C.P.D. lecture 4

Robert Young & ...... ......

"The Wraith" was a local production that utilized local talent as well as students from the college and its facilities. Robert Young came in to deliver a lecture and talk about his experiences making  "The Wraith" as well as some interesting accounts of previous work.

He went into some detail to talk about his own practices and methodology when working. he talked about how the film-making and script-writing practices had changed over the years and how today's technology had made his most current production easier and less time consuming.

what I found the most interesting was listening to Robert Young talk about how he approaches directing and what he regarded as good directing. I understood that his job involved a lot of input before filming and how assembling  a good collection of crew around you was extremely important. He explained that  a good casting director was very important as he maintained that  if they find the best cast for your film , half your job is done. He talked about how even through careful planning in pre-production, things didn't  always go as planned during the production of " The Wraith".  He explained that some people ended up sometimes taking on multiple roles to assure the production went as smoothly as possible. He also talked about a planned stunt that couldn't take place because certain logistics had been overlooked. I thought it was rather impressive , that a man of Robert's age still had the drive and the passion to make films and television and was also willing to embrace an ever changing technological climate.

I really appreciated the chance to speak to a notable director, as It's something that rarely gets any investigation. I gained some great insight into how a director works and how he faced some of the common problems in being a director.

That evening, I was lucky enough to be invited to a screening of The Wraith in the studio theater. I really enjoyed being amongst a lot of people who were involved in the production process. the screening had a great atmosphere and it certainly signaled how beneficial this could be to aspiring local filmmakers and the college.

CPD Lecture 2

Peter Cadwell

In the second week , our visiting lecturer was writer, producer and actor Peter Cadwell. Growing up in Cornwall eventually he went on to study at the " Central school of speech and drama " and was at the college to talk about his experiences in the television and film industry. a lot of the focus was on his first work as a producer, " The Fighter's Ballad " ( Dir. Ukpo T.S. 2011)  for which he was securing distribution.

I found him to be a very engaging presence, who 's experience in the theatre certainly helped him to maintain the group's attention. He was candid about the many obstacles he had to overcome in his professional career and the personal sacrifices he had to make to be able to commit to his work.

As many of us, are looking into directing, writing and producing, it was extremely helpful to have Peter tell us his stories and give us advice and tip on how to survive in the entertainment industry.

He engaged us in some worthwhile exercises, some of us were asked to pitch our ideas whilst he acted as an executive looking for new projects. He asked us individually why we were  on the course, which although seemed a bit obvious out of context here but on the day it served to be something of a challenge amongst the students.

By the time of this lecture, I had enquired about a possible PGCE placement within the college, which quite frankly I didn't think would be a possibility a few months earlier. So I had already been looking about carving myself a possible future, so although I wasn't intent on trying to get myself work within the industry straight away, I found his story extremely interesting and  in fact,  some of things he said did make me think about how important the opportunity to further my studies would be if I was offered a placement and how it may mean making some serious personal sacrifices.

Overall, I found it to be a very informative and entertaining lecture that I think gave my peers and myself a lot to think about.

Using what I've got

Using what I've got

Whilst researching for this film and thinking about what I wanted to make versus what I thought I could achieve. I decided to watch Kevin smith's documentary that accompanies "Clerks" (dir. K. smith 1992). It details his account of his practices and  challenges throughout its production and gives some interesting insight into the methodologies he developed  during pre-production all the way to the marketing and distribution of " Clerks".

In one particular section he describes how he decided to write a screenplay based on what surroundings he knew he had access to i.e. a convenience store and a video rental shop. He claims he was influenced by what Robert Rodriguez did on his early work. He used what he knew was available to him and wrote that into the story. For example I knew I had access to a farm where  my friends lived, which meant I had a location and actors, which reduced my need for catering, transport and accommodation  for the cast and crew.

I knew as far as equipment went , obviously the college could provide me with what I needed. The first problem I came across was  the funding for the makeup effects I wanted, I originally looked into contact lenses and Halloween face paint so I could make my chosen actor look suitably demonic. But after some research I realised that It was too costly given my financial situation. It was when I broke down the actual cost of the props that It dawned on me that with the contact lenses, you may need cleansing lotion and applicators, you need brushes and pads for the makeup and so on. because of this I decided to make a risky decision and use After effects  instead, a program that I have very little understanding of but I tool I knew would be at my disposal, I also understood that this would be another challenge for me which is something that had given me  a sense of achievement in my previous project.

Finance was not my only issue. time is also playing a part in my process. I've had to find employment which has reduced my availability significantly. Due to the nature of my job, I will be working the kinds of hours where other people would be typically available. To ensure that I get the final product I want or at least as close to it as possible, I have chosen to take on crew members only when absolutely necessary. for example:  I took on an acting role in the film , so I enlisted the help of three of my fellow students, knowing that they would likely be available that day and that it shouldn't impact too much on their own projects.

Ultimately, I know can operate a camera, I can direct, produce and I now know that I have the skills needed to edit the film, which is where I think the film will really take shape, I think I'm confident enough that I can create something worthwhile and something that whilst is entertaining can showcase many of the different skills that I have picked up during my studies.

REFLECTIONS

Reflection on the module

At this point in my studies, I think that It would be appropriate to recap on the things that i have learnt whilst I have been preparing my film.

During the beginning stages of this module, we were asked to think about what it was that we wanted to achieve for our final project, this involved  group sessions where we were encouraged to take turns discussing our ideas and our practices for bringing life to these ideas. we were encouraged to think about  the size of the film, the budget, the actors and the crew, the equipment, how it would look etc.

Over the next couple of weeks , we were shown examples of films and  visual accounts of practices which may be useful for us when carrying out the planning and pre- production of our 

works

films such as Run Lola Run (Dir. T. Twyker 1998) and Boy and Bicycle ( Dir. R. Scott 1956 ). I found the latter very interesting, it was filming on next to nothing , moneywise on very obvious locations but there was an depth and richness to it that belied it's modest beginnings. there seemed to be an emotional quality  and a visual style that was both surprising and insightful

We were asked to study shots from " Olympia" by Leni Riefenstahl  in regards to  framing, the composition of certain shots. In fact what we were asked to do was to draw them, so as to be an exercise in storyboarding, but quite frankly I found it very frustrating as my illustration skills leave a lot to be desired. It did get me to reflect on how it can be very hard to communicate what you  can see in your head , even with the skills to draw it to present to your crew.

Overall, I have found the exercises presented very helpful. One such occurrence I remember because we were told to not let our surroundings us, we were encouraged to look at what was around us and use it to its fullest abilities. I know that this certainly rings true for my film, because it got me thinking about possible locations and ways to make my film as economic as possible, as I was basically working on a budget of next to nothing. I would have to use all the resources available to me, which lead me to really think about the narrative of my film and how I could build the notion on the " lack of money" into the film itself. I have realised that I may have to wear many different hats in terms of this production to be able to get the desired result.

Getting on with it!

Getting on with it

As much as I can prepare for this film , I can have all the risk assessments in place, call sheets, equipment logs etc, It was important to just start shooting. I thought the best course of action would be to shoot at Lanjore farm first. On the 11th of March I knew that the weather was looking good, everyone who I wanted to be in the film was more or less available to help.

I took a Z1 camera and a zoom recorder and a M60 mic down to the farm as well as a pint of fake blood, which bore the label " Vampire Blood " and then stated on the back the ironic instruction of    " do not get near eyes, mouth or face ".  I didn't really have anything scripted for this particular evening of shooting as most of the footage would simply be moments of action that were to make up a fake  trailer and some other footage to be  woven into the interview sequences.

So this could be considered an exercise in improvisation, I think, in some ways, this helped these actors , or non-actors, get involved in the creative process at some level. Suggestions were passed around and although I voiced my concerns regarding the scenes and  how I wanted them to play out,  I was more than happy to let the actors come up with their own lines and to dictate their own performances.

I think it made for a relaxing and enjoyable experience, being able to treat the situation with a sense of fun allowed them to feel comfortable and through feeling comfortable, I think they were more willing to try different things.

Sometimes it's hard to remember, that you are they only person that really has any idea of how the film may turn out or at least, how you'd like it to come across to other people. The people who had kindly given their time to be in my film are all non-actors and people with little to no knowledge about film production or film-making, so they're never quite sure whether or not they're going to look  ridiculous. I really wanted them to be at ease and happy, I tried to utilise their time as swiftly as possible, so they wouldn't be kept away from their own commitments. I made sure that the set ups were quick and simple, after all I was trying to emulate the spontaneity of people like Sam Raimi  and John Carpenter, so It was important to me , to not make things overtly staged or technical, I purposefully used as many natural light sources as possible and the gain settings on the camera as well as the filters to try and give the footage an aged and amateurish look.

All in all, I had managed to get all the shots I wanted within a relatively short shooting window of 3.30pm to 8.30 pm and then It was a simple task of taking that footage home, capturing it and preparing for the next day of shooting.