What did you do?

Today was our shoot day, and we filmed our short film that we have been writing and planning over the past couple of weeks. Our film is about a woman who is struggling to manage her job, due to her alcohol addiction.

At the begging of the day the cinematographers were shown the camera equipment that they would be using for the day and were reminded how to operate them. As I was the director I sat with our two actors, explaining each scene and more about their characters. We then all met back up as a production team and were ready to start filming.

Helping us today was Daren Eagles, who had already given us two master classes on previous weeks about cinematography and editing. Daren suggested that it would be good for our actors if we started off filming some simple scenes first, to get them used to being on camera.

After our actors became more comfortable on camera, we started filming more complicated scenes involving dialogue. One scene that was challenging was one where our main character Jackie arrives at work drunk and gets in trouble with her boss. This scene was challenging as it was quite long and we were having some problems with outside sound intervening with our shots.

The final scene to film involved the character walking outside to the shops and buying alcohol. This was another challenging scene to film, due to us being out in the public, we had to be mindful of bystanders, entering our shot. We also had the problem of not being able to control sound and lighting. However, I we were still able to still film the shots that we needed.

What have you learned?

This week, I learnt the importance of time management when filming and the need of sticking to deadlines.  This is something I think as a team, struggled with slightly due to indecisiveness. This led to the final 30 minutes of the day being rushed, and we did not have as much time as we would have liked. However, I have since learnt the importance of sticking to a set schedule and how planning out your shoot beforehand can be helpful.

How have you worked with others?

This my role was the director, so my job involved working closely with the actors helping them with their performance, and leading the rest of my team. I believe that I did this well and worked well with everyone in my team. Although I was the director, I was still open to other people’s opinions, which I believe is important as it shows team work.

What do you need to develop?As I mentioned earlier, one of the problems that my team faced when filming was poor time management. I think that this was due to us not being as organised as we could have been. I think that organisation is a very important skill that I need to improve. To do this, I think planning beforehand will be useful.

What did you do?

This week, we focussed on cinamatography and sound, and had the opportunity to work with some professional camera and sound equipment.

Firstly we met with Daren Eagles, who gave us a master class on cinamatogaphy, where we looked at camera angles, framing and the effect of colour. Daren taught us the importance of the rule of thirds and the 180֯ rule, showing us how if this not done correctly, it can make the audience feel uneasy. During the presentation we were also shown examples of films where they had used framing, colours or camera angles effectively. For example we were shown a shot from the film ‘Submarine’ where  the love interest Jordana is wearing a red coat. This is effective as the colour red is often asscotiated with love, but also danger and Jordana is a selfish character, so she symbolises with both.

After Daren’s presentation on Cinamatography, we had the opportunity of working with the cameras, to practice what he had taught us. We were given a brief of the main character having to deliver a message to another character. I found it was valuable experience because as well as being able to experiment with different camera angles, practicing the skills that Daren had just previously taught us, we were also getting ourselfs familiar with the cameras that we will be using when we film our final short film.

Once we had practiced working with the cameras, we then got the opportunity of meeting Rob Speranza, who taught us about sound. We learnt the different ways of achieving good sounds, looking at Foley artists. Rob also taught us about problems when filming that can effect the sound, such as a microphone being too close to a fridge.

Similar too what we did earlier, when we were practicing filming with the cameras, we had the opportunity of working with the sound equipment, making ourselfs familiar with it.

The final 30 minutes of the day was spent working with our mini groups, developing ideas for our script. This week we decided on our plot and began to story board possible shots.

What did you learn?

This week I was able to learn more about camera and sound equipment, which was very useful as I have not had very much experience with working with this kind of equipment before. I was able to learn how to use the camera, including how to focus and zoom images. As well as familarising myself with the camera, I also learnt how to use the sound equipment, and learnt how to avoid poor quality sound.

How have you worked with others?

This week I belive I worked well with others when we were working within our groups, working with the camera and sound equipment. I believe I worked well as we were all supporting and helping eachover learn how to work the equipment. We were all asking eachover questions when we were unsure how to do something which sped up the process of filming.

What do you need to develop?

An area I believe I still need to develop within film is my knowledge of certain cinematography rules, such as rule of thirds and the 180֯ rule, as I was not familiar with this. I think I can further this knowledge by looking at more examples from films where they use this, like what we were doing with Daren Eagles.

What did you do?

Firstly we got to meet industry expert, Paul Fraser who told us about his experience of being a script writer, as well as giving us industry advice. While working with Paul, I was involved in a group script writing task where we were all passing round our scripts that we had written, and advancing the plot. This task was very valuable for myself, as I learnt the importance of the plot of the film and how character development can affect this. After this task, we were able to ask Paul questions, which gave us the opportunity to learn more about script writing and working in the industry.

After being able to meet Paul Fraser we had the opportunity of meeting Caroline Cooper Charles who explained what it was like being a producer and also explained the entire process of making a film. This class was very eye opening for myself, as I was able to learn the high scale team that was involved in making a film. We again were able to ask Caroline Cooper Charles questions and she shared her experience in working in the industry.

Our final master class or the day was with Rebecca Mark-Lawson, who taught us all about script writing and gave us advice on how to make a good script, including the layout of a good script. While working with Rebecca we watched an award winning short film called 2:20 and compared it to the original script, showing how this can dramatically change. Finally we got into a mini groups and started thinking of our own ideas for our script, for our own short films with Rebecca’s help.

What have you learnt?

This week I have been able to understand more about the process of making a film and the different stages involved. As well as learning about the different stages I was able to learn about the different people involved and how they contribute to the film. Before this week, I did not properly understand the role of the producer and why they are such an important part of the making of a film. I learnt that they are responsible for the legal side of film making, employing the cast and crew, advertising and financing and planning the budget. Learning this has been very eye opening.

Another area of film that I was able to learn more about was script writing. I was able to learn how to layout a script and the importance of this. I also learnt that each page of a script should we one minute of screen time, and that a script for a feature film could take up to three years to create. All of this information I feel is very valuable.

How have you worked with others?

Part of the task this week involved myself getting together with our mini teams, where we talked about potential ideas for our short film. I believe i worked well with my team in this task because as well as myself contributing potential ideas, I listened to those of my team and also expanded on them. I believe that I had the correct balance of being supportive, as well as being critical, which I think is important.

What do you need to develop?

Although this week we were able to learn about the entire process of film making, I believe I still need to further my knowledge into more detail as due to time limitations, this master class was quite brief. I believe that the best way to further my knowledge is by speaking to the industry experts in the future weeks, asking them important questions.