Evaluation Of Myself

What did I learn from directing and making ‘A Journey To Paradise’? What can I carry over to my third year project ‘The One Who Looks’? A shot list is a good idea, but you know what is an even better idea? a story board! Me and Rob were talking about what we could improve, and while going through the shot list on the last day we decided that next time, a storyboard would be a really good idea, it’s easy and everyone can see what is going on. I also discovered that I should probably interact with the actor more, I felt like I was a bit distant from her and should have conveyed my ideas a bit more. I learnt that you should look for an actor way in advance of filming, leaving it to the last couple of weeks is something you shouldn’t do. It causes more problems than it’s worth. Get a set designer, I allocated too much work to myself, and it probably no looked crap. Get a costume designer, like I said, I gave myself too much work.  Being a director is not something you can research, I don’t care what anyone says, It’s something you have to learn through experience.

Bellow is just a small rough part of what I managed to create, the final film is about 27 minutes long and something I’m quite proud of as I have yet to create anything that length. Watching it back I wish I could have improved the actors performance a bit, I should have been paying attention more. It seemed great while watching it, but on camera it looks different. Next time I think I should be watching screen more than watching real life.

All in all directing a crew has been fun, working closely with other people makes it easier to create a professional film and get the job done. You also gain other insights to your work and learn how to improve along the way which i found very helpful.

Shooting A Journey Day 4

Welcome to day four, a nice easy rested start of 12 was required after a long hard day. Today was an easy fun creative day, all we had to do was create galaxies. We experimented with different levels of milk / cream and hydrogen peroxide to create effects like the one above. It was really fun and we captured so much of it. 160GB of it to be exact. We were filming until 4 in the afternoon. Well that was it really, we were done and it was a wrap.

Shooting A Journey Day 3

Day three of shooting, everyone spirits were up and we were ready to run! We got to the location but it being a Sunday IT WAS PACKED WITH PEOPLE PLAYING MUSIC FROM THEIR CARS. So I made the decision to change location rather than mess up the sound. I had a back up location in mind anyway. We got down there as fast as we could and started filming. It went off pretty well, and there were some animals about to capture too. The sound here was a lot better because it was really quiet, the only problem was a road, but even then cars came only periodically.  So yeah we got that scene done and then it was onto the final scene, the submerge scene.

So now we were on the home stretch. It took ages to film this scene, but we got it done. The actor did a really good job of walking into the lake and putting herself under. Everything got a bit confusing towards the end with the shot list, being that we only had one costume, so we had to film it in a specific order so not to show her costume getting wet weirdly.  The Robs left it down to me to just tell them what to do, and it worked really well they trusted me and I trusted them.

 

The next scene was the final scene, the stasis scene. It was really simple to be honest, so I don’t have much to say about it. We wobbled the table to create turbulence and flashed coloured gells in front of the lights to create fire.

 

Shooting A Journey Day 2

DAY TWO, UP THE HILL AGAIN!!!  Today we moved hard and fast, evewryone pulled double their weight and performed excellently considering we had very minimal sleep and an early start. We started with the hill scene, all the lighting had changed so we had to film the whole thing again. Everything moved three times the speed of the previous day, so we managed to get this shot done and out of the way. By the time we were done it was lunch time, so we went to the waterfall to eat lunch.

Once there we filmed the next scene in record time, it didn’t take long as it wasn’t a scene that had any talking. everything went well because everyone knew how much we had to get done and how short a time span we had to do it in. Through the filming me and rob marshal started numbering the shots on the shot list, so we both knew exactly what order we had to get them in as it would save us switching from tripod to shoulder rig all the time and speed up production. We managed to get everything done by about 7pm… but we still had a night shoot to do. Throughout the shoot I communicated with the actor on parts she didn’t understand and helped direct her character a bit more, i believe in letting the actor develop the character themselves though, as they are the ones really embodying them and creating them. In the end, they know more about the character than you yourself.  Everyone was feeling happy, but exhausted, so we decided to go to the pub down the road and fill up on food while we waited for it to get dark.  Once it got dark, we started the night shoot.

 

The first shot was just a transition shot, so it was pretty simple to do and limited directing was needed. We then moved onto the fire scene, trekking though the pitch black dark forest at night with an LED light to light the way, it was pretty spooky. After finally arriving at the spot, rob smith the god of fire constructed a flamethrower from the ground, or at least that’s what it sounded like. Everyone was in a good mood because we knew it was the last shot, the actor wanted to get off and kept complaining but we got there in the end. If I was further in my game and not a student I would have said something, but at this stage, as a student, I didn’t want to burn bridges.

We got done at 12am after a very long day beginning at 6am. We got a HELL of a lot done for one day and tomorrow all we had to film due in the day was two scenes and at night the stasis module scene. plenty of time. right?…

Shooting A Journey Day 1

So the day one shoot came about and we had to climb a massive hill with a load of equipment, but first we had to collect the equipment. We didn’t have a particularly early start, having to collect the equipment at 9 and then pick up the actor at 10. by the time we climbed the hill it was about 11:15.  Once we climbed the hill we set up for the first shot of the day. Everything went off pretty well and smoothly, the only thing I didn’t take into account was food. We were up there for much longer than I had anticipated, so it was 4 by the time we left and had anything to eat.  I bought so much food for everyone to eat, so that picked everyone up a bit after shooting for so long.

The second part of the day involved us shooting a scene in which she wakes up form a dream and a transition shot. Time was running out as light was fading but we moved quickly and managed to get it. Directing the actor through these scenes was pretty easy as Leonora had done her research and nailed the character pretty much how I wanted. collaborating with everyone was really easy, I trusted everyone to do their job as best they could and they certainly did. If someone suggested an idea I would take it into account and try and implement it if it was good.

We dropped everyone off and it was time to look at the footage, considering we were shooting on a C100 we were pretty excited… By this time it was about 9PM. So anyway we looked at it and there was a massive problem. We had recorded zebras. We were so pissed off and disheartened, so now we had to re-shoot the whole first day, and i only had the actor for another two days. The next day was supposed to be a 9AM start, but now it was a 6AM start. I texted the actor the bad news and then went shopping for food. Me and the robs stayed up that night until about 1AM, cooking food, and evaluating what shots needed to be re-shot. pretty much everything. Thjen on to the next day with only 4 hours sleep.

Creating A Costume

I had to look for a costume for the main actor, so I went round eBay looking for futuristic-ish clothing. I compiled the bellow image of what I thought might look good then sent it off to my crew to get their comments on what looked good. They all liked the “work, Alien” type one. After talking to Ciara about wanting a Prometheus type look, she suggested motorcycle armor, so I compiled the below image and then sent that off.  Everyone still preferred the one from above, the below one was too expensive anyway. I bought everything I needed and hoped it got here in time.

 

Having A Shot List

Rob Marshal Created a shot list after a meeting I had with both of them to discuss the kind of shots I wanted throughout the film, this meant that on the day we knew exactly what was up next and what we had to do.

Shot List Full

I found this helped a great deal especially when we were pushed for time.

Never Trust An Actor

So it was time to find an actor, below I have uploaded a PDF of the casting call I created and posted on several casting websites.

Casting Call 1

After uploading the casting call I got flooded with responses, some good, some bad. After a couple of days I found the actor I wanted to use, he seemed perfect and he said he was apparently happy to do it. So i had chosen my actor, so that was good right? Well after trying to contact him about costume for three days he dropped out just a week before the shoot. I was so pissed off. I changed the actor to female as I had already gone through everyone in the directory. It was time to approach someone directly. I spent all night searching everyone on casting call pro when I finally came across Leonora. I sent her an email and an adjusted casting call document.

casting call 2 female

She got back to me and said she was happy to do it and if there was a contract she could sign. So then I was thrust into the world of contracts and documents. I was so unprepared. But hey, I learnt a hell of a lot through this. I learnt about Actor agreement Contracts. I couldn’t create one, so I turned to the Guerrilla Film making guide, as they had some on a disc. I downloaded one and adjusted it to my needs then sent it out. We signed it and everything was good to go.

Next I had to get a costume.

Directing Styles

What is my directing style? I like to believe I have chosen an actor because I feel confident they can embody the character and pull it off how I want. But I also like them to experiment and improvise, I allow room for them to do that. I also like to pay close attention to camera work and the whole look of the film. There really can’t be any good or bad way to direct, unless you try pushing your crew too hard and too far without them willing to do that.

The dictator

In this style of directing, the director has a strongly assertive role and is very dominant in the process of creating a theatrical work. Rehearsals are more or less fully controlled and predictable, with the actors having little or no say.

The negotiator

‘The negotiator‘ is a style of direction in which the director focuses on a more improvised and mediated form of rehearsal and creation, using the ideas of the production team and actors to shape a theatrical work in quite a democratic style.

The creative artist

The director sees himself or herself as a creative artist working with the ‘materials’ of dramatic creativity, be they the actors, designers and production team. The “creative artist” wants input from the actors but, as artist, has final say over what is included and how ideas are incorporated.

The confrontationalist

In this style of directing, the director is in constant dialogue and debate with the cast and the production team about creative decisions and interpretations. The director seeks out and actively engages in such exchanges. Out of these exchanges, which can sometimes be heated or risky, comes a final contested product.

The above is from the following website – http://www.edubuzz.org/dgs_drama/styles-of-directing/

I see myself as a bit of the negotiator and the creative artist. I still want to have final say but I will listen to other ideas from the crew and actors.

Pre-production Location scouting 1 + 2 + 3

After writing the script I spoke to Rob and Rob my cinematographers / DOPs, I asked them if they knew anywhere that was quite scenic and had a large body of water that someone could submerge themselves in. They recommended a place called Burrator reservoir. I checked it out on Google maps and it looked perfect.

 

We took a trip up to take some photos and I was really please with what was up there. As we were going round I spoke to the both Robs about possible camera angles and the lighting we would need. On the second trip we took Sam came a long to get some wild tracks and assess what it would be like to record sound. Really wanted to be as prepared as possible. Bellow are a few pictures I took of locations to use in the film.

 

https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B0MTqx8ZHyUOV0RhUkhJU1Nia00&usp=sharing  If you click the link you should be able to view all the photos. When we went the second time I wanted to test if I could re enact the drowning scene, where the android and his reflection get drowned. So I had to stick my head in the water, this was also good for trying to convince the actor to do the same thing, I thought that if I had done it, the actor wouldn’t mind doing it.

 

on our third visit to the reservoir we had to test out Robs fish tank idea for the last shot. One of the most important shots of the film but he pulled it off pretty well.

 

I wanted us to be as prepared as possible, and with everyone chipping in to do their part we certainly were. This meant when it came to the shoot days everything went smooth… well… almost….