Unit 1.3 - Evaluation

Whilst we were managing and organising our first film production. There were many things that I learnt along the way.

When the group were faced with problems, we coped well, however there were small mistakes in areas, such as in the area we  were shooting in, even though we were given permission from the council in the pre production stage, we still had to wait for the general public to clear so we could film, this was a problem at the time because as time went on, the day lost light, so we had to rush certain takes, these were however done again on another day because when looking at them, they did not look professional enough. As our first woods scene, all went wrong, we had to do it again, this was a major problem to be solved, this was because it was hard to take in to account he fact that we were on set for about four hours and we couldn't use the footage, the reason for this was because for some of the shots, the lighting was dark and and the camera was not always in focus. These were large errors as it effected our shooting schedule arrangement and set us back one day, however, we dealt with the problem quite well, as a few days after we did the Church scene and the next day we re-did the woods, with clearer lighting and good focus, next time, we know that tee will check all of the potential issues in advance so we can address them so we don't waste time, but we learnt from these mistakes and improved our other footage.

Shooting Schedule: Our shooting schedule was detailed, we each knew the date and time of when we had to be at the shoot, this helped us as we were able to read when to get there. The schedule also covered how long we would be there, this was also helpful, however, the duration sometimes went over as we did not always take in to account that the sun light would fade and there would be general public sometimes walking through a shot, this sometimes held us up. The equipment that was needed on each shoot also was written in the schedule, this allowed us to focus on important matters rather than worrying at the last minute of what equipment we needed and where we would get it from. There were sometimes issues with timing, this was because sometimes we did not take in to account the fact the public transport was busy and can hold us up, there were a couple of times when transport would slow us down and this would effect the production stage a small bit, as we would lose 10-15 minutes of time, for the street and woods, this did not matter as we could simply add the time back on, however for the Church, it could not fully be added back on because we were given 2 hours to film. On the shooting schedule we also stated how many shots would be used for each scene, this was not followed up, this is because once we got to the location, we filmed between 40-100 shots in each location, especially for the church and woods the scenes that we filmed were considerably more than what were stated in the shooting schedule, however this was not a major issue as we just did the shots we wanted to do by following the shot list and occasionally the storyboard.

Storyboard: The storyboard was detailed and thorough, there were 5 pages of shots and this allowed us to remember how each individual scene would look like, we did not always use the storyboard however, this is because on shoot, we sometimes added other scenes right there.

Shot List: The shot list was written in the correct order of how we would film the shots, I decided that we would shoot the street scene last as it was the easiest to film, the church was first as a date and time were set and the woods were second, so the two most difficult scenes were done first. Within all of those scenes, we did not always stick to the shooting script, this was because as something else came up, we wanted to film it straight away, or sometimes on set, we would think of a small scene to add in, however, overall the shot list was organised and detailed enough to work with on set.

Location Recce's: As there were three people in our group, we each took responsibility for one location recce each, this was because there was a lot of work to do and we all knew a particular location quite well, most things were taken in to consideration correctly when carrying them out, for instance, the location recce of the church showed that there was not much background noise, this is because it was quite and know one else was in there at the time. It was however a little echoey, this was not a large problem, however on shoot, we found out that even at the back you had to be quite because you could easily be heard from the front and this could effect the sound in the film, this happened a few times and when looking back on the footage, some of it could not be used as there was a small echo of someone else footsteps. We had to check the lighting in the church also, this was fine as the main light was not too bright and overall it provided a nice dim view on the picture whilst it could easily be seen. There was one issue with the lighting after pre production location recce at the church, this was the fact that there was a large window on the roof, so the sun shone in and sometimes reflected badly on the picture. We were given permission to use the church by the Vicar, this allowed us to film for two hours without any distractions.

Actors: As our main actor was already in the group, a major benefit to this was the fact that he knew the story quite well, he knew what character he was playing and understood how to pull it off. This was good for us and saved us a lot of time because the actor knew the script. The second actor was not in the group, but the role was not entirely difficult, however, there were a few issues, such as on set, he was wrapped underneath the bed sheets and in the dirt for over an hour, to make this easier on both the actor and crew, next time we should plan out the timing a little bit better for when we were on shoot. Both actors were the right choice for the actors, neither actor was asked at the last minute, both knew they would be in the short film quite early in the pre production stages, which was easier for us in the group as we could then focus on more pressing matters,

Crew Roles: Each person in our team knew their crew role will, however, at the start it was more difficult as we were not as organised, however, we improved our organisation and we were then able to concentrate on our jobs in hand. The Producer (Ashley) knew what he was responsible for as did the Director (Kenny) and as did the Camera Operator (James), because of the act that we all knew our jobs and there involvement, it meant that we were able to carry out our jobs and responsibilities quicker and better. Which by doing so, we knew that it would help in the production stage if we all knew our role thoroughly. The props were bought in time also, which dod not slow us down during the shoot, we did not have to buy anything just before filming, it was all done before hand.

Equipment Checks: The equipment was checked when we booked it out, we made sure that we would take the camera at the end of the day so wee could let it charge throughout the day, a tripod and a lighting kit were also booked out in advance, they were easily collected at the end of the day, there were no issues involving equipment.

Call Sheets: The call sheets were done correctly, we all knew how to contact each other and how to get in touch to ask certain things before and after and between each shoot. This turned out to be rather important, tis is because we were able to find out where a group member was if they were running a little bit late. The call sheets enabled us to get the resources there on time, such as the props, this was because we had to transport them, the props were objects such as, the shovel, fake blood, a plastic knife and a bed sheet for the woods, fake blood for the street and fake blood and a plastic knife for the Church.

In conclusion; next time, to make our short five minute film a success, we will make sure, that in the pre production stages, that everything is done properly and on time, I will also make sure that the shot list and storyboard are both individually followed while on set, to make the filming easier on the actors and the the crew. We have also understood that time is money in this industry and being a late can't be accepted, whether it only be 10 minutes, so leaving earlier will be a major factor to be changed next time.

Comments on 22.3 and 16.3

I agree with the feedback that I was given back for 22.3 and 16.3.

Editors Log, EDL- Resubmission - unit 2

I have the role of the editor, this means that I am responsible for the film being made and put together. This means that I must first put all of the footage, both good and bad in to Final Cut Pro X and create bins. As there are three scenes all together in this short film, it means that I will need to create three separate bins. The first scene is in the woods, so I will create a bin saying - Shovel - Short Film - Woods. For the second, I will do the same but I will say Street, instead of Woods, as it is a different scene, for the final bin I will name it Church.

Each separate Bin will contain the footage from each scene, I will now have to sought through the footage and label what is good and bad, I will also have to label it to what type of shot it is, whether it be a close up, mid shot or long shot etc.


Bin 1 - Woods

Bin 2 - Street

Bin 3 - Church














 Once the edit has finished, I will need to export the footage on to the desktop of my computer.

I will now save the file by the Title, this is the final edit.

Now it is on the desktop, as an editor, I must open it in Microsoft Excel

This is what it looks like once it has been placed in to Microsoft Excel

I can now see that the Exported file is saved and in my folder as it is the bottom left of the folder window. By doing this, it means that other editors like myself are able to access the footage and the final draft and edit it further than me, maybe by adding more effects to it or another soundtrack.

I can access the final cut pro x file here, once clicked on it will show all of the codes on Excel from the Final Cut Pro X footage. There are many benefits of saving it to an XML file, this is mainly because it will be accessible on any computer which has Final Cut Pro X installed, so as an editor, I can also edit on another computer.

 

Short Film - Shovel - Final Edit - Unit 2

Short Film - Shovel - Rough cut - Unit 2

Research Log Resubmission

Link	Format	Conclusion
1.)  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_W7DvKlsks	Video/Film	I watched this film and it gave me influences and ideas towards my short film.
2.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgVOU-r5GdM	Video/Film	The concept of the film and the title gave me the idea of combining both films.
3.) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099685/	Article	This IMBD article is from the film Goodfellas,showing its success for many years, one specific scene stood out for me for my film, this was a burying scene.
4.) http://www.bbfc.co.uk/what-classification/15	Website for Research	I looked at this website to gain knowledge in to how the BBFC rate there films, such as U,PG,12,12A,15,18.
5.) http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/film-festival.htm	Website for Research	By looking here, I found out that film festivals help promote the film makers name, gaining more popularity among audiences.
6.) http://www.bfi.org.uk	Website for Research	The British Film Institute have a short film festival and help promote young talents and short film ideas.
7.) http://www.amazon.com/Darkness-Comes-Dean-Koontz/dp/0491031521	Amazon/ Book - The Darkness Comes	When reading this book, i was impressed of the idea of demons risen up, so I thought I could reference it in my short film, for instance, when the person has been buried buy the character, that same person is not dead and kills the man who buried him, the man could be a demon.
8.) https://www.kickstarter.com/?ref=nav 9.) http://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/gang-leaders-thrive-thanks-to-global-nature-of-organised-crime-1.2530111 10.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_u6Tt3PqIfQ&list=PL84XaQzlRX3e6TMEc-iTxc6Ge0n601OP6 11.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUQhNGEu2KA&list=PL84XaQzlRX3e6TMEc-iTxc6Ge0n601OP6&index=4 12.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WP3J7Tu1oi0&list=PL84XaQzlRX3e6TMEc-iTxc6Ge0n601OP6&index=12	Research Website Research website  Short Film - Youtube Short Film - Youtube Short Film - Youtube	I found that this site allows support to people that need funding for short films, by helping the fund certain specific resources. Allowed me to find out the higher rates in organised crime. The short film helped me with trends and influences for my film The short film gave me dead for my film. The short film helped me understand what the audience are looking for within a short horror film

Research Portfolio - Resubmission

Research Portfolio

1.) Real World Influences:

As the short film that I wish to make is a horror, I had great influence for my idea from two films that are different to each other, these films are Goodfellas (1990) which follows the more thriller genre, I have also used this film as an influence to my idea because of the nature of the film, it is dark, the audience are constantly on edge, meeting the conventions for the thriller genre. The second film is called Burrried, a horror film made in 2014, just the idea of burying gave the idea of confining the two films together to creating a tense horror film, using a hook at the start when the character is getting buried, this will hook the audience by grabbing there attention in the opening seconds, making them think closly at the characters intentions.

2.) Box office reviews/influences:

The film goodfellas had a specific scene which I gained my idea from, which is a scene when they burry a dead body in the woods.

I also gained my idea through the film burried, the general idea of burried gaive me the idea of the thriller and horror being combined.

The BBFC (British board of film classification) will be able to access my film on YouTube, this means that they will be able to rate the film, whether it be a U,PG,12,12A,15 or 18. I believe my film should be rated a 15 certificate, this is because of the small amount of violence used and the horror involved. The BBFC will decided whether the film will have the power to ban the film from cinema release. The BBFC are also a non governmental organisation, they rate films on the basis of what is involved within the film, such as violence, language and sexual content

A news report I found showing that organised crime has risen and is helping gang leaders. 








































































I also gained influences and ideas by from the book 'The Darkness Comes' by Dean Kuntz, this book gave me ideas for my film, as it is horror related.

3.) The Budget:
To start, I will have to have a budget for the short film, the budget will consist of money that will go towards: Camera equipment, this will include the type of camera that will be used for the production, other costs will involve a tripod, the editing time which will be done in an editing sweet and also transport, by going from each location using public transport, however, as we are at college, we do not have to spend any money on equipment needed as it is provided for us, this is also the same with the editing time, as there is an editing room, public transport costs may be needed, as I will have to travel to the location where a scene is set. The budget will include the cost of any location, I will also include the cost of lunch and the transport costs, however on buses, we travel free, but not for trains.

Funding for locations, equipment and facilities:



Locations:

The location fees to go and take still photos and video footage in the media industry will cost £1800.  

However with locations, you would have an extremely limited amount of time, this is because you are on a tight schedule and working to a deadline and the money to the camera crew will go to waste because there would not have been enough shots taken, this would result in being sacked by the director. For my short film, I will be using a street, church and woods, the scene will be short as it is one minute long. During my film, I will need the woods, the street and an ally for my locations, meaning that I will have to think about the extra people in the background of the film as I am shooting.



Availability of Equipment: As we are in college we can easily book the equipment for free, whereas if we where doing this in the media industry, there would be prices for equipment.

Facilities: The facilities that will be used for production and post production. For the production, it is the set up that will be needed for the facilities, such as setting up the cameras ready for use, This also includes the lighting, Fr instance, this means that the lighting needs to be balanced for the audience to be able to watch it clearly. 

To tell the story of my film in the correct way, I will need good enough actors to help portray the characters in the correct way so the audience can believe in the story and get hooked from the start. By keeping the story entertaining also means to keep the story short, as it is a short film, there should not be a backstory because the film is just a minute long.

Whilst doing my research, I looked in to short film festivals, there are many of these that go on at the moment, including the London film festival and the rain dance film festival, the film festivals help get the person who made the films name out there, by showing a film in a short film festival, it helps promote your idea and your name.

I looked at the influences from short film produced on youtube and I decided to use the influences and trends that I learned from them, I looked mainly at short horror films as this is the genre that I want to make my film.

I looked at the short horror film 'Lights Out'

I also looked at the short film 'The Smiling Man'

I also looked at the short 'Light Out'

Beginning of Mood Board:                                                             

Woods, first scene, man digging hole and burying body in the hole.

The Shovel is one of the props that will be used for the film.    

    

Street

House

End.