Job Roles

Our group got together to decide which job role each of us should have.The different roles and who took each role are as following:

Director – Daryoush Zand

As director he will be in charge of the actors and most importantly their performance. He will also write the script and treatment. Alongside the cameraperson they will construct and portray the plot.

Cameraperson – Joe Barden

The cameraperson has control over the camera and also what types of shots will be used. As the cameraperson, Joe will be doing the shot list and storyboard but he will be checking with all members of the group for their advice and contributions.

Mise-en-scene – James-Patrick Forbes

This role is responsible for locations, set design, costumes and hair & make-up. I explain my role in more depth later on.

Lighting and sound – Katie Whitewood

The lighting and sound director arranges the lighting and sound. They make sure the right lighting and sound is used in the appropriate places. They are also in control of the music.

Research into my job role
The following is my research carried out online about my job role.

“Production designer is a term used in the film industry and television to refer to the person responsible for the overall look of a filmed event such as films, TV programs, music videos or adverts. Production designers have one of the key creative roles in the creation of motion pictures and television. Working directly with the director and producer, they must select the settings and style to visually tell the story. The term production designer was created in 1939 out of respect for the amount and level of design work single-handedly accomplished by William Cameron Menzies on the film Gone with the Wind. Previously (and often subsequently) the people with the same responsibilities were called "art directors".[1]”
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Production_designer

“Production designers are responsible for the visual concept of a film, television or theatre production. They realise a design style for sets, locations, graphics, props, lighting, camera angles and costumes, while working closely with the director and producer.
Once the concept is decided, designers usually appoint and manage an art department, which includes a design and construction team. They often form a strong partnership with a particular director with whom they may work on many productions.
Designers tend to specialise in either film, television or theatre, although there may be some overlap. In the theatre, production designers are also called stage or set designers.”
Source: http://www.prospects.ac.uk/p/types_of_job/production_designer_theatre_television_film_job_description.jsp

“The Production Designer heads the art department and is responsible for the visual interpretation of the script. Working closely with the Producer and Director they will research the context of the script and develop a design concept that is appropriate to the production content and can be achieved within the budget and time allocation. Their role is to lead the creative team and decide how best to visualise the total environment in which the action takes place.”
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/design/careers/art/production_designer.shtml

“I am Francis Boyle, Production Designer on Doctors. A production designer is one of a group of departmental heads, like costume, make up and cameras who jointly give a programme its artistic look. The background for the job is usually a degree in either Fine Art, like me, Architecture, Interior Design or Theatre Design.”
Source: http://www.startintv.com/jobs/production-designer-art-director.php

My role in more depth…I have three main areas which I have to focus on. Those are the following:

Locations

I will have to select the appropriate locations for the shots and scenes decided upon by the director and the cameraperson. Also, in co-operation with Katie (who is in charge of lighting and sound) I will have to make sure I choose the right place which has the right kind of lighting or easy to create the right kind of light.

The locations that I will be using would be found inside the school premises. As long as I can get sufficient permission to film in that location there shouldn’t be any problem. Filming inside school should make life easier as it doesn’t mean travel off location. I will have to create a location reccé which has information about; the best time to film; sources of light (artificial or natural); sources of power (plugs or battery); who I need permission from to film there. For the location reccé I will need to take panorama shots.

Panorama
Panorama is a wide-angled shot. In order to create this I will take multiple pictures and edit them together to create a wide angled looking shot as seem above; this allows a better total view of a location.
Set Design

Once the location has been picked I will have to select the right props to ensure that the scene looks as authentic as possible. I will have to make sure all props are ready for the day of filming and that the set resembles the set design documentation.

So that the rest of my team get a good understanding of how the final set design will look like, I will need to create a set design document. By using 1 point perspective drawing I can create a realistic and easy to understand document to explain how I want to create the set.

1 Point Perspective
1 Point Perspective drawing is shown in the image above. All horizontal lines lead to the vanishing point located in the middle of the back wall. The vanishing point is where the person’s eye level is and thus using this technique creates a realistic representation of the set.

Costume, Hair and Make-up
How the actors look and what they’re wearing is important to help signify to the audience so many aspects of that character. The actors’ appearance can portray their class, personality, social group, job, authority and even their sexuality. By working with the director I can create the right image that we want to portray for each actor.

Documentation Required

As the production designer I will have to complete the following documents:

- Location Reccé
- Prop list
- Costume Design
- Set Design

Film Idea Development

Our team underwent some collaborative brainstorming to create the plot of our film. We understood that we had to create a short film and follow certain conventions. We had all done research into short films by looking at existing short films and the short film industry. So we all d a strong idea of what the conventions of a short film were and how we could play with them.

It was agreed straight away that a character exploration storyline was the basis of the short film. We wanted to have one main character which was explored and as the audience watches they learn more about them leading to some sort of twist. However, what type of main character was uncertain. It was suggested to have the main character being a teacher. After more discussion this led to the suggestion of exploring a school janitor. The concept of learning more about someone who hides behind the scenes like a janitor stood out. An investigation into other jobs similar to janitors was carried out.

Thanks to the man on the left, Mr Geoff Shephard, who walked into the class interested in the project a conclusion was met. Mr Geoff Shephard suggested a crime scene cleaner. This had already been suggested before but Mr Shephard brought it back to the front. After more discussion an exploration of a crime scene cleaner as the plot to the short film was agreed.



We carried out research on crime scene cleaners using the internet and found this article:
http://www.thewavemag.com/pagegen.php?pagename=article&articleid=22263

Some parts of this article stood out. We used the answers of the crime scene cleaner to help write the script.
“The Wave: How did you get into the biz?


Neal Smithers: ...One night I was sitting on the couch watching Pulp Fiction when I saw that scene where John Travolta shoots that guy’s face off in the car. Then they brought in “The Wolf” (played by Harvey Keitel) to clean it up. And I thought: This is it. I did some research and it kind of all blew up...”

How he saw the job of a crime scene cleaner in a film and was inspired was loosely reflected in our short film. When Paul Bison says “... At the time it reminded me of being in a film or something... Bit less glamorous though...” this is where we got the inspiration from.

“TW: What’s the turnover rate for your employees?


NS: It’s high. We lose them every month.”

This point is reflected in our script when Paul Bison says “...Not many people stay in it for too long. Lots of ‘em can’t take it. They can’t hack it...” This line informs the audience of the high turnover rate found in this job.
“TW: What is a not-so-desirable quality you’ve seen in someone who wants to work for you?


NS: ...On the other hand, we just let a guy go who had sleeves of tattoos and sharpened teeth. He was a gothic freak...”

We borrowed this description of one of his work colleges in our script when Paul Bison says “...One bloke I worked with – covered in tattoos and piercings… even had sharpened teeth. Hard as nails he looked...”

“TW: Do you ever eat just after a cleanup?


NS: I can. I can eat at the job. I don’t have a problem with it. I’ve seen it all, so nothing really bothers me anymore.”

In scene 4, Paul Bison was originally meant to eat a sandwich to reflect his immunity to his job due to how long he has worked there. However, due to prop issues with getting a sandwich we instead used a bottle of water to hopefully reflect the same message.



The one, the only, Paul Bison
For the name of Paul Bison we did some research on different names. We found the meaning for the name “Apollo” on this website: http://www.behindthename.com/name/apollo

“From Greek Απολλων (Apollon), which is of unknown meaning, though perhaps related to Indo-European *apelo "strength". Another theory states that Apollo can be equated with Appaliunas, an Anatolian god whose name possibly means "father lion" or "father light".”

We felt that Apollo wasn’t a common enough name and used Paul instead. His last name being Bison is referring the animal known for its strength which we wanted to reflect about Paul’s character. We also felt that there was only one person who could bring the right type of character that we wanted and that was Mr Geoff Shephard himself; the muse of our short film.

Development of the film title

There was the suggestion of the title of the film to be “The life of...” in Paul’s case “The life of Paul Bison”. However, we felt this was unoriginal and came up with a different name. The new name was “Morbid Stain”. The reason for this was because the life of Paul is morbid and he is a cleaner leading to us combining the two elements. This lead to controversy as there was a split of opinions as some felt the name was rude and detracted away from the seriousness of the film whilst others really liked the name and thought it was unique and memorable. Discussion intoa new name was carried out and names such as “Morbid”, “Morbid Lives” and “Morbid Life” were all suggested. Even the name “If you only knew” was suggested as it was the name of the song used in the short film. A friend of ours suggested the name “Job” and unanimously we all agreed.

Analysis of Short Films

In order to create a good short film I must look into other short films and find out the conventions and techniques used. Below are some analyses I’ve done about certain short films to achieve this.

Wasp

Wasp features a single mother, played by Nathalie Press, of four children determined to pursuit a relationship with an old ex-boyfriend, played by Danny Dyer. Released in 2003 and directed by Andrea Arnold this film gained much recognition and has earned many awards.

We are introduced to the family that we follow throughout and we see this family swearing at another family. The family is made up of four young girls aged from roughly 6 months to 8 years old. The leader of the family is the single mother which the children imitate by swearing at the other family. We then follow this family as they walk away from their conflict and the mother sees her old ex-boyfriend who has come back into the area after leaving for a while. The single mother is highly interested in this old ex-boyfriend as they arrange to meet at a pub. Meanwhile the children are left to their own devices and have to look after each other. We then see the squalor that this family lives in as they have very little food and live in a crappy house. We then move onto the meeting with the old ex-boyfriend. As the young mother can’t leave her children and can’t bring them inside in fear of scaring away the ex-boyfriend she leaves them outside and promises to get them crisps. She then goes in and tries to impress the ex-boyfriend. Meanwhile the children try their best to entertain their selves leaving the oldest, who can’t be any older than 8, is left in charge. It starts to get late and the children become impatient. Due to hunger they find some thrown away chips and start sharing them and eating them. Then a wasp flies into the mouth of the youngest child who is 6 months. The children panic and find their mother who is now left alone with the ex-boyfriend in his car. The mother comes out to rescue the child ditching the ex-boyfriend and exposing the fact she’s a mother.

There has been a lot of effort put in place in picking authentic locations. This has paid off and adds to the realism of the film. The acting in this film is very strong and all actors perform their roles wonderfully. The plot gives you an insight into the tough decisions young single mothers have to face. I like this idea of gaining an insight into a life that you wouldn’t normally know about.

This film did wonders for the cast and the director as it gained a lot of attention. As this film was shown at many screenings with important people of the film industry in the audiences the director and actors got acknowledgment and further work. The director of this film went on to make the film “Fish Tank” which won a BAFTA award.


The Black Hole
I found this film on the YouTube channel “Shorts” which is a channel which host loads of different shot films. This film is one of “Shorts” most viewed video and for a good reason.

This short film has no dialogue which is a bold move to make; everything that happens is entirely visual. We are introduced to a man who is photocopying pieces of paper in his work office. He then damages the photocopier which strangely creates a bizarre black hole in one of the pieces of paper. The man discovers that this piece of paper allows him to go through objects by going through the black hole. He uses this to his advantage and attempts to steal from his company’s bank. He uses the piece of paper to unlock the door and then makes his way to the safe. As he puts his hand through the paper, he takes out handfuls of money. The man then gets greedy and decides to put his whole body into the safe. Whilst he is in the safe, the piece of magical piece of paper falls off at the other end leaving the man locked inside the safe and all the money outside of the safe.

This movie is highly interesting. The story of the short is compelling and told in a simple yet sophisticated way. The editing has been done very well with seamless transitions between scenes. The camera angles are all done perfectly and this short film used a variety of camera angles, camera sizes and camera movements. The mise-en-scene is highly authentic and there were no doubts on the settings and the roles of characters. The special effect of the black hole was the main unique point which was done effectively and looked impressive. This short film clearly had a message attached with it about what greed can do to a person. All these factors contributed towards making this film memorable and probably explain why it was viewed so much.

What I can take from this movie is the importance of having a simple yet interesting storyline. The simple storyline worked well for this movie and by gradually progressing from one situation to an increasingly more risky situation this keeps the audience compelled. The progression also created tension and anticipation to see what the climax was. This is a great way to satisfy audience’s needs and keep them entertained. I must take into consideration this factor. Another factor I will take from this film to implement into my own film is to limit the number of characters. In this film there is only one character and some extras in the background. This makes the film less confusing and easier to follow. However, this film does not explore the main character at all and instead it focuses entirely on the story and message of the short film. Depending on what type of short film I will make well influence my decision on exploring or not exploring the main character. The idea of having few main characters I will imitate.

This film was mainly distributed online on youtube and gained much attention with loads of views. It has also won many awards both online and in real life.

Institution and Audience Research

A short film is a non-commercial film which is shorter than the average featured length film. They’re cheaper to make then big films and take less time. However the quality of actors and behind-the-scenes staff is normally lower than big budget films. But short films give new talent a platform to promote their selves. Not just for actors, but for directors, cameramen, lighting department and all areas of film making. Participating in a short film is good for experience.

Most short films aren’t made in big studios but in natural environments such as people’s houses and outside. As budget is normally an issue when making short films, natural environments cuts down on costs. The short film making crew uses the tools and equipment they can afford and is available to them. This can limit the quality of the end product. Luxuries such as special effects may suffer due to low funding. Conversely, this opens the door to new and experimental ideas. Filming a film on a low-end camera can help contribute towards the effect of realism. Films such as The Blair Witch Project utilized that effect.

A good short film gains the attention of established producers who are looking for the newest talent to star in their latest feature film. Having made some great short films is excellent for an impressive portfolio that would be presented to sponsors and producers to gain access to participate in bigger budgeted films. Sometimes short films aren’t always made for financial reasons but it may be made to promote an idea or theory.

Film Task

“Building on your skills from your foundation portfolio produces a short film in its entirety, lasting approximately five minutes, together with a poster for the film and a film magazine review page featuring the film. All video and audio material must be original, produced by the candidate(s), with the exception of music or audio effects from a copyright-free source.”

From this brief I understand that I need to create three pieces; a five minute short film; a poster for this short film; a film magazine review of the short film. For these three pieces I will conduct research by analysing existing products and looking into the industry of film makers. I will show my development of the products on this blog. Finally, I will piece it all together a make a final product.

Blog Posts Descriptions
Advanced Media Techniques – a look into advanced lighting, camera and filming techniques Lighting Experiments – testing different ways of lighting to increase knowledge
Film Task – this post, a brief outline of what has to be done
Short Film Research – research into the institute, audience and other factors
Analysis of Short Films – an in-depth look into existing short films
Film Idea Development – the process in which our group created the plot of the film
Job Roles – a look into the roles each person in the group had
Pre-Production Report – a report on the pre-production documentation process
Production Report – a report on the days of filming
Post-Production Report – a report on the days of editing
Marketing Strategy – research into current market strategies and which we will use
Analysis of Film Posters – an in-depth look into existing film posters
Analysis of Short Film Postcards – an in-depth look into existing short film postcards
Postcard Development – the design process of the postcard
Analysis of Reviews – an in-depth look into existing reviews
Review Development – the creation process of the review
Evaluation – a look into conventions, feedback, effectiveness of ancillary products and technologies used

Lighting & Camera Experiments

My group and I carried out different lighting techniques to get an understanding of the different feel each lighting technique provides.

Advanced Production Techniques

Before starting my assignment, I did some research into different media techniques to help me with the process of the film making.

I revisited this blog post after filming and wrote how this research helped me with my filming. All comments reflecting back on the research will be written in red.

Camera
180 degree Rule
The 180 degree rule is a filming technique to avoid visual confusion. There is an imaginary line which no cameras are allowed to cross.

We learnt the importance of this first hand when we did “cross the line” and when it was edited it look strange and was confusing.

Rule of thirds
This camera technique is mainly associated with photography but works well for filming. As seen in the image, the image has been split into 9 segments. The key features of an image should be placed along the lines created by the 9 segments. As you can see in the image the ladybug is located along the rule of thirds line.

We tried our best to use the rule of thirds throughout filming. Most notably is when Paul Bison is walking and talking on his phone.

White balance/Colour balance
This is the adjustment of colour, mainly the red, green, blue. The intensity of the colour is adjusted to create a different feel. As you can see in the picture there is a different colour balanced used and it creates a different effect.

Exposure
This is when the amount of light taken in by the camera is adjusted to create a new effect.

Depth of Field
Depth of field is when the focus is created by sharpening one particular area and blurring the rest. In the image you can see before (top) depth of field is applied and after (bottom).

Lighting
Colour Temperature
This is when different types of gels are placed over the light to create a different feel of a shot. If a red gel is used then more of a warmer maybe even saucy feel is created.

3 Point Lighting
This is a method that film and photography use to change and manipulate the way a shot or photo looks by using light. There are three lights; key light; fill light; back light. The key light shines directly onto the subject. The fill light is located to the side of the key light and used to eliminate the shadows created by the fill light. The back light helps separate the character from the background.

In the scene when Paul Bison is cleaning a wall (scene 2) we used this type of lighting to better light the scene.

Continuity

“In fiction, continuity (also called time-scheme) is consistency of the characteristics of persons, plot, objects, places and events seen by the reader or viewer over some period of time. It is of relevance to several media."
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuity_(fiction)

Continuity was used throughout the filming. We ensured that all character movement was continuous between shots by filming the same scene from different angles and getting the actors to repeat exactly what they just did. The parts we didn’t need we simply cut down in editing.