FMP- A Ladies Choice a Gentlemans Agreement

Odd title for this unit I know but let me explain. Due to the nature of how quickly pre-production happened, we never had written agreements with are actors. Well, not a contract at least. Instead we worked how many small filmmakers have to operate; handshakes, promises and emails. Now, this can be risky, especially when you are working with people you have no experience with. This is why I picked actors that I have worked with before and that I know are solid. Below you can see the emails I exchanged with each actor. 

Jordan Danells (Mallory)

After are Skype call we arranged to meet in Bristol to talk through the character a little more and to do some read throughs. The meeting went really well and it was finished he would be playing the lead role of Mallory

Imogen Greenwood

At first she as unavailable but, knowing that she would be perfect for the role, I decided to move the shoot around to accommodate her.

Ben Templar

FMP- 99 problems

Filmmaking is all about problem solving. Making a film is, at the heart of it, a puzzle. So it's no surprise that during are FMP shoot we ran in to some issues. Here is what they were and how we dealt with them. 

General Public

This tends to be an issue no matter where you go. However, when we decided on a location, a lay-by in the middle of no where, we were pretty confident that this wouldn't be to much of an issue. But alas, it was. Where we were filming is actually an entrance to a local cycle path. And as it turns out the UK has a lot more bike riders than we first thought. It became very clear very quickly that this would be a recurring issue.

Although we had permission to shoot at the location from the council we did;'t have the ability to close it off to the public. So we simply had to wait between waves of people. If someone wondered behind a shot we paused then continued from the point before they got in the way. By the end we got this down to a fine art form. 

Continuity 

With so much going on in the film, some things were noticed to be quite off in the edit. The biggest example is that Mallory, after he shoots Mango, puts the gun used to kill his friend in his hand, making the whole thing look like a disagreement between two greasers. However, we didn't shoot his putting the gun in his hand meaning on all the wides he doesn't have a gun in his hand. This meant doing some last minute shooting at my house. Adding in a "putting gun in hand" shot and having to get Jake (who was the stand in actor for the day) to recreate the same arm position as on the day but on a green screen and holing the gun. We then keyed out the great and put the new arm on are head mango, fixing the otherwise tattered continuity. 

Traffic

Another big challenge was the that the lay-by was right next to a road. Again, during recee's of the site it was evident that there wasn't that such through traffic, however, on the day there was significantly more. We went about dealing with this issue the same was we dealt with the public. Wait it out and then carry on once they pass.

Actors Bailing

The day before we were meant to shoot, one of are actors had to leave the project due to person reasons. This left a huge hole to fill. Luckily, I had a few back-ups in mind for such a time. Unlikely, none were now avalblily, expect for Blake. The issue was he couldn't shoot on the Saturday, only the Sunday. This was the only time we had access to the car and main actors. So what we did was use a stand in on the Saturday. Jake dressed as Mango and did everything the character did, just off camera. The only time you can see him in briefly in the cig exchange scene and in some wides. All Blakes parts were shot the following day. 

FMP- Cranes, Cigarettes and Colour Correction

So, in my 3.1 - 3.2 (if you haven't read it it's on my blog) I outlined some different techniques I wanted to try during the production of my FMP. Those being; the use of a camera crane, the use of black and white and fake cigarettes. In this blog I'll be talking about how each aspect went and if I feel I have improved in some way on the subject.

Firstly we have the camera crane. Now although we did some tests with the job before shooting I was still sceptical where or not it would give the kind of shot I was looking for. However, we decided to use it anyway. We got some good advice from our lecturer Ed who told us to put more weight on the base to keep the crane steady, creating a smoother shot. Using the crane on set was a challenge. This was down to two reasons. Thaw first being that without any counterweights, you were really having to fight the Jib making operating it much more difficult. The second was that I couldn't see what we were shooting. My monitor decide to pack up on me so we were very much shooting blind.

All in all I like the shots. Although there is a significant amount of shake it blends in nicely with the era of film we were inspired by. Many shots in the film are much longer and more draw out then people are used to in modern Hollywood but that's due to the style and pacing of the genre. 

Second we have the use of black and white. I played around with many different ways to achieve the film noir look and settled on simply desaturaizing the image and then adjusting contrast, normally lowering the shadows making the image look more defined. Overall I think the images came out looking great! Every shot really plays to the genre and the black n white adds to it drastically. It adds that level of mysteriousness that was such an important part of film noir.

Third and finally is the fake cigs. Now we spent a lot of time on hand making them out of everything from tea to parsley but in the end we settled with real smokes. The actors were happy to use the real things so in the end we got a few packets and that was that. However, I feel like my research into that topic will help me in the future.

END OF YEAR SHOW- This Is The End

So, here we are. Finally at the end. Two years (or one in my case) of hard work and graft have come to this. The end of year show! A right of passage for all members of the Bladud film team who are venturing out of the comfortable shell of college and out into the big bad world. Exciting times!

However, are work is far from done. We have an end of year show to plan! The only thing set in about the show is the venue, which is the Komedia in Bath. Other than that we have free range! First things first is looking at different types of live shows. After looking through some concepts we should be able to pin point what we want to go for.

A lot of what we want to do is governed, as always by the location. Lucky for us, the Komedia can accommodate most styles of events. From Rock gigs, to night raves, to cinema screenings to award shows and cooperate events it is very flexible. 

Concept 1

My first concept is similar to shows such as the Emmy's and golden globes. This involved the show being presented by a single person (or pair) who guides the audience through the evenings happenings. This includes a variety of awards. Now normally these are for 'Best Film' or 'Best director", but instead we give out awards for more trivial things, such as 'Class clown', 'Best Laugh', Best distraction' etc. 

Inter-weaved with the awards can be showings of are films, as well as purpose made skits, making fun of the students, lectures, the education system and everything in-between. One example would be a version of Ricky Gervais's office, based instead in are media department. 

The layout of the venue would also take inspiration from the golden globes. That being tables arranged in-front of the stages with seating located behind them. This is also how the brit awards handles things. Students past and present sit around the tables with family and friends. While seating behind is allocated for general public.

Dress for students would be formal and we make a proper night out of it.

Concept 2

My second concept takes inspiration from the End of year show I attended last year. This consisted of a small introduction. Small snippets of the past 2 years work and then a playing of the two short films the students worked on for their FMPs. The evening was concluded by a video which consisted of each student saying what they enjoyed most about the course and what they would miss.

The set up was very simply. The upper balcony was used for seating while the lower level I believe was unused. Although simply, it was very effective. Overall the presentation was over quite quickly, only lasting about 30 - 40 minutes. A nice little touch was small cards on each seat which were small versions of the two main films posters.  

Opinion cornor

Personal I prefer concept 1 much more than 2. It is slightly different with some nice twists on well known tropes. It makes each student really feel the gravitates about what the show means, the end of college life. I also feel like there is more that can be done with the idea. Plus, from an outsider point of view there will be a lot of laughs to keep people entertained. Of course this idea does involve a lot more work but I feel that it is worth it for are last hoorah.

 

END OF YEAR SHOW - Getting people through the doors

   

For our end of year show spectacular we have chosen to hold it at the Komedia in the center of Bath. The venue boasts a large variety of different set-ups accommodation everything from large standing gigs, cabaret seating and classic rowed seats. So when it comes to our show, we have quite a choice on are hands.

However, whatever set-up we eventually pick there is one thing that doesn't change. The fact that we will need people to fill the space. This isn't simply a case of wanting to get the most for our money. The event is acting as a way for us to showcase all the the hard work and effort we have put in over the past 2 years. 

The show is also a chance for the friends and family of the class to come and see our work displayed on the big screen. However, the show can also act as a bit of a networking event. By inviting local production company's to the showing we can start to build contacts in the industry, helping those who want to get a foot in the door in such a competitive business.

We can go about this by contacting companies directly, both through emails and over the phone. Better yet, if we met with representatives before the show, for example over a coffee, we can build a relationship with them increasing the likelihood of them attending.

As well as industry professionals we also want members of the general public to attend. One way we could go about this is by utilizing our connections at the Bath Chronicle. Getting something on their website, or better yet in the paper, will plant it in the public eye and get some much needed press. 

Something that we can glean from last year is inviting officials from the bath area. An example is that of the mayor of Bath who attend last year. This again will help build hype for the show.

FMP- Close Encounter of the Film Kind

Filmmaking is almost like a giant puzzle game. It's all about solving problems.  These can vary in size and difficulty. Some are avoidable and some are not. However, there are things you can do to to make these challenges easier. This is called making arrangements and staying organised. Having these two traits means that you can discern issues that you may encounter before they araise. Also, being prepared means when unexpected issues come up, you can handle them in a calm and collected manner.

So lets first look at the style of how we want the film to do. That being, black and white. There are many different ways to achieve this look. However, something to look at is how things look in that style. Set dressing is all different when it's not in colour. Also, making sure we shoot in a format that is easy to tamper with in post will be key.

Another important part of the film will be the camera movement. We want to achieve a 1950s look, not just in the set dressing or props or script, but in the production style. Many aspects of filmmaking which are now common, and that have been perfected, were still in there development stages during the 50s. Getting that slightly imperfect look will be important to selling the overall project.

Although the film is in no way a SCI-FI VFX packed explosion fest, there will be some smaller effects. The importance of nailing these effects is huge. A shody effect can and will pull a viewer away from the story.