Pre-prod. Shotlist

SHOTLIST

So for this pre-production packet i've taken up the responsibility of putting together a shot list. Within this shot list is basically a compiled set of shots & instructions of how the shoot would go, this would enable myself and the hypothetical 'crew' to work as effective & efficiently as possible. 

THE IMPORTANCE OF A SHOT LIST 

It forces you to make choices - 

I've learn that any set is pretty chaotic beast, and not necessarily the best environment to be making tough choices.

Shot listing forces you to think about what you want and what is needed to finish a project. If you want close ups, long shots, aerial shots, tracking shots, quickly that list grows beyond the possibility of what can and cannot be filmed. That forces me to ask what I actually need to tell the story. I can then cut the shots down in the safety of my own space, without the pressure of others on my case. You want that freedom, that everyone is on the same page, because you've created this shot list for everyone to see. 

It helps you decide what comes first - 

Now that I have a shot list, I know everything I need to tell the story. The next step is to decide on a shooting order. This is often an overlooked but important step. When you’re on set every minute is precious, and the more you know beforehand the more shots you can get processed.

It helps you invest time where it counts -

The next step is to estimate how long each shot is going to take. Some shots are easy and some are quite complex. This step is most crucial, because it makes sure I don’t run out of time for things that matter most. Knowing I have a really important shot at the end of the list, prevents me getting precious at the beginning. I rush the unimportant stuff, rather then run out of time on what I care about most.

Here is the completed shot list - 

Within this shotlist, i've made sure it's as effect as possible in the sense that it has everything on it that would be of use to us come the shoot dates. It's been written as efficiently as possible, making sure nothing has been left out, that's why on completing the shotlist, i had my storyboards there to aid my decision making throughout this process. This is an essential part of what a D.O.P has to complete for this is what guides the person through the shoot days. Obviously on the day of shooting, regardless of this being a hypothetical pre-production package, there may potentially be certain aspects that may change due to timing constraints, or lighting if out on location, so this is just set in place for a rough guide. This would be the bones/structure of the shoot day, with an option to go off key, if we felt that there were more shots to gather for the edit. 

Pre.prod - Completed storyboards

Having finally completed both storyboards for the whole pilot episode and the opening title sequence, we can now both approach the episode with more of a visual understanding. This will help Aimee with her editing approach and also myself for creating a shot list. 
Here is the finalised storyboard - 

OPENING TITLE SEQUENCE STORYBOARD

The storyboard for the opening title sequence features a mixture of archive footage and original shot footage by myself. Some of the archive footage has been sought after, for reasons i will specify later, but i just want to focus of what images were needed & why. I wanted footage of people, potentially blurred out faces, of urban and suburban landscapes, to juxtaposes the city to the freedom of the countryside. I wanted to find a lot of close ups, that would have a great effect once they would be placed on the timeline against extreme long shots, as i feel it would create a tone that would fit our piece. The use of archive footage throughout the opening title sequence is to effectively portray the kind of aesthetic & style we would want to try and capture when shooting the actual pilot. The opening title sequence is meant to, in someway demonstrate how it would look visually, or at least put across the kind of essence of the series. The use of original footage which I captured on my own camera, Sony A7S, was to cut inbetween the archive, as more of a reminder that it's not just going to be covering pieces from the past, but the present, and that there are several more episodes to this series which involve present themes and topics, such as the gun, and contemporary objects.  

PILOT EPISODE STORYBOARD

How I created this storyboard was actually through a written interpretation of the original podcast. Me and Aimee, spent a two days, dissecting the whole hour long podcast, writing down a visual interpretation of each specific moment that was being discussed within it. This took a very long time, & a lot of our patience, but eventually we were left with 8-9 pages of pure notes, basically a visual narrative for the podcast. So I had to then transform those notes, and put them into the storyboard as a visual picture interpretation instead. Having those notes made it a much easier experience, had we not done the preparation beforehand, this process would of taken much longer than it had done. 

You'll see that the shots are quite generic, that there isn't anything you wouldn't typically find within a drama/period piece, and that's right. Even though this is a unique format of screening a medium, it's still going to be shot like a drama period, as research has provided us with answers that state it's how the footage is exported that makes the vodcast what it is. So i've made the conscientious decision to shoot not too complex, but not too basic either. In one scene of the storyboard i've tried to imitate a scene from the series Fargo, (Series 2) where there is a split screen whilst it tails two characters off on different paths. I loved the way it was choosing this specific method to tell the story in such a manner, it was totally original & fantastic to watch.  

Throughout the storyboard you'll see that the camera movement is quite heavy with handheld action, this is due to our actual format & it being a new developing one. I believe that it would be quite a bold move and something that could work, as the audience we aim for is currently just a listener, we hope the handheld would grip them, like it would with a film or TV series. Handheld camera movement is proven to immerse the viewer in a different way to any other camera movement, as it allows you to feel what the character is feeling and to be within breathing distance of them, metaphorically speaking. 

Pre-Prod. Storyboarding

Having almost complete the transcription i'll then be able to focus on bringing the narrative to life through my own visual interpretation. This will be done through constructing a storyboard from the transcribed audio file, through drawings & photographs.

I'm thinking as this pilot episode will be set in the 1940's, an would ultimately be shot like a period piece, then perhaps when we do begin to complete test shoots, to shoot them on 35mm film rolls. I feel it would capture & portray the whole concept & aesthetic much more appropriately then to use to a DSLR. The test shoots shall be lit & set up accordingly, as we will be wanting to just capture the general tones of the location and present the completed shoots how we would present a recce shoot.

So once i've completed the storyboarding, i'll then choose specific scenes to carry out the test shoots on.

How will you decide on which scene to test shoot?
I'll test shoot a scene which would clearly portray & demonstrate how the vodcast would look and be shot in actuality. A scene with the most creative flexibility that would hopefully underpin what we set out to achieve.

What camera would be used on these test shoots?
I would be shooting on my own 35mm SLR, the Olympus OM2N. As i'm extremely familiar with this camera and fully aware of its capabilities i feel it'd be a suitable choice for capturing images of these particular style.

Obviously these will be stills, so within them, will the people be in costume?
It all depends, theoretically it would be ideal to have the people i'd be shooting in costume that fits the piece & scene, however from a cinematic perspective, i just want to test out the framing & lighting, to make sure that it's genuinely viable & achievable.

Overall i'm happy with the progression so far made regarding the storyboarding and hope soon to have a completed storyboard to display!

Pre prod. Pitch feedback

Having completed the pitch, and answering all the feedback & general queries regarding our subject matter we had just presented, we then received a more in depth critical response from Simon. 

'Professional pre-production - Vodcast "Truth and Justice"

Overall the pitch was pretty good. You presented an original idea that has good scope for you to develop your skills as a DP.

I got a good portion of the idea, that you will be taking an existing podcast and turning it into visual form - but I wasn't clear if this was a one off or a series? Are you only doing crime stories.

You need to research and develop what kind of form this will take. It's critical that you work to idea that this is a mobile medium and all your visuals must fit and work to that sizing. What kind of budget would be put into Vodcast?so you need to be working towards that.

Think about the visuals you will produce, what are they? a sequence? a title sequence? what else?

You need to research cinematography and DP's, and the genre of mobile content. Short docs. Vodcasts.

You need to write up a detailed list of what you both will be producing for the pre-production package so we can draw up your learning agreement. Email this to me before next tutorial.'

From this specific feedback, we realised that not all queries had been answered and thus we needed to develop our concept to solidify the basic construct of it. In our mind we knew that more research had to be done about the content of it, as it is a original piece, that has new implications to the medium it is screened on. 

After this pitch, i now know that research is needed to grasp a real aesthetic for this show, and i'll be able to capture that with further inspection into my favourites D.O.Ps and cinematographers that have a style which matches the proposed aesthetic we want to try and achieve with this project. 

As my approach for this unit is through the perspective of a D.O.P, i'll be looking at DPs for inspiration on general aesthetic, lighting, colour/tone & framing. Some DPs i'll be further dissecting will include - Jeff Cronenweth, Adam Arkapaw & Natasha Braier. They've all done work or collaborated on work which interests me but also has the similar kind of aesthetic that we desire for our project.