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POPPER - JANUARY

This month has been full steam ahead for Popper! Where we are currently:

Popper will be the title for the film! If it ain't broke...

Socials have been made, headshots taken, and ready to start crowdfunding asap.

Script in on draft 3, close to being locked in!

Dates almost secured for shooting.

Casting has had callbacks--ready for confirming soon.

We have a cinematographer! Jacob Gandy, who has a wonderful website filled with their work, I am very excited to work with them.

Writing

Drafting Popper has been a challenge, as the story really is developing and unfolding as I draft, which I'm not that used to--previously I've been very sure of a story as I write. My meetings with Kate have been incredibly helpful; her insights and ideas have really pushed the project in the right direction, and helped me properly explore the themes I wanted to but struggled to find.

Current Important Themes in Popper:

Mother/Daughter Relationship

Male Dominance

Patriarchy

Isolation

Misogyny

I have never written a surrealist script, so I have been reading scripts and exploring surrealist art to inform myself. I had been writing my dissertation about surrealism and the Czech New Wave, so sometimes research doubled over which was handy. Films like Alice (1988), Daisies (1966), Cat in the Hat (2003), have helped me visualise my project, which I feel I'm doing far too much of -- visualising. I have found myself drifting my focus from the story when I spend too long imagining the film.

I also reread some of Barbara Creed's 'The Monstrous Feminine', and tried applying it to Popper. I have a mother character in the script, Audre's Mother, and I'd like to incorporate one of Creed's archetypes of women in film, the Monstrous Mother. Also the idea of the castration is relevant in Popper-- as Audre is a non-conforming female character, and therefore a threat to the male doctors at the clinic she visits. Audre is a real threat to the men in Popper, though she doesn't feel like it, as they force her back into the conforming corner, she did have power and individuality. If her Mother had supported her daughter, then the two 'monstrous' women would be a powerful force against the misogynistic men.

Additionally, I am trying to find visual metaphors to include. I want to explore thee idea that women becomes nothing but a vessel for life once they are pregnant. I want Audre to feel so unseen by the characters around her, pushing her isolation and the surrealist elements to the short. I just need the right way to do this.

Casting

Niamh (the producer for Popper) and I put together documents for casting, collecting scenes for specific characters as well as writers notes on the characters. Niamh put this on Facebook and we had lots of people interested! We had over 20+ interests in Audre, a few for Mother, Doctor and Johnny. We asked for self tapes, and those we got we filtered through and had actors for callbacks. We also had our actors from the test shoot re-audition.

Callbacks were in person, and were very daunting for me, as it felt very professional, thanks to Niamh! I hadn't held such intense auditions before, it felt kind of awkward to sit before actors, who am I to turn people down? Alas, I am the director, so I am that person. We saw some great people, and I honestly feel spoilt for choice right now, which Niamh keeps reminding me is a great position to be in. We hope to confirm cast this week, as well as dates too.

more updates to come! :)

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POPPER [wt....I think] - Writing Pt.3

Popper has been a working title for tooooo long. Someone mentioned to me that it might be fun to have a long title, mainly because they didn't like short titles. And back in the day women had these little guides on how to do things right, like being pretty n stuff. So it might be a fun play on words for the film?

Lemme know if you have any other ideas!!

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POPPER [wt] - Writing Pt.3

Some documents from our proposal that concern writing or directing.

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POPPER [wt] - Writing Pt.2

I had a lot of ideas floating around in my head, luckily Kate helped me piece it all together.

Popper started with these separate pieces:

1950's inspired setting, emphasis on inspired

surrealist uncanny setting and characters

an uncomforming protagonist

a dream sequence including the protagonist in a dark room watching an educational video about pregnancy involving an old man

scary misogynistic pharmacists

emphasis on a failing mother/daughter relationship

a drug to be taken by an unsure protagonist, which she takes in the end

Throughout the process of trying to stick this all in a story together, some elements have been removed and some added.

Now I have settled on these ideas:

1950's inspired setting, because it's a fun aesthetic that can easily feel eerie and uneasy

surrealist setting and characters, because this will isolate my protagonist more and the audience is more likely to empathise with a character that seems so lost and unfamiliar with their surroundings

protagonist is now conforming at the beginning because she needed an arc, we need to see change, her character will feel flat without change

a surreal sequence, not dream, because the film itself it dreamlike

misogynistic and rude pharmacists, and a seemingly polite but mansplaining misogynistic doctor

mother/daughter relationship, because I want to the protagonist to be offered feminine escape from the masculine world she lives in, which ultimately fails as her mother is 'brainwashed' to be a conforming women.

Tesoteramide, is the drug that can make the protagonists unborn daughter beautiful, she is one of the first girls to take it, leading to the beginning of her questioning

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POPPER [wt] - Writing Pt.1

hello hello hello

I am writing and directing a grad film! so scary but as it turns out actually not so scary if you got a wonderful team and people who understand you!!

As you can see in my previous posts, the idea for the film centred around Thalidomide, which was a drug for pregnant ladies in the late 50s that caused a lot of birth defects and miscarriages. An overall horrible story. Once my writing tutorials began with Kate, we came to the conclusion that a film with surreal elements and dream sequences might be in bad taste, or simply a story that I don't feel I could do justice or tell effectively. So Thalidomide is no longer the focus of my film, though still something I draw inspiration for.

There's a new thing! Tesoteramide! It's Pretty Easy! **This one-n-done pill will guarantee your daughter will pop outta you, and grow to be beautiful**

Grow to be beautiful you ask? What even defines beauty you ask? MEN. It's men, it's always men. You aren't living up to the unattainable beauty standards set by men? YOU FOOOOOLLL!! Good thing there's a pill that can ensure your daughter will be gorj! Take that stress away from her so she has more time to cook you dinner! Not to be taken if you're pregnant with a boy, that sweet little sweaty incel doesn't need a pill to be pretty, don't be silly! Side effects may include seizures, intense heart burn, hair loss, nail damage, possible eyeball bursting, leaky nipples, itchy toes, purple tongue, hairy teeth etc.

Ahhhh! It's a commentary ladies and gentleman, buckle in for another napier feminist piece...

Jokes aside, this film means a lot to me. As a women who relies on the medical industry {eczema whoop whoop} and has felt mistreated most of the time, this is a story I want to tell. I know so many girls who have had terrible experiences with getting the morning after pill, being faced with rude people who have no empathy whatsoever. Additionally, our birth control, is the same one they have been giving out for YEARS. A little pink packet of seemingly harmless and helpful pills comes with an abundance of side effects. Tis' a big fat shame and I wanna make a film about it.

Following this will be all my writing documents and tutorial notes with Kate.

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Thalidomide listened in the UK under the name Distaval.

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research for directing, maybe, who knows, could happen, could not

I want to direct! Maybe.... I think? I have been sitting on an idea for a while. For a few projects I have written the script then not directed the project, which was lots of fun, but I think I'd like to give writing/directing a go? I will have to push myself, and I feel I've learnt a lot from watching Mr McMorran direct this term, and if I'm ever feeling stuck or lost in the project, a sit down with him would probably get me going again!

The idea is based around the Thalidomide scandal throughout the 50's and 60's. So some background, the drug was originally a tranquilliser and later marketed as a medication for anxiety, tension, sleeping troubles and morning sickness. It was a drug introduced to pregnant women without actually being tested on pregnant women... really fucking stupid basically. Also after some research the original drug used for tranquillising purposes was made by Nazi war criminals! Fun! Anyway, there was around 10,000 - 20,000 people affected by the consumption of drug. Roughly 40% of babies died during or after birth. The babies that survived had limb, eye, urinary tract and heart defects.

My dads auntie was actually pregnant during the 60s and was given the drug. Her son was born without feet. He is still alive, my dads cousin, so I thought I could talk to him and ask him about it.

I'd like to write and direct a story following a mother who is given the drug during her pregnancy. I'd like to set it in the UK during the 50s/60s, so extensive research would have to take place for production design. After taking Dreams and Visions this term, I'd love to delve into the oneiric and how a characters psyche is presented through dreamscape, maybe some cool dream sequences?

Obviously I have some visual ideas and scenes in my head already, however I'm not clinging to anything yet. But I'll explain for the sake of understanding my 'vision' more...

(this is how I've felt trying to explain the idea to people so far)

I picture this scene where the female protagonist walks into a pharmacy, which is very sickly looking, lots of greens and cream, Cat in the Hat vibes. She walks up to the desk to pick up her thalidomide medication, the desk is very tall and she must look up to the man working there. She somehow questions the medication she is about to take and every worker (all straight white male) just turns and looks at her, creepy eerie vibes. I'd also like her to unfold the leaflet in the packet which just seems to unfold for ages, similar to the leaflet girls are given these days for birth control, which is always filled with horrible side effects.

The lovely and incredible Eva ( @passiveagressiveukulele ) also took a liking to my idea! She put together a mood board of films that I should watch that might help me visualise my film. If the project goes forward, fingers crossed I have some Magdić Govedarica cinematography!

I've looked into the UK in the 50s/60s:

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LONGBOARD NIGHTS PT.5 [MARCH]

ALL THINGS HUSK

The journey from visualising to creating the Husk was very up and down. I had early meetings with Ben to discuss his vision and what was possible. Ben wrote a summary about the Husks:

"Husks are twitching, humanoid creatures that can be recognised by a large metal plate across their face with a serial code on the top right and two holes for their eyes that can be closed remotely. Multiple liquids come with a Husk. Commonly, you will find large amounts of blood that is either still coming out of them or has dried depending on the work of the “Angel.” Additionally, Puss has been said to leak out of their eye slots due to the salt of their tears getting mixed up with their infected skin soldered to the metal. Rust can commonly be seen at the eye slots as the subject's tears have rusted the metal."

So, working from this, we looked on Pinterest for some inspiration. These were some initial ideas:

I was starting to understand the direction to go in, however the practicalities of what I could make where standing in the way. I don't typically work with metal! I started looking for ways to create a metal mask without using metal.

I found this on instagram:

This guy creates cool robotic looking characters and sci-fi weapons from scratch. In this post, he created a metal mask type thing out of plastic. He then spray painted with metallic paint and used a hot glue gun to create welds around the mask, making it look real. These ideas where really helpful.

I looked at more metal ideas, something that would be easier to make. I found something that might work:

Something more scrappy looking, thrown together. I knew I could do the welding with a hot glue gun, and could make pieces that looked welded and screwed into the skin.

I had now recruited Juno from 4th year as my art assistant. Since, I had been their assistant on grad films, they said they'd do the same for me! Juno recommended I work with EVA foam, and paint that to look like metal. So that was the plan! I made some sketches:

Myself and Juno spent a day creating 2 masks, one for the Husk and one for Alex's dad in the flashback. We cut lots of sharp looking fragments from the EVA foam and stuck it to some safety helmets with spray glue, overlapping and building them.

We sprayed them with metallic spray paint and then shaded black and bronze metallic paint. I had these little pins I used over the mask to look like it would be screwed into someones head. Then I used a hot glue gun to create the welding, then painted over it with silver metallic paint.

I added a bunch of blood, and pulled hair through the holes in the mask. Ripped shirts worn and also dripped blood onto them.

I'm happy with the result! It was never going to look amazing, I knew that, but I put in the effort and it payed off. I loved being creative and trying to think of creative solutions to things!

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LONGBOARD NIGHTS PT.4 [MARCH]

ALL THINGS ALEX AND CASCA

The month of March felt like Longboard Nights was starting to swing! I have lots to share for each section/character for the film, so I'll do it in different posts, this one being Alex and Casca.

The script was closing in on finishing so I could properly start to think about costume/set design/sfx/props and everything else. I started collecting images for inspiration and adding them to the big fat shared google drive Ben had set up. Everything and anything Longboard Nights was to be found on the drive. Ben's most repeated phrase the whole process - "Did you check the drive?", after being constantly asked questions hehe. Anyway, here are some of my inspiration photos, mostly taken from Arcane or any cool futuristic/cyberpunk/steampunk animation, and then the process:

COSTUME

Originally, I had wanted to give them individual outfits, with touches of each character, like sewing and care vs scruffy and uncared for (Casca vs Alex). However, Ben mentioned how cool it would be to have boiler suits, like uniform for the job! Which I thought was very cool. By this point I had Cara from 2nd year on my team, helping me gather what I needed, and she had some leftover boiler suits from halloween costumes, which were perfect. Here are out actresses in the boiler suits:

Left - Eva/Casca Right - Claire/Alex

After the actresses tried on the suits, I started working on customisation. I wanted to tighten them both around the waist so they looked more cool action fighting girlie and not Super Mario Bros/Ghostbusters. Casca was a more organised and caring character, so I wanted to put in some patchwork to indicate she carefully repares her uniform after damage. Whereas Alex is the opposite, she has holes and marks all over her uniform and doesn't care to put in the effort to fix them. I wanted them to both wear black boots, which they both had so that was easy.

These are the only photos I can find of the full completed boiler suits... which is so annoying because the detail was there you just can't see it that well and Eva is covered in blood after filming the final scene... >:(!!

So, for Casca's (pic on the left) costume, I had this old patchwork top with different colours. I cut up the patches and sewed a couple to a boiler suit. Then I bought some frilly lace material and sewed it around the neck of the suit, like Casca had put in her own touches to her uniform hat was just repairing but also yassifying, if you will. For Alex's (pic on the right) costume, I ripped a bunch of wholes and cut slashes into the suit. For bigger cuts, I used safety pins to clumsily keep there fabric together, hence Alex's carelessness. I also drew a skull and cross bones on one of the pockets, I like to think that Casca tried to have an 'artsy' night with Alex, and Alex couldn't be bothered so just quickly drew a skull and cross bones while Casca spent a few hours sewing. They both also have the 'HuskHunters' logo on the top right, which my mum helped me design and print in vinyl, as she is a graphic designer:

The logo was also used on the projected news report and the app. I stuck them on with some strong glue adhesive spray I had, which was a lifesaver for many things on set. I will now never be on set without it, you never know what you have to make sticky...

2. BLOODY HAIR

I had originally planned on plaiting Casca's hair and having little plaits in Alex's hair, to indicate that Casca is a big part of Alex's life, and since I'm only doing lil production design stuff, I thought I could try show that through the hair!

However... I had big plans for using Casca's hair to hide certain things, and plaits wouldn't work so I went with this fun bubble plait type thing instead, which is cute and able to hide certain things!

So, the mentioned certain things I speak of... syringe and tube! I wanted to have Casca bleed on camera during our long take in the bathroom. However, I'd have to do it from a distance. I bought what I needed from eBay with our silly ole budget; syringe, tube, 11oz Mehron fake blood and got practicing on Eva as soon as possible. Here's how it went:

The tube ran from right at the top of her hairline by her forehead, through the plait and about half a metre to my syringe. I was pretty pleased with myself :)

3. SFX MAKEUP

TW: SCARRING!!

Maybe giving a trigger warning is too confident in my scarring skills...?

I had a meeting with Daisy Blue, who I met whilst helping on a grad shoot this year, she was makeup department. She practices sfx makeup in her spare time, so I figured she'd be great help to me. She recommended I buy scarring liquid if I want to make real looking scars, so I did and she was right! I did a patch test on my lovely assistant Tom, then when I knew he wouldn't react badly I practiced making the scars on his arms. I also used a bruise wheel that Daisy had recommended I buy, which also worked wonders. To ensure the liquid works properly, I realised you had to stretch the skin first and let it dry before you relax the covered area. Luckily, our lovely actress Claire was comfortable with us stretching her skin with our grubby lil art department hands covered in paint and glue!

The idea is that Alex was attacked by her father the night he was turned into the Husk. Physical AND emotional damage, a whole bunch on damage.

I also gave Claire some additional bruising on her knuckles and arms with the bruise wheel.

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LONGBOARD NIGHTS PT.3 [FEBRUARY]

RECCE

In February, the Longboard Nights team travelled up to Inverness for the day to complete a recce. The bus was quite a few hours so I had time to plan out everything I needed; size of rooms, lights and whatever props/furniture Ben had that I could use. We checked plug sockets for lighting and noises from electronics/lighting for sound.

The Garage:

When we got there we checked out the garage first. This would be Alex's room - the garage from her childhood home that she lives in because she cannot face to live in her house after her father's death. There was a lot of stuff that there had to be moved out. However, stuff like washing machines, microwaves and tools where helpful for my set design, as it would indicate it is lived in, everything she needs in the one room. Plus there was hooks in the roof which could be used to hang up our punching bag - which Ben also had! So all in all, perfect room for the film!

2. The Flashback Room:

Next we looked at the room for the flashback scene. This was Alex's old childhood home, where she lived with her Dad before the Hollow Night in which he was turned to a Husk. The room already had furniture that could be used. With a warm colour palette already present, indicating this was Alex's happy place, or used to be. There was windows that Alex could black out. The flashback was planned to all be a POV shot from Alex's perspective of her father carrying her and putting her in the cupboard when he notices there is about to be an attack. However, the room did not have a cupboard. So, from the recce, my plan was to create cupboard doors out of cardboard that Alex (cinematographer not character) could film through. Other than adding some homely touches, like plants and mugs, the room was pretty much set!

3. Bathroom Scene

This is the scene where Casca and Alex hide from the Husk. I didn't have many needs for the bathroom, other than somewhere I could hide out of frame to push the blood through the tube for Casca's blood (more explanation to come in next post!)

4. Husk Home Option 1

This was the first option we looked at for the Husk's Home. It had to be spacious as it would be where our fight scene would take place, so to ensure safety of actors and team, plenty space needed! I liked this room however Alex and Casca must run through a door to the 'bathroom' and there was only one door right at the end of the hall, so for camera and sound, it would be a difficult space to work around.

5. Husk Home Option 2

The second option felt a lot better for the film. It had enough space, it was ground level so Alex could light through the windows, there was a small entrance to the room that would be perfect for Alex and Casca to quietly enter through before coming into a larger room. There was furniture that we could work with for action, with Alex needing to use a couch to jump off onto the Husks back. I planned to flip the table and indicate chaos and danger!!!

Upside-down table = very bad...

6. Hallway

This would be our flat building hallway outside the Husks Home. Once again, there was lots to be moved out. However, the end of the hallway had 3 doors almost perfectly placed for me, as I could stick door numbers on them to look like flat doors.

Overall, the recce went well and excited everyone for the shoot. We had a safe and confined space we could film in, be loud and work in for our chosen hours. Plus there'd be no travelling to set, which is always fun.

7. Cat

There was a cat at the recce, his name was Cheddar, and he was very polite! I do believe, however, that his name should be Garfield.

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LONGBOARD NIGHTS PT.2 [JANUARY]

"A self-doubting Husk hunter has to face their trauma when the partner they rely on is injured during an infected house breaching"

(original logline that has now change a lil)

I have been working on the script for Longboard Nights for around a month now, maybe a little more. It has definitely been more of a challenge that I'd thought it would be, considering I had already written a 10 page screenplay on LN (Longboard Nights) in Film Production Management a while back, though the ideas are more developed and different now.

I firstly want to mention, before I get into the nitty gritty of writing, that Ben McMorran is a pleasure to work with, I haven't felt such positivity from a director ever! I have never been called King so many times, I love it. He really has a vision for this project, I actually call it his baby sometimes, he nurtures it like a real human baby that needs like food and water and burping (this makes no sense but needed a strong simile to really get the idea across). In addition to Mr Mcmorran, Jack and Beth are producing LN, I have complete faith putting this tough challenge in their hands. Alex is cinematographer and I've already head some of the plans for the visual style of the film, which all sound so experimental and prettttyyyyyy!

Anyways, writing has been a journey. I definitely should have started writing long before I did, I think Ben hinted at starting before Christmas but silly ole me wanted to completely forget about uni until term started again. But got my finger out eventually.

I started with some meetings with Ben about world-building, because I was finding myself lost when trying to begin writing, I didn't have a full understanding of the world. He eventually put together a book on The World of Longboard Nights, so helpful! I have usually had this open whilst writing. Ben also put together things I could watch and read for inspirations, like Arcane and the 4-6 minute shorts the same creators make, which were great because they dealt with character arcs well in such short time, without any story feeling too rushed or sparse. I eventually got Draft 1 finished.

I also sent Draft 1 to Kate to get feedback in writing class, which I've really been enjoying. Kate proposed the, at first, horrific idea to completely change the dynamics of the characters, this meant changing a lot of dialogue and general action in the script. We talked it through and she was definitely right with the idea. To break it down a little... Alex (she/her, protagonist) is an unconfident character, who thinks she needs to fight a Husk to overcome her trauma. Casca (they/them) is a confident and skilled Husk Hunter, who finally brings Alex along on a job after her asking for so long. So, what Kate proposed was switching the character traits, and having Alex more confident and a regular Husk Hunter, and Casca is less into the job and more shy. This means when we have Alex's arc after she freezes up and fails to fight the Husk, resulting in Casca getting injured, it's more surprising and a stronger moment, as we didn't expect her to freeze and she is so confident and trained in combat. Ben was also happy with this change.

Anyways I am a few drafts down now, and will have the final draft completed by Saturday 11th (Bob Marleys birthday). I will do a separate post and more in-depth post about the writing process in terms of story and characters, this is just a vague update :)

I am also doing production design for this project, which I am SO EXCITED to begin planning, I have so many ideas!!!!

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LONGBOARD NIGHTS PT.1 [DECEMBER]

PROOF OF CONCEPT

I wasn't entirely present for this production, as I was rushing a last minute essay hehe, but wanted to make a lil post about it, mainly for nice continuity on the Tumblr.

Ben had planned action for some Husk vs Hunter fightin, including some hardcore hacking and leg breaking. Which sound very difficult to pull off, but alas, with some hyper-editing and socks down a trouser leg, he really did pull it off.

Ben played a blood covered (jam covered) Husk and Tom Spurin was our Hunter. This is obviously just proof of concept so the production design will look different on the final thing, we have big metal plans for the Husks.

Cara stuffed one of Bens trouser legs with socks and a stick of celery, for that snnnapppppp of the bone. We weren't filming sound for this, but in the real thing the snap will be heard :)

Seeing the result for this made me so excited to get started on the real thing.

THE PROCESS HAS BEEN FUN AND THERE'S NO REASON THE INDUSTRY SHOUDN'T BE TOO.

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documentary reflection 

pre-production

This project went in a few different directions throughout, we started with the idea to make a doc about poetry night at Bennetts bar. I was excited about this idea as it's a lovely and welcoming space, however we should have realised this wouldn't have been possible, as sticking a camera in peoples faces would make it less of a safe and vulnerable space... but, when we changed our doc to make it about Neave, I was suddenly much more invested. I really wanted to make something that shows how much fun they are, and how great their poetry is!!

We began by calling neave to ask if we could make a documentary about them, which we recorded. In the audio they squealed and said yes. I had planned early on to use the audio in the documentary, which I had for a while, but ended up cutting as it worked better without.

The plan was to make the documentary quite experimental and fun, to compliment Neave as a person. This would mean all roles had chances to be creative and experiment!

We decided we would film on the Blackmagic and also Alex's camcorder. As mixed media added to the experimental objective.

I tried to start thinking about the editing early on, so I had an idea of the style I wanted to go for, and something that Jenny would approve. I took inspiration from 'Daj mi sunca / Let the sunshine in' by Eva and 'Portrait of a Drag King' by Katie and Natalia. I really like the editing in both, the pacing and overlaying specifically.

production

We set out filming strictly Neave, but there was so much back and forth with us behind the camera, that observational became more likely. Filming was lots of fun, it didn't really feel like work (well, sometimes it did, gotta stay grounded!). Our talking head interview had masses of information, as Neave could talk for Scotland. In hindsight, I'm glad we had so much interview because the focus changed a few times and if we hadn't had so much coverage of life, we wouldn't have been able to. On the first day of shooting, we did interviews, a room tour, looking through old baby pictures and just some camera practice really. This was a solid start and gave us an idea of what we'd be filming and what Neave would be like as our subject. Day 2, I suggested bringing a projector and playing around with that, as we wanted to make the documentary experimental and artsy. This worked really well and we filmed some stuff that became quite meaningful points in the final edit.

The meeting with Leo and others throughout the term were really helpful, and helped us regain sight of the doc's themes and flow if we felt we had lost them.

post-production

I definitely should have started the edit earlier. I was too focused on film craft at the time, but an earlier start would have saved me a lot of stress.

I have realised I hyper-focus on specific sections when editing. I think I want to produce something close to a picture lock every time I sit down to edit, which I'm aware is so unrealistic, but it's hard to make a rough cut without constantly saying "oh this will be different" or "this will be better". It's hard to be proud!!!

Jenny made a big fat paper edit for me which was incredibly helpful. Not to be her biggest fan but she was a great director and a great leader to follow. So, with the paper edit I managed to lay out all the interview we wanted to use. Then it was a case of filling the gaps and connecting interviews.

We had a lot of footage, but a lot of it was similar. It was either interview, projector stuff, Neave just chilling in the living room or a room tour. I loved the footage but I did find it hard making the documentary flow whilst I kept reusing similar footage. But Alex did go out and film on the camcorder which ended up being a really good part of the doc.

I'm gonna say it - nobody can stop me - Avid sucks! It's so limiting when you want to be creative (or I'm just not that good at using it and I'm a fraud?!). When I needed to be more fun with the edit, I just kept finding myself overlaying and feathering edges (I'm sorry Jenny, I know you hated them dahm edges...), which didn't help with the samey footage, using samey editing. Bethany worked on the middle 'Baby Tea' section in After Effects which made the editing look more impressive.

Overall, possible imposter syndrome with editing now? Although I do think documentary editing is a lot harder than fiction editing, so will maybe give myself a break.

reflection

The crit was very scary, especially since everyone else did such a good job!! The feedback all made sense. Demelza said we could have done with more footage that related to what Neave spoke about in their poems. This would have made it more engaging and I agree. She also said the doc was neither too grungy or not grungy enough, it was an awkward in between, this is because of the cam corder footage, which turned out wayyyy more grey and bad quality than we have expected. Leo also didn't like the animation which also makes sense, it was a rushed last minute thing to make static interviews more creative. But they flopped and we should have just left it.

For any future edits I work on, I'll have a discussion with the director about what they want for the edit but also go in with my own notes. Because I would kinda work on my own stuff alongside director notes with the edit without properly checking with Jenny that it worked and was what she wanted. I'll obviously start editing earlier and give myself enough time. And also maybe plan the effects I want to use and not just the timeline.

Overall, had fun and like our film. So that's a win!

Peace out third year, won't miss you :) x

Here is a link to the song that Neave sings beautifully at the end of the doc:

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cinehaiku reflection

group reflection

I came up with the vampire idea almost instantly for this module. Possibly due to the fact I watched 'What We Do in the Shadows' the night before the introduction to cinehaiku...

I had already planned on working with Jenny and Beth, so I knew we would be organised with the almighty producer that is Beth Lindsay, and the sound would be spooky AND funny with the Jenny Morrison touch. We were also blessed with Jack Birrell, who managed to collect some great props, which was an absolute must for this project or the comedy would be shabby and unfunny. It was definitely the most stress-free set I've ever been on, which was a nice relaxant before the agonising shoots upcoming in third year. It worked so well as everyone was confident in their roles and put maximum effort in! The vision was there and it was pulled off (I like to think!).

pre-production

I had storyboarded the shots, and was worried about pulling off the stylised shots I had planned. Mainly because of my lack of experience in that style, but I am proud of how it looked. I think this is one of the first times the end product really matched the ideas I had in my head.

The day before our shoot, myself and Jenny test all our equipment and tried setting up shots and played with lighting so we would be fully prepped for the real shoot. I hadn't realised at the time how little I knew about the BlackMagic cameras and lighting in general... kinda embarrassing but after some YouTube and help from Rowen, we got there!!

on set

The shoot went smoothly. Our actor, David, was so much fun to work with! He was keen from the beginning and brought ideas to the set, so if anyone needs someone his age, I recommend!

Jack whipped up some fake blood; cranberry juice and food colouring I believe? He also spent a while filing some nails down and staining with blood, which really helped sell this realness to our vampire set. We wanted a modern alarm clock to help with the 'deadpan' comedy, which I think worked well: a centuries old vampire with a silly little plastic alarm clock... FUNNY. Jack also covered his hands in fake blood to get a hand print on the clock, dedication!!

Zoe said the production design would have to be to be high quality, so Jack did a great job.

post-production

We filmed more than 3 shots, so that we had options if our original 3 didn't work well together. It took me a while to figure out timing and order, as when shooting we had a 10s/10s/10s sequence in mind, but we wanted more time spent with the middle shot (it was very pretty and 10 seconds just wasn't doing it justice!!). We landed on 8s/14s/8s, which worked well, as we had this time with the middle shot but the first and last didn't feel too fleeting. It was interesting editing, as depending on how length of shots and placements, I could make 30 seconds feel like a long time, or fleeting. I did learn a lot about editing for this project, timing is everything!! I thought about a cut to black in-between shots, as they were so different it felt jarring, but it turned out to be a case of staring at the same 3 shots for too long. Which I suppose I have to get used to if I want to specialise in editing.

When planning the edit before shooting, I really had sound in mind, as it would be difficult to acquire a coffin, the use of sound would play an important role in making our vampire believable. Jenny did a great job with sound. I had faith from the beginning, she added sounds that I hadn't thought of which really raised the effect of the film. I don't have much reflection on the sound as I know so little on the process. But I am happy with the final product!

When it came to the colour grade, I was a little nervous. I don't know much on the theory behind it, nor how to use DaVinci resolve. I was winging it at the start, but Alex Caldow and Samuel Duñer gave me a little tutorial and now I actually understand the process! The nodes ARE important and actually very useful. It was difficult to get exactly what we wanted, as I wanted the red of the blood and curtains to pop, but it was so tricky to do that without making David's skin tone red too... and vampires are pale not red!!! So I played around with masking for quite a while, and settled on the best I could get. Which wasn't that bad, I was just stressing as the project had gone so well up until that point. But yeah, colour grade wasn't awful, I don't think, I will gain confidence over time!

crit

I was soooooo very nervous for the crit. I had this overwhelming fear that we would play it on the projector and the quality would be horrible and the colour grade would look weird and the masking would be obvious and...and... every stress under the sun really. However, my brain was being silly it was fine hehe! Jenny was praised on her sound design, rightly so, and no horrible marks on my colour grade, so that's a win!

Some criticism (oh my god I've just realised why it's called a crit, we are getting CRITicism.), my fade to black at the end wasn't necessary and kinda takes you out of the film, as everything else is a harsh cut that adds to the comedy, so a harsh cut at the end would have upheld this. We got mixed reviews on the lighting for the last shot, as we only light David's mouth/chin, not his whole face. I think I stand by the way we lit it, as in every scene we essentially spotlight what is important; the alarm clock, David eating, then his teeth brushing.

Overall, chuffed with the groups effort and the final film! Sent it to my parents and no matter how many times I described what a cinehaiku is, I'm still getting "good! but why is it so short?".

other groups

I really loved all the other films. Some real explosive content in there! Was a big fan of Rosie, Ben and Bethany's, loved the animated stars, so pretty. Also liked, (K)nightfall, it's funny cause it's a Knight falling!!!!

link to the film

https://vimeo.com/764597158

P.S. this project stems from my love for vampire/vampire fan fiction I would write based on Damon from Vampire Diaries.

[bonnienapierfilm]

doc reflection

A synopsis of your documentary film in 3-4 sentences

The documentary we ended up making focused on a pub in a small town and its role in bringing the community together, as well as the directors relationship with the locals.

Your role within the documentary production

My roles in the group were editor and co-director, directing alongside Jack Weir. Inside my directing role, I planned out the narrative, interviews and location. For editing, I got our rough cut [almost] completed for the crit, then took the advice of classmates and lecturers to re-edit the doc based around a new narrative.

The most rewarding aspect of the production either in terms of your own development or about making the film more generally

Having a completed documentary was very rewarding, especially after all the work that I put in. The best part was just the support from peers, it made me feel a whole lot better that the work I was putting in was noticed. My shoulders felt incredibly heavy sometimes, but there was always someone in the screen academy to lift some weight.

What do you wish you had done differently and/or what will you definitely take on board for a next production?

In the future, I will ensure that I can 100% create the documentary I am hoping to before getting into it. Putting legalities and practicalities first, before getting into the planning. I was far too ahead of myself with Khanistan, ultimately ruining the module for myself. In terms of co-directing, I feel I directed this project. I want to make sure the collaborative part is present in the future. Communication was not the best however as my plate was very much full, I will not beat myself up over it.

In 4-5 sentences summarise what you’ve written for your essay. 

In my essay for this module, I compared two documentaries; Peter in Radioland [dir. Johanna Wagner, 2009] and Radio Silence [dir. Duncan Cowles, 2013]. They both featured the directors' fathers. I analysed how the styles differed due to the differing relationship between director and subject.

Explain how reading and writing about documentary film contributed toward your film production or your role

From class, specifically the one about nature and not messing too much with the subject, I learnt that you cannot control what your subject will do in documentaries, like an animals behaviour or [sometimes] a humans. When reading Chris Cagle [Postclassical Nonfiction: Narration in the Contemporary Documentary] for my essay research. He explored character driven documentaries and how characters can be used to suggest larger issues. I thought of this when creating our documentary, the home that the pub created for many of the locals is not specific to Galashiels. I know it's the same, probably worldwide. My Grandad, who lives in Spain, has a local [cocktail bar] pub that he visits everyday, as he has made friends there and says it feels like a second home for him.

What you learnt about documentary film as an academic field and practice.

I have never directed a documentary, I don't think I will be trying it again, unless it's maybe a mockumentary. I feel documentary directing is more risky than directing fiction, it is never certain your plan will work the way you want to - and I did not like the uncertainty of our project. We could not guarantee our interviews would flow the way we hoped. I felt myself sitting there wanting to give them prompts, or just a script of exactly what I wanted them to say. However, I did feel that filming in a location I was comfortable in helped my nerves on set. I knew the people I was surrounded by and was not worried about over stepping with anyone or getting in anyones way.

Grade

I would give myself a C and the teamwork of the group a D.

Overall, disappointed with myself this module. I kinda let myself fall into a trap of doing work that was not entirely my job. However, I have learnt a lot from this experience, and won't let it happen again :)

peace out second year <3

[bonnienapierfilm]

doc updates 

Well. It's certainly a documentary.  

After the down fall of Khanistan, I think the group was very demotivated from then on. The process of deciding to give up on our original idea and chose a new one took about 2 weeks, looking back, we probably should have got our shit together faster and the stress would not have been so...stressful, I guess. 

We pitched ideas; Orla's family run butchers and My family run restaurant/pub. Both good ideas, however logistically my idea would run smoother as the location was closer to Edinburgh. The run was far from smooth. With a new idea we reshuffled roles; 

Myself and Jack - Co-directing

Myself - Editing

Orla - Sound

Jenny - Cinematographer 

Rowen - Producer

I was nervous about editing two projects, as I edited adaptation as well, and could feel the work piling up before we even began filming, especially since I was now directing as well.

Planning 

We left it late to plan - late as in the night before the shoot. Myself and Jenny got together and planned our narrative, shot list and interview questions. We were worried as our main interviewees, Pam and Chelle, said the day before shooting that they in fact did not want to be on camera. Luckily they changed their mind, I feel this would have very negatively impacted the film... phew. 

We also checked all our equipment. Which as fun - Jenny booked out massive fucking lenses, which looking back was probably not needed for a documentary about a pub, but we will learn from this lol. 

Shooting 

The shoot was lots of fun. I got to talk to all the locals from the pub again, seeing old faces made me happy - despite the intense feeling that I was making a shite documentary, they deserved a good film made about them. The planning myself and Jenny had done the night before was a lifesaver. We would have had no clue what to film or what our narrative was if we hadn't. 

We got our interviews. All good footage that could be sued to push our narrative. So that felt good. We got b-roll. We got the pub quiet and the pub locking up. Good shit. Yeah.

Post Production 

I had to edit alongside my adaptation project as well as work 3 shifts a week, so stress was high, sleep was non-existent and mental health was not so healthy. Looking back, I shouldn't have taken on so much work. But the biggest, fattest shoutout to Jenny and Orla for helping me with the edit - could not have done it without them. [love you guys]. 

We had so much footage, which Jenny and Orla sorted through and named for me, and Rowen synced some interview stuff for me. All greatly appreciated. We discussed how our narrative should flow whilst editing, which I tried to achieve, and I think I did? Kinda?

This project really made me fall out of love with editing. Which made me sad. Because I do like editing, I guess projects you have no passion for will do that to you. I'm going to keep this in mind. 

Crit

An edit was provided for the crit. Not a good one, nor a finished one. Everyone was supportive and understanding of our situation, however, you can't polish a turd. 

All the feedback was helpful. Basically, we needed to change the narrative, making the film more about my relationship with the locals and the workers. This made me nervous, as the footage we had was filmed with a different narrative in mind. So I really had to look through our footage again to find more personal interactions with myself and others. 

After I re-edited, Orla went in with sound and Jenny colour graded. Which really brought it all together. Orla also added a fun lil credits scene, to a song we listened to the whole weekend - this helped me reflect more positively on the doc... we had fun whilst we made it so maybe that's all the matters? [definitely not].

It's a documentary, I suppose.

[bonnienapierfilm]

the last landscape

millie walker as joanna sam trotter as sue

directed by katie cox written and edited by bonnie sanderson produced by beth lindsay cinematography by eva madgic govedarica sound design by orla murray production design by aimee combe and lucy smith

costumes by caitlin hutton score by arina brovanova [@arina.music] artwork by ava brimilcombe-cowie, peer theilen, katie cox and anna capocchi

special thanks to ben mcmorran, adam lockhart, mary hanna, parsley the cat and napier university