collsfilmblog

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Scene Recreation mega post!!!

Hey, this post should give a brief overview of sections I have covered already on my blog and will go more in depth into the rest! 

HOW DID WE DO IT??!!

Okay so to start off with I've already explained a little bit about our film choice. We had a somewhat hard time choosing which film to do but after going through everything from Nosferatu to Baby Driver we ended up with… spuds interview from trainspotting??? Not an obvious choice but we all loved the scene, it’s very funny and seems achievable whilst still posing some challenges we would have to overcome.

Once we had chosen the scene we sprung into action looking for locations and actors. Cole, Dylan and I went to the City Cafe to ask about possibly filming there. Cole gave them his email and communicated with them. Whilst there I noted any possible risk like the small spaces and scoped where might be best for filming. The whole group then met up at Merchiston where we searched the campus, and then Craiglockhart campus for a suitable location.

We found many rooms we thought would be good but after a conversation with Andrew we realised just how accurate it had to be(WHICH IS VERY!!!!!). We looked at a couple halls and churches, really anywhere with an open space but everywhere was either very far, expensive or not accurate enough.

Some of the locations we considered

We settled on the Out of the Blue Drill hall as it had a music practice room that felt like the right atmosphere. Cliona was also confident in dressing the set so we went for it!! David booked it out and we had access for a few hours.

The day before the shoot we met up in the common room to do a camera test and to try and get all the framing and lens choices right. We had very little time on the actual sets so we wanted to make sure we were not messing around with lenses and knew roughly what framing to use. We also got to practise the dolly so we knew how we would do it on set. These are notes David and Cole made for the lenses they were going to use for each shot -

SHOT 5 - 24 SHOT 3 - 24 SHOT 4 - 24 SHOT 2 - 24 SHOT 1 - 24

SHOT 1 - 14mm SHOT 2 - 24/35mm SHOT 3 - 24 SHOT 4 - 14/24mm SHOT 5 - 24mm SHOT 6 - 35mm SHOT 7 - 24mm SHOT 8 - 24mm, could be 14mm

Shoot day

Waking up at 5:30 for a shoot is not very fun… especially when there's no hot water so you end up in a cold shower. A quick bit of breakfast and down to meet the group. Its dark, freezing and we were all tired but nevertheless morale was high. We stuck all the kit in an uber and cole and I got there by 6:30. We had half an hour to wait but decided it would be a good use of our time to start making sure camera settings were right, and to set up the tripod.

A very early start

We only an hour and 45 minutes at the City Cafe which ended up being an hour and 20 minutes after we set up and we had to be done by 8:45 so the cafe could open for 9. Needless to say it was stressful. For me atleast, a combination of a couple hours sleep and the time constraints was causing me to be a little stressed out and constantly let everyone know how much time we had. I think I did well to keep everyone on track as we got the last shot right on time before we had to pack up and leave. Cole and David were doing a really good job making sure everything was right. We did end up messing with lenses on the day but it was all okay in the end. Hope and Logan did a good job too meaning we didn't have to do many takes after setup which saved us a lot of time.

The drill hall was a much more relaxed shoot for me. We had a few more people which made lugging the kit around a bit easier and alot more time. We had a couple more shots but after seeing how well Hope knew their lines I was confident they weren't going to cause any problems schedule-wise. We had to move things about a lot during the shoot and kind of cheat the room to make it seem bigger and due to the fact that there was only one plain white wall as the other had a tv on it. This shoot also went well and I think the whole team was very happy with how we had done. Cliona did a great job on the production design with fake doors and everyone in the right costume, Cole and David did well making sure the framing was right and the actors performances were correct and Dylan did a good job on sound especially since it was his first time. 

What did I do???

Alright Coll enough just saying what happened nobody really wants to know. What IS important to the grade is what I did!!! And I know it sounds like all I did was get stressy and remind people of the time but I did other stuff too!

Risk assessments 

I did a risk assessment for both locations. Initially I had done it wrong when booking everything but putting two different projects in one risk assessment so I went back and created two separate risk assessments, one for the City Cafe and one for the practice room at the Out of the Blue Drill hall. I also made sure everyone on set was aware of the risks, especially when using lighting as a few people got close to touching a very hot light without any gloves on.

Call Sheet

I wasn't sure how call sheets worked when doing two different locations so i just put them all into one as it's still one shooting day with a very long break in between. I tried using the call sheet template that is on moodle but it genuinely started boiling my blood trying to edit the title thing. I’m not sure why but it just wouldn't work. I was on a test shoot for a grad film that had a nice looking and easy to read call sheet that got sent out so I decided to just use that as a template. I like it much better than the example on moodle but if this is the wrong way to do it im very sorry!! I’ll do it the right way next time. 

Schedule

I also created a loose schedule to follow. I knew we werent going to be hitting these marks exactly because some shots would take longer than others due to random issues but it was good to have goals, especially when we had such a short time to film in.

Booking Equipment 

I sat down with the group after doing the risk assessment and went through Siso looking for anything we might need. We might have booked a bit much and were more conservative with what we brought with us compared to our previous shoot for film narrative where we brought EVERYTHING. But we did use nearly all of it at some point or another.

Location agreements

I had to talk with the managers of the City Cafe and make them sign location agreements. I say make them sign it like I had a knife to their throat, it was more asking them very nicely but they seemed a little apprehensive. I’m not sure if location agreements are something you need to have at this stage but I figured it’s probably good practice and wouldn't hurt to have. 

On set

I was essential on the set too!! Apart from telling people we only had 15 minutes left, I was made a human C stand. In the cafe I was holding black flags and bounce pads as well as setting up most of the lighting. I also helped change lenses occasionally or helped Dylan with the sound equipment. 

At the drill hall I served pretty much the same purpose of human stand and assistant. I was also a contortionist as I had to hold the mural whilst being out of shot which meant twisting my body in some painful ways. But all is well and I have since recovered. Oh I also spent hours in the library trying to figure out how to print in colour so we could have the fire escape and no smoking signs which was fun!!

(This genuinely took me ages and is part of the reason I hardly slept the night before the shoot)

I'm really happy with how the recreation turned out, I think everyone did a really good job with their own areas and in terms of the recreation, it’s pretty accurate. I was very happy with the feedback we got and whilst its not EXACTLY the same, everyone agreed we got the tone right which is one of the trickiest things. I think we can put that mostly down to Hope but with us too!!

Anyway sorry there's so much to read I had some time to kill so pretty much wrote my thoughts. Heres a link to our production documents which are all in a nice big happy google drive together!

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Keeper - Test Shoot

A couple of weeks ago I was involved with a test shot for a graduation film. Ben McMorran sent me a message asking if I wanted to be a supporting actor in a test shoot for his grad film “Keeper”. I know Ben as we went to the same school and he has always been very supportive of me making films. With the addition of a free lunch, I couldn’t say no. 

I arrived on the set at around 12 where they were just finishing up the first half of shooting. I got taken away to change into costume which was just black shorts and t-shirt. I was to play a background footballer with 7 or 8 other lads, a few of which I had also gone to school with! It pretty much meant standing around all day in the freezing cold in shorts and t-shirt with ever changing weather conditions. Nevertheless, we did get to run around when we were shooting to warm up a bit. I don’t think I was actually in the frame for most of the shoot.

It was made up for by the fact that I got to come onto a 4th year project and see how everything worked. It was really cool seeing what kind of thing I could be involved with in a few years time

After seeing the final product I was very impressed. It looks very good and has tension. I haven't played football on a regular basis for a long time but it really reminded me of being an awful goalkeeper when I was in primary school. Especially with how it looks with the colour grade and mud everywhere, really captured the feeling of Saturday football training I used to have. 

I enjoyed seeing how all the departments worked together too, it seemed like they all knew each other well which translated into good communication and everything running smoothly. Ben is a very good people person and was talking to pretty much everyone on the set at one point or another. Whether it’s just a little joke/catch up or discussing important parts of the shoot like directions for actors it was nice to see him working at the helm. It’s definitely a big difference from the last time we we’re on a set together where there was a microphone taped to a broom (in all fairness that was one of my films that Ben was helping me with but still! Its a big change).  

Anyway. I don't have much more to say other than the chilli was very nice and I enjoyed myself! I hope all goes well and I look forward to watching the real thing. Thank you Ben and everyone else!!!!!

The one blurry picture I took

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WALK OUT Post Shoot Thoughts

Welcome back! I know my thoughts on how a film shoot went is exactly what everyone’s raring to hear, I can hardly walk the 2 minutes to Sainsbury’s without a crowd forming. Haha….

Anyway. 

This week consisted of not just one but TWO film shoots for group 3. We were very busy. 

Collecting Kit

Monday was the day to collect kit. We knew it was going to be a big job having booked 18 items so employed the help of Ahmad, Johnny and Jamie (THANK YOU ALL VERY MUCH). I realised we MIGHT have gone a bit overboard with out shopping list as I was booking it all, but it’s what David and Cole asked me to get so we went with it. Upon arriving at the store we were told the WHOLE rack was for us. Yeah, we definitely went overboard. Lots of small items, lots of big ones. In our fairness it was meant to rain so got umbrellas and poly bags and a tarp. Getting on the bus with it was perhaps not the best idea in retrospect as the bus driver seemed very angry and even made Johnny stand with the C-stand in the luggage rack for the “safety of the other passengers”. Which made NO sense at all as if he had just sat down holding the stand then it would’ve been much more secure. But instead he had to awkwardly stand at the front of the bus balancing the C-stand in the luggage rack because it didn't fit in it whilst next to a BABY in a pram! After what felt like an excruciatingly long time we made it and took everything back to our flats.

(Sorry Johnny)

Shoot 1 - WALK OUT

This was a blast. It’s the first thing we’ve done that actually feels like a movie. Whilst making it at least, I’m yet to see the final product. 

I think this is down to a few factors including our actors, kit, location, and pre-production planning

Actors - For this shoot we had people who weren’t part of our group acting. It was very weird having people show up knowing their lines and delivering great performances! Especially impressive considering it’s a 2 minute continuous take. David had done rehearsals with them and I don’t think we had any mistakes during any of the takes (apart from one where one of the actors couldn’t untie their apron). Big thanks to Isabella and Jed!!!

Ungraded still from the film.

 Kit - Ah, the lens kit. During previous exercises we have been too slow to book equipment and have always ended up with the Sigma zoom lens. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a good lens and has done us very well (as well as having the addition of being very easy to transport) but it was great to be able to use one of the lens kits and think about what lens we were going to use. We also had a lighting kit as the street we were shooting was dark. This meant we were able to control light and I think we made it seem like quite a natural street light. Just using all these thing made it feel very professional.

Waiting on the uber.

Location - We had a great location in the street next to The Voyage of the Buck. They let us use their door and let us run an extension lead from a staff room outside to power our light. They also let us use their bathroom which made things very convenient. The staff were very kind in all our correspondence with them and it was great to work with them.

Pre-production - I think I did quite a good job producing on this shoot. Whilst I didn't have much correspondence with the location due to Cole already having a relationship with the bar, I made sure we had a location picked early. This meant I could get a risk assessment done and book kit well in advance meaning we got to choose what we wanted. Whilst this maybe led to us booking a bit too much, it's a lesson learnt and meant we didn't end up in the situation some other groups faced where there was no kit available for them. One flaw to my booking was booking two projects in the same risk assessment document. I now know that each location needs its own risk assessment in a SEPARATE document. I also made up a call sheet for this shoot which meant we were organised and everyone knew what was going on. Alongside this I had a location agreement signed with the Voyage of the Buck as a confirmation we were allowed to shoot on their property. David and Cole had also been to the location to get an idea of lighting and framing. 

The shoot:

We gave ourselves 2 hours to set up before actors arrived. Dylan and I took an uber with all the kit and met the rest of the group there. We set out a tarp and lay out all the kit so it was organised. We had camera, lights and sound all set up 20 minutes before actors arrived which gave us time for a little break. Shooting the scene went well and we were done and packed away an hour before we had scheduled. 

What didn’t go well?:

The weather - The temperature for the shoot was 0°. I made sure our crew brought PLENTY of warm clothes as we would be standing around outside for hours. Despite this we were all still freezing. Not as freezing as the actors were thought as they were in t-shirts. We made sure to give them chances to warm up as we were reviewing takes and as much as they insisted that they weren’t actually that cold it still wasn’t ideal.

The Location - Whilst it was a good location, there wasn't much room on the sides of the street. There was enough for all our kit to be laid out along the side of the building but cars were constantly coming up and down the street as we were setting up. It was between 4-6 when cars are most busy so it makes sense but I hadn't taken that into consideration when setting times for the shoot. We were fine and were not in the way, as I was constantly making sure everyone stayed to the side of the street so there was ample room for the tripod and camera at one side of the street and the light and equipment to be at the other but it was still inconvenient as it meant we couldn't be as free with our placement of camera and lights.

Equipment Selection - Yeah, this is when we realised we ABSOLUTELY had booked too much. We decided to pretty much bring everything as we were just gonna stick it in an uber to the location. We probably used like 3/4 of everything we brought… if that. We should have been a lot more conservative with things, we booked the matte box and follow focus and brought it with us and never ended up using it. Same with the C-stand that Johnny painstakingly held on the bus. Some of the kit was precautionary like polybags and an umbrella but overall we didn't need to bring as much as we did to this shoot.

Final thoughts - Overall I’m really happy with how this shoot went. Whilst we had some minor issues I think everything went smoothly. I enjoy the dynamic of our group and think we all work well together. This shoot is absolutely the best we’ve worked together as we've built a relationship that just seems to work with our roles. Whilst I maybe would’ve liked to try a bit more camera, I’ve been happy keeping to similar roles with our last two shoots. Cole and David have worked really well together as a DOP and Director. All of us have learnt how to set up the equipment like the sound and the camera which has led to us being quite efficient whilst setting up and packing away. I'm also happy doing the things nobody else wanted to do like risk assessments and booking the kit and call sheets. We all communicate very well and I will be sad not to be working with them next trimester. 

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Blog Post -Pre - Production for Scene recreation and Tableau 

Hello film chat! I am going to be entirely honest and say I need something to procrastinate my essay for comms and practice. I have been writing little entries into a doc every once in a while describing my thoughts. This is me putting it together in a readable form so I can feel productive.

Film Narrative 1 - Tableau Film 2

For this film, we had to use one of the two page scripts we had written earlier in the semester. 

Production meeting 1

After a meeting with Sean to explore which script we should use, we sat down as a group and went through all the practical logistics of turning the scripts into films. Not which one would be easiest, but which did we think was realistic. After going through all the pros and cons of the scripts we narrowed it down to 3 before doing an anonymous vote. My script “Walk Out” was voted for by the group due to the location being quite simple, but still requiring us to make contact with locations, and the most potential for interesting movement and sound without moving the camera (criteria for the assignment). I’m happy people liked my script and wanted to use it, it was a bit of a confidence boost as I’ve never been all that sure if I had any screenwriting capabilities. However, responsibility also lands on me, what if the dialogue is cringe? What if actors hate it? Or even worse, the audience hates it. Or even EVEN worse, the lecturers hate it? Our past films have gone down pretty well in terms of feedback but I’ve not had much creative input for them so I don't want to ruin the reputation of Group 3 as everyone in it is so talented. Anyway I need to chill it with the doubt as Sean seemed to quite like it as well as my group so hopefully it’s gonna go okay!

Meeting 1.5

David, Cliona, and I met up to discuss the Script of the project as Cole and Dylan were unavailable. We went over some actions in the scene and changed them to make it more interesting (as well as easier to film in one shot). I think David and Cliona definitely improved the script and I'm very happy with it. Script -

We also drafted up a casting call for actors as most of us either don’t want to act or are busy doing something else. Dylan is usually keen to be an actor but he hasn't had much of a chance to do any hands-on camera or sound work other than in out 8 shot film so I wanted to make sure he was behind the camera on these shoots.

Cliona also made this poster to put up in the Merchiston campus -

Production Meeting 2

Group 3 met up as a whole to discuss the film and get the ball rolling. We had discussed what roles everyone wanted to do beforehand so really just finalised them and we ended up with

David - Director

Coll - Producer/Writer

Cliona - Sound

Cole - Cinematography 

Dylan - 1st AC/production designer.

We got onto locations and looked at quite a few before settling on The Voyage of the Buck, a bar near to Haymarket where Cole’s family goes quite often. We hoped the loyalty might sway the decision, and when we asked they seemed pretty keen to let us film in their alleyway! Yay!

We also started looking at scenes for our final scene recreation. We initially didn’t have many ideas, only being able to come up with Spud’s interview in Trainspotting and the library scene from Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. I don't know why but I just went entirely braindead when my group asked me for suggestions. A film student who can't think of movies they like?? What am I doing here!!! But eventually, ideas started flowing and between us, we’d come up with many ideas. After watching through them all and going over pros and cons we circled back to our strongest picks, Trainspotting and Eternal Sunshine. We chose Trainspotting because it seemed manageable whilst still being a challenge. (psst. Group 3, it’s me from the future… don’t do it!! We haven’t even filmed and it's already causing so much trouble, who knew finding an empty hall would be so difficult!?)

We also settled on roles which was pretty much the same as Walk Out but Dylan is doing sound and Cliona is doing production design.

Things I had to do for both shoots 

-Risk assessment

-Book kit

-Location (although everyone has done location)

-Call sheets

-Organise more meetings

-Permission forms from locations and and actors.

I’ve got a shopping list of kit from Cole and David so I’m going to try and make sure its booked early so we can get everything they want.

Risk Assessments 

I visited the Voyage of the Buck and the City Cafe to try and scope out any risks that may be present. 

Voyage of the buck poses much more risks with cobbled roads, traffic and the weather. 

The City Cafe is nowhere near as hazardous but there is still risk of tripping and moving around in a tight space. We’ve also had confirmation from both locations that we are allowed to film which is great!! Now we just need time to find our interview room for the scene recreation…

Risk assessment for Voyage of the Buck and the City Cafe -

(very sorry Andrew, I only realised today when you said that you needed to put different locations of different risk assessments... Sorry!!!!!!!)

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Visual Exercise 2

Cammo estate has a very melancholic feel to it. The abandoned buildings are a sad sight as they are very pretty. The tower stood alone in the middle of a field adds to the sense of abandonment. It’s been turning evening and the sun has been setting since we got here and the approaching darkness helped contribute to this feeling. 

The temperature was cold with a sharp biting wind that went down to your bones. 

Still, through all these negative feelings, it was beautiful. These buildings, claimed by nature. Turned into a public woodland with squirrels running up trees, birds in the sky, and people with dogs playing and running along the paths with an eagerness to greet us. The stables once for containing horses now have nature bursting out of it like how horses would once burst out of it's gates.

Reflection after the finished film -

I like the way this 8 shot film turned out. I think our film does a good job of capturing the abandoned essence of the location. It feels very lonely with shots of the buildings and explores the location effectively. Wide shots of the tower help with the feeling of loneliness as it stands in the field.

The storyboard we created at the location

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Exercise 1 - LMD0711 Film Production Workflow

In our movie, the different framings definitely create different effects. Using the centre framing has a sense of organisation and calmness at the start. This works well in reflecting how organised and composed our character is whilst starting his crossword. On the other hand, the rule of thirds whilst still showing the organisation of the character,  immediately feels somewhat off creating a feeling of unease. During the character's struggle to work out the final word, I think the rule of thirds works much better as it adds to the chaos and confusion of the scene whereas the centre framing keeps that sense of composure throughout. I prefer the cut using the rule of thirds as I think it's visually much more interesting. Whilst the centre framing is satisfying to look at, I think the rule of thirds creates much more of an appealing composition and whilst there is more negative space in the frame I am drawn to the subject much more.

Link to Script:

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Introduction

Hi,

I'm Coll and I'm studying BA Film at Napier University. I am in first year and this blog will show my progress throughout the year. I also intend to use this to keep a record of any movies I've watched or anything interesting I find out about film. Thanks!