Documentary Unit: Practise Filming

Last week, I spent the day with Neill Morris filming at 'Blake's Bistro' which is in Maidstone, Kent. We filmed footage for our practise documentary task. This footage included actuality, sequences and interviews which were to be edited into a short piece, focusing on business in the local area and the potential which it has. The filming went smoothly as we had already pre-planned everything that was going to be done, and the day went really well. We got plenty of nice shots for cutaways and establishing shots as well as nice actuality footage within the coffee shop. The people we worked with were professional and were very happy in the way in which we dealt with our filming and our said we represented the course very well. The piece has now been edited and is ready to be shown at our 'group crit' session on the 27th, and we are all happy with the finished piece!

And we even had time for a Coffee!

Direction Unit: My Final Piece

Heres the link to my final edit for my Direction Unit.

I'm happy with my shots and the way in which it looks. I think I've captured the tone and colour well and I'm pleased with the feedback I have received!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmNsORv1bqE

Direction Unit: Shooting

So today I have booked my equipment ready to shoot on friday! This will leave me the weekend. monday and tuesday morning to ensure that my 3 minute video is ready to be handed in and finish the Unit.

I have also confirmed with my actors that we are ready to shoot on Friday morning, which means the footage can be uploaded and ready to edit by friday morning. I know this is a very tight deadline but have the advantage of having editing software at home, meaning I can edit for as long or as often as i like, so that I'm happy with my final piece.

Acting Workshop with Steve Finn

Yesterday, we had our final workshop with Steve Finn, a television director. Steve also gives courses and training on acting and how to get a performance out of a non-professional actor or actress. 

In our workshop, we studied a scene and acted it out amongst ourselves in many different ways. This enabled us to open our eyes to the way in which we can adapt our work to what we have to work with. I learnt about using the camera to shape a performance correctly and how using objects and surroundings can make something appear so much more natural. 

I really thought that the workshop was worthwhile and was very valuable in terms of what we discussed. I also hope to use what I have seen and learnt and adapt it to my own pieces.

Direction Unit: Finalising my Ideas

So, Ive finally finalised my idea for my Direction piece. My initial idea of a chase was scrapped after too much deliberating over my 'theme' word of 'Shelter'. 

My new idea incorporates the theme of shelter throughout the 3 minutes, and also gives you a sense of the story before what you see on the screen and what might happen after, thanks to the theme word. This will only work if I can portray it in a way in which the audience believes the story.

My Story....

A young, scruffy-looking man stumbles through the park, passing a lady who looks at him in disgust, carrying his beer can mumbling to himself. He reaches a bench, where he sits, and soon starts injecting himself with heroin. The man gets his fix, throws the needle onto the grass and sits in silence. He starts to slouch and grumble as the drugs enter his system. after a short while, the lady who passed him previously sees him slouched in a bad state, walks over to him and steps on the needle which pierces her through her shoe and into her foot. She takes it out and places it on the bench next to the man. The man comes round from his fix to see what has happened, only to realise that the lady is his mother who he hasn't spoken to in many years because of his drug abuse. After seeing that he has harmed his own mother, he picks up the syringe and throws it into the bin and walks away from the bench, upset and distraught, leaving his mother at the bench, now unwell.

The Idea of using drug abuse to "SHELTER" from society, family and everyday life is what I am trying to portray from the beginning of the piece, ending with the idea of seeking "SHELTER" from drug abuse to get your life back on track. I would like to focus on the 'throwing of the syringe' as this could have great value in my story to portray my theme in a more understandable way, and I am now thinking of different ways in which I could shoot these 'iconic' moments. I am also thinking about different ways in which I can film the 'shoe' shot, which incorporates my prop into my piece.

I visited the park for the second time yesterday to have a better look at locations for filming and to ensure the surroundings will work for my shots.

I have to finalise all of my ideas and confirm with my actors so that I am ready to film within the next week and a bit and start editing as soon as possible to enable me to push my theme throughout the piece.

Direction Unit: Initial Ideas

After our first week back at the studios, Ive started to gain a good idea of how I would like my Direction Unit episode to look. 

At first, I struggled with the theme word I had chosen. My problem was that I couldn't connect or link this with my prop. My theme word that I chose was 'Shelter' and my prop was 'Shoe'. When I first chose these words, I had lots of different ideas buzzing around in my head. My initial thought for the word 'Shelter' was to film in the rain. This is something that I have never tried or done before. The main problem with the using weather is obviously the time and date of filming. As I have a budget of £0 there is no way I could make this happen through effects to the style I would like to film it. So for me, this proved difficult to do. 

I have since then decided that I would like to base my episode around a chase. For my location, this is perfect! There are lots of different paths and winding walkways which would be great to film a chase scene in. When I did a little Location Recce to check out what was there and what areas we had to work with, I decided this would be a great place to film these scenes. 

So after deciding on my plot, I thought of characters. I have decided to use my two character limit and would like to use a male and a female. I haven't quite chosen how I want the characters to look, or agreed who will be my actors. This is my next task.

My female character will be chased and my male will be chasing. The theme word 'Shelter' was my main idea for the chase. My female character will take shelter from the male character and hide amongst the foliage. She will be loose her shoe and this may be a deadly mistake as this will lead the male character to her and to where she is hiding.

I will update my blog once I have developed my idea further with some images i would like to use to help with my decisions.

Story Telling Unit: The Meeting Trailer

So today I have submitted my final copy of My Script, Trailer, Storyboard and Synopsis. Im pleased with my trailer and have uploaded it to YouTube. Here's the link below to see the trailer! Let me know what you think!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWjOBWkpBP0&feature=youtu.be