Film Shoot- Bradley's Me, Myself &I #1

So I am aware I am writing about this film shoot a few weeks after the event but this is a post about my first proper film shoot as a student. In this particular instance I was camera operating for Bradley on his studio shoot where we used a range of shots and some advanced lighting to get his desired effects.

 With regards to the lighting as oh can see above, we put a heavy purple/pink filter on the key light so that it painted the whole of the scene in a surrealist time that gave the film an uneasy and somewhat arty aesthetic. I think that this particular technique worked very well when translated into camera. This them coupled with the costume and soundtrack made the scene very surreal and eerie to the viewer, I am in firm belief that Brad nailed the aesthetic and I think that as the camera operator I also got the vision perfectly in the shots.

In this shot Bradley is watching back over my footage whilst Connor the sound op for this shoot (the shoot was silent) is laying on the track and dolly. It is the track and dolly that I was wanting to talk about, Bradley decided early on that he wanted the track and dolly shots to feature heavily in his piece. This was a completely new experience to me as I hadn't actually used this equipment yet but doing it was very fun. It was very simple to do a basic tracking shot as it just required someone to push the dolly,  however Bradley and I had bigger ambition than just a standard tracking shot and we decided to add camera movement along with this so that (for example) when the track went to the right, I turned the camera to the left at roughly the same speed, this meant that I kept Bradley in the centre of the shot whilst the camera moved around him. This effect worked particularly well when cut with the other tracking shots quickly as it made the film more artistic and frantic which when coupled again with the fast paced orchestral soundtrack made it hit the mark all the more.

So to conclude this post, a very fun shoot in the studio that I found to be very useful as a learning means as it taught me some new camera techniques I will now consider an option when I'm shooting where I may not have used them before.

Me, Myself & I- Masks

This I As previously mentioned on this blog I intended to add face paint to myself to create my character on screen and portray emotion and aspects of myself visually, unfortunately I was unable to get hold of a face painter in time for my shoot that could do as well of a job as I was hoping. As a response to this problem I decided that instead of using face paint I could buy paper masks that were plain white and I could add the faces that I wanted onto those.
These are those masks:

This is a blank mask I used to show an indifferent character who was not yet emotionally involved in the story.

This was a mask that was intended to look disappointed as Arsenal had just drawn and in my narrative this is very frustrating.

This was was intended to look nervous as at first a nervous version of my self walks on stage before fainting, and I think that the mask really helps to highlight the nerves.

This mask demonstrates that often I can think of nothing but Arsenal as I am a huge fan and the team is one of the biggest aspects of my life.

This is a half and half mask that displays a different emotion depending upon which side I face towards the camera, this means that I can strongly portray the emotion.

This half is used when Arsenal score to highlight the joy this gives me and how happy it makes me generally in the day.

And finally this is the sad side which I show when Arsenal concede to show the despair when Arsenal concede or lose  all of these make serve to portray my strong emotion towards my team but to also caricature it in a way.

Screenwriting- Treatment

Recently I had to write a treatment for my film, Brush Stroke, I found this to be a very helpful exercise with regards to panning because it allowed me to get a solid plot written down so I knew exactly where it was going. If anyone is unfamiliar with what a treatment is, it is basically the entire plot of a film with all the twists and such so that a company can know the plot and from this know if it worth investing in.

This is my treatment for Brush Stroke:

Brush Stroke

LOGLINE: The story of a starving artist who is in a dead-end job and doesn't fit in who loses his inspiration before finding it again after gaining the ability to literally enter works of art, as though they are different dimensions.

Act One:

Michael is a artist in his spare time, he paints fantastic works of art but sadly has not been successful in the art world and as such is forced to work a dead-end job in a three star Italian restaurant, this is a problem for Michael as he feels like a caged bird as he does not speak Italian, like his coworkers and boss, thus he feels out of place and as though his job is stifling his creativity and from this his art is suffering. On the whole Michael is a loner, save for his young attractive friend Shannon, although Shannon is young she is already in a high paying job in a bank and lives something of a luxury life, quite the opposite to Michael.  Michael is also very proud and often declines financial help from Shannon despite his money problems and his low income.

At the beginning of the film Michael is painting a landscape in his basement which is spectacular, we follow his every stroke until he is finished and he takes a step back from  his stand, smiles and goes upstairs from his art workshop (which is in his basement) and to bed. The following morning he looks through the mail in his bare, dull kitchen while he eats toast that he’s burnt and we see that he has several bills, one of which is a very serious bill for his rent which is a last notice before his eviction. Michael then leaves the house and goes to work via a rusted old bike.

Upon arriving at work he goes straight into the kitchen where immediately he has orders barked at him while his two co-workers stand and chat in Italian, the day winds on and at the end of the day he cycles a few streets to meet with Shannon at a coffee shop. The two chat about their day and Michael begins to vent his problems to Shannon and he begins to let go more and more whilst telling her about his financial troubles and that he may lose his house due to back rent. On the brink of a full breakdown, Michael stops talking and begins to drink his coffee, Shannon then offers to pay off his back rent and some of his bills. Michael angrily denies her offer and she reaches a minor compromise as he lets her pay for the coffee. The two then part ways and once Michael is home he immediately goes to his basement to paint to take his mind off of the day.

Act Two:

Upon attempting a painting in his basement Michael can no longer find his inspiration, he tries and tries but cannot put the brush to canvas and do anything good, as we see him struggle his frustration grows he eventually snaps and throws the canvas across the room before slumping into a corner and sobbing as to him it is as though he has lost the only thing in life that brings him joy. We then go again to his next day at work and as he is getting bawled at by his boss he stares at a painting on the wall of a forest, all of a sudden Michael finds himself in the forest from the painting and he walks through the trees and gets lost. he then comes across a floating framed picture of his basement as he left it. Michael stops to ponder the photo before he then finds himself in his basement stood in the middle of the wreckage from the previous night. he tidies up his mess and sets about sketching an outline for a landscape, he has not yet found his inspiration again but has found enough to begin sketching.

The next day Michael has a meeting in a lettings agency with his landlord about all his back-rent. whilst he is being asked to explain himself and to explain how he is going to pay back the debt, Michaels stares and studies a painting on the wall of a marina, the same thing happens again and he finds himself on a marina front that appears to be empty. Michael walks along the front for sometime before looking down and once again seeing his basement only this time it is on the floor. Once again he stops to study the picture before him and finds himself all of a sudden stood in front of his canvas and paints, he then picks up the brush with renewed enthusiasm begins to paint a landscape of a forest by a river with a log cabin. Upon doing a substantial amount of the painting Michael puts down the brush and goes to bed.

Act three:

For the first time in a while Michael wakes up with a good feeling about the day and arranges to get coffee with Shannon before work, so the two of them meet up in there usual cafe and they chat as they usually do. Shannon notices that Michael is a lot brighter than usual and Michael cannot help but tell her about his new found ability to enter paintings, for obvious reasons Shannon cannot believe Michael. He pleads with her to believe him before eventually offering to prove it with one of the paintings in the diner, a small painting of a cottage in the country. Michael takes her hand and really focuses hard on the painting but to no avail. no matter how hard Michael tries he cannot get it to work. Shannon now thinks Michael is making fun of her and tells him he must've dreamt his trips into the paintings. She then leaves cash on the table and leaves angrily and abruptly.

Feeling somewhat upset about what had happened and also wondering if it was a dream Michael cycles to work to find out he is being sacked for ‘what happened the other day’ (while he was in the painting) when he asks the boss to explain he just says that he was barely there all day (Michael is unsure whether he means physically or mentally). Distraught by how his day has gone Michael cycles home only to find that there is an eviction notice on his door. Michael tears the notice off of the door and immediately goes to his landscape.

Michael pulls a chair up to the painting to stand on so he can paint the top of his canvas and we watch him put the last few strokes to his masterpiece before the chair gives way and we see his legs dangle, Michael has killed himself so he can live in his perfect masterpiece.  However as he is hanging there he drops his paintbrush which is covered in black paint and we look over his painting to see a black figure next to the log house as we fade to black to end the film there will be a slight movement from the figure as if to suggest that he is alive in the painting but it is deliberately vague to make the viewer decide if he is alive or not and thus whether he did have the power to go into paintings.

This was my original treatment but like with the step outlines the story evolved over the writing process due to me finding out how things worked in practise.

Using the smoke machine

We recently were given a tutorial on how to use the smoke machine.

As you can see above we can have a very thick smoke with just a few presses of the button, this means that you can create a heavy smoke environment. The only downside of this is that you cannot put a thin layer on the floor like with dry ice, which is now illegal due to the health risks of inhaling the gas. It is also of note that this can be used outside but will have to be used more as the smoke dissipated quickly.

There is not much else I can say about this because I haven't got anything planned that can incorporate this or rather needs to incorporate this. However I should briefly say that because it is smoke machine, it will set off smoke detectors (if not they're not really very good are they) so you'll need to turn off the smoke detectors in the vicinity or cover them. Also in form whoever owns the building of you doing so.

Screen writing- Idea

My idea is basically an artist who loses his inspiration and finds it again by gaining the ability to enter paintings literally. The protagonist Michael has a hard life and not much to live for, he works a dead end job and only has one friend really, Shannon. Shannon is almost a polar opposite of Michael as she is successful and easy going, they get along well regardless.
The original 10 step outline for this film was:

1. Michael is doing a painting in his art studio which is in his basement, he is very good and is finishing a really good landscape.
   
2. Michael gets up and does his daily routine before going to work.at work Michael does not fit in and is constantly being shouted at and scorned because he is the only non-Italian in the restaurant staff.
   
3. Michael then gets coffee with his best friend Shannon after work, he tells her about all of his money issues and how he will potentially be evicted from is house. Shannon offers to pay his bak rent and help him out but he refuses and gets angry, the two compromise with her paying the coffee bill.
   
4. Michael returns to his basement to do some more painting but he has lost his inspiration and in a fit of rage he trashes his workshop.
   
5. Michael is getting shouted at at work the next day and while he is, he stares at a painting of a forest and all of a sudden finds himself in the forest. he explores the forest and finds a picture of his basement as he left it, upon studying this he finds himself in there.
   
6. The same thing happens the following day in a lettings agency when he is being told he must pay off his back rent or face eviction, this time it is a marina but the events transpire in the same way as the forest.
   
7. Upon returning from the marina Michael has rediscovered his inspiration and begins work upon his perfect scene of a log cabin in the woods.
   
8. The following day, Michael goes to see Shannon before work for coffee and cant help but tell her about his new found joy and where it is coming from. she cannot believe him and the two get very angry, Shannon because she thinks Michael is making fun of her, and Michael because he cannot show her his power, Shannon concludes he isn't making fun but that he was just dreaming.
   
9. Michael leaves the coffee shop and heads to work, only to find he has been sacked due to ‘hardly being there all day’ when he was getting shouted at. he then heads for home to find an eviction notice on the door of his house, Michael tears this off and immediately goes to his basement to finish his art, he pulls out a chair to reach the top and the chair gives way, leaving Michael hanging. Michael has hung himself. 
   
10.  Michael hangs from the ceiling and drops his paintbrush which has a black paint on it, we then look over his painting and see a newly added silhouette, then we see a slight movement, or perhaps it didn't move, the point is to make the audience decide. 
    
    Although there are some differences as the script has developed this is still the basic plot, although I am thinking of adding a third painting scene instead of the intended original 2.
    
    

Me, Myself & I- Shot research

As I am using Bronson for inspiration, I figured it would be a good idea to watch the scenes from which I am drawing my inspiration and take pictures of the shots used so I can mimic them or adapt them to my own work. Please note that I am not copying the film directly, just taking inspiration from it as it is the closest thing to what I am looking to make.

All of the shots below have been taken directly by me using my phone and TV, they're taken directly from the film Bronson which is copyright of Vertigo Films.

Looking at these shots we can mainly see that when Bronson is talking it is shot in a mid shot and instead of moving the camera to manipulate the actors distance from the camera the actor moves around. this is what i wish to mimic, however, I plan to have some movement of the camera because in my film the theatre sections are the main feature as opposed to the sections which link other segments, for example I plan on having a close up of my shoes as I walk in but will then pan up and move backwards to get a full view of me before then cutting to a mid-shot.

Also when it comes to the two faces section there will be some camera movement in the form of a slight pan to the side when I step to change which side of my face is on show which differs from Bronson because Tom Hardy just quickly turns whereas I plan to take a step before I turn so that I can move the camera, I feel this gives a bigger impression of there being a transition.

Me, Myself & I- Script

So today I finished my script for the Me, Myself & I project. Firstly, although the limit for the length for the film was 3 minutes mine currently sits at 2 minutes 53 seconds but I'm not worried about this because it wasn't a true acting of it when I did a run through so this can easily change. There will also be shots that aren't in the script because they're just filler, like the train leaving the station. The second problem that I found was that it was at times difficult to create dialogue that felt authentic if I was saying it. For example, in one scene I am celebrating my team scoring a goal, i found this hard to script an authentic cheer that wouldn't sound too fake. This is what I wrote for this part:

I felt that this is the kind of thing I say when Arsenal score, however I plan on just using this as an outline, in general I will improvise but have this as like a base for that improvisation. 

Also whilst writing this script I  chose to only feature one character (myself) apart from in one little bit where I get a reply to a chant from my Dad. I chose to do this because that way it feels truly like I am somewhat lonely in this film which plays upon the Me Myself & I brief that I was given, that it is just me and my emotion.

Next I need to make up some story boards so that filming becomes substantially easier so shots are set up easily.

Me, Myself & I- New Idea

As it is the early days of my film degree and I have not yet used Avid editing software, I have decided to change my Me, Myself & I project so that it is more the camera that will make it a good piece and not the advanced editing. What I mean by this is that to split screen myself three times (to create three people) would be beyond my capabilities at this time considering the time I have to make the film and  my lack of experience with the editing software. However, this is a technique I am interested to explore in the future, but for now at least I will put it on hold.

This means then that I must have a more camera and visual based idea in mind, I do. My new idea takes strong inspiration from the Nicolas Winding Refn film Bronson (2008) starring Tom Hardy as 'Britain's most dangerous criminal': Charles Bronson.


You may be glad to hear that I am nothing like person on which this film is based. however stylistically there is something in this film I wish to mimic within my piece, which is the use of a theatre in which Bronson looks over his life and offers a commentary of sorts, although it is much more than just a simple narration of his life, he applies face paint and acts out in a sort of monologue fashion that gives a glimpse into the insanity of the character. I do not consider myself to be insane (funnily enough) but I do think that I could play on this style and highlight some of my personality traits. For example I actually have stage fright, what better place than on a theatre stage to show this to the audience. However, this would be exaggerated to highlight it in a comedic manner.

The Picture on the left is the cover for Bronson taken from:  http://www.imdb.com/media/rm119769344/tt1172570?ref_=tt_ov_i

In Bronson the theatre is dimly lit and quite dark all around, this gives an impression of two things, the first is that Bronson is quite a dark character, this is then emphasised by the performance of true insanity from Hardy, and also from the things that Bronson has done. The other thing this lighting gives is an impression that we are inside Bronson's mind, the actor on the stage serves as the voice in Bronson's head and the audience are reacting how he would expect them too, this is also emphasised by the fact that we know Bronson strives for fame so these visuals are him imagining his success to a degree.

This is the theatre used in Bronson, as you can see the framing is beautiful and really nicely gives the impression of being trapped in a box, for example Bronson's mind. (Photo taken from: url). This is a theatre in Nottinghamshire so I could not use this specific theatre, however near to where I live is Billingham Theatre which I think would give me a similar aesthetic which will serve the purpose I am looking for.

Images of Billingham Theatre (Top from: http://www.ukurbex.com/index.php?/topic/1519-the-forum-theatre-billingham-2009/) (Bottom from: https://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/6417322669)

The above photos are of Bellingham Theatre which I believe would be a perfect place for me to do the in my head pieces of the film, however I think that I will be different from Bronson by not having a crowd, I may still include the noises that a crowd would make though, I may do this to be somewhat surreal and show that it is in my head. 

The other thing to consider is the make-up that Hardy wears in this film, I could mimic this exactly or I could use imagery that is more relevant to me. 

As you can see by the picture next to this Tom Hardy wore make-up that suggests his insanity so I don't really think this would work for what I am trying to portray. However I am thinking of showing how big a football fan I am so perhaps I could get my teams badge painted on my face for one of the segments. I also plan to do a small section were a very nervous me goes on stage and faints from stage fright, for this I may paint a worried face over my own for comedic and hyperbolic value to highlight the nervous part of my persona. Tom Hardy Bronson Photo Taken From: (http://quotesgram.com/charles-bronson-movie-quotes/). 

This research into my inspiration has given me a lot to think about and plan, now I need to storyboard, script and have a plot outline, all of which will feature on here when they're finished.

24 Hour Film- Planning

As mentioned in the previous post we had to make a film in 24 hours and came up with the idea of Keith the space worm. the next step was to plan what we wanted to shoot and storyboard and script it, with this being a very quick creation and filming we didn't follow the conventions of script and instead went for a more efficient system that meant we straight away knew what we were doing when shooting.

These are the original scripts for a few of the intended scenes, sadly the majority of what we wanted to shoot was simply unachievable with the time constraint. In the end we only had the introduction and the beach scene. However, I still feel we made a short but effective comedy piece.

As you can see in some of these storyboards there were other scenes that we intended to add to make the film even funnier and to perhaps flesh out the character of Keith somewhat, although with what we had I think you still get the portrayal we intended to show so in that sense nothing was lost.

24 Hour Film Introduction

So a couple of weeks ago we were given the brief to plan and shoot a film in 24 hours, we were given the genre at 2 PM on the Tuesday and had to have a film by the same time the following day with next to no previous planning for the film. We were given the genre of Sci-Fi. this could have been majorly worse as one of the other options was for a musical, so I think we got a good deal. That being said there was still a major challenge with getting a story planned that we could do in 24 hours. After a few different ideas flying around we eventually decided upon the idea of a mockumentary which follows a day in the life of Keith the space worm and his carer John. This was done in a similar style to Lou and Andy from Little Britain and in a similar style to What We Do in the Shadows, a mockumentary about vampires who live together.

(Lou and Andy photo taken from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_and_Andy)

(Poster for What WE Do in the Shadows taken from: http://jeremysaunders.com/key-art/what-we-do-in-the-shadows-1/)

This is an image I took of our space worm Keith when he was in full costume. We were going for a deliberately amateur aesthetic to make the film more funny which I feel worked well although the costume deteriorated quickly throughout the day and due to the time constraints there was not a lot we could do about it.

Split-screening Research for Me, Myself & I

My main idea for my Me, Myself & I project (a three-minute film which illustrates something about myself) is to literally have three versions of myself on screen at once, interacting with each other as those three personalities would react.

In order to do this, I need to know how to make it possible to ‘duplicate’ myself on screen 3 times. I have done some research into this and although nowhere I have looked says how to use three of the same actor, I believe that if I use the same technique as for two of an actor, if I add a third layer it should have the desired result.

I found that there are two ways in which to duplicate a character on screen the first of these (and the simpler way) is to simply split the screen into segments of how many actors there are and film it as many times as there are actors, this does mean however that the actors cannot physically interact and the camera and background must be consistent, i.e., it must be a stationary shot with an unchanging background.

(Photo Taken from: http://www.mediacollege.com/video/special-effects/duplicate-actor/images/duplicate-screenshot-01.gif)

The second way in which you can achieve this effect is through the usage of a green screen to superimpose the other characters onto the background scene, this can be tricky as you need to match up lighting and the aesthetics so that the character looks as though they’re meant to be in the scene. Another way to do this is to green screen all three actors and then put a separate layer for the background that has no actors in it. This could be done with an image but this may be obvious as not fitting as there may not be any movement if it is outside, this will draw attention to the fact it doesn’t fit. This is a technique I plan on experimenting with just to get the hang of it and to see if I can find a way to create the effect and have camera movement.

First Post

Hello and welcome to anyone who maybe reading this. This is my first post onto my blog just to let you know what it's all about. My blog will be the collation of everything I am doing throughout my Creative Film and Moving Image degree and will mainly be research and experience related posts about what I am doing. Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy.