Where will it all stop – Storyboarding

This summary post was originally written for a practical exercise undertaken in the Planning and Making a Film module I undertook in the penultimate year of my BA (Hons). The module's practice was undertaken between October 2011 to June 2012 and it provided me with a hugely enriching experience. For a more detailed overview of the module and the projects I undertook as a part of it, see Planning and Making a Film: The student filmmaking experience.

12/11/2011

As I am the cinematographer for Where will it all stop I was very keen to meet up with Jenny, our director, and make a storyboard. Mainly, doing this would mean I had a visual guide and would stop me from completely stressing out during production; also so we could take a look at our location, The Royal Oak, and see how feasible it would be to do the shots we had in our shot list. Making a storyboard had also been something I had wanted to do for The Eager Student, but we ran out of time.

We were quite fortunate to have free rein over The Royal Oak, because we had arrived at opening time. The way we went about creating the storyboard was to go through the shot list one shot at a time. I used my Sony HD Cyber Shot camera to take a picture that would represent how we would frame the shot and from where we would be shooting (I also made sure I had changed my camera's aspect ratio to 16:9, as that is the ratio we will be shooting in).

Some of the changes and major points I picked up are detailed with example shots below:

Shot 1U - Me as Chuck 

From the above shot you get an idea of how well lit the pub is by natural daylight and this does mean we won’t have to worry about installing extra lighting. But I will have to be careful to make sure that the shots are not overexposed (note the window)!

Shot 2G.1

For the shot towards the end of scene 2 we had to come up with a plan B in case it wasn’t raining on the day of shooting. If it does rain then we’ll use above shot...

g

Shot 2G.2

... but if it doesn't then we'll use the above plan B. Then in post-production we will add the sound effect of raining to the soundtrack and colour grade it to appear as if outside is overcast and grey, if this is needed. 

Shot 1A, The opening TRACK and PAN

We were able to properly work out and walk through the opening shot which had initially somewhat vague. Here I have put five photographs together give an idea of how the shot will work and look. 

Shot 1X, Me as Chuck

Note the shadowing effect that has been created in my positioning in to the window. If we can create the same effect on the day of shooting it will work wonders for the 'mysterious' nature of Chuck's character.

Unused photo for Shot 2C

I need to be careful how the camera is positioned in regards to direct sunlight, otherwise the above may happen.  

Shot 6A 

We were also able to finalise how we would shoot our alternate ending. Here we do it in a time saving single one shot pan. 

Next: Where will it all stop - Pre-production Meeting #3

Where will it all stop - Auditions

This summary post was originally written for a practical exercise undertaken in the Planning and Making a Film module I undertook in the penultimate year of my BA (Hons). The module's practice was undertaken between October 2011 to June 2012 and it provided me with a hugely enriching experience. For a more detailed overview of the module and the projects I undertook as a part of it, see Planning and Making a Film: The student filmmaking experience.

09/11/2011

Where will it all stop has seven roles: Chuck, Joe, Ollie, Lolly, Emma, the Bartender and the Barmaid.

Initially, we had received sixteen replies from actors and actresses saying that they would like us to consider them for roles in our film. So we organised a three hour rehearsal session in a room we had booked out on campus. This rehearsal session was overseen by myself and Jenny, from our half of the production, and by Sanne and Tom, from the other half. However, over the three hours only two actresses turned up! A main factor for this was the fact that all the first year students had been banned from appearing in anything outside of their course. But the two actresses, Suzanne and Kirsty, who did turn up we agreed would be perfect for the roles of Lolly (Suzanne) and Lolly (Kirsty).

While nobody else turned up, we did receive an email from a rather enthusiastic actor called Josh. He was so keen, in fact, not only did he express his admiration for the script with some quoted dialogue but also supplied us with an example of his work. He wanted us to consider him for the role of Joe and we weren't exactly in a position to turn him down, so we gave him the part.

y

We also received an email from an actor called Alex who, like Josh, wanted us to consider him for a part, so we gave him Ollie. 

Sanne had also said that her boyfriend, who had previous acting experience, was interested in filling a role, so that was the Bartender taken care of. 

While we had time on our hands we discussed the rather problematic role of Chuck. As he is a very old man we had e-mailed around for ‘mature’ students with acting experience; as well as emailing a number of Bath’s amateur dramatic societies. But we had received zero replies and It was I who suggested that we should start to consider using a younger actor for Chuck, as we were running out of time.

I had always seen the script as being somewhat supernatural, so I said why can’t Chuck just be a very old spirit who inhabits the bodies of the people who happen to cross his path? This would further explain my groups alternate ending where Joe becomes Chuck at the end of the film. Jenny was still a bit sceptical so I told it to her to look at it this way: “It is Matt Smith playing the Doctor: a twenty-something actor playing an eleven hundred year old alien.” As she is a Doctor Who fan, I think this analogy won her over.

Matt Smith as the Doctor 

What made this idea all the more appealing was that Jenny said she knew someone who would be perfect for playing someone older than himself. This friend was called Jek (pronounced Jake) and he accepted the role of Chuck. This meant that we had all the roles filled, aside from the Barmaid. However, we weren't worrying too much because it is an incredibly small part with no lines and really we don’t need an actress for it. 

Next: Where will it all stop – Storyboarding

Expanding Your Scope: The Rings of Saturn

A few thoughts on The Rings of Saturn by W.G. Sebald

Vintage Classics Edition

Reading The Rings of Saturn brought to mind the same scope and enjoyment of reading Olaf Stapledon’s Star Maker. Both books begin with a lone figure strolling across an English landscape from which they are magnificently launched into an odyssey that examines universal frailties. Whereas Stapledon’s protagonist jumps across imagined cosmic planes, Sebald jumps across terrestrial historical occurrences - the book is a wonderful collage of travel, memoir, biography and historical writing.

Sebald begins the book by talking about his excursion walking through East Anglia, but very quickly he jumps from this into all manner of historical subjects and occurrences. Throughout all his excursions - whether Sebald is discussing the Norwich silk-weavers, Emperor Hsien-feng, the natural history of the herring, George Wyndham Le Strange or the panorama of Waterloo, etc - from what he tells of others you get a sense of Sebald’s own melancholy. In my mind, this is the book’s greatest strength: Sebald uses the experiences of others to illustrate what he cannot directly define about himself. You might argue that this is a cheap trick but I would argue that by connecting his own demons to big and small figures from history and from differing cultures Sebald is making his book accessible universally.

I read this book from a suggestion that I should read more widely and I don’t think I could have picked a better book to encourage me in this fashion! Certainly, it does expand your scope on how you can present a memoir or biography and how flexible travel writing can be. Travel writing is something that I have only recently been exposed to and tied my hand at writing. But after reading this really I do want to explore it more; especially now that I see how intricately and beautifully it can link to life writing.

Will I ever want to read the book again? Hell, yes! From this first time reading it, I feel as though I have cheated the book somewhat and I know there is stuff which I’ve completely over looked (probably because I read the majority of it on a number of very cramped and noisy bus journeys). The Rings of Saturn really is one of those books that you have to devote your intellect entirely to in order to fully articulate its contents. But this quality also ensures that it is one of those books that you can keep coming back to. Like Star Maker, The Rings of Saturn is one of those very rare books with such incredible scope and breadth of subject matter that it is astonishing and inspiring to think that it was written by a single author!

Expanding Your Scope

A few thoughts on The Rings of Saturn by W.G. Sebald

Vintage Classics Edition

Reading The Rings of Saturn brought to mind the same scope and enjoyment of reading Olaf Stapledon’s Star Maker. Both books begin with a lone figure strolling across an English landscape from which they are magnificently launched into an odyssey that examines universal frailties. Whereas Stapledon’s protagonist jumps across imagined cosmic planes, Sebald jumps across terrestrial historical occurrences - the book is a wonderful collage of travel, memoir, biography and historical writing.

Sebald begins the book by talking about his excursion walking through East Anglia, but very quickly he jumps from this into all manner of historical subjects and occurrences. Throughout all his excursions - whether Sebald is discussing the Norwich silk-weavers, Emperor Hsien-feng, the natural history of the herring, George Wyndham Le Strange or the panorama of Waterloo, etc - from what he tells of others you get a sense of Sebald’s own melancholy. In my mind, this is the book’s greatest strength: Sebald uses the experiences of others to illustrate what he cannot directly define about himself. You might argue that this is a cheap trick but I would argue that by connecting his own demons to big and small figures from history and from differing cultures Sebald is making his book accessible universally.

I read this book from a suggestion that I should read more widely and I don’t think I could have picked a better book to encourage me in this fashion! Certainly, it does expand your scope on how you can present a memoir or biography and how flexible travel writing can be. Travel writing is something that I have only recently been exposed to and tied my hand at writing. But after reading this really I do want to explore it more; especially now that I see how intricately and beautifully it can link to life writing.

Will I ever want to read the book again? Hell, yes! From this first time reading it, I feel as though I have cheated the book somewhat and I know there is stuff which I’ve completely over looked (probably because I read the majority of it on a number of very cramped and noisy bus journeys). The Rings of Saturn really is one of those books that you have to devote your intellect entirely to in order to fully articulate its contents. But this quality also ensures that it is one of those books that you can keep coming back to. Like Star Maker, The Rings of Saturn is one of those very rare books with such incredible scope and breadth of subject matter that it is astonishing and inspiring to think that it was written by a single author!

Where will it all stop - Pre-production Meeting #2

This summary post was originally written for a practical exercise undertaken in the Planning and Making a Film module I undertook in the penultimate year of my BA (Hons). The module's practice was undertaken between October 2011 to June 2012 and it provided me with a hugely enriching experience. For a more detailed overview of the module and the projects I undertook as a part of it, see Planning and Making a Film: The student filmmaking experience.


07/11/2011

For this meeting my group: Emily, Jenny, Sally and myself met up with the other group: Tom Sanne, Danny and Flo.

As this meeting was taking place in our module seminar Mike (our tutor) chaired the meeting (from his point of view it was our first meeting but from ours it was our second).
j
We had our filming dates confirmed as being the 19th and 20th of November!

The progress of casting was discussed and Jenny informed us that she had received sixteen replies over email, but as yet had heard nothing concerning an actor for the role of chuck. As in first meeting, we discussed the possibility of using a stand in and filming it so we don’t see Chuck’s face. Mike agreed that this would be a good plan B. He also emphasised the fact that we should think about getting plan B’s in as many areas as the film as possible!

For locations for the second half of the script, Flo said that they could use her bedroom and Sanne said they could use her kitchen. Mike, however, pointed out that they would still need to get the written consent of their housemates and landlords/landladies.  

Me and Tom, who is cinematographer for the other group, spoke about the possibility of using lighting. While we agreed it might be pushing the boat out a bit too far in the time we have it could still be a good skill to be trained for, so we’ll be meeting up on Wednesday the 16^th November for that.

Ultimately, because each group will be producing their own final cut (albeit, borrowing footage for the half they didn’t shoot) Mike said that we could make our own alternate ending. From the selection that the module group had supplied it looks as though my group will be going with the ‘Joe taking Chuck’s place ending,’ which was an ending that quite a few people came up with; including myself. However, Mike said we are also free to come up with one not in the selection, so this decision could still change.

After the meeting my group went and looked at the pub location, The Royal Oak. While there we met the manager and got his verbal and written permission that we could use the pub. We also took this opportunity to plan out what parts of the pub we will be using. 

Although some will be missing from both groups some of us will be meeting up on Wednesday 8^th November for auditions and rehearsals. But we are still on the lookout for Chuck!


Next: Where will it all stop - Auditions

Being Workshopped

Being a reflection on what I have learnt from the workshopping process (at undergraduate level, so far).

Is it really a terror? Well, yes, and certainly if it is approached in the wrong way. Never mind having work critiqued, the first time that an aspiring writer participates in a writers’ workshop is potentially the first time they have shown their work to another living being! You also get aspiring writers' who have had friends and family look at their work who have then given it the thumbs-up purely through loyalty. This positive feedback and confidence is then swiftly crushed when their work is critiqued properly.

Distance yourself.

This is easier said than done, but it is the first and most crucial point to surviving the workshopping process. Workshopping allows a writer to test drive their work on an audience; from this they can see what works, what doesn’t work and what needs to be improved. Like all artists, a writer can become too attached to their work and there is the potential that they can take negative comments quite personally. The problem then is that they will become stubborn, won’t change their work and ultimately their work won’t improve.

This is why, if you are an aspiring writer, you need to establish a distance between yourself and your work. By this I don’t mean you have to completely disown your work when it comes to being critiqued, but rather that you accept your work as being only an expression or opinion of yourself and not you entirely.

The way that I go about distancing myself is by focusing on the gap between actually writing the piece and workshopping it. Therefore, the piece I have submitted is an expression of me but the me as I was when I was actually writing it. Between writing it and workshopping I would have changed physically and mentally; maybe not much, but certainly enough for me to justify a distance between myself and my work. 

A way to further refine this technique is to submit a piece of life writing: something that really is directly about yourself. The more painful and personal the piece - the better, because if you can survive a critique of that you’ll be set for anything!

Take notes. 

After I have had a piece of work critiqued I am always handed back annotated copies. While these collectively will contain all the points that were raised I still like to write down my own notes during the workshop session. Doing this makes it quicker to collect together all the key points before hand, opposed to pillaging through all the annotated copies later. Writing notes is also a good technique for distancing yourself, because being bent over and scribbling on a notepad is much more indirect than just sitting across from someone who is directly talking to you and pulling apart your work!  

Act upon the comments. 

I always try to rewrite my piece as soon as possible, changing any errors and making any suggested improvements. As I believe it’ll be less effective weeks or months down the line; you won’t remember half the points raised and you won’t want to go through all the annotated copies. But if do leave it to some later time this is where taking your own notes comes in handy.

Ask questions. 

This is not essential but certainly useful if there are still some nagging points in your mind. You might as well take advantage of an audience why you have it.

Be polite and level-headed.

A member of your workshop group may not be particularly enthusiastic about your piece, but that is no reason to bite their head off! They may not like it just because you have written a poem and they are not altogether keen on poems. Also, some people may struggle to get their views across, so in this case be patient or just give them a hand. Finally, at the end of a person’s contribution say thank you, even if you don’t agree with them. If you show that you are courteous with any form of feedback then they won't be afraid to tell you what they really think in future - your work will benefit from this.

If you are an aspiring writer and are too pig headed to adapt to the process of workshopping then you probably shouldn’t be a writer, or at least a writer who expects to have an audience. But if you are willing to get to grips with workshopping and keep at it very quickly it will become much less painful and much more productive.

Being Workshopped

Being a reflection on what I have learnt from the workshopping process (at undergraduate level, so far).

Is it really a terror? Well, yes, and certainly if it is approached in the wrong way. Never mind having work critiqued, the first time that an aspiring writer participates in a writers’ workshop is potentially the first time they have shown their work to another living being! You also get aspiring writers' who have had friends and family look at their work who have then given it the thumbs-up purely through loyalty. This positive feedback and confidence is then swiftly crushed when their work is critiqued properly.

Distance yourself.

This is easier said than done, but it is the first and most crucial point to surviving the workshopping process. Workshopping allows a writer to test drive their work on an audience; from this they can see what works, what doesn’t work and what needs to be improved. Like all artists, a writer can become too attached to their work and there is the potential that they can take negative comments quite personally. The problem then is that they will become stubborn, won’t change their work and ultimately their work won’t improve.

This is why, if you are an aspiring writer, you need to establish a distance between yourself and your work. By this I don’t mean you have to completely disown your work when it comes to being critiqued, but rather that you accept your work as being only an expression or opinion of yourself and not you entirely.

The way that I go about distancing myself is by focusing on the gap between actually writing the piece and workshopping it. Therefore, the piece I have submitted is an expression of me but the me as I was when I was actually writing it. Between writing it and workshopping I would have changed physically and mentally; maybe not much, but certainly enough for me to justify a distance between myself and my work. 

A way to further refine this technique is to submit a piece of life writing: something that really is directly about yourself. The more painful and personal the piece - the better, because if you can survive a critique of that you’ll be set for anything!

Take notes. 

After I have had a piece of work critiqued I am always handed back annotated copies. While these collectively will contain all the points that were raised I still like to write down my own notes during the workshop session. Doing this makes it quicker to collect together all the key points before hand, opposed to pillaging through all the annotated copies later. Writing notes is also a good technique for distancing yourself, because being bent over and scribbling on a notepad is much more indirect than just sitting across from someone who is directly talking to you and pulling apart your work!  

Act upon the comments. 

I always try to rewrite my piece as soon as possible, changing any errors and making any suggested improvements. As I believe it’ll be less effective weeks or months down the line; you won’t remember half the points raised and you won’t want to go through all the annotated copies. But if do leave it to some later time this is where taking your own notes comes in handy.

Ask questions. 

This is not essential but certainly useful if there are still some nagging points in your mind. You might as well take advantage of an audience why you have it.

Be polite and level-headed.

A member of your workshop group may not be particularly enthusiastic about your piece, but that is no reason to bite their head off! They may not like it just because you have written a poem and they are not altogether keen on poems. Also, some people may struggle to get their views across, so in this case be patient or just give them a hand. Finally, at the end of a person’s contribution say thank you, even if you don’t agree with them. If you show that you are courteous with any form of feedback then they won't be afraid to tell you what they really think in future - your work will benefit from this.

If you are an aspiring writer and are too pig headed to adapt to the process of workshopping then you probably shouldn’t be a writer, or at least a writer who expects to have an audience. But if you are willing to get to grips with workshopping and keep at it very quickly it will become much less painful and much more productive.

Where will it all stop - Pre-production Meeting #1

This summary post was originally written for a practical exercise undertaken in the Planning and Making a Film module I undertook in the penultimate year of my BA (Hons). The module's practice was undertaken between October 2011 to June 2012 and it provided me with a hugely enriching experience. For a more detailed overview of the module and the projects I undertook as a part of it, see Planning and Making a Film: The student filmmaking experience.

Where will it all stop is a nine page script that we have to make as a practice short film in preparation for another short film, which will form the basis of our assessment. However, we only have to make one half of the script with the other half being made by another group; the other group consists of Tom, Flo, Danny and Sanne.

02/11/2011

For this meeting Emily, Jenny and myself met up with Tom and Sanne from the other group.

The agenda for the meeting:

1) Production Roles

2) What half of the script each group is going to make.

3) Casting

4) Locations

The production roles (for my group) are thus:

Director / Co-Producer – Jenny

Production Manager / Co-Producer / Art Department – Sally

Director of Photography – Me

Sound / Lead Editor – Emily

Previously, Sally had already stated that she wanted to be the production manager and we were all happy to let her have that role. Jenny said that she was quite keen to direct, but said she was happy to flip a coin with myself since I had directed our version of The Eager Student. I declined, though, explaining that I was keen to get to grips with one of the other roles. Emily said she fancied doing sound because it also meant she could be lead editor and this was something she had enjoyed doing on The Eager Student. Therefore, I took the role of Director of Photography, which I am more than happy with.

I’m not quite sure what the other group are doing in terms of production roles as they plan to share them. Personally I don’t know how successful this will be; I think it is something that doesn’t really impede on my group and shouldn’t be something that we should worry too much about.

Deciding what part of the script each group was going to make was simple – we flipped a coin. The other group would make the second half and my group would make the first half.

We all agreed that getting casting sorted out had to be our priority, and we decided on a deadline of November the 9^th for auditions and rehearsals. After the meeting Jenny and myself went and put posters up all over campus. However, we also have to find an older man for the very pivotal role of Chuck; for this we are contacting amateur dramatic societies. With the role of Chuck we also discussed the possibility of using a stand in and not having to actually see his face. But I thought this idea would be even harder to achieve than actually finding an older actor!

In terms of locations we needed only two: a pub for the first half of the script and a house for the second half. However, Sally had already spoken to the manager of a local pub The Royal Oak, and he is quite happy for us to use it. The location of the house can easily be filled by using one of our own. 

Finally, we set ourselves a series of rough deadlines to achieve by the following week. These included casting and rehearsing on Wednesday, getting the release form signed for the pub on Monday and to start familiarising ourselves with the equipment that we would be using. Before we departed we agreed that we would all meet up on the following Monday, and hopefully everyone will be present!


Next: Where will it all stop - Pre-production Meeting #2

The Eager Student - Feedback

This reflection post was originally written for a practical exercise undertaken in the Planning and Making a Film module I undertook in the penultimate year of my BA (Hons). The module's practice was undertaken between October 2011 to June 2012 and it provided me with a hugely enriching experience. For a more detailed overview of the module and the projects I undertook as a part of it, see Planning and Making a Film: The student filmmaking experience.

As a class we sat down and looked at all the versions of The Eager Student that had been produced; the other versions can be seen here. As we did this we discussed what we liked, what we didn’t like, what could be improved and what to avoid when making Where will it all stop.

The feedback we received on our version of The Eager Student wasn’t as bad as I was expecting. Some of the things that were criticised are as follows:

• How I had Sally (the eager student) come in and switch on the light, and then switch it off again when she left. Many people saw this as unbelievable and not what they would do.
• Another thing, something that a few of the other groups had done, was how we included the eager student leaving, which wasn’t in the script, and which Mike (our tutor) pointed out as being an unnecessary piece of action.
• A couple of people cited our use of a handheld POV shot as sticking out too much from the other smooth and non-handheld shots.

One compliment we received from Mike was how the cut in the middle of our POV Pan was symbolic of a blink. This was not the case at all; we cut it purely to reduce the length of the shot (as speeding it up stuck out like a sore thumb).

My notes from the session

Below I have outlined the key points which I extracted from the session and which will need to be considered when making Where will it all stop.

Establishing the Character(s)

One of the concerns that Mike kept bringing up was how the character of the eager student hadn’t been properly established. It is all very well establishing the situation, i.e. that a student comes into a class room and realises she has arrived at the wrong time, but if the filmmaker doesn’t allow the audience time and opportunity to connect with the character, i.e. with a close up fairly early on, then why should the spectator care about the student in this situation. Furthermore, why should the spectator care about the film?

Finding a way to establish and enable the audience to connect with the main character(s), right from the start, will be crucial in making the spectator want to keep watching When will it all stop.

Cutting on Movement   

The idea of trying to disguise a cut is made all the easier if the spectator is given other things to focus on, i.e. the action of the character in the shot. Cutting with the action also makes the visual narrative run smoother because it doesn’t feel like it is just stopping and starting. However, matching the action is key, because if the continuity doesn’t match up then the illusion will be destroyed.

The idea of using a ‘sound bridge’ was also suggested as means of smoothing a cut, i.e. allowing the sound from one shot to carry over into another.

Timing of Action

This is something I was aware of when editing our version of The Eager Student, with the opening and closing shots of scene 2. If you are going to hold with one shot then make sure you get the timing of your action spot on, because if it isn’t and the action unintentionally drags on you may not always have another shot (like us) to cut to.

So rehearsal will, absolutely, be essential in getting this right!

Continuity

Again, planning seems an obvious way of maintaining continuity but even then you can miss things (as we learned when editing our version). This is something that needs to be considered during both pre-production and production.

Balancing Light Sources

This was something that showed up in pretty much all the versions of The Eager Student. It was just a case where the light from the lights in the room wasn’t really balanced that well with the natural light coming through the window.

Believability

The switching on and off of the classroom lights in our version was cited as being unbelievable, because it was something that a lot of people couldn’t see themselves doing. When we were shooting it was something that I put in because I thought it would look more naturally and, personally, is something that I would do. However, while this criticism was being voiced it occurred to me that it was less important with what I can identify with and more important for it to be something that the majority of the audience can identify with. 

But this all said, none of the mistakes we made were as bad as the ones made in the short film Game Over, which Mike showed us and which can be viewed here.                    

With the conclusion of The Eager Student, this is where we move onto the next practical exercise of the module: Where will it all stop - Pre-production Meeting #1

The Eager Student - The Final Cut

This short practice film was originally made as a practical exercise undertaken in the Planning and Making a Film module I undertook in the penultimate year of my BA (Hons). The module's practice was undertaken between October 2011 to June 2012 and it provided me with a hugely enriching experience. For a more detailed overview of the module and the projects I undertook as a part of it, see Planning and Making a Film: The student filmmaking experience.

Together with the other versions of The Eager Student produced by the other groups of the module, our cut was screened as part of a shared feedback session: The Eager Student - Feedback