Reading it as a producer, I saw nothing that would cause any massive difficulties> from my point of view it was important that due to various constraints including time and budget the script was doable and would still be a great piece of work. However at the same time it was snappy, interesting and entertaining.

Now we had a script we had to plan to make it reality. The first hurdle was locations. The living room was the biggest problem from my point of view of trying to find one. There was no way we would use any of our living rooms, using the sterile environment of a student kitchen/living area would have ruined the aesthetics of the film. And as far as we were concerted you there is not really a completely effective way of set dressing that disguises it. There is also the unwritten rule of never shooting in student halls. One option we had was to shoot at my godparents’ house in Chesterfield. It is close enough to Sheffield to be a feasible location, and it also had the right ‘look’. The kind of homely feel that we wanted to create with in the film. Unfortunately, we were unable to match up schedules, even though they were more than happy for us to film at their home it would have been too late by the time they were available. Luckily the bar where Katie (editor) works, is allowing us to film there. So with a few minor changes to the script we have managed to overcome this problem. The park scenes have presented no problems thus far. After a location scout we have decided to use Weston Park. It is an incredibly beautiful location, lending itself to the ‘look’ that we are envisioning for the film. Lucy (director), Ben (Cinematographer) and I did a location scout that we could work out where we wanted to film in the park. Also they were planning in terms of setups, shots, blocking etc. This means that on the day we’ll be able to be efficient in our filming. Ben will be able to plan a more effective shortlist and I will therefore be able to create a realistic and more detailed schedule.  In my opinion planning is everything. The bedroom scenes will be shot at Ben’s house, the attic room is plenty big enough, and with set dressing will look convincingly like a teenage boy’s bedroom. So there we have it 3 locations sorted and ready for filming.

I began the process of recruiting actors as soon as I had the script and knew what we were looking for. The first port of call was the casting info on blackboard. I began by emailing all the performing arts students who had registered their interest in being in student films. I received two replies from this. After discussion with the group, and looking at the previous films they had been in we decided to get one of them in for audition. As well as this there are some friends of Katie’s that had shown an interest so we got them in for an audition also. After auditions it was decided to cast Mike and Mark in the roles of Jack and George respectively, as they seemed to fit the roles best. Casting the role of the father was much more of a challenge. After contacting as many am drams, acting society’s theatre groups as I could find in the local area, I had no luck either there was no reply of it was a no. After asking around I was given the information of some online casting agencies. After putting a few ‘adverts’ I received a few replies. At this point we were running out of time, and were auditioning Tom. The actors that had got back to me were unable to fit with our schedule and after the audition Tom was pretty much perfect for the role. After the casting we went into rehearsals, wanting to see how the actors would work together and to let them get used to each other, the script and working with us. It also meant that shooting would go much smoother as people knew what they were doing, and with a limited time for production, this was very important in my view.

               Now we have actors and locations we have to sort out the finer points of planning and scheduling the shoot. Firstly I put together a week by week schedule going by who was available when and when we could use locations, by making different checklists, matching up availabilities, I was easily able to draw up a schedule to email everyone to make sure it fitted in with everyone. To my mind it is paramount to be well planned and organised in advance. The idea of being left in a complete panic an hour before a shoot is supposed to start is not ideal. In fact it is to be avoided to at all costs. Next it was important that I had the shot lists so that I could plan out the day’s shooting. The only slight difficulty with this is until we actually get onto set I’m not entirely sure how long setups will take with lighting and so on. However after the first shoot in Maggie Mays on Monday 23^rd April, I’ll have a better idea of how long it’ll take meaning that further shoots will have a schedule closed to actual set ups times. For now I have taken considered decision as to hoe long things will take from previous shoots and the rehearsals. Effective scheduling is definitely an important factor when working in a film shoot as you have to get everything done. Especially when you have extra constraints of limited actor and location availability.

As a producer I was incredibly Happy with how organised we were as a group and I feel that as we go into production this will pay off.

Location Scout Weston Park

location scout.
We decided that we wanted to the scenes between George and Jack in Weston Park as we knew how pretty it is. We then went on a location scout to find places that we want to use for the film.

 Cherry Blossom tree under which Jack and Geoge will lie while having a conversation.

Bench where George could be sat when Jack is pacing. Alternatevley where George is reassuring Jack.

Could shoot under here if the weather turns bad.

Pond, which can be shot from multiple points. Will give a great variety of points of view as they can move around the pond and we can also have them feeding the ducks, which will look loveley. Also they can have them walking over the bridge which we have experimented with blocking for.

Pudding Bowl

Pudding Bowl is gorgeous little story about a little girl and her hair. The character of Ivy the little girl was a really interesting protagonist even though she only spoke about three words. Her Character was well established. The opening shots of her cutting and pasting pictures of glamorous Hollywood stars into a scrap book. Her environment is easily recognisable a typical British 1950s home. Therefore the first conclusions we can draw about her character is that she has a fascination for the far off, exotic glamour of movie land. What it can also mean is that she is looking to escape from the dreariness of her surroundings. The beige hue of the set helps to reinforce this point. The colours here are very drab, lending themselves t let the viewer draw similar conclusions about Ivy’s daily life. That it is dull, surrounded by the grey mizzle that seemed to permeate 1950s England. So we can draw the conclusion from this that she sees the glamour of Hollywood as an escapism from the rather monotone reality of her daily life as she sees it.

The character of her brother is typical mischievous school boy. And the Mother a stereotypical Buxom 50s house wife. There close up of the meat grinder, reinforces this idea of the dull tedium, the daily grind, the relentless turning of the cogs, symbolises the repetitive nature of the life portrayed in the film. The one thing for the character f Ivy is her hair, decked out in a pretty red bow she is obviously very proud of it. Therefore when her brother tips glue over it and her mother cuts it all off into an awful bowl cut she is obviously devastated. This is reinforced by the fact that age actually speaks on this art of the film, the only words that she utters through the whole film. Therefore it is obvious how much it moves her, therefore how much her hair means to her.

When she sees what has happened t her hair and puts the stocking on her head and applies the red lipstick, it is another nod to the idea of escapism. Which it is pretty clear by now is the film’s main theme. This is made explicit when after Ivy rides down the road on a bike chases by her brother and his friends she Begins to day cream about being older, an attractive young woman with long black hair being chased by a bunch of besotted boys. What this does is cement the idea of escapism as she has obviously gone into a fantast. This is made clear by the soft focus which is widely accepted as showing it to be a dream sequence. The glowing slightly unearthly effect it gives is invocative of a dream.

Another point to make in the way Ivy seems to stick out is her red dress that for some part of the film is hidden by a beige cardigan. So with the ideas of a beige and colour that have already been established the idea of Ivy throwing off this cardigan symbolises that she is throwing off the drudgery of her life and going into her fantast world which she does.

I really enjoyed this film, like Sign Language it is light hearted and leave the audience with a nice feeling.

Once again I would say what we would take from it as a group would be the idea of having a light hearted piece. One that engages the audience through a heart warming  story rather that a hard hitting one. 

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Final Plans for Edale

Final Plans.
Right, D-day approaches! As it does Poppy and I have been
putting together our ideas in order to come up with a final plan of action.
Unfortunately for several reasons it was not possible for us
to get out to Edale before the shoot. This is a sort of hindrance but we were
able to get around it. Firstly we researched the area in great detail. Looked
at maps, photos, and on the internet. Due to Edale being such a tourist
destination there are many sites where there are numerous reports of what the
area is like. Both the village and the surrounding countryside. This had been
an invaluable resource in our planning. From the many reports from online and
from friends who were able to visit beforehand we have been able to ‘pain a
picture’ of the location. From this then we have been able to come up with our
final plans.
So our final idea; every place is not entirely what is
seems. This may sound like a cliché but we shall approach it in such a way that
this is not how the final film turns out.
The main out line is really quite simple, there are two
Edales, and one is the norm, the tourist attraction, the quaint little village
seated in the beauty of the peak district attracting visitors from miles
around. The other is darker and hidden from view. It is an ancient place steeped
in the magic that runs through the hills and dales of the peaks. Our intention
s to create an experimental film that reflects this.
Our plan for tomorrow is to do the shoot in two stages.
First we film the first Edale. There images with be that of any typical holiday
photo book. The train station, where most adventures begin. The main village,
where there is the typical tourist draws, the pub, the little cafes, the grand
old church and the national trust visitors centre. Then there is the beautiful
countryside. Vast sweeping hills that draw in walkers all year round. We intend
to use a lot of wide shot for this, in order to encompass the beauty, as anyone
would taking holiday snaps. It is important to us that we show the idea of a
holiday, as the weather will most likely not be on our side we will need to
pick our shots carefully in order to reflect, those holiday memories that we
all hole dear.
The second stage is to shoot ‘the other Edale’. We will do
this handheld. There are two reasons why we have chosen to do this. The first
is that it will create even more of a noticeable difference between the two Edales
is one is obviously from a tripod and the other is not. The other reason is
that by shooting from a handheld camera, we can get closer to our props. It
will be possible to create really extreme close ups and make it feel much more
personal. Also it will be a lot more spooky, the audience will feel as if it is
from there point of view, they are taking part in it. This creates a bigger
impact on them, which in turn makes the film more powerful. In terms of
locations for this part of the shoot. We have seen a few photos on the internet
giving us ideas as well as advice from friends about the places they found when
they got out there. One place we definitely want to film is in the woods. Woods
have many connotations which will make the film more effective. They are seen as
places of magic and wonder which enforces the ideas of mysticism and witch
craft. However they are also seen as places, where things lurk in the shadow,
they are places of the unknown. After all in almost every fairy tale there is a
scene where the protagonists are threatened are scared while in a wood. They
are places of the unknown, shrouded in leave they can hide another world from
us the outsiders. These elements are essential to help create meaning in the
film. By choosing to shoot here we will be able to have a major effect on the
audience simply by playing on their preconceived ideas of place.
Playing on the audiences preconceived ideas will be a big
part of the film. We are aiming to create an atmosphere of creepiness in the film.
Therefore it is important that we draw on the ‘fears’ that the audience may
have of witch craft. Many people have misconstrued ideas about what it is, but
for the purposes of this film I could be incredibly helpful. By playing up to
these ideas, for example with the clay effigy or ‘sally’ as we have now names
her. This obviously relates to not only witchcraft but also to voodoo and many
other ancient practices. By doing this we hope to tap into that part of the audience’s
mind that see this as dangerous or scary. This will make our film more
effective.
Anyway, getting back to the actual shoot. In the second half
of the day we intend to also film in the graveyard. In terms of planning for
the film we decided on this because it is the perfect way to represent the two
Edales. We have the churchyard, a tourist spot, of beauty but also with
religious and historic connotations that stretch back for at least a thousand
years. We intend to use these and by placing ‘sally’ in this situation we will
be able to create meaning for the audience. The two Edales ‘light and dark’ in
the same shot.
So, to conclude, our plan for tomorrow is to shoot is to
shoot in two parts. Firstly we’ll shoot the tourist shots using the tripod and
do a ‘film walk’ from the station through the village and a bit of the countryside
in order to get the scenic shots. After Lunch we shall continue to film the
witch scenes through the use of hand held.
All in all we’re ready to get filming.