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2017-FILM GENRE-BLOG

BLOG JACK WRIGHT 40324774 FILM GENRE

WRITING OUR FIRST DRAFT OF A SCRIPT - I had never written a script before and have never really attempted to, I always just pictured myself behind the camera or editing so this was a new side to the industry I was exploring. I began with a simple idea of a man being stuck inside a room. This idea grew and grew into this deep meaningful piece which I had grown to love. It was very abstract and melodramatic, but I loved writing it and could picture the process of turning it into a short film. I grew very passionate for it. I had shown it to a number of friends and they really liked the idea, but I had to constantly be making changes as it was just far too complex to understand at times. Thus I discovered a major problem, because I had wrote it, I understood it. Elements that were clear to me were not so clear to a reader. So I made some further adjustments until I felt I was happy with it and that I had fixed these issues as best as I could. As a first draft submission I was happy.

CHOOSING A PRODUCTION PROJECT - Today we all pitched our original script ideas to the rest of the class, this was the first time I had done this so I feel I could have done better, but it was a complex premise and I was nervous. I have a lot to work on in the future, but that in itself was a great learning experience. After everyone had pitched their ideas it was then a case of voting for the top 6 project ideas. Mine was not selected but a few of the project ideas I really liked were. We then had to assign ourselves onto a project into specific roles. It had to be two main roles in varying projects. I became nervous as I had never been a part of a production group this size so I had no idea what role to go for or what I would be useful as. Eventually I chose my favourite two of the six ideas and chose the role of ASSISTANT DIRECTOR on ‘Bleeding, Not Broken’ and an EDITOR on ‘WHORE.’ I’m excited to start working on each of the projects and to begin learning more about the roles as we go on.

SHOOT DAY 1 - ‘Bleeding, Not Broken’ - Today was the first day of filming our production, as AD I was beginning to feel nervous with the pressure that was on my shoulders. Never having worked with so many people and not having met some of the people on the course I was partnered with I worried at how they would react if I made a mistake or found out I was inexperienced. Luckily with the help of the PRODUCER I had my clip board assembled with a shot list, shoot schedule and was taking notes. Working with my production group for the first time was amazing. The positivity of all on set was astounding. Even though shooting outside for a great length of time became difficult, all the cast and crew persevered and gave it their all. Although at times we were falling behind the schedule, once we got going we caught up with time and we were able to wrap on time. I learnt a lot on this shoot as everyone pitched in to teach me the ropes, I felt very comfortable with rest of the crew very quickly as they were all very welcoming. A fantastic professional work environment. After wrap the DIRECTOR, PRODUCER and I decided to have a brief together on how the shoot went as we were scheduled to shoot the following day. We were overall pleased with the result but agreed there were some adjustments needed on the next shoot schedule, for example we needed to start shooting later (so it was dark) and giving ourselves more time for each shot. We also had to redraft the shot list as there were a few new ones that were needed.

SHOOT DAY 2 - ‘Bleeding, Not Broken’ - With the redraft of the shoot schedule and shot list, today went a lot more smoothly. I now knew what I was doing and how to stay on top of things. I felt as I if I were in control at all times and everyone was working together well, all of us working simultaneously with each other and just as hard. One problem we ran into while filming was that to get a number of shot only the DoP could operate and view the camera because no one else could fit in the car without being in shot. Therefore it became a trust exercise between the crew and him to get the shots. The shots according to the DIRECTOR were fine from what she had seen and we were happy to continue to move forward with the shoot. By the end of the night we had got everything we needed plus a few pickups, we had finished pretty much exactly when we scheduled to, and everything was done. It was now just a case of the post-production being sent underway. I was very pleased with how the second day of shooting went, I felt composed and that we had learnt from our mistakes from the previous day. We made the necessary adjustments and saw the results we needed. A very fun and all round positive experience.

CREATING OUR SOUND PROJECT - On the 16th of October 2017, our group held our first meeting to brainstorm ideas for the sound project. After bouncing a few ideas off each other we had concluded that the idea we all thought had the most potential was the idea of creating a sound collage and incorporating the most uncomfortable, irritating sounds we could come up with. After discussing the idea more we constructed the narrative of, “A Walk Through a House of Horror.”  Thinking of this theme of ‘uncomfortable entertainment’ and ‘abstract art’ we decided to look at and draw from the works of Antonin Artaud and his theatre of cruelty. We wanted to test and learn how to push people completely out of there comfort zone, but adapting these methods to work effectively with only using sound. On the 18th and 19th we began the recording process. We encountered a number of different issues along the way. We were constantly taking it in turns operating the Tascam while the others were making horrendous sounds with numerous objects or just using our vocals. During the process we realised our narrative was, what we felt, the weakest part of the project idea. This was due to it feeling very repetitive. We discussed ways to make it more engaging and to push the audience further out of their comfort zone. We then came up with the idea that it would be, “A Walk Through Hell.” This idea now allowed us to use a number of weird sounds and effects in post as we were no longer restricted to the an ‘earthly dimension.’ We could now bend the perception of realism in our piece. On our third day of recording we had expanded on the idea of using hell as a location and theme. We drew from biblical passages of the four horsemen of the apocalypse. Each horsemen having a theme, for example ‘Conquest.’ This is what we decided to use to create a narrative to our piece. The structure was divided between the four themes.

THE SOUND CRIT - The feedback we received was mostly positive, and the aim of our piece seemed to have been a great success. The class all agreed that it was very intense and made them feel very uncomfortable. They also enjoyed the fact that it was a very abstract and that we owned that. The constructive feedback we received was to create a stronger, clearer dialogue throughout the piece. There were moments we used segments of the American ‘Pledge of Elegance’ but that was unclear to the audience due to the distortions we had used; possibly over-used. Moving forward from this I feel we need to experiment a lot more in our work. We need to try a lot more things before deciding to move forward with our project. Especially in the sector of dialogue, to experiment with clarity and sound levels to construct meaning and see what that may possibly bring to the table. In conclusion, I was very happy with our piece and the response it received. I felt there was a clear build and timeline of improvement as we progressed through the piece. In future I have learned to dedicate more time to experimenting with dialogue and other structures.

FINAL DRAFT SCRIPT SUBMISSION - Coming to the deadline towards the end of the semester the final draft of our individual script projects were due. Having been so busy filming and working on various other projects I hadn’t had the chance to look at my original script in a while. Going back and reading it had shown me a lot. I understood that my original concept was far too complex. I am proud of how ambitious it was, but having learnt a lot this semester and having grown as a creator I feel it was not an accurate representation of my best ability. After speaking with Catriona I decided that I would develop an idea I had been working on which I felt was a stronger piece. I felt it was stronger due to the arc of the story, the structure, characters and over all narrative and development of the script. After completing multiple drafts the script finally reached a level where I thought it was complete, it had achieved the status of a final draft. The whole script change shows me how far I have come along this year, and how Napier have helped me develop my skills in the industry. I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to learn and to also see my understanding progress.

EDITING THE PRODUCTION PROJECT “WHORE” - The second role I had chosen on a production project was as the EDITOR of the film ‘WHORE.’ The editing software we used on the university campus was completely new to me. So it was an opportunity to learn and to come to grips with it. After learning the basics I was responsible to sync all the footage together with the audio files, a few problems occurred but I was able to work through them and resolve them as I went along. After completion of the syncing I moved along to creating the rough cut. A process I really enjoyed. After achieving the rough cut and approving it with the DIRECTOR I began to fine tune it. This process was a lot lengthier as it was very specific and minute. Unfortunately I had a family member who I was close to pass away, this meant I couldn’t finish the visual lock as I had to fly home. The rest of the group were very supportive. They all stepped in and finished editing the project for me without hesitation. An action that I am very grateful for and one they should be praised for. A great group of people.

PRODUCTION PROJECT CRIT - I had flown back from being home at the funeral to be a part of the film crit. I can honestly say it was hard to focus but I tried my very best. Both of the projects that I was involved in were screened. The response seemed to majorly positive on both parts with only a few small criticisms to adjust. They were majority to do with sound or narrative, which was very useful to hear and to take on board, but luckily they weren’t my roles or responsibility. Hearing the criticism though was very useful as it makes me aware of certain issues to look out and avoid in the future, for example audio levels of recording are correctly adjusted, even though it isn’t your role we can seek to encourage each other while always learning. One thing I took away from the crit is the importance to have a POST-PRODUCTION SUPPERVISOR, a role that sounded both very interesting and useful. A role that I am going to consider on a future project.