Actor Drop Outs

Actor Drop Outs

Coming up to the dates of my shoot, officially 3 days before, one of my confirmed actors pulled out due to supposedly double booking on the weekend of my shoot. I was left with one other actor who was still unsure of his commitment to the production so I needed to act fast and on my feet to restore faith in completing this unit.

As each day passed and with it all being too late with Casting Call Pro I decided it was best to go ahead and shoot with a person from our class, going against what we had been informed not to do, but I deemed it necessary as something needed to be shot. 

The actor who was unsure of his commitment did eventually pull out but said to give him details on future projects, etc, so I shall keep his contact information! 

Overall I think in the future with using platforms such as Casting Call Pro, I'll not put all my eggs in one basket, to wait for other applicants to apply and see. At the time I must admit feelings of anxiety and worry to not receiving lots of applicants and that is probably why I rushed into trying to confirm the two actors that were unable to follow through with their first enthusiastic responses to the call out. 

Coen Bros - Style and Signature

DSLR Workshop

In our DSLR Workshop we were shown by Fergus and Sam, how to use the camera and it's differences between itself and the Sony EX's. Having already used many DSLR's before and canon's being my preferred choice of DSLR, I was fairly equipped when it came to getting to grips with the camera. 

However the session didn't just consist of going over the pros and cons of the camera, but also speaking about the different types of lenses, depth of field, dynamic range etc. I found this extremely useful as that is the field of work I want to get in to, being a cinematographer I would need to know what lens would be appropriate for what shot, what my aperture should be set at etc. 

(Little glimpse into the DSLR Workshop)

As I was fairly comfortable with the camera, but not with some of the gear that was left out for us to play around with, me and Trine decided to play around with it. The video is just a little bit of fun, my own take on the session. 

Overall I found the workshop to be extremely useful and it left me feeling conflicted at what camera I should use for my production. I have thought since the workshop and I'm going to stick with the Sony EX for the simple reason of the sound that I can capture on it will be stronger than that of the DSLR (Canon 7d). 

Directors - Martin Scorsese

Martin Scorsese

One of the directors I've chose to delve in to for part of my research on directors, is the wonderful Martin Charles Scorsese.

Martin Charles Scorsese was born on November 17th 1942 an raised in Queens New York, he lived in a devoutly catholic environment. Scorsese was born with asthma, resulting in him being unable to take part in sports/psychical activities when he was going through school, so his older brother and parents would take him to the movie theatre, this is where his passion for movies manifested from. He took many a inspiration from many films, in particular films that would soon influence his view and portrayal of his Sicilian roots e.g Bicycle thieves, Paisa and Open City. He also is aware of the debt that is owed to the French New Wave, and how that has influenced all filmmakers who have worked since it's birth. 

Scorsese's early work on his first feature, 'Who's that Knocking At My Door' would see him strike up great long lasting collaborations with such people like Harvey Keitel and Thelma Schoonmaker (Editor). Shortly after, he'd be introduced to De Niro, by Brian De Palma (Part of the 'movie brats') and the rest is history. 

                                                        (Mean Streets - 1973)

Mean Streets was a break through, there was a signature style to his work, themes, machismo, bloody violence, catholic guilt and redemption. Also his rapid fire editing and soundtracks with contemporary music solidifying his already brilliant break through. 

                                                     (Taxi Driver - 1976)

Then came along Taxi Driver, the dark urban nightmare of one lonely mans slow descent into insanity. This film established Scorsese as an accomplished filmmaker. The film was nominated for many prestigious awards and won Palme D'or at Cannes Film Festival 1976. 

From this we can see his technical abilities, individual style and the themes he has throughout his films all growing and maturing, becoming an Auteur. So from the success of Taxi Driver, he then landed his first big budget film, New York New York - 1977, unfortunately it was a box office flop. Although this film did possess the usual visual confidence and the stylistic bravura, many felt it was too studio bound, which left it leaden in comparison to his earlier work. 

The negative feedback that New York New York received sent Scorsese into severe depression. He also developed around this stage of his life an addiction for cocaine. It wasn't until the 1980's , in which De Niro practically saved his life by telling him to kick his cocaine addiction to make the highly regarded film Raging Bull - 1980. Scorsese, convinced he would never make a film again, poured everything into it, calling it a kamikaze method of filmmaking. The film went on to receive many accolades, getting Scorsese his first Best director nomination. Some people say this is where he reached his zenith in terms of style. Taxi Driver and New York New York had used elements of expressionism, to replicate psychological point of views, but here the style was taken to new extremes, employing extensive slow motion, complex tracking shots. Thematically too, the concerns continued from Mean Streets, and Taxi Driver,: Insecure males, violence, guilt and redemption. 

                                                          (Raging Bull - 1980)

I think the relevance and interest between my chosen director (Coen Bros) and Scorsese is simple, they both have unique and comparable styles. They're both Auteurs in their own right. They both share technical competence, individual style and interior meaning throughout all of their films. 

For instance Scorsese's themes throughout the majority of his films usually involve Italian - american identity, roman catholic concepts of guilt, redemption, machismo, modern crime, gang conflict and corruption psychically and mentally.  

The themes that I'd associate through the majority of the Coen bros. Films usually consist of characters always having floors, usage of film noir elements, kidnapping and murder, difficult portrayals of the law enforcement i.e Fargo and No Country For Old Men. These are just to name a few reoccurring elements throughout the Coen Bros films. 

In conclusion, Scorsese fascinates me just as much as the Coen Bros but for different reasons, their films are disparate but the level of meticulous preparation the same. It's the vast amount of work that is put into their films that I've found incredibly entertaining to research and watch. 

Simon - Editing and Sound

Simon – Sound and Editing.

The editing and the sound design to a film/TV production are vital components; these elements can make or break a production. That is why I found the lectures on both of these elements extremely interesting and they gave me much food for thought.

What I took from it was focusing on the thought process behind the edits, cutting for a reason, that nothing is arbitrary. If I wanted to create an intense scene, I could speed up the pace of my edits, conveying that sense of rapidness and motion, heightening the intensity.

Also editing for evoking emotional responses, as creating dramatic emotion is the cornerstone of great editing. The lecture left me asking a lot of questions in my own head on my own production, how long will I hang on a shot for, why, what for?  Where is my focus meant to be, where do I want the audience to be looking.

Another point, when we went into detail about certain edits, e.g match cut, cross cut, etc. It triggered something within my own cognition's and gave me some inspiration on how I could potentially place a match cut within my sequence. There is a moment in the scene in which one of my actors will be placing down an empty packet of peanuts; I’m thinking to possibly cut straight into my next scene to an opening shot very similar. These are plans that are being taking into deep consideration though and are still in the process of being a final shoot day plan.

                        (2001: A Space Odyssey - Stanley Kubrick - 1968 - The infamous cut)

We then looked at sound design, which is a tool which occurs at all stages of production. This intrigued me also as the amount of work that is put into sound was something that I would never of imagined! It also explained why there are so many end credits of different sound occupants, as there are so many different sound jobs, 7 to be exact. These include: Dialogue, which is all recorded on shoot. Sync, which is recorded sound from shoot that isn’t dialogue. ADR, (Automatic Dialogue replacement) This is all dialogue re-recorded or dubbed, most Hollywood productions use this for films. Then we have FX, which are sound effects like car engines, explosions, recorded specifically for certain scenes. Foley, this one put a smile on my face when we were shown a clip on how these sounds were actually captured. This is sound created to go with visuals, they’re created in studios (Jack Foley creator thus the name, Foley). The next one is called Atmos, this sound creates the atmosphere for a specific location, e.g desert – scorching sun beating down on the vast sand dunes, sand sweeps across the landscape. Finally, Music, which is all the music within the film, diegetic, music on the radio, non diegetic, composed piece of music on top of the film.

But the key thing is with sound design, is that it’s there to add depth, feeling and emotion to a film. It is about making the audience believe in what they’re viewing. ‘ Silence is golden ‘, what I found very useful about this phrase was its truth within it. To create/convey silence, you add miniature sounds e.g a fly, buzzing around a room, this emphasises that silence brilliantly.

What I also took as extremely useful advice and to apply straight away in my production, was to record a buzz track, to record on set for about a minute long, taking in all the naturalistic sounds, so when it comes back to the editing suite, I have a seriously authentic look and sound to my production.

To conclude, I found this lecture extremely useful and a lot of fun, as it gave me concepts to play around with, not only on shoot, but off it as well. It’s had me thinking about the whole line of production, as if I do want to try and pull off that match cut, I’ll have to plan meticulously and make sure the framing is right in both shoots. 

Fergus and Sam - Lighting Workshops

With Fergus and Sam, we have been going through the basics of lighting and how pivotal lighting is, and can be within Film and TV. Lighting can create atmosphere, effect emotion and many other things with just the actual placement of specific lights. So it was just about getting familiar with the equipment, experimenting and testing out idea's before potentially using this piece of kit.

(Trying to capture silhouette images.)

One idea that the group I was in wanted to try and have a go at was capturing silhouettes on screen, however it was problematic as the vast space that the studio has, an it's poor lighting really hindered our efforts of capturing such a shot. We then used many different coloured gels, to set different tones and to see then on the camera if you could actually get that sense of emotion that was being conveyed. 

In these workshops I know we don't have much time to go over things a multiple of times and that's why when we're being shown things like this, i.e setting up lighting equipment, I really do appreciate it. These are all industry savvy skills that i'm taking into consideration and becoming more aware of as a filmmaker, as I want to apply all of this outside of the workshop and into real life. 

 

  

Steve Finn - Workshop

Over the multiple sessions we had with Steve Finn, we were taught and given brilliant skills to use on set/location with your actresses/actors. Such skills would include how to block properly, breaking down a script to it's core, and finding that master shot.

Blocking
Before anything, it would be voiced by Steve that we don't touch the camera, and to walk through the script with your actors, thinking about possible actions that the characters could be doing. Action is key, and without breaking down the script you don't have a true insight into what the characters could potentially be doing, these possible actions give you creativity within any sequence and that is why it is vital to have them in. Rehearsal's would be beneficial as it's quite a big part of blocking, making sure characters are in frame, an making sure everyone knows where there positioning should be as we're rolling. 
A main point that Steve really wanted us to focus on was trying to find a master shot within our specific sequence. A master shot from what I gathered from Steve is a shot that is creative yet a solid framed shot, which is a shot that you can come back to, as the main focus point, to get you out of awkward situations. 

Also what I found to be quite helpful and future referential whilst doing this task, was that we would have designated roles. This requires you to focus heavily on the specific task at hand and leaves you with a lot more time to think about things regarding your role. Steve would say regularly " You should just be directing ", as it's just instinct to want to look behind the camera and maybe pick it up to move a slight to the left. It had me thinking about my production team around me for this unit, and whom will be in my team and who will i designate to be camera operator/sound etc. 

In conclusion, it was all extremely helpful and I felt I gained much from it. It's made me seriously think about my script now, and about finding those key master shots and being an all found director, thinking about absolutely everything within the shot, what the characters are doing etc. It was a brilliant experience!