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PROCESS

This semester I really enjoyed taking a step back from my typical producer role and stepping into the camera department. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of the On-Set Production module and found it very helpful and engaging. The creative exercises were a great opportunity to work with new people on less pressured projects and really hone in and practice all the things I had been picking up as a novice to the camera department. It was really useful in familiarising myself with the kit and the exercises definitely were the best part of the semester. 

Let’s discuss workshop films:

‘STREET’ now called VOWS was an interesting process. I was very happy to be on the crew that I was, and the set itself was actually pretty fun. I enjoyed my role as Gaffer. However, my main issue was just with the way the entire process was coordinated, it seemed either fast paced or just super slow during the pre-production process. And so when it came to prep, everything just felt a bit misguided. The DoP wasn’t very sure of the process, because it wasn't clarified clearly from the other module, and so this had an effect on our approach. I go to the DoP to tell me how he wanted it lit, so I can then go away and decide what lights I needed and how we were going to use them. But, given the scale of this film, there just wasn’t much to do and I didn’t get the time to consider more versatility in the lighting. It all just seemed kind of lackluster. 

In the end, I'm not unhappy with my work, but I think it definitely could have been a lot better. The lighting could have been implemented and controlled in a way that was a bit less stagnant. I would also think again before planning a 4 hour shoot, in winter, when we’re reliant on sunlight. But fun crew, fun set, and I hope that I get the opportunity to gaff or assist in lighting again in my career. 

‘KETTLE’ or Snuff was also another interesting process. This set was not my personal favourite. I really enjoyed being a 1st AC for the first time. It’s less pressure but also still enough pressure and, it was just a nice workflow between me and the DoP on this set. This set just allowed me to put all my training in On–Set into practice and I think I did pretty well. I would say I was pretty efficient with my camera build, and change between slates. I did struggle a bit with the shoulder rig, but as soon as we got that solved, everything on the camera was great. In this case, there was very little energy on set but I tried to follow my DoP as best as I could. I offered input and advice to the DoP in framing and composition when things seemed a bit standstill. I'm happy with my work on this film, and I would like to 1st AC again.

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Snuff (2024) AC. Saif Nasem

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VOWS (2024) Gaffer. Saif Nasem

Dir. Lachlan Duncan-Brooke

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DOLLY

A dolly workshop with David Byrne.

He showed how to set them up and strike them. Was pretty cool and I'm pretty excited to use these soon!

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KETTLE

This is another Film Workshop project that I could take on, but this time as a 1st AC.

One LONG day on set....

This one was a pretty cool concept. I was a bit put off initially, and so I didn't apply for it, but Katie said she needed an AC and I was more than happy to fill the role.

The day started pretty early, around 9am... the day after halloween which was rough but there was work to be done and so we power through.

I immediately spoke to Katie started to discuss the plan for the day and where were starting and began the camera build. It was pretty easy when it came to setting up the camera and the tripod.

But then we switched from sticks to handheld, and that shoulder rig was a pain. There was an extra baseplate that I was trying to attach but then the camera wouldn't stay on.... eventually I just connected the shoulder rig directly to the camera and cut out the middle man. There was only a couple shots that were handheld so after we did them, it was back to the stick and it was really easy.

All the shots were fairly simple, and so it meant that I didn't have to do much in terms of focus pulling, but when I did, it was pretty easy.

For each shot, I positioned the camera where it would need to go. When it came to handheld shots, i'd operate the camera while Katie figured out the shot she wanted.

We ran through the full scene almost every take, which mean things were kind of just the same the entire day... I didn't have to worry too much. I did consistently check on the white balance and aperture, but with very little change, there wasn't much to do.

When it came to the final shot, the director wanted a handheld close-up with a 14mm lens. At this point we were 2 hours into the grace period and the DoP was about to leave so I suggested that we just keep it on the sticks and get the shot, as we'll lose more time setting up the shoulder rig again. The tripod however just did not fit, so the shot was done handheld but without a shoulder rig.

I wrapped up really quickly, I took responsibility for getting all of the camera equipment packed up, and as soon as I finished that, I handed over the card with the rushes and I had to leave.

two lovely sound guys and a decent shot.

I think the film is now called 'SNUFF'.

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PITCH for STREET

MY PITCH...

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STREET Shoot

Shooting a wedding. Well, a conversation before the wedding.

We started off pretty early, around 8am, but the actors weren't going to get on set till 2pm so we had plenty of time to prep and set-up. But as the lighting plan shows, there's not much to be done, so I set up everything as is shown.

I had David as my lighting assist, which was great because he is a lot taller than I am, and the overhead light especially, was a little out of my reach.

The first thing was to set up the overhead light for the dinner table.

We did not have it bright blue.

On a C-Stand with one of the longest boom I've ever seen, we rigged the amazon on and chucked a very chunky weight on the other side to keep it grounded. Sandbag on the C-Stand of course, but for the shot we were going for, we needed the stand further out, so we had to extend the boom and add a bit more weight to the other side and luckily we just found a bunch of sandbags in the room.

Once we got that set up, I kept it to about 4500K on the white, and just let it cast over the table.

We set up the practicals in the back and set them up to a pretty soft, warm temp, because I had my colour changing bulbs again, I could do that. And then we also had a table in the back moved to hold a set of string lights for a bit more depth in the back.

By this point, the set is running and the cast are all present and we're just running through the motions. But this also means that the sun is starting to go down and I'm losing a lot of the fill. So to mend that, I'm kind of just raising the level of the AMARAN on the table to reflect and fill the dead space a little. At times I did notice that the table was over exposed, but the DoP had no issue with this so we continued on. To be cautious, I dimmed that light a little and instead, I raised the NanLite I had in the middle of the room, opened up the fresnel and just cast it to the white ceiling hoping it would fill the room up a little. It kind of helped but we then just decided to move it beside the actors to meant another practical, and with the way it was facing, I was able to reflect it off a bounce aswell and get the actor's face lit for the shot. This was intense though- I had to Hollywood it.

All around, pretty simple. Fun shoot. Great crew!

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STREET FILM

Now this isn't actually a street film, in fact, it has nothing to do with a street.

I have been selected as a Gaffer for one of the Film Workshop projects, 'STREET'.

This is my prep over the past few days, as the shoot is next week!

The DoP for this project, is conveniently my flatmate, Joe.

We discussed his intentions for the visual style of the film and more specifically, how he wants the lightning to be.

We're shooting a simple wedding scene, in fact, it's essentially a tableau, which to be honest, not the most exciting for a DoP or a Gaffer, or anyone, but still fun. And this shot will look good!

It was difficult finding a space that we were going to shoot in because the prep was all so last minute. The entire process of this film seemed very rushed up till now. There's a lot of pressure on everyone to bang out a good film with very minimal pre-production. But we got 1/53 in CRL which suits the tone for a wedding reception.

Joe planned out the blocking for the space and gave me insight into how and where he wanted it lit. My main concern, was the plan to use the big bright window as our Fill light. This leaves most of the set dependant on Scotland's biggest rival- the sun. As we approach winter, we're also coming into really short days, so that doesn't leave us with much shooting time.

The plan is to let the window, and the daylight, do the groundwork, and then add an overhead light on to the table, like from the one minute scene exercise. This will act as a backlight from where the camera is positioned. And as we face our lead, I can reflect a light from further into the room, onto our actors.

The plan is to keep it very natural and very simple, because this film and the setting doesn't call for too much eccentricity. Those lights, combined with a couple practical lamps in the back, for depth should look good.

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LET'S GET CRITICAL. CRITICAL.

It's time for a long awaited crit. Which I'm pretty sure is shorthand for 'critique' but it's fine.

This is just for the creative exercises....

Firstly, just going to start off by saying that most of these were brilliant. They were super good and the groups did really well. I really liked some of them.

EXERCISE 1: THE HUTCH

When it came to the hutch, the feedback was honestly pretty on-point. Most people go the sense of place and the atmosphere pretty well. They got the narrative and the story made sense.

However, Andrew did mention about the framing choices, which in hindsight I completely agree with.

Our shots kind of start close-up and gradually get wider through shots. I planned this so that it feels like the world is getting bigger and more sociable. My intention was to start off with all the little details that aren't really about the people but their habits... then start to show more people, being around other people.

Andrew suggested that it should've been the opposite. We should've started wider and then gotten closer as more people started to come in, and was they interacted. This would help more to immerse the viewer into the world of The Hutch, and it would have also made the story a bit more intimate. And especially in that last shot, we're so wide, that it just feels a bit detached.

EXERCISE 2: YEARNING

Andrew: Try to figure out what this film is portraying. What feeling is it trying to show?

*Opens the link on the big screen: "YEARNING".

Same thing with this one, pretty well received, everyone really got the story, the sense of atmosphere and a sense of place. There was no issues with the lighting, so I'm happy.

Overall, I'm pretty pleased with the way our exercises turned out and I had a blast making them.

Let's hope it's just as fun shooting the workshop films!

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YEARNING

I don't know why it's called that but strong premise. Brilliant edit by Ben and wonderful sound on Jacob's part.

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THE HUTCH

Here it is... in B&W

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NOSTALGIC HUTCH

How we shot childhood nostalgia at the hutch. Focus on lighting.

We started with all the nostalgia flashback scenes because it just made more sense to make a mess of my living room first, then tidy up for the last shots.... which now that I think about.. It doesn't actually. But Katie did have to start setting up while we grabbed kit from CRL so I suppose it did save us time.

The first thing for me was the TV. This was going to be on the entire time as the premise was to essentially just flood the room with colour. For some shots, we did just have my TV playing Fifi and The Flowertots because it's a colourful show, and it worked. But for most of the shoot it just wasn't cutting it. So we set up the AMARAN F22 Flexible LED light, and downloaded the app on my phone so I could virtually control it and make it change colours and hues. This was to make it seem like there was a colourful show playing. I did make it a little more colourful and brighter when the shots moved further from the TV, and also directly turned the AMARAN towards the action in the scene to create a deeper sense of fantasy, and to maintain this colour in the imagination if that makes sense.

I also had my colour-changing lightbulb on in the corner of the room, which I also controlled with my phone. It was really useful for managing the warmth of the tone in the room. We tried some shots where it was a bit more orange/yellow, and some with pink/purple.

To make the shadow puppet I flashed a NanLite Forza 60B Bi-Colour Light, closed the fresnel and aimed it to the wall. I kept it at around 3000K, to create a warm spotlight directly on the wall. I also kept a small flashlight directed at the wall just to light it up, but this was a lot cooler, which highlighted the warm spotlight. I followed the action of the hands creating puppets on the wall, to make it a bit more playful.

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Another On-Set Production

I got to work on the other group's one-minute exercise as an actor (not a good one) but I was there, which was pretty fun.

I learnt quite a bit from them.

The production design and art dept was pretty well set up, and the production designer was on the ball.

Their lighting set-up was pretty cool. They got an overhead light to go on top of the dinner table and then one light towards the wall, which create a really strong atmosphere and it lit the set very well.

In terms of production... a wee bit slow. In comparison, my group in the morning shot 8 slates, and we got some pretty good coverage in that time. This group got 2 slates I think. But hey, it's all a bit of fun and practice. And really pretty shots.. hats off to the DoP- Zak Lang.

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An On-Set Production

To practice basically everything we've learnt so far, we shot a one-minute scene.

Good practice in production design after our visit from Mark Leese.

We quickly formed out groups and began pre-prep and pre-production all at once. Very fun pulling the story together, but that's not what we're here for.

I took on the role of 1st AD, and kind of the producer... funny when things work out that way. It's funny because I'm typically a producer, and me taking on this role is not by chance. I didn't make a call sheet for this one, but I organised a schedule for everyone to be on-set.

Being on set again was so much fun. It was like home. I forgot some things, but other things can naturally. Andrew was pretty helpful, he gave me advice about managing departments, and how to run a crucial.

We ran through all the slates pretty well, with a couple issues here and there but that's all normal. It was a pretty good day on a pretty good set. Some very good shots and a very professional crew, and the atmosphere was there! (Great cast too <3)

Andrew did give some advice about downtime on set. Your job isn't over when you're set up, there's always something you can do on set.

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Exercise 2 PREP

We've decided to hit the hutch again but this time we're telling a story of what home was like long before you became a student. (probably not you personally but yk, the girl you were before you became a woman in uni).

We initially began with the intention of creating a sense of nostalgia.

Our first idea was to have someone in a waiting room or an office feeling bored or rejected, and in that moment they seek some comfort and find themselves jumping back into a universe were they're a kid again.

This story altered a bit due to logistics but for the most part, it stays the same. A woman comes home after work. She's defeated, tired. She scrolls through TV channels and stumbles across an old show she used to watch as a child, throwing the viewer into her memory-scape and we explore childhood from her eyes.

We knew we wanted to make it pretty hazy and fuzzy and soft when it came to the flashback, with lots of garish, dreamy lighting with a bright and colourful kids show playing in the back that feels very fantastical rather than plain reality, because it is a dreamscape after all.

Also possibly thinking about some shadow puppets because what do kids love more than getting imaginative with a little spot of light on their hands.

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Workshopping

The time has come for us to actually work on a film set and make a film. We're collaborating across modules so each aspect is taught under a different scope and we combine all the pieces together.

The producers, directors, and writer are in Film Workshop and they send us folk in On-Set Production a pitch to work on their films...Now it's up to us to choose which ones we want to work on and we need to pitch ourselves basically.

However, the annoying part is it's all done virtually and through a third-party. So there's very little direct contact with the HoDs, unless you know who's on what film and approach them in person.

I'll show you my application....

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ASC MAGAZINE

I loved Civil War. I saw it in the cinema and it left me with this gut-wrenching feeling even after the film was finished, and so this was a pretty interesting read.

The look of Civil War is described as "abrasive" which I think is actually very well portrayed in the film. What gave it this quality was its approach with the question of-

"What happens in the moment before and after the picture."

When you watch the film you do become very cautious of the situations the characters face and then consider, a bit more introspectively, the circumstances at the time of a snapshot. It says this intense image is a lot more terrifying than you realise.

Something that surprised me was the fact that they had no storyboards or pre-vis for this film, in their attempt to hold the authenticity. They obviously just didn't know about Andrew's nifty apps. The film's visual style is mostly inspired by newsreel footage, and in my opinion it does maintain a certain accuracy that keeps it grounded.

One way is through some innovative camera work. The camera they used (DJI's Ronin 4D Camera System) allowed for a steadicam stability, but also some fast and dynamic movement.

In this film we're constantly jumping in and out of action, and it just hits you, so the camera works for smooth transitions between shots that takes you from stable to a fluid chaos.

Another beautiful aspect of the film are those beautifully lit night scenes. The lighting was very minimal, as they used minimalist lighting set-ups, putting the emphasis and reliance on practical light sources and then enhancing them with Maxi-Brutes and Asteras to create that war-torn, eerie atmosphere.

This worked to create a tense, immersive atmosphere. Especially in dark confined spaces.