Film Post Mortem

I handed my short film assignment in and what a mission it was! I am not so strong at editing and I have pretty much never colour graded film footage in my entire life! To top it off, it has been two years since I have used Pro Tools for sound.

I managed to attend one and a bit DaVinci tutorial classes. I did not find the software difficult to use at all, I did however, find the actual colour grading difficult. A lot of the time I doubted whether all the shots matched in colour within the same scene. I found that even having a break from the screen and looking at something else did not help me much. Instead, I would get one of my class mates to look at it and give me advice on it. I think I need much more practice with colour grading but I do not think I did too bad at it in the end.

I also need much more practice with editing although I did learn a few things along the way. I learned that having somebody on continuity is a brilliant idea. This ensures that the actor moves and says things in the same direction or manner throughout each shot of the same scene which makes it easier to put the shots together. I had a few issues trying to put shots together because the movement from my actor was different or they had a hand under their chin in the close up but not in the wide shot so things just did not match. I also learned that cutting shots on movement made the scene look seamless as long as the two shots were cut together at the right place. I realised once I got into the edit that I needed a few more ahots than I had but unfortunately, I was not in a position to go and film some pick ups. This meant I had to put my scenes together with the shots I had, which was challenging to say the least!

Some of the sound recorded for my film was not ideal at all. Unfortunately, I was almost completely missing my sound for an entire scene and some of it was a little quiet. I decided to leave my sound edit until last which became a disadvantage because when I tried to import my OMF sound file, Pro Tools would not bring it in properly so all of my sound clips showed up in the right place but without any waveforms meaning my aound clips were empty. It did not seem to make a difference no matter what options I changed every time I imported the sound files into Pro Tools. I spent a number of hours trying to get Pro Tools to work but in the end I had no choice but to render my final film out with the raw sound on it. Some of the sound was so loud it pierced your ears when listening to it and then there was sound that was at the opposite end of the scale that was almost non existent. This was most disappointing for me.

Even though the sound is not great, I still plan to edit it until I am happy with it. I enjoyed the whole process of making my short film from script to screen and I have learned a lot along the way. There are possibly a few other tweaks that I could make to my short film but I will look at that when I edit the sound. As the academic year comes to an end, I guess it is time to look towards my future prospects and decide which direction I want to take my career in!

Busy Times!!!!

This past 40 days has been an extremely busy time. There have been at least 10 films or trailers shot in this time. I have been the caterer on most of these shoots but have also produced a few.

I have produced films for four of my class mates short films, have helped source items - props, costumes and art department items, have scouted for locations and gained permission for them and have generally given a hand to all of my class mates whenever possible.

I have enjoyed helping out on so many different films and trailers and have faced many challenges due to the diversity of all of these projects. Each project comes with it's own set of demands and problems that are unique to that specific project. Working on all of these different proje ts has definitely strengthened my skills as a Producer and has helped me to become a better problem solver.

I have done little bits of editing here and there in between all the other work I have been doing. It seems to be going alright but I am a little worried about this grading thing. The only grading I have ever done was on my cinematography reel and we are learning how to use DaVinci Resolve at the moment to do the colour grade on our final films. DaVinci doesn't seem to look too scary but I guess I am a wee bit nervous because I want my film to look good once it is done.

Well, we are on the home stretch now..... only two more days of filming left for our final class mate and let's get this short film edited, colour graded and sound sorted!!!!!

Filming, Directing and Everything in Between!

Well, I did it! I filmed my short film! And what an experience it has been! On the 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th of September, I filmed my end of year short film. I had an amazing time and enjoyed every moment of it - good and bad.

I spent the two weeks before my shoot preparing everything for the film. Neville Hayes from E. Hayes & Sons loaned me his Chev Camaro SS for my film. He had his van driver pick the car up and drop it off to my location. He left it there (with the keys in it) and just told me to text when I wanted it picked up! I was totally amazed by this as it is an expensive car and someone had spent a lot of time and money on it to restore it to the condition it is in. So, for the owner to leave it with virtual strangers was amazing and I am really thankful for their help!

I also went to the Pawn Shop to ask if I would be able to use their jewellery department to film in and the manager Keith Kennedy said I could use their jewellery department but also recommemded I go and ask his friend Ashley Skelt who owned Skelts Jewellers. I called in to Skelts Jewellers and spoke with Ashley (who knew I was coming because Keith had called him to let him know) and he was more than happy for me to use his shop to film my scene in. He even offered to give me a ring to use but unfortunately because I had another scene that had the ring shown in it at another location, I was unable to use one of Skelts rings. I did, however, get a shot of the outside of the shop (with the shop name and signage on it) to use as an establishing shot and also to provide a little advertising for Skelts by using this shot in my film.

So..... the things that didn't go to plan........The first thing that happened was that the owner of the house I was using (including the garage) had left his keys for the garage in his mate's car and the night before (at like 11.30pm) we were due to start shooting, he texted his mate to ask for his keys and his mate replied with, "sorry I am in Te Anau". This meant no access to the garage and so half of the shots we intended on doing on the first shooting day were meant to be done in the garage. I spoke to my 1st AD and we rescheduled in the hope we could get the keys for the garage the next day. Unfortunately, rescheduling meant that instead of only filming for three days, we had to film for four days!

Neville Hayes also forgot what time and day he was meant to loan me his car. This held my shoot up a little but he was very apologetic and explained it had been a really busy time for him so it had slipped his mind. That was all the main issues we had on my shoot!

I spent the first day standing back a little and watching Dan direct the actors. Dan gave me heaps of opportunities, guidance and advice on how being a Director works. By the end of my shoot, I was in the swing of things and was confident with the role of the Director. I am glad I made the decision to co-direct because I really had no idea what I was doing and this gave me the chance to learn and build some confidence in the role.

All in all my shoot went well and I am happy with what I have done so far! I am glad I chose the crew I had because they had my back the whole way and they were very strong in their areas. I am now getting into editing as well as catering and producing my other class mates film projects. I am only producing a couple but I am catering nearly everyone elses films from here on in which I don't mind because it is not a hugely stressful or a time consuming job plus I have my partner to help me with it too.

This past weekend I have completed some internship hours with SIT Productions. It has been a fun experience and interesting so far and I have been helping with the art department. I have only got another five hours left to complete for my internship paper! Well, everything is full on and busy but I am loving it all the same and onwards and upwards we go!!!!!

One Week To Go....... Agggghhhhh!!!!!

One week until I shoot my short film!!!! I still have a few things to organise but things are slowly coming together..... I hope! This past week I have been busy yet again organising things for my shoot.

I have decided to share the directing role on my short film because I am not really interested in directing as a career. Also, it's a huge work load to produce and direct at the same time, so I wanted to cut some of my work load down as well. I want to co-direct because I still want to be able to have an input on how the actors talk and move. I wrote the script and have a vision of how the characters act and how certain dialogue should be said. I have been working with my Co-Director for the last few weeks to bring him up to speed and to essentially get him into my head so that he understands how I would like my short film to look and feel. So far, it seems to be working great!

I took my Co-Director and DOP to my main location, so that they were able to see where we would be filming and how different shots could work. The location that I am using is perfect as there is not much art direction needed at all. While we were there we took some photos of parts of the location that we will use for filming. We discussed the kind of lighting that we will be using and how we will get the actors to move around the space. Attached to this post are some photos of a couple spaces within the location that we will use for filming.

I have managed to find a Chev to use in my film! Neville Hayes from E. Hayes & Sons has one in his shop and when I called him about it, he told me that getting cars out of the shop is difficult but he had one at home that I could use!!!! I am going to see him this week with my schedule so he knows when him and his car are needed. Super stoked about this!!!!

I am also going into the Pawn Shop to talk to the manager about using part of his shop for filming the jewellery shop scene in my script. I am hoping that he will give me permission to use his shop.

I have cast one of my male characters and I am just waiting to hear back from someone about the main male role that I have left to cast. Fingers croased he says yes. So, I only have one character left to cast and that will all be sorted.

The plan for this week is to get some rehearsal time in with all my actors, confirm my actors, confirm the shooting schedule and get call sheets done, organising transport for gear, cast and crew, to confirm my last locations and to sort out catering for my shoot - my partner will be doing the catering for me.

I am nearly there so fingers croased this week goes to plan!!!!! I am planning on inviting my whole crew and cast to have dinner at my house the night before we start shooting to get everyone to meet each other before we film and as a tjank you to them all for being involved in my shoot. I hope this will also boost the morale of my cast and crew before we shoot, in the hopes morale will stay high and my shoot will run smoothly!!!!! Aw here we go!!!!

Shooting Dates Confirmed!!!!!

I have my shooting dates confirmed!!!!! Our entire class has now got their shooting dates and we will be filming back to back for 40 days straight!!!!! Aaaagggghhhhh!!!!! In 15 days I will be starting to shoot my short film and I have lots to get confirmed and done in the next 15 days.

I still need to find my two male actors, confirm two locations and get together some costume and art direction things. I have put together a good team to work on my film though and am working to get everything confirmed and sorted within the next two weeks.

Myself and two class mates went on a location scout during the week to track down locations we need fornour projects. I am from Invercargill (born and bred) and they are from the North Island, so I know my way around Invercargill well and was able to take them around places that I knew of, that possibly fitted the description of locations that they gave me. It was also helpful for myself to find my own locations.

This weekend, I have been to my main location to discuss with the owner exactly what I need at the location and to discuss with him what I will be doing there. It probably helps that he is an old friend of mine so he has been very accomodating but in saying that, I do not want to be taking advantage of that and I endeavour to be respectful and as undisruptive to his home life as I can possibly be. As for my other two locations, I need to confirm a playground/park that I want to use - I have a few to choose from but I think I need to take my DOP to have a look at these to pick the best one for the shots we need. The other location is a jeweller's and I think I may need to fake this somewhere else some how. (I will add photos of all locations in my next blog entry.)

As for my actors, I have the main female and the two children confirmed but the two male leads are freaking me out! It is so hard to find the kind of people I am looking for but I may just have to go with two actors that may not necessarily be exactly what I want and compromise to get two male actors.

I need either a '55 or '57 Chevrolet Bel Air and I have a couple of possible options but need to confirm them still. I have a couple of other art direction things almost sorted - they just need to be confirmed this week.

I will be meeting with my DOP and Co-Director this week to discuss the cinematography, shots and vision of the project and I will also be meeting with my 1st AD to sort out scheduling and call sheets, shot lists etc. Once I have spoken with my DOP and Co-Director, I will sit down and discuss final art direction with my Art Director.

This week, I also need to submit a director's manifesto, storyboards, budget, camera and lighting schematics and risk assessment forms (and at this point, I may have left something off this list but will check the descriptor again!!!!) for my project as an assignment.

I am very busy this week and I am determined not to let the stress get to me! As I commented earlier, I have chosen a very good team and I think that this will help lessen my stress significantly! Awwww here it goes!!!!! LET'S GO FILMING!!!!!

Suspicions! BDM331: Digital Video

'Suspicions' is a short film aimed at people aged 25 to 35 years old. The genre of the film is drama. I originally wrote this script for screen writing class last year and I rewrote the script this year. After some feedback, I further edited the script and have now submitted it to my tutor.

'Suspicions' is about a man named Tony whose life is perfect. He has his loyal best friend who he has known since kindergarten and he is about to ask his high school sweetheart to take the next step with him and marry him. Unfortunately, things start to happen that are just not the norm - lies, secrets and deceit. He's never had trust issues with his best friend and his partner but suddenly it seems that there might be a cause for concern. Tony needs to work out whether there is a reasonable explanation for all this or whether there is something unsavoury going on.

The film is a New Zealand film that shows aspects of the bogan culture of New Zealand. The characters are upper class bogans - they come from bogan backgrounds which include cars, heavy metal and motorsport. They are not stereotypical bogans though, they are well respected members of the community and are well spoken and dressed.

I think I am going to have issues casting my two main male characters as after holding the casting call earlier in the year, it appears that Invercargill has an age gap/shortage in actors. This shortage is exactly the age range of the two actors that I need to cast. I think I may need to walk the streets and find some talent by approaching people. The look of my actors matters a lot to get the tone and feel of the film correct. I have a couple of friends that fit the parts but there is no way that they are keen to get in front of a camera. So, I guess my search will continue!

On the bright side of things, I may have found my female actor and I have my main location which is my friends house - it is an upmarket, modern house with modern new furniture which is exactly what I need. Slowly but surely, things are starting to come together.

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!!!!!