B. Shooting - Day 7

30th October

     

Today was the shooting day for our film. We met at 9.30 (ish) at my house, had a team meeting and camera check, and did our first shot around 10.30. We had expected rain, so had come prepared with umbrellas, raincoats and the like. Fortunately, the rain held off for the day, which made shooting much quicker and easier. We mainly stuck to the shooting schedule and storyboard, although we sometimes played around with the shots and angles to see what would work best. We also changed the schedule order to do all of the rich man's scenes first, so Reuel only had to change once, speeding up the shoot.

We started out with Reuel as the rich man, filming on the streets. Our locations were quite vague, so we spent about 5 minutes wandering around and looking for locations. Once we chose our first location, we had to spend another 10 or so minutes setting up the equipment and positioning the camera. At around 10.30, half an hour after we had planned to start, we took our first shot of the day. I had not realised how long it would take to set up the equipment, and I worried that we would not have enough time to film everything. As we got used to setting up, however, we became quicker and more efficient, preparing to shoot in around 3 minutes.

One factor that we had not considered enough was the public. As well as the obvious problems of members of public/cars walking in front of camera, we also had to deal with other issues. One of the locations we shot at was a bus stop, where, unsurprisingly, buses stopped. This caused an issue for filming, and we were lucky that we were filming at a quieter time of day. Whilst we were filming at the bus stop we also got honked at twice, which was rather off-putting. The worst problem for me to face was when we were filming the homeless scenes on the main road. The people walking past were giving us incredibly dirty looks, which was very uncomfortable and off-putting. However, we continued filming through all of that, getting all the shots we needed before moving on.

One very successful element of our film was the props and costumes. Kiira did wonderfully with the props, especially with the newspapers and cardboard for the homeless man. The costumes as well really added to the effect, with there being a very obvious difference between rich Reuel and poor Reuel. Tascha also added make-up for the homeless man, which made Reuel look very grubby and dirty, adding to his character.

During the production, I did the sound at the beginning of the day and assistant directing at the end. I learnt a lot about setting up the sound, as at the beginning of the day I had no idea how to do it but by the end I could do it quite proficiently. The only problem came around 1pm when the sound completely disappeared. After a lot of fiddling around, Nick managed to sort it out, and it worked successfully until the day ended. After lunch I swapped roles with Tascha and became the assistant director. I was in charge of doing the clapper-board and writing down which shots worked. However, due to a lack of communication and a sense of rush, this was very difficult to do. In the end, I did what Tascha had done after about 10 takes and abandoned the cataloguing. This made shooting a lot easier, but I'm sure it will cause problems during editing.

Overall, the day was good. It was tiring, frustrating, patience testing and trying, but the group worked together well and got everything we needed to get done before 4pm. It was a very successful day, and I have learnt many skills and experienced many things that I am sure will be useful in making future films.

Kiira's Behind the Scenes Video

B. NFTS and Warner Bros - Day 6

29th October

Full Post of The Day

Today we went to two organisations, NFTS and Warner Bros. We started off at NFTS, where we were given a talk and tour by Shola Amoo. It was amazing seeing the school, and learning about all of the alumni who had graduated and gone on to work on major movies, such as Guardians of the Galaxy and Gone Girl. We were then shown around the school, and I found it amazing seeing all of the equipment they owned. Although the school is for people doing their masters degrees, Shola told us about the Craft Residentials held there, that are aimed for people our age. They sound like amazing experiences, and I think I try for one next year.

We then went to Warner Bros. Firstly we explored the Harry Potter studios, and I found the level of detail in the sets absolutely incredible. Seeing the studio really inspired me, and increased my drive to get into the film industry.

We then got a talk from Dan Dark, who works at Warner Bros. I found his journey really inspiring, and his talk made me realise that I don't need to know where I am going exactly, as I can try out many different positions. He also made me realise the importance of knowing how to sell myself to employers, and of never taking no for an answer. His talk was very inspiring, and really ignited my desire to work in the industry.

D. Artists and Organisations

On the 29th October we went to visit 2 film institutes to learn more about the film industry. The first place we visited was the NFTS (National Film and Television School). We started in their very fancy cinema with a talk from Shola Amoo. He showed us some clips of films that had NFTS graduates in the crew, and it was amazing seeing how many of them were on such high-production films! The same that stood out to me the most was Nick Park, as I grew up watching Wallace and Gromit and Shaun the Sheep. Shola also mentioned the Craft Skills Residentials held at the NFTS. They sound like incredible things to do, and very interesting, and I think I might apply next year after I have gained more experience through making more films of my own.

Shola then took us on a tour of the NFTS. The thing that struck me the most was the size of the place! The stages were massive, and the technology they had there was incredible. Seeing this made me really want to go on the residential, as the experience I would gain would be amazing.

We then got back on the coach to visit Warner Bros Studios. I have always been a big fan of Harry Potter, and getting to see the sets, props and costumes up close was incredibly exciting! However, seeing the actual design elements made me realise how much detail goes into making a film. There were so many things I noticed on the studio tour that I never noticed in the movies, and the level of detail was incredible.

Seeing all of the sets, props, costumes, animatronics, hair, and concept art, amongst many other things, was so inspiring. Seeing the sets really increased my passion for film and my drive to get into the industry. It also helped me realise that there are many different elements that go into making a film, and that one of those will definitely be for me.

We then got an exclusive talk with Dan Dark, who works at Warner Bros. Hearing about his journey to get where he is today was really helpful, as it made me realise that I don't need to know exactly what I want to do right now. He also gave us lots of tips for getting into the industry, including selling yourself well and not taking no for an answer. I found his talk to be the most inspiring of the Academy, as he gave us practical advice and told us that there is something for us in the industry. He also told us that we could jump from position to position, and we didn't have to settle for just one thing forever.

B. TV and Planning - Day 5

28th October

We started out our day with a presentation about the TV industry from Nick O'Dwyer, an executive at Landmark Films. He talked to us about the TV business, especially relating to documentaries. I had never really considered working in the TV industry, but I now think that it is definitely something worth thinking about. However, if I did make documentaries, they would be about less scary people than Nick had interviewed, as some of the situations he had been in seemed terrifying to me.

We then began thinking about our personal development plan. This was useful as it gave my brain some time to process everything we had looked at throughout the previous sessions. However, I found it very difficult to put all my ideas and dreams into order, as I am still uncertain as to what I want to do when I am older. As a result, my mindmap was very confused and all over the place.

After lunch, we got into our groups and continued to plan for shooting on Friday. Me, Reuel, Kiira and Tascha organised the shooting of the film, whilst Nick and Anton sorted out the technical side. Whilst the boys decided on cameras and equipment, we finalised our shots, sourced our props and costumes, did a risk assessment and wrote out our shooting schedule. By the end of the session, we had our shoot completely planned out, and everything ready for Friday.

After this, we were given time to plan out what we were doing for our Leadership Skills section. I planned out what I would be doing and what I would need.

B. Production Roles and VFX - Day 4

27th October

We started off our day with an introduction into the different roles within the film industry. There were much more roles within the industry than I had known about previously, and it amazed me that the 9 we learnt about were only the most important roles, with many other people and positions needed. I also learnt a lot about who does what, and what skills are needed for those roles. I never realised how important the producer is in the industry, and how much they did to start a film and keep it running smoothly. The presentation made me a little scared, as the roles all needed lots of skill and knowledge, but we were told that there were lots of ways to enter the industry, and that the people in the important roles had worked their way up over many years, which made me feel a little better.

We then separated into our groups to continue developing and planning our film. Kiira had already made a storyboard, and Reuel had typed up an outline of what the story was. We worked with these to plan our shots and decide what our story is going to be. We had 30 shots on our storyboard, so we worked together to remove some of the shots so that our film could actually be shot in a day, as 30 shots is too many and would take too long.

Anton's video of us working on our film

We then talked about props, costumes, and locations. Tascha made a list of props and costumes as we talked our way through the plot, writing down everything we would need. We then discussed who would be doing which roles. We decided that Kiira and Tascha would be the directors, Reuel would act, Nick would do the cameras, Anton main post-production, and me the sound. Although we will switch around and do what works on the day, I think that these are good roles for everyone, as everyone is doing something they know and/or like. We also discussed locations, and decided that we would be filming in my house and the area around it. This means that we will waste less time going from place to place, as it will all be within walking distance. Also, as rain is expected, we can be more fluid with our decisions on where to shoot and can shoot in a nearby underpass instead of the streets if needs be.

After lunch, we had a presentation on VFX by Ken Turner. I had always thought that VFX was all about big explosions and robot-alien-space-monsters, so I was amazed when Ken showed us all of the subtle things he did. For example, on one project, he had to give a half-built tower a roof, remove some bystanders the director didn't like, and make sure a man's hat didn't disappear because of these changes. He introduced us to the software he used called 'Fusion', and showed us how it worked. I found it a little confusing, however, and it definitely seems like the sort of skill you need practice to understand. However, it was nonetheless very interesting to see how technology can be used to fix practical mistakes.