Genre: Horror

As part of cinematography, we have been put into groups and given a specific genre to film a short film that cinematically adheres to the conventions of the genre. The members of my group are Corey Fuimaono and Matt Van Dorrestein and we are filming a short film idea that Matt came up with years ago and filmed with his friends. We plan on re-creating this film and are shooting a section of it each to fill the requirements of our brief.

Genre conventions to consider:

- POV shots let the audience see through the monster's eyes
- High and low camera angles to connotate fear and nightmares
- Handheld shots can make the audience disorientated
- ECU (extreme close up) shots to see the fear in the victim's face


Here is a link to a slide share by George Woodford, about horror genre conventions:
http://www.slideshare.net/marine18/horror-genre-conventions

We are planning to shoot the film in Queens Park and using Coronation Drive which runs right through the middle of the park and is lined with trees that look spooky and leafless which would set up the environment for a horror.

Coronation Drive, Queens Park

Here are some links to YouTube videos that discuss the conventions of the horror genre:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaHsEoZ3Gko

www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zosPpJepok

www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTgjqChqsJ4

We are filming this on the Blackmagic camera and I am a little nervous about doing this because it will be the first real time that I have used this camera but onwards and upwards and let's make a horror!!!!!

Script Post Mortem 27th April - 3rd May

This week in class we have read each others scripts and pulled them apart - post mortem time!!!!! Rat Race is the name of my short film ( I think I may have mentioned this in an earlier post). It is about a young boy at a funeral, who is meant to read a poem at the service for the dearly departed but instead ends up chasing a rat all over the cemetery because it steals his poem. The feedback that I received was good overall. I received good comments about my big print and the story. Rat Race was intended as a live action film but because I ended up giving the rat a name, everybody felt as though this script was written for an animation and I fully agree with this as well. By giving the rat a name it kind of became the rat's story (at the point that the rat was introduced) instead of the boy's story. All in all, I was happy with my script but could also see what could be changed to make it better.

We also did a session on writing scripts for the Rialto Channel 48 Hours Furious Filmmaking competition. We discussed how best to come up with script ideas and how to write a script to make the film compelling to the audience and most of all, the judges of the competition.

Things to remember for 48 Hours script writing:

- Observe the conventions of your genre
- Pick your model film(s)
- Identify key genre tropes (the skeleton of the genre)
- Don't fully copy tropes, just be aware of them
- Gimmicks are fine as long as they are backed up with substance
- Stinger (surprise) at the end of the film

These are all things to remember for the story and genre and the next list of things to remember is in relation to character:

- Character needs an objecive
- There needs to be an obstacle for the character that throws the character's objective out the window
- Antagonist: Can be either an inanimate object or person
- Character arc: What does the character give up or compromise/give up to find a sense of resolution

- Extra obstacles and challenges are needed for the character to progress through the story

This is my third year competing in the 48 Hours competition and also my third year in an animation team for the competition. Fingers crossed that everything goes well for the weekend and bring on the sleeplessness!!!!!

Shoot Week! Week: 13th April - 19th April

We started filming Beast of Fawkes this week! Our first shoot day was called off because of the atrocious Southland weather - rain, hail, snow, wind and just terribly yucky, crappy weather! The shoot was called off because of safety issues for the crew, cast and equipment. The second day went ahead as the weather was better and we shot what we had intended on shooting during the first day. The weather got better each day until the fifth day when it poured down again but we had not officially scheduled any shooting for that day anyway. 

We managed to get everything shot that we had intended on shooting during the three days that we had scheduled. Overall, I felt that the shoot went very well. We had a few minor hiccups like costume pieces getting left in town by accident and needing things that we had to send runners back to town to get for us. The reception in the location that we were shooting in had very limited or no cellphone coverage which made it difficult for communication between unit base (Speed Boat Club) and anybody that was in town. Somebody would either have to drive all the way out to unit base and then back to set or had to drive out of our location to somewhere that had cellphone reception. Other than these few issues, the whole crew worked very hard and nobody let the rest of the team down at all.

I feel privileged to be a part of this group and to be a part of this project as I have had quite a few positive experiences during this shoot week. Check out some photos that were taken on set!

Thai (played by Luke Page) lining up his shot

Aaron Askew - Gaffer Assistant

Krai (played by Gabby Mainland) getting make up done

Thai getting blood make up put on

Art Director, John Mellor makes some final adjustment to Krai's costume

Film crew at Sandy Point

Behind the scenes crew getting set up

Camera and sound teams getting ready to shoot

Krai in the protective tree 

 

Well, now all we have left is any cut aways or pick up shoots and all the green screen shooting to do. We still need to find a location to hang the huge portable green screen up in, so that we can shoot a cave scene and an interior spaceship scene. I can not wait to see the finished product and am so proud of the whole team for all the hard work that they have put in. Not one member has slacked and this year's project feels as if it is going much better than the project I was involved in last year! Different project, different people, different attitudes = different result!

Writing 'Rat Race' Week: 13th April - 19th April

I have named my non-dialogue script "Rat Race". I can see my script play out visually in my head but I have been having trouble forcing myself to sit down and write it. As I have commented in other posts, we have been filming the group project, so my head really has not been in a writing space.

I managed to lock myself in a room and write my script though and it came quite easily. I have written this script putting in most of the things that I have learned about 'Big Print'. I think it sounds pretty good (well, i hope it does because I have already submitted it) but I can guarantee that I will sit down and read my script and find things that I should have done better.

I wrote this script as it played out visually in my head and wrote done pretty much what the audience would see. I enjoyed writing this script because it was fun, quirky and amusing. The next thing to write is our tableplay script which is essentially a script involving two people and this means DIALOGUE!!!! Oh well, here it goes.....

Producer! Producer! Producer!

I decided that maybe it was worth me writing a post in relation to my Professional Practices paper because I have been using the skills that I have learned from last years projects and also the skills I learned interning on Human Traces. 

I used the dropbox application for all the administrative stuff for Beast of Fawkes which is something that I learned on Human Traces. Previous to Human Traces, I had only used dropbox to store photos from my phone. Dropbox allowed my production team and I, to update the same file and always have the newest version of the file available to any one of us. It also meant that we could access the files we needed from any computer in any location. This stopped files from being left (saved) on any old computer and not being easy to locate.

I also created a production booklet which had all the equipment, crew and cast information and also all the emergency addresses and contact numbers. This meant the crew could contact people in charge of specific equipment items or other crew members directly. The production booklet was introduced to me during Human Traces and also acted as a kind of inventory list for equipment as well.

I enjoy producing and like it when I get to put the things that I have learned into play. Beast of Fawkes has given me the opprtunity to use those skills. Every project is different and I enjoy learning new things with each project I do. I look forward to the next project that I get to woprk on!!!!!

Bloody Square Law Week: 13th April - 19th April

So, this bloody inverse square law is doing my head in! Every time I think I am close to working it out, I find something that makes me go back to the beginning to try and understand what it all means!!!! It's starting to drive me batty! It probably has not helped that we have been filming on location this week for our group project and I am absolutely knackered!

Anyways, I have found some more information about the inverse square law. If a light is say for example 1 metre away from the subject then we work out the lighting ratio and percentage like this: 1 metre squared  = 1x1=1 which makes the lighting ratio (fraction) 1/1, therefore, the light intensity is 100%. If you move the light back, however, it does not halve the light intensity but quarters it because 2 metres squared = 2x2=4 which makes the lighting ratio (fraction) 1/4 = 25%.

Here's a few links to videos on the inverse law and its application to cinematography:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GasmmsK6k84

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=saJSCGk7C_g

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3aa-CJYhGU

It has been really hard to find a video or even photos that show the difference in light intensity over distance without the shutter speed or the aperture of the camera being changed. I managed to find two examples of images that show the difference in light intensity over distance out of everything that I have found during my research.

Examples of images showing the change in light intensity

Well, I really hope I am going down the right path with this topic and I hope I can teach my class mates something when I present all of my information to them.

Non-dialogue Week: 6th April - 12th April

As I have already stated in two of my other posts, I am super busy with the group project - Beast of Fawkes. I have done a tiny bit of work on my non-dialogue script. I have just been working out the details and the sequence of events that will happen in my film. I am finding writing this particular script easy to write because in the past when I was studying animation, all of my short films were non-dialogue. I am just hoping that I have taken in all the things I have learned in class about big print and applied that to my own piece.

I will hopefully find some time to work on my script next week and see if my story works, is coherent and well written. Only a couple weeks and the finished script is due! Eeeeekkkk!!!!!!

Scene 1

Inverse What? Week: 6th April - 12th April

I am sooooo busy with the group project at the moment that i have not had much time to do anything to do with cinematography. However, I have managed to do some more research on the inverse square law. As I have said previously, this topic is mind boggling but I think I am slowly coming to terms with it - I mean SLOWWWWLLLLYYYY!!!!!

The definition that I have found to describe the inverse square law and it's application to cinematography is: "The intensity of illumination is proportional to the inverse square of the distance from the light source."
The inverse square law applies to cinematography in relation to lighting and I have deciphered the above statement to mean that the inverse square law is a formula for the intensity of light over distance. This means that light becomes less intense the further away it is moved from the subject. That's as far as I have researched about it so far, although I have peeked at the next bit of research which is something to do with lighting ratios, so I guess that will have to be next week's mission. For now the inverse square law will have to wait while I go and be a producer, caterer, runner or whatever other position may need filled on set for our group project!

Light intensity

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Chaotic Madness Week: 6th April - 12th April

Well, what a week this has been! I have had many really late nights this week but I hopefully have everything sorted now (fingers crossed). I have been busy doing all the things that I put in my last blog that I needed to sort this week.

I finally got our Pledge Me project completed with rewards and information for submission to the Pledge Me co-ordinators. They will look through it and make sure that everything is in order, approve it and then I will be able to make the campaign go live after adding a few extra things to it! So, in a few days, I should be able to put up our crowd funding campaign and fingers crossed we reach our target.

I also created a website for Small Colossus Media. I used wix.com to create the site. It is a free website making site and is so simple to use. I used concept art from the project for the website.
Check it out at: http://smallcolossusmedia.wix.com/smallcolossusmedia

I have sorted out the catering menu and Tony, Iris and I will be sorting out the food and unit stuff for every day of the shoot. We have been given permission to use the Speed Boat Club rooms as unit base, where we can cook food and go back to eat under cover out of the weather. Food is such an expensive thing to buy, although we have come in under budget for the catering budget, so that's a bonus!

We have had the film crew out this week doing some test shoots and they have worked out how to film a few things. Oh, I forgot to mention that all of our crew is back after their internships!

Last but not least, Sarah and I worked together and worked out movement orders and logistical issues. We are pretty much ready to go film a movie! So, fingers crossed we have sorted everything and haven't forgotten anything! Let's make a movie!!!!!

Diffusing the Scene Week: 30th March - 5th April

This week in cinematography we did a class exercise in diffusion. We experimented with a small diffuse screen and then a large diffuse screen set up on the butterfly frame. We used a Rifa light as a backing light and a Fren-L as the key light. 

We started off with the small diffuse screen and had it an even distance between the subject and the key light. We did a take with the diffuse screen closer to the key light and then one closer to the subject. The further the diffuse screen was from the subject, the darker the footage appeared. We then pulled the key light closer and did the same experiments with the diffuse screen - putting the diffuse screen at an even distance between the key light and subject, then moving the diffuse closer to the light and then closer to the subject. Again the footage became darker when the diffuse screen was moved closer to the light. When the diffusion screen was closer, it acted as another light source because it became a medium  for transferring the original light source.

We took the small diffuse screen and put the large diffuse screen into position. We did the same experiments with the large diffuse as we did with the small diffuse.. When the light was at a further distance and the diffuse screen was closer to the light, the shadows were softer but when the diffuse was closer to the subject than the key light, the light was more intense but focused more in one spot. The diffuse in these experiments needed to be moved back from the subject to spread the light source and make the light softer. This makes the subject look more flattering. Here is an example (below) that I found on the internet, that shows the difference between harsh and soft light and how much more flattering soft light is compared to harsh light.

Example of harsh versus soft light

Here is the link to a YouTube video that I found that talks about diffusion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4z5Py1GHU9c 

I have been researching the inverse square law and it is frying my brain. It is such a confusing topic but I am determined to understand it and put the information into a presentation that is coherent for everybody to understand!

Big Print Week: 30th March - 5th April

BIG PRINT! So, this doesn't mean that the text needs to be a huge size instead it is the name we give the descriptive, action stuff that is written in a script. There are some rules that should be followed when writing 'Big Print'.

Big Print Rules:

- Remove anything that is implied back story and only write what the audience can actually see on screen.

- Describe all the specific action as you would see the shots play out in your own mind and don't gloss over whole sequences that are actually quite elaborate.The details of important moments are especially important.

- Write for good pacing. Make sure the script has the right pace the whole time - not too slow or too fast.

- Optimise the spacing and page layout and also fragment sentences for dramatic effect, where it is necessary.

- NO CAMERA DIRECTIONS!!!!!

We have our non-dialogue scripts due very soon, so learning these rules about big print has been helpful. My script has changed slightly in the last week or so - instead of the rat trying to steal the boy's ipod, the rat will be stealing the boy's poem that he has to read at the funeral. I plan on applying the 'Big Print' rules to my script and hopefully it will come out really good! Fingers crossed!

Oh Here it Goes! Week: 30th March - 5th April

This week has been an intense time. I have pulled in our 1st AD, Sarah to help me on the production team until our 2IC comes back. So, I guess I will write about my progress on the project so far.

I have sorted out getting two vans booked for us to use over the next two weeks, organised camera, lighting and vfx gear, got the key for the greenscreen studio for us to use as gear storage, had our budget finalised, confirmed and sorted out permission for our filming locations. I got our Production Assistant, Iris to put the logo on all our social media and do some other odd jobs for me - mainly administrative stuff. Iris has been amazing at carrying out any tasks I have given her.

We have filmed our Pledge Me video and it has been edited by the talented Corey Fuimaono. It is now my job to come up with rewards and put together our Pledge me campaign and finally put it live online! we also managed to put together a production pamphlet to give to people to explain our project to them. This came in handy when we went on material sourcing missions. I stayed at the tin shed (our home base) while different groups went to different areas of town sourcing materials. All the teams did a great job and we sourced a lot of utilisable materials.

So from here on in........ I have test shooting to organise for next week, a website to create, a catering menu to come up with, shopping and more shopping and logistical organisation to consider for our shoot week. Slowly but surely we will get there and I can't wait until the rest of our crew comes back!!!!!

THUMBS UP!