trystanevansfilmmaker-blog

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Responce to my Showreel.

Apart from Steve giving me some feedback , I decided to share my showreel on facebook to see what my family and friends thought of it. I didn't leave it up for long before posting this but it had already amassed seven likes in under 2 hours! also as you can see Ben Thompson commented on it commending me which gave me a great sense of achievement.

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My Previous CV Compared To My New One.

Under you find my previous CV I wrote in March of 2017, then under that you will find my more recent produced CV. As you can see at first glance my new one is alot more colurful and captivating. I have cut don all of the unnessasery information, leving only the vitaly important, you will also knotice that the information provided on my new CV is a lot more toilored to my idesired industry.

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My personal Statement.

I had previously writer a personal statement but it was to juvenile, focusing on jobs i had done years ago, i decided to rewrite it with the industry in mind. I had read on the BBC website that you shouldn't make claims with out backing them up, which is what I started to do after this points this makes total, logical sense to me.

And here is my personal statement:

My name is Trystan and I am an outgoing, friendly and avant-garde kind of person, I work well with large groups of people as you will see from Its All About The P.My primary job role is director as I work well with people and can respectfully take lead with ease as my showreel articulates. 

I have directed every project I have been involved with in university and this has developed my skills and taught me a huge amount along the way. The more I interact with people , the more I learn about their motivations and personalities. I then take this information and integrate it into the chiseling of my characters. I also am passionate for writing and can put stories across in a natural and organic fashion which you will see in both my penultimate and graduate film.

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Business Card Response.

I had shown my card’s to a bunch of people and they all gave me very positive feed back but this was something I couldn't show ton my blog. Therefore I decided to upload my designs to facebook in order to get some tangible feedback, as you can see the post was liked by 33 different people! and these weren't just my peers they were people from all walks of life and all ages.

This made me very happy and has lead me to believe that I have hit the nail on the head.

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A small tester film, field testing some smoke grenades I bought with a scene idea in mind. Perry Higgins edited and camera op, Paolo Orza acting and myself camera op and directing. We shot entirely on an iPhone 7 camera and used natural lighting. 

We only shot on an iPhone because it was easy and quick, plus i wanted to see how good something would turn out being shot on a phone, as after uni i will not have access to much more than my phone in the way of video camera.

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Feedback:

I had emailed Steve in regards to some feedback on my showreel and website, he responded quickly with appraisal and a handful of positive criticism.

Firstly he said my website is an excellent and professional platform from which to launch myself after university. He especially liked the photo slider on my home page, which I have left exactly how it was.

He also commented on my logo saying that it was GREAT! which is good because I put a lot of effort into it.

The main criticisms were easily sorted out, he said that my 'about me' page was less successful due to a few reasons. Firstly the picture I used was from facebook, not from set like the rest of my pictures. He said that my photo is out of sync with the other natural work photos, therefore I took a portrait picture of my face and put in there and admittedly it looks a lot more professional now. He also advised me that having highlighted text on the 'about me' page is a bad idea, as he finds that it never looks good, so I removed that swiftly.

He said that my 'credits' tab was very good quality but he suggested improving it by featuring links to the films underneath them. After this i sourced all of the links and placed them with the corresponding films, I managed to do this for all but one which Is unfortunately no where online.

Steve said that my showreel was EXCELLENT with a good selection of film clips, he did say that it would be improved by utilising sync sound, I thought about doing this but felt that my showreel was stronger without it. He helpfully suggested that I feature subtitles for the clips to inform the audience as to the name of the film and a small amount of information.  

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This is my second year film I directed and wrote, it was the first major piece of work I had made but i am very proud of the final outcome.

A Ride with the Buffalo is a British crime short film that takes place in a pub, we meet Mallory who is a professional criminal planing out her first big score but she needs a little help from the Buffalo Brother's.

The sound edit could have been better and the film would have benefited hugely form doing Foley work. Unfortunately we couldn't do everything we wanted as we didn't have the technical skill at the time but we did at least attempt everything we had envisioned. 

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This was a film I made back in Swansea, South Wales when was in university doing an art foundation degree. I released it in 2014, so 3 years ago, looking at it its nice to compare to my work now to see how far I have come. I tried to capture the lifestyle and attitude towards the world that the people feature in it posses. I was trying to portray that good vibes are everywhere, if you focus on them, the bad ones don’t seem like such a problem. I really love this film because I think it really captures the emotion of the group of people at that time, it is my attempt of a snapshot of a tight nit subculture that I was involved with. These people were my family and I wanted to do them justice with this film and I believe that I did achieve that.

I hope you enjoy and really feel what we were feeling at the time.

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Here is a sort video I found about directors communicating with actors.

They asked some of their favorite talented friends "What should you never say to an actor?" Not only did they all have amazing stories, but in the process they gave me some fantastic advice.

The most important piece of information I took from this was that when you find a good recipe for working with an actor, that will not work with everyone on set. I must remember that although they are all actors, they are all different people and different people have different needs. I have to tailor my directing method to the person i am working with. If a recipe is good don’t change it but when you have different ingredients, you have to seriously rethink your approach.

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See link:

http://www.raindance.org/10-things-you-should-never-do-on-a-film-set/

This is an article taken from RainDance festivals website, it has come from a very reputable source, therefore the information provided must be vital!

It features a list of things you should never do on the set of a film, it gives great detail and reason for every one of its points.

Here is a small breakdown of the 10 things you must NEVER do on a film set:

10 - Shout.

9 - Run anywhere.

8 - Ignore your radio / Not learn how it works.

7 - Sit down.

6 - Talk back.

5 - Interrupt the Director when he’s working with Actors.

4 - Interrupt the 1st AD – ever.

3 - Point at anyone or anything.

2 - Touch things that aren’t your department.

1 -  Let your Actors see the monitor.

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Director Research:

See website:

http://www.lavideofilmmaker.com/filmmaking/how-to-become-a-film-director.html

This website featured a few paragraphs outlining a technique that I wasn't aware of before known as  “Holding the script hostage”.

Holding the script hostage

“Holding the script hostage” is a situation in which a director has written or otherwise controls a script that is highly desirable to production companies. Having secured blazing desire for the script from these production companies, the director then makes it clear that he will only release the script if he is allowed to direct the film.

Holding a desirable script hostage is undoubtedly a huge help in being hired to direct a feature film. It was used by James Cameron to secure the director’s chair for “The Terminator”, and even then most companies were reluctant to let him direct, even though they badly wanted the script. James Cameron was careful to turn down all offers until one little production company agreed to let him direct.

Another director who successfully held his script hostage is Len Wiseman, who was allowed to direct “Underworld” just so that they could get hold of the script.

It goes without saying that holding the script hostage only really works if you already have some sort of showreel. Even if a production company falls madly in love with your script, when you tell them that you will only sell it to them if they let you direct it, they will ask you for a sample of something you have directed in the past. If you don’t have a reel, you are not a director and have no business holding the script hostage. You can try, but the odds are against you. In any case, holding the script hostage only works if the script has irresistible commercial appeal.

What I have learned from this article:

This has given me vital information as I both write and direct and have been thinking about how to lock down both roles in a decent size production for a while. Although you have to play hard ball, I believe I can do it, I believe when I have the script that I believe in, I will be willing to do anything in order to direct my baby.

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Director Research

See link:

https://stephenfollows.com/become-film-director/

This website features the 3 challenges that directors face, I thought this was useful as it could be applied at any level.

The three challenges facing every wannabe director:

There are no ‘necessary’ qualifications to becoming a director; you don’t have to have a certain level of education, you don’t need to pass an entry test (such as the Bar exam for lawyers) and you don’t need any kind of professional membership (such as a union card).  However, you do eventually need to convince producers, financiers, public funding bodies and other gatekeepers that you’re a director worth supporting. 

 This mammoth challenge can be broken down into three smaller challenges…

Get good at the craft of directing

Learn how the industry functions

Get known (and liked) by the gatekeepers

The most common paths to becoming a film director:

It also featured this graph, which i had not seen anything like before.

I have studied film on a long course and I make short films, this is very positive as it makes me believe I am doing the right thing to go down the path i wish to follow.

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Director Research

See link:

http://study.com/how_to_become_a_movie_director.html

I looked at this website because it features an extremely helpful section on the requirements and also some very useful information. 

Here is a small summary of the most useful points:

Career Requirements -

Degree Level:

Bachelor's degree (not required)

Degree Field:

Journalism, film, communication, acting, arts management, or a comparable discipline

Experience:

Advancement is typically commensurate with experience

Key Skills:

Communication, leadership, management, business, and creativity

Average Salary:

$105,550 is the mean annual salary for movie producers and directors

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (May 2015)

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Director Research

See this link:

https://nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk/job-profiles/tv-or-film-director#skills-required

This is a link from the national careers website run by the UK government that is focused on becoming a film director.

This is the main information that I found useful I took form this website:

Skills required:

excellent organisational and planning skills

the ability to make decisions quickly

leadership and motivational skills

Your day-to-day duties may include:

meeting producers to plan filming schedules and resources

developing scripts or ideas for programmes

developing storyboards

deciding how the production should look and where it should be filmed

hiring the cast and crew

explaining technical requirements to different teams

directing actors on set or location

supervising the editing

On smaller productions, you may be involved in production work.

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Report On ‘Its All About The P’

After first conceiving the basic idea, I looked for some films I knew of for research from which I would take inspiration, which I would use for the writing and directing our short film. The main films that I researched are This is England(Meadows, 2006), Love Actually(Curtis, 2003) & Human Traffic (Kerrigan, 1999). One of the biggest elements the group and myself wanted to portray is that all these films do well was that these film posses a true reflection of life, they are based entirely in reality. This has made the story's verisimilitude top notch and I believe is one of the reasons these films are so attractive to British audiences. Both This is England and Human traffic are so key to our project because both films are focused on the cultural and ideological implications of British culture on the general public at the time. This is something we found very interesting as these films are not only athletically pleasing they pose a message and a new state of mind is seemingly bestowed upon those who watch

Il start with the main film I looked into which was Shane Meadows 2006 feature This is England. The characters are played by a talented cast which really uphold the verisimilitude for the entire duration which causes you to fall into the story ever more, this is something I wanted to portray, a true representation of everyday life, from the good to the bad. The story reflects a state of mind in Britain at a point of time which is something we would like to emulate, and just like This is England, stand to challenge with the message of our film.

I looked at Justin Kerrigan's Human traffic(1999) . It was this film that pushed me further towards portraying the theme of solidarity, which is one I feel we hit on the head. Much like the way the cast band together for a common purpose, raving in their case, to save Mr. P and his shop in ours.

Another film I drew inspiration from was Richard Curtis’s film Love Actually (2003), there were a few main reasons for looking into this film, The way in which the story characters are intertwined, this is something that works well in film, if done correctly, if done incorrectly it can be very confusing and will effect that narrative. The film is fueled by love, by the love of one and another, it is the motivation behind everyone's actions in the film. Love is something we need more of in our culture and iv very much something I wanted to portray. However this film portrays love all across the board in a very standard fashion, very boy meets girl. This is something I have little interest in emulating as I find that it is quite a simple, very over used concept. I wanted to push the theme of a love, not a love for one person but for people, love for your surroundings and things you love that make you happy. Love is unbiased and unprejudiced, this film outlines that well through the use of story and the actors  

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CV Research: The BBC’s guide to Writing The Perfect CV.

Please see link:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/academy/production/article/art20130702112136472

Liam gave me this link, saying that it was very helpful when writing his CV, I jumped at the opportunity to look at it as it is written by the kind of company I want to get work with. 

The main pieces of information I took from here were:

Keep it relevant

Keep it concise

Ask yourself "So what?"

Keep it factual

List achievements rather than replicating a job description

Talk positively and enthusiastically - use empowering words like "Responsible for", "Ensured" etc

Don’t have false modesty - if you are proud of what you have achieved get it on your CV

Don’t presume people know what you have done - spell it out

There are no hard and fast rules. Except one: a CV is a sales pitch. So make sure it doesn’t sell you short.

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How My Finished Showreel Package Looks:

Here is my printed off Showreel package, luckily Eldon have the facilities to print directly into a disk, you just have to have the right size but I did because I used templates. It came out looking just like it did on the computer, the printing process lost none of the colour or quality.

I also opted to get my DVD cover printed at the same station as they offered thick matte paper which I was ensured would aid me in creating a more professional product. I am very happy with how they look and I'm even more happy about the fact that I have kept a consistent appearance with all products.