Accuracy:
Accuracy is defined by the quality or state of being correct or precise. If a programme presents lies to an audience it is not an accurate programme. A documentary must be accurate to be a factual programme. I will make sure my factual film will be accurate by checking any facts I use are correct.
Balance:
When a factual programme is balanced, it is showing a fair representation of each side of the story. The producers are unprejudice towards the arguments and stories presented. Each side is focused on equally and treated with objectivity.
Impartiality:
Impartiality is when the producers of the factual programme do not take a side. They remain completely objective throughout. The programme does not display any bias towards either side of the argument. The representation of each argument is balanced and fair.
In my documentary on Graffiti I will not show a preference for either side of the story, I will simply document peoples opinions and present them with complete neutrality.
Objectivity:
The definition of an objective programme is that it is not influenced by personal feelings or opinions in considering and representing facts. The programme remains detached from either side of the argument/story while presenting them both even handedly.
Subjectivity:
A subjective programme is based on or influenced by personal feelings, tastes, or opinions. The opposite of objectivity. It does not present impartial and fair representation of each side of the story or argument and often focuses more positively on one while showing the other in a more negative light.
Opinion:
An opinion is a persons view or judgement formed about something, not necessarily based on fact or knowledge. Opinions can be backed up by strong arguments, but that does not necersarily make them correct, and there are others who will likely still disagree with an opinion presented. Because of this, opinions must never be presented as fact in a factual programme.
Bias:
Bias is an inclination or prejudice for or against an argument, person or group. An example of a documentary that displays a lot of bias would be Supersize Me in which a man eats McDonalds every day to prove how bad it is for your health. He sets out to prove something negative about McDonalds rather than exploring the argument fairly.
Privacy:
Everyone has the right to privacy, and a producer should respect this when creating a documentary. If a person does not want to answer a question or have a video or image of them put in your documentary, you should respect their wishes.
Representation:
Representation is the way that you portray a person, group or argument. It is important that a producer does not allow their personal bias or opinions effect how they represent people in a factual programme.
Monday 3 November 2014
Monday 23 June 2014
Digital Graphics Review
In Adobe Photoshop I have created a poster, a DVD sleeve, and a DVD disk cover for the film Anaesthetic.
For the film poster I created a template with a width of 40 inches and a height of 30 inches. Making the resolution 300 pixels per inch as to ensure the quality of the final product.
We took the pictures of our two characters seperately and then used a technique of changing the characters contrast to the background in order to easily cut them out and removing their original backgrounds..
They were then placed onto the background picture we had taken on set for the poster
I also changed the hue and saturation to create a more satisfactory dark tone for my poster, as well as adding my title text and block credits text underneath.
For my DVD sleeve I used very similar techniques, but this time adding in screen caps of the film anaesthetic and also inserting a logo, BBFC rating and a DVD logo.
The DVD disk cover was kept ver minimal, I simply used the photograph of our character Tobias and the backround that I had previously edited from my poster.
Raster VS Vector
Raster images
Also referred to as a bitmap graphic, a raster graphic is the most common kind of image found on computers. Raster images are made up of a grid of pixels, each pixel is assigned a colour value, and with enough pixels a computer can create the illusion of a crisp image. If you were to enlarge one of these images, you would lose the sharpness and quality of the image as the pixels became more clear. Depending on the height of the resolution of a raster file a picture can look incredibly crisp. An extreme example of this would be this 320 Gigapixel panorma photograph of London. Which allows you to see extreme details from huge distances. The problem with this is that the pixels in raster images require a large amount of disk space, so creating pictures like this is not easy.
Raster files come in formats such as .BMO, .TIF, .GIF or .JPG. Raster images are often created and edited in software such as microsoft paint, or adobe photoshop.
Vector images
Unlike raster graphics a vector graphic is not made up of a grid of pixels. A vector image is very good for media printing because it's size can be increased hugely without any loss of image quality, this is because vector graphics use geometrical formulas to represent an image. Instead of being made up of a grid of pixels, they are made of shapes called "objects". You can edit each objects shape, size, position and colour Common files formats for raster are .CGM .SVG .ODG .EPS .XML. Vector files require very little memory to store them Vector graphics are often edited in software such as Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Freehand, Pro/DESKTOP.
Before vector graphics can be translated into the physical world from a computer through a raster based output device such as a laser printer or dot-matrix printer, the vector image must be translated to a bitmap to create. A limitation of vector graphics is that they cannot handle phtographic images as well as a raster format can. Because of this, the best time to use vector images is when creating large scale illustrations and logos.
Raster Or Vector?
There is no better graphics format. Both raster ad vector graphics can produce brilliant results simply by understanding the strangths and weaknesses of both of them. Where one fails the other one will likely compensate in that area.
Also referred to as a bitmap graphic, a raster graphic is the most common kind of image found on computers. Raster images are made up of a grid of pixels, each pixel is assigned a colour value, and with enough pixels a computer can create the illusion of a crisp image. If you were to enlarge one of these images, you would lose the sharpness and quality of the image as the pixels became more clear. Depending on the height of the resolution of a raster file a picture can look incredibly crisp. An extreme example of this would be this 320 Gigapixel panorma photograph of London. Which allows you to see extreme details from huge distances. The problem with this is that the pixels in raster images require a large amount of disk space, so creating pictures like this is not easy.
Raster files come in formats such as .BMO, .TIF, .GIF or .JPG. Raster images are often created and edited in software such as microsoft paint, or adobe photoshop.
Unlike raster graphics a vector graphic is not made up of a grid of pixels. A vector image is very good for media printing because it's size can be increased hugely without any loss of image quality, this is because vector graphics use geometrical formulas to represent an image. Instead of being made up of a grid of pixels, they are made of shapes called "objects". You can edit each objects shape, size, position and colour Common files formats for raster are .CGM .SVG .ODG .EPS .XML. Vector files require very little memory to store them Vector graphics are often edited in software such as Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Freehand, Pro/DESKTOP.
Before vector graphics can be translated into the physical world from a computer through a raster based output device such as a laser printer or dot-matrix printer, the vector image must be translated to a bitmap to create. A limitation of vector graphics is that they cannot handle phtographic images as well as a raster format can. Because of this, the best time to use vector images is when creating large scale illustrations and logos.
There is no better graphics format. Both raster ad vector graphics can produce brilliant results simply by understanding the strangths and weaknesses of both of them. Where one fails the other one will likely compensate in that area.
Tuesday 17 June 2014
The Thriller Genre
Thrillers
Thrillers are a very wide genre of film that can include sub genres such as gangster movies, spy films, sci fi, detective films, crime and more. I love thrillers because they're movies designed to keep you interested, if they don't keep you on the edge of your seat throughout then they're not doing their job right. This makes the thriller genre one that leaves very little room for error. The entire genre is built on suspense, which must be delivered else the entire movie falls apart. Thrillers, often being very cynical tend to portray society or the world as dark and unforgiving. A thriller that is a large Hollywood blockbuster usually do this too, but they often swap out the dark endings for a more upbeat optimistic conclusion to the film. Often in thrillers you'll find that important information is withheld from the audience in the movie, until near the conclusion of the film, the audience sometimes knows this, sometimes we're just given hints that something happening in the story is not quite right, which excites us more to find out what the twist is.
Fantastic examples of thrillers using this technique of long drawn out suspense would be movies like Fight Club, Oldboy or The Usual Suspects.
The preferred reading for an audience of a thriller is in the name. We want the audience to be thrilled, to feel tense, excited or anticipant. A thriller must succeed in this or it will fall short of its potential. This brings me to my next point, the fact that a good thriller creates suspense and mystery for the audience, it demands your attention throughout, it requires active spectatorship from the audience, which is one of the reasons I love this genre, because they force the watcher to think about what they are watching. Because of this thrillers are not often easy, laid back watches for the passive spectator.
For example in Oldboy and Fight Club we are thrown into the minds of the main characters, we learn things as they do, anything that they don't know, we won't know either, information is withheld until the character learns it.
The idea of active spectatorship means that each viewer is different and that each person will react to the material they are watching differently than the next. Audiences do not simple absorb what they watch without thinking about it.
Passive spectatorship is something that was suggested by the Hypodermic Needle theory. The idea that the audience simply sits back and accepts the media that is delivered to them without thought.
Some film makers attempt to turn the audience into passive spectators while watching their movies, for example a movie like Transformers, an action movie directed by Michael Bay. Transformers does not demand much thought from the audience. There are clear protagonists (the autobots) and antagonists (the decepticons). The film never stops to ask why the bad guys are doing what they're doing, they just want to destroy all humans, that's all you need to know.
If a spectator is truly passive then it is much easier for them to go away from your movie with the creators preferred reading. That being, that the movie was good and enjoyable to watch.
Others encourage make the audience actively spectate, make them pay attention and think about what they are viewing. Thrillers do this. For example in the movie Fight Club we are not shown a clear antagonist and protagonist. The bad guy can be a good guy and the good guy can be the bad guy. The ideologies of anarchy are presented to us very convincingly by Tyler Durden, but then the counter argument is presented to us by the Narrator. We understand what Tyler Durden believes, we see the sense in it, but the Narrator allows us to also see the madness. It presents two points of view and lets the viewer make their own decision, this is active spectatorship.
Monday 16 June 2014
Wes Anderson and Auteur theory
Auteur Theory and Wes Anderson
Auteur Theory is the idea that arose in France in the late 1940s that I director of a film can have a major effect on the creative style and vision of the movies that he/she produces, in effect making the director more the author than the person that actually wrote the material.
"A true film auteur is someone who can bring something genuinely person to his subject instead of producing a tasteful: accurate but lifeless rendering of the original material." Francis Trauffat, 1950.
Wes Anderson is widely thought of as director that would qualify to be an Auteur. This is because he brings a very unique style to all of his movies that is easily recognisable to almost anyone who has seen his films before. For example he often includes very similar themes within all of his films. For example the stories tend to revolve around middle to upper class families that are more than a little dysfunctional as well as precocious and pretencions characters.
Also Wes Anderson has a very notably quirky style of cinematography that appears in the majority of his movies. For example a he often makes shots completely symmetrical. He also likes to use tracking shots that last a relatively long time and require a large amount of choreography in order to shoot. The is also a slow motion shot in every one of his films not including Fantastic Mr. Fox.
Wes Anderson also has a habit of using high angled shots in his films, here is some examples.
The mes en scene that Wes Anderson creates is always very vintage, with a very 60's era style to it. He uses costume that would be out of place in today's world, and props that should be long outdated.
He also often uses a very similar colour palette throughout each of his films that includes shades of yellow, red, blue and orange.
Wes Anderson titles are also a notable signature of his, in a bold yellow font that fits his colour palette.
Not only do his characters and cinematography have very distinct styles. But also his choice of actors. Wes Anderson's movies has repeatedly collaborated with multiple actors in his films, such as Bill Murray, Owen Wilson and Jason Schrwatzman. When Wes Anderson Directs a new movie it is expected for at least one of these actors to be in the film.
In my personal opinion, because of all of these unique and quirky things that Wes Anderson brings to his movies, that make his work instantly recognisable as a film made by him, he fits the definition of an Auteur. He is someone that makes a movie his own. Bringing something different to its delivery that only Wes Anderson could do, because that is his style of film making
Tuesday 20 May 2014
Oldboy 2003 vs Oldboy 2013 (Spoilers)
Oldboy 2003 vs Oldboy 2013
I'm going to be comparing the original Korean movie, Oldboy to the 2013 american remake of the film.
The lifetime gross of the original Oldboy reached an impressive $14,980,005 (Box office mojo), almost quintupling its original budget of and estimated $3,000,000 (IMDB), over time it has grown to become a cult classic around the world.
The movie has been nominated for and won countless awards in the time since its release, being praised for its acting, directing, lighting, music and cinematography. The film was received incredibly well by audiences who gave it a score of 95% on Rotten Tomatoes as well as critics reaching 80%.
The remake on the other hand bombed in the box office make a measly $4,861,022 (Box Office Mojo) after splashing out an estimated budget of $30,000,000 (IMDB). In comparison to the original Oldboy 2013 was received poorly by audiences and critics alike, scoring only 42% among critics and 32% from the audience.
Although the stories of these two movies are incredible similar, there are some differences that may have contributed to the originals success and/or the remakes downfall.
Plot
Directed by Chan-Wook Park, the plot of the 2003 Oldboy is a very dark, grim, twisted and violent one. The protagonist, Oh-Dae su is kidnapped and held hostage in a prison for 15 years, only to be inexplicably released from captivity, to discover why he was imprisoned and more importantly why he was set free. Along the way he meets Mido who he falls in love with.
After uncovering that the reason Woo-Jin Lee imprisoned him was because of the death of his sister who he was in an incestuous relationship with. Woo-Jin Lee blames Oh-Dae Su for her death, as he was the one who started the rumour of their relationship. As his final act of revenge he Woo-Jin Lee reveals that Mido is actually Oh-Dae Su's daughter
Directed by Spike Lee, the remake has a very similar story, the protagonist, Joe Doucett is imprisoned for 20 years, he escapes and meets Marie, who he falls in love with. The main difference between the 2013 remake and the 2003 original is that the antagonist is that for some reason it was decided that the back story for the original antagonist was not strange enough and instead replaced an incestuous brother, sister relationship, with one between father, son and daughter. After being discovered by Joe and him spreading the rumour throughout his school, Adrian's father attempts to murder his family before taking his own life, but Adrian survived, and began to plan his revenge on Joe for revealing the truth about his family.
Protagonists
Antagonists
Woo-Jin Lee is portrayed as a suave and cool bad guy that uses emotional and mental manipulation to toy with the protagonist. Although being an evil with a twisted sense of justice, Chan-Wook Park doesn't let us forget that, despite being cruel, he still is human, giving depth to his character, making his actions even more unsettling.
Adrian Pryce from the remake was portrayed quite differently. With a somewhat over the top English accent and a cold unexplored personality that makes him a fairly basic villain that we may have seen far too many times in cinema to find interesting. Copley's acting is somewhat over exaggerated making his character seem cartoon-like and it doesn't fit with Spike Lee's attempt to make a grittier, more realistic movie, than the previous one.Cinematography
There's a lot to be said about the visual style created for the original Oldboy. The cinematography is unique, quirky and beautiful. The camera is rarely still and never fails to be interesting throughout the entire movie.
The most notable scene in the original is the iconic hallway fight scene which takes place in a single shot that lasts almost 3 minutes. Spike Lee created a similar fight in the remake in a shot lasting almost 2 minutes, he does a good job of the making same scene, while putting his own twist on the camera angles.
Although the cinematography in the new Oldboy is good it still doesn't live up to its predecessors incredibly well crafted shots.
Over all I think the remake of Oldboy was an unnecessary one. It brings nothing new to the table and although it makes a good stand alone movie, it fails to surpass or live up to the original, which it will never not be compared to, in almost every category. The movie is a remake of a movie that didn't need to be remade, because it still stands up 11 years later as a fantastic movie that would be incredibly hard to improve upon. The only reason you could possibly have to watch the remake instead of the original is that if you don't speak Korean and don't want to read subtitles, which is still a pretty poor reason at that.
All too often Hollywood remakes a foreign film loved by movie goers only to have the English speaking version fall short of everything the original was revered for. Some movies do not need to be remade, in my opinion, Oldboy is one of those movies.
Monday 28 April 2014
Anaesthetic Production Blog
30/01/14
We're currently in the stages of editing the script. A lot of ideas are up in the air right now we've avoided attempting to mix both scripts together too much and we're stuck with the main idea of Jamies script Anaesthetic. Its still somewhat imperfect and is going under some changes right now. Jamie has taken charge of the responsibility of editing the script because he was the original writer. I'm helping him form any ideas he chooses to share. We've chosen to shoot our film in at Preston Hall if possible. We've made contact with people working there, and plan to go on a recce soon.
06/02/14
The script is in its final draft and completed.
Jamie, Sam and myself created a presentation about the different techniques used in other films that were and could be inspiration for parts of our movie such as atmosphere, editing, music, and shots. I've been doing some research on the kind of music we could use for our film and we've began moving through all of our required pre-production paperwork.
Stephen Was not Present.
08/02/14
Me and Jamie have carried out a recce of Preston Hall. There were both good and bad results. We found that the Chemist Shop we were hoping to use was far to small on the inside to shoot anything in. But the outdoor aesthetics were fantastic and we've decided it could be possible to change some scenes to outdoor scenes. One of the receptionists let us into the music room of the Hall. It was very large but with some clever framing could work quite well for our indoor scenes. The receptionist told us that if we were to shoot there we could only do so times between 9 and 11 in the morning and our wouldn't be allowed to be posted online. This is not at all ideal. I hope that we can speak to the manager directly and come to a much more reasonable agreement.
10/02/14
Jamie, Sam and myself had a meeting to discuss casting arrangements for the our film. We have prepared all of the proper paperwork for the actors applying for roles in Anaesthetic.
We also discussed how we would go about the casting auditions and what questions we should ask the actors during them.
Stephen still not present.
11/02/14
Today was casting day. It all went fairly smoothly. and every actor appeared to audition for their role apart from one exception. We acquired each of the actors contact details, and asked them questions such as what their inspiration for choosing the script was, their availability for shooting and about their access to transport.
Afterwards we discussed which actors we believed to be best for the roles of Miss Stone and Tobias and who we would like to bring back for recalls. A final decision will be made by the end of tomorrow.
Stephen once again not present I fear the team may fall apart without him.
13/02/14
Casting is over our team has had time to discuss and we have made our final decisions for which actors we want to play our characters. I believe we've made brilliant choices. I look forward to seeing them in action!
In other news we've created a Facebook page for Anaesthetic in an attempt to generate some publicity for the film.
Still no sign of Stephen we presume the worst. All is lost.
25/02/14
Today we met with the make up team for the first time. They were very talkative, professional and enthusiastic. We didn't have much to tell them just yet, we simply told them some character profiles and talked about what they thought could do with them.
Also Due to the scheduling difficulties of two films wanting to use the same two actors for their main characters, we have had to give up our previous choice of Madeline for Miss Stone and instead go with our second choice Rosa. Even though Rosa wasn't our original choice for Miss Stone, she is still a fantastic actress and I have complete faith in her ability to portray the character brilliantly.
The search for Stephen goes on...
28/02/14
Today me and Jamie went to a charity warehouse in search of costume that could be used for our characters. We spent well over an hour rummaging through clothing we didn't find Stephen or any appropriate costume for Anaesthetic.
Afterwards we proceeded to get hilariously lost on the way home.
04/03/14
We've had a production meeting to discuss what tasks needed to be focused on. The most prominent and urgent issues being, costume, finishing schedules and emailing the manager of Preston Hall, J.R.
Since costumes isn't something we can work on right now, I'll be focusing on schedules most of today, getting them to every cast and crew member, and making sure everyone knows what is going on.
05/03/14
J.R has replied to our emails. He has given us a full day inside the music room to shoot our interior scenes for Anaesthetic. This is brilliant news. Its much more time than what was originally promised to us and I feel much more confident about the shooting schedule.
11/03/14
The majority of today was spent filling out both risk assessments and shot lists for our upcoming shoot. We all worked together on the risk assessments to get them done quickly. Afterwards me and Jamie began working on the shot lists, completing the majority of them by the end of the day.
13/03/14
Today we had a meeting with our cast for rehearsals. Our actors seem to know their lines and the scenes incredibly well and their portrayal of the characters has improved hugely since their auditions. I feel that they really have thought about their characters and fleshed their personalities out for themselves.
The make up team also showed us some of their ideas for our characters. I'm especially impressed with the amount of thought and effort that went into Miss Stone.
17/03/14
Final preparations for the shoot are under way. The shot lists are completed, so are the risk assessments, and all other necessary pieces of paperwork. All of the props we need have been gathered. The only problem we had was the important syringe prop not arriving on time. But by some strange stroke of luck I managed to find one almost exactly the same over the weekend. Jamie has informed me that in his meeting with J.R there was some kind of confusion about what room we were planning to use and now we will be shooting in the much larger, grander room beside the one we expected to be using. But that's not something we can't plan around. He also told me that J.R will allow us to use the costume on site at Preston Hall. Now its just a matter of double and triple checking everything is in order before tomorrow.
18/03/14
First day of shooting.
I can say today went neither completely wrong or right.
To start with the things that went well. The scheduled time for cast and crew to be on location was abided to by everyone. Make up and cast both appeared perfectly on time and we began to set up right away. Throughout the day we managed to get a lot of scenes shot, and the acting was fantastic, all the actors knew their lines off by heart, the supporting actors were patient and waited politely throughout scenes they weren't in. Make up was great too, with extreme attention to detail on all characters Preston Hall staff were friendly and helpful and the shots we did get were all great.
But by the end of the day we didn't get all of the shots we wanted, this was due to a few reasons.
Firstly, as film makers the three of us were only just finding our feet on a set, we were inexperienced and struggling to make quick decisive choices. Secondly make up and costume took much longer than we anticipated on the morning. Not that it wasn't worth the end result, but it was a contributing factor. And finally because of the unexpected slight change in shooting location which forced us to deviate from our shot list and improvise some shots on set. At the end of the day we spoke to J.R about being able to come back for a possible pickup day for the shots we didn't get. He didn't have a certain answer for us but he said he will try to find us a time. There was also a small problem with the mic recording sound. But this isn't something we can't try to fix.
19/03/14
Second day of shooting.
Today went completely without any problems. Our actors and make up team showed up on time just as before and we got to work straight away. We had one narrow miss where we needed a plug socket in order to do make up but that was solved by relocating the make up team to one of the shops on the Victorian street.
Because we were shooting outside in an area open to the public there was a slight worry of members of the public getting in the way of the shoot. Luckily we could use a secluded alleyway in the Victorian street that was not of much interest to the public. It proved perfect for the shoot. By the end of the day we had all the shots we needed and could go home having accomplished what we came to do.
When we got the tape back to college we realised that the boom mic was in a few shots. As the camera operator I should have spotted this. But other than that problem everything went fairly smoothly.
27/03/14
We've received a reply from J.R telling us that we can use the music room again for a pickup day on Wednesday the 2nd of April. But he told us that if a the room is booked, he will have to take that as priority over us. This will be our only chance to do a pickup on the shots we didn't get on the 18th.
02/04/14
Third and final day of shooting.
The music room stayed free for us to use for shooting. Unfortunately today didn't go as we planned. After planning with the make up team to meet at Preston park at 10AM for shooting, there was no sign of them or explanation as to why they hadn't appeared. For an hour we couldn't begin shooting because of our heavy reliance on make up. At 11AM one girl from the make up team appeared. She told us she was told that she had to be on set at 11AM, but the rest of the team didn't show up and she was left alone to handle our make up. This set us back a full hour at the least. When we finally began to shoot, J.R appeared and told us that we would have to leave by 1PM because they needed to set up the room for a booking the next day.
We're currently in the stages of editing the script. A lot of ideas are up in the air right now we've avoided attempting to mix both scripts together too much and we're stuck with the main idea of Jamies script Anaesthetic. Its still somewhat imperfect and is going under some changes right now. Jamie has taken charge of the responsibility of editing the script because he was the original writer. I'm helping him form any ideas he chooses to share. We've chosen to shoot our film in at Preston Hall if possible. We've made contact with people working there, and plan to go on a recce soon.
06/02/14
The script is in its final draft and completed.
Jamie, Sam and myself created a presentation about the different techniques used in other films that were and could be inspiration for parts of our movie such as atmosphere, editing, music, and shots. I've been doing some research on the kind of music we could use for our film and we've began moving through all of our required pre-production paperwork.
Stephen Was not Present.
08/02/14
Me and Jamie have carried out a recce of Preston Hall. There were both good and bad results. We found that the Chemist Shop we were hoping to use was far to small on the inside to shoot anything in. But the outdoor aesthetics were fantastic and we've decided it could be possible to change some scenes to outdoor scenes. One of the receptionists let us into the music room of the Hall. It was very large but with some clever framing could work quite well for our indoor scenes. The receptionist told us that if we were to shoot there we could only do so times between 9 and 11 in the morning and our wouldn't be allowed to be posted online. This is not at all ideal. I hope that we can speak to the manager directly and come to a much more reasonable agreement.
10/02/14
Jamie, Sam and myself had a meeting to discuss casting arrangements for the our film. We have prepared all of the proper paperwork for the actors applying for roles in Anaesthetic.
We also discussed how we would go about the casting auditions and what questions we should ask the actors during them.
Stephen still not present.
11/02/14
Today was casting day. It all went fairly smoothly. and every actor appeared to audition for their role apart from one exception. We acquired each of the actors contact details, and asked them questions such as what their inspiration for choosing the script was, their availability for shooting and about their access to transport.
Afterwards we discussed which actors we believed to be best for the roles of Miss Stone and Tobias and who we would like to bring back for recalls. A final decision will be made by the end of tomorrow.
Stephen once again not present I fear the team may fall apart without him.
13/02/14
Casting is over our team has had time to discuss and we have made our final decisions for which actors we want to play our characters. I believe we've made brilliant choices. I look forward to seeing them in action!
In other news we've created a Facebook page for Anaesthetic in an attempt to generate some publicity for the film.
Still no sign of Stephen we presume the worst. All is lost.
25/02/14
Today we met with the make up team for the first time. They were very talkative, professional and enthusiastic. We didn't have much to tell them just yet, we simply told them some character profiles and talked about what they thought could do with them.
Also Due to the scheduling difficulties of two films wanting to use the same two actors for their main characters, we have had to give up our previous choice of Madeline for Miss Stone and instead go with our second choice Rosa. Even though Rosa wasn't our original choice for Miss Stone, she is still a fantastic actress and I have complete faith in her ability to portray the character brilliantly.
The search for Stephen goes on...
28/02/14
Today me and Jamie went to a charity warehouse in search of costume that could be used for our characters. We spent well over an hour rummaging through clothing we didn't find Stephen or any appropriate costume for Anaesthetic.
Afterwards we proceeded to get hilariously lost on the way home.
04/03/14
We've had a production meeting to discuss what tasks needed to be focused on. The most prominent and urgent issues being, costume, finishing schedules and emailing the manager of Preston Hall, J.R.
Since costumes isn't something we can work on right now, I'll be focusing on schedules most of today, getting them to every cast and crew member, and making sure everyone knows what is going on.
05/03/14
J.R has replied to our emails. He has given us a full day inside the music room to shoot our interior scenes for Anaesthetic. This is brilliant news. Its much more time than what was originally promised to us and I feel much more confident about the shooting schedule.
11/03/14
The majority of today was spent filling out both risk assessments and shot lists for our upcoming shoot. We all worked together on the risk assessments to get them done quickly. Afterwards me and Jamie began working on the shot lists, completing the majority of them by the end of the day.
13/03/14
Today we had a meeting with our cast for rehearsals. Our actors seem to know their lines and the scenes incredibly well and their portrayal of the characters has improved hugely since their auditions. I feel that they really have thought about their characters and fleshed their personalities out for themselves.
The make up team also showed us some of their ideas for our characters. I'm especially impressed with the amount of thought and effort that went into Miss Stone.
17/03/14
Final preparations for the shoot are under way. The shot lists are completed, so are the risk assessments, and all other necessary pieces of paperwork. All of the props we need have been gathered. The only problem we had was the important syringe prop not arriving on time. But by some strange stroke of luck I managed to find one almost exactly the same over the weekend. Jamie has informed me that in his meeting with J.R there was some kind of confusion about what room we were planning to use and now we will be shooting in the much larger, grander room beside the one we expected to be using. But that's not something we can't plan around. He also told me that J.R will allow us to use the costume on site at Preston Hall. Now its just a matter of double and triple checking everything is in order before tomorrow.
18/03/14
First day of shooting.
I can say today went neither completely wrong or right.
To start with the things that went well. The scheduled time for cast and crew to be on location was abided to by everyone. Make up and cast both appeared perfectly on time and we began to set up right away. Throughout the day we managed to get a lot of scenes shot, and the acting was fantastic, all the actors knew their lines off by heart, the supporting actors were patient and waited politely throughout scenes they weren't in. Make up was great too, with extreme attention to detail on all characters Preston Hall staff were friendly and helpful and the shots we did get were all great.
But by the end of the day we didn't get all of the shots we wanted, this was due to a few reasons.
Firstly, as film makers the three of us were only just finding our feet on a set, we were inexperienced and struggling to make quick decisive choices. Secondly make up and costume took much longer than we anticipated on the morning. Not that it wasn't worth the end result, but it was a contributing factor. And finally because of the unexpected slight change in shooting location which forced us to deviate from our shot list and improvise some shots on set. At the end of the day we spoke to J.R about being able to come back for a possible pickup day for the shots we didn't get. He didn't have a certain answer for us but he said he will try to find us a time. There was also a small problem with the mic recording sound. But this isn't something we can't try to fix.
19/03/14
Second day of shooting.
Today went completely without any problems. Our actors and make up team showed up on time just as before and we got to work straight away. We had one narrow miss where we needed a plug socket in order to do make up but that was solved by relocating the make up team to one of the shops on the Victorian street.
Because we were shooting outside in an area open to the public there was a slight worry of members of the public getting in the way of the shoot. Luckily we could use a secluded alleyway in the Victorian street that was not of much interest to the public. It proved perfect for the shoot. By the end of the day we had all the shots we needed and could go home having accomplished what we came to do.
When we got the tape back to college we realised that the boom mic was in a few shots. As the camera operator I should have spotted this. But other than that problem everything went fairly smoothly.
27/03/14
We've received a reply from J.R telling us that we can use the music room again for a pickup day on Wednesday the 2nd of April. But he told us that if a the room is booked, he will have to take that as priority over us. This will be our only chance to do a pickup on the shots we didn't get on the 18th.
02/04/14
Third and final day of shooting.
The music room stayed free for us to use for shooting. Unfortunately today didn't go as we planned. After planning with the make up team to meet at Preston park at 10AM for shooting, there was no sign of them or explanation as to why they hadn't appeared. For an hour we couldn't begin shooting because of our heavy reliance on make up. At 11AM one girl from the make up team appeared. She told us she was told that she had to be on set at 11AM, but the rest of the team didn't show up and she was left alone to handle our make up. This set us back a full hour at the least. When we finally began to shoot, J.R appeared and told us that we would have to leave by 1PM because they needed to set up the room for a booking the next day.
Thursday 16 January 2014
Critical Approaches - Sherlock v Elementary
Sherlock V Elementary
Mystery Crime Drama
The Mystery Crime genre, just like all other genres abides
by a specific set of codes and conventions. Characteristics such as a detective
protagonists, an assistant, police, crime solving and of course a mystery.
The main protagonist of the Mystery Crime Genre is the
detective character. He/she is often depicted as one step ahead of the police
at all times who are usually represented as incompetent and unobservant. The
detective is one of the best there is and solves crimes with ease, that is
until they are confronted with a crime they cannot solve. A crime committed by
someone who seems to be much smarter or harder to catch than the average
criminal the detective has to deal with, this gives us our story. The plot will
be about the chases between the detective and the criminal. There will usually
be a red herring suspect about halfway through an episode who throws the
protagonists off the trail of the criminal temporarily, possibly making the
search for the real antagonist more urgent later in the episode. The criminal
will seem to be one step ahead of our protagonists up until the last minute
when the detective finds a way to defeat them.
Character
representation
In the beginning of Sherlock we meet John Watson an ex doctor and soldier in the British army who was
discharged on account of injury. He is finding it hard to adjust to his new
life in London after serving in the military for such a long time, making him
bored, depressed and causing him to develop a psychosomatic limp. John Watson
stars out as a clearly a downtrodden character in the beginning of the series,
A soldier with no war to fight. Until by chance he meets our other protagonist Sherlock.
This meeting is exactly what John needs.
Each case that Sherlock takes on becomes another battle to fight for John. Soon
after he moves in with and begins working with Sherlock his limp and his
depression begins to disappear quickly.
Sherlock Holmes is a “Consulting detective”, a genius who thrives off the thrill of a mystery he cannot explain and so he will solve crimes for the police for free. He describes himself as a “high functioning sociopath”, he has very little understanding of human nature and is incredibly detached from the people around him. John becomes his more human counterpart during their detective work together. Over time Sherlock actually appears to begin to care about John, contradictory to his sociopathic nature and even kills a man to save John and his marriage.
Sherlock Holmes is a “Consulting detective”, a genius who thrives off the thrill of a mystery he cannot explain and so he will solve crimes for the police for free. He describes himself as a “high functioning sociopath”, he has very little understanding of human nature and is incredibly detached from the people around him. John becomes his more human counterpart during their detective work together. Over time Sherlock actually appears to begin to care about John, contradictory to his sociopathic nature and even kills a man to save John and his marriage.
In Elementary the first character we meet Joan Watson who has been employed to be
the “companion” of Sherlock by his father. Joan was previously a surgeon who
quit her job because of a botched surgery that caused a death of a patient that
she still feels guilty for. She found a new career in rehabilitating drug
addicts. Over time She becomes so interested in Sherlock and his detective work
that she quits her job as a sober companion and joins him as a full time
companion.
The Sherlock Holmes of Elementary is a consulting detective who is also a drug addict during his time in London caused by the death of Irene Adler. His drug problems became so out of control that he was forced to leave London and enter a rehabilitation program in New York. Joan was assigned to him because of this. He is not the most likeable character. As well as battling his drug problems he also is somewhat obnoxious, and has temper problems.
The Sherlock Holmes of Elementary is a consulting detective who is also a drug addict during his time in London caused by the death of Irene Adler. His drug problems became so out of control that he was forced to leave London and enter a rehabilitation program in New York. Joan was assigned to him because of this. He is not the most likeable character. As well as battling his drug problems he also is somewhat obnoxious, and has temper problems.
The protagonists from Elementary and Sherlock are not
typical good guys. They never waver from the side of good, but they are all
seriously flawed characters. John Watson is obsessed with the war he once
fought and misses it and Sherlock is a sociopath that cares very little for the
people around him.
Joan Watson lost her job because of a mistake she made and now works in a job that she hates. Sherlock is brash and bad tempered and suffers from a drug problem.
Joan Watson lost her job because of a mistake she made and now works in a job that she hates. Sherlock is brash and bad tempered and suffers from a drug problem.
Narrative Structure
In the first episode of Sherlock a lot of time is taken to
develop the protagonists of the tv show before the actual mystery is introduced
to the watchers. We meet John Watson first and learn about him and his life,
then we are introduced to Sherlock’s life and the two become one life. Then we
are introduced to the mystery of the dead women in pink. The two of them work
together to slowly uncover the mystery before it comes to its climax. They
writers can make the show this way because each episode can span up to over an
hour making all of this very easy to fit in. Sherlock is a flexi narrative
series, because each episode has its own story, but each story contributes to
an overarching plot. We can tell this because each case throughout the series
was devised by one main antagonist, Moriarty and his name is introduced in the
end of the first episode when Sherlock interrogates the murderer.
The narrative of Elementary goes much less in depth in
regards of character development, likely due to its much shorter 40 minute run
time. The case is introduced to the audience the moment the show begins then we
are very quickly introduced to Joan and Sherlock very little time is taken to
explore their backstories and soon after their meeting they are confronted with
the same case and get to work trying to solve it. The show does have time for
the occasional development in their relationship but not much time is taken on it.
In conclusion both Elementary and Sherlock are almost textbook
examples of the Mystery Crime genre. This is likely because they are both
derived from the original texts that essentially created the genre. But, both
shows refuse to abide to the archetype of the perfect hero, each of our
protagonists are deeply flawed and the shows both focus greatly on that.
Wednesday 15 January 2014
Multi Camera Productions
Multi-Camera Production unlike the single camera methods
usually used in film, is a production method where 2 or more cameras are used
to capture action at one time. The use of this technique is so that a director
and/or producer can have the freedom to cover multiple different angles at one
time, therefore catching all of the action from an interesting angle. Because
of this use having multiple cameras on a set is incredibly useful in creating
interesting recordings of live events and is used most prominently in filming
in this way.
For Example if a director or producer wanted to record an
interview live they would require two or more cameras for this. This is so they
could capture at least 2 angles, one of the interviewers face and one of the
face of the person being interviewed. Using one camera for an interview would
either be too difficult to film, or the camera angle would have to be static,
and this would risk losing the interest of the watcher.
If what is being filmed is being broadcasted live as well as
recorded live then the cameras will require a Vision Mixer, who will be at a
switch board to switch between different camera angles to get suitable shots
all while broadcasting these shots to a live audience. This is a simplified diagram of the usual
setup of a multi camera switcher.
Multi-Camera techniques are used in a many different kinds
of television shows such as Studio and set based shows such as the news and The
Jeremy Kyle Show, Sports events, 3 walls sitcoms such as Friends and reality TV
like Big Brother.
Tuesday 14 January 2014
Multi Camera Production Blog
We picked the play "Annie" to film for our multi camera production. To plan our production we visited the theatre where the play would take place beforehand to discuss possible camera positions, audio recording, and relevant arrangements. Our group created a checklist of equipment we would need, filled out a risk assessment of the area and
Equipment that will be needed
We each researched crew member job roles we would need to know about for our multi camera production. The director of the production has the responsibility of organising everyone within the production crew that is involved, such as the cameraman, the lighting director and the sound man. The Director needs to have excellent leadership and communication skills and the ability to stay focused and organised before during and after the production. The Director will also have to be able to listen to the constructive input of their crew from a point of objectivity. They must decide the appropriate camera positions and shots, lighting and sound recording set ups. A director must be enthusiastic, patient and fully aware of what each crew members is working on.
When it came to filming the production we had no control over lighting or sound. There was also no vision mixer. Leaving just the responsibility of filming the play to our group. The filming as a whole went fairly smoothly for me up until approximately 45 minutes into the first act when I was forced to leave my position on account of illness. I returned to the camera after a few minutes and continued filming to the end of the act without incident. Afterwards we made the decision to move me to a less physically taxing camera during the second act while I recovered. The rest of filming went well.
Equipment that will be needed
- Cameras x4
- Batteries x4
- Spare Batteries x4
- Tripods x4
- Tripod plates x4
- Microphones x4
- Headphones x4
- Tapes x8
- Spare tapes x4
We each researched crew member job roles we would need to know about for our multi camera production. The director of the production has the responsibility of organising everyone within the production crew that is involved, such as the cameraman, the lighting director and the sound man. The Director needs to have excellent leadership and communication skills and the ability to stay focused and organised before during and after the production. The Director will also have to be able to listen to the constructive input of their crew from a point of objectivity. They must decide the appropriate camera positions and shots, lighting and sound recording set ups. A director must be enthusiastic, patient and fully aware of what each crew members is working on.
When it came to filming the production we had no control over lighting or sound. There was also no vision mixer. Leaving just the responsibility of filming the play to our group. The filming as a whole went fairly smoothly for me up until approximately 45 minutes into the first act when I was forced to leave my position on account of illness. I returned to the camera after a few minutes and continued filming to the end of the act without incident. Afterwards we made the decision to move me to a less physically taxing camera during the second act while I recovered. The rest of filming went well.
Job Roles
Director –
The director
of the production has the responsibility of organising everyone within the
production crew that is involved, such as the cameraman, the lighting director
and the sound man. The Director needs to
have excellent leadership and communication skills and the ability to stay
focused and organised before during and after the production. The Director will
also have to be able to listen to the constructive input of their crew from a
point of objectivity. They must decide the appropriate camera positions and
shots, lighting and sound recording set ups. A director must be enthusiastic,
patient and fully aware of what each crew members is working on.
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