Brush Stroke- Director Influences

With the fact that I am going to be directing Brush Stroke I decided that I wanted to look at some directors that influence me and that have influenced the script during the writing. The first of these is my favourite Director(s) the Coen Brothers, famous for such films as No Country for Old Men and Fargo, they have a unique visual style that I wish to emulate that comes from their very close work with their cinematographer Roger Deakins.

This is an example of how Roger Deakins sets up his shots for the Coens, he shoots with a wide lens on but always makes sure that the background is still interesting so that the "shot appears more personal". This is something I would definitely like to mimic as I agree with Deakins that it adds to the personality of the shot but also I think that it will add to the intimate drama of the conversations.

Another director who influenced me was Christopher Nolan, particularly the film Inception, which I have referenced before when talking about Brush Stroke. Although this is an action film, it does feature some interesting character development and some similar themes to my film, predominately the 'is it a dream' feel to the film as well as the debate of whether you could kid yourself that you aren't in a dream to be happy.

This is an example of a shot that is similar to the Deakins shot from above how it is a nice wide shot with an interesting background. I also like how this film utilises close ups to show important aspects of the story with a basic shot of something small in a close up. The prime example being the spinning top in the climax of the film. One example I can think of where I will do this is when I will exaggerate Shannon's engagement ring. I will exaggerate it by getting an extreme close up that pulls the focus onto the ring.

Brush Stroke- Paint effect trials

When I come to make Brush Stroke I would like to add an effect where Michael paints over the lens of the camera as though the lens is the canvas, in order to capture this effect I did some tests to see what the best way to do this was. These are the results.

This was with a sheet on acetate over the lens secured on with celotape. I think it worked well but the paint needs to be thicker or perhaps a different paint, this was oil paint.

This was a second attempt with acetate but as you can tell the acetate wasn't secure and as a result the illusion is broken, again the paint wasn't thick enough.

This was an attempt using cling film, it didn't really work, the application of the paint is good but there is way too much movement of the surface and as such there is no illusion because you easily notice that something has gone wrong.

This was the final attempt, for this one I used a sheet of glass and got my dad to hold it against the lens while I did the painting, this is by far the best of the lot and I think the best thing to do with regards to the paint is to use acrylic instead of oil as they are more translucent but stick better so it will give a better effect.

Just a side note these are in poor Gif former because I had trouble uploading to youtube so had to use Gif.

Brush Stroke- Painting photoshop

As one of the central aspects to Brush Stroke is the paintings that appear in and amongst the plot, it is obvious that we will need some paintings. Due to the fact that we have neither the budget nor the time for professional oil paintings or high quality paintings of any kind I have had to get creative with photoshop. What I did was take some photos (from the internet and in one case from our recce photos) and then I applied an artistic filter, and after this if I wasn't pleased with the outcome I adjusted the other settings like contrast, saturation, hue, etc.
This is how my experiment turned out:

 This was my first attempt and actually one of the best that I did, I think this may be due to the quality of the original photo. This is a very simple application of the angled strokes filter.

In this one I again applied the angled strokes filter but I widened the stroke and upped the saturation when I felt it didn't look 'painting' enough.

 As I knew that late on in the film there would be a painting of a cabin with the two lead characters stood outside I experimented with adding people, in this case it didn't really work, however, I think this is because of the colour contrast between the people and their background.

 This is an attempt at a forest which I thought looked quite good but when I showed my crew they said that it looked too "blocky" so perhaps if I was to used this effect then I may have to reduce the stroke size, it should be noted this wasn't angled strokes.

This photo was taken from a recce at a lake in Sunderland that we are thinking about shooting at, for this one I used angled strokes and lowered the saturation before changing the brightness, contrast and vibrance.

I then added this man in the boat to the painting, he was crudely cut out and quickly edited to have similar aesthetics to the painting. I don't think this looks too bad considering it was a test and when it comes to the real thing I will take much more care over it. I then lowered the brightness to integrate the two images better.

Production Module- Brush Stroke

So after a few months away from Brush Stroke (the script I wrote for the screenwriting module) I have no got the chance to direct and make it. The deadline for which is May 8th, so its an 8 week turn around, not a huge amount of time considering the vastness of this script, with many locations and a fair few actors, this is definitely the biggest production I have been a part of. Therefore to be the creative drive behind this is only adds to the magnitude of what I have to do in such a modest amount of time. However, this is by no means impossible and I fully expect to come out with the film I want to make and it will not have been unnecessarily cut down for ease of time or as a way out of working harder on it.
That's basically the end of this post as I did it to serve as an introduction to my new module.

Live Project 1: Final Location

This is a short post to show the location that we shot the music video at, this was actually written before the shoot, except this line of course, it has just been in draft format.
In this post I will show you the location which we have decided to shoot the music video at.

This is The Studio, in Hartlepool, it used to be our university's bar so we have  a connection to the bar and we used this to secure it as a filming location relatively easily. The building itself is also very good for us as it is quite big inside and has plenty of access to plug sockets for our lighting. Also rather importantly we will be able to use a smoke machine inside as we have checked with the owner and he is completely okay with us using one.

This is the interior and again it fits what we need almost perfectly, there is a wide open dance floor that will be easy to skate and dance on for our actors. Also there is a huge bonus to this location in that they have their own lighting which we can utilise as we see fit from the light mixer seen in the foreground. The last good thing about this location is the stage which is well elevated and open meaning it will be easy to film both the actors and the band in one shot, in addition the openness of the stage also means that the crew will be able to easily navigate the band and film them without tripping over them. These are all the reasons that we chose this location, I think that we have picked the perfect location for what we are looking to film. 

Live Project 1: Film Shoot 18/02/16

This was the final shoot and it was a very short shoot so this will most likely be a very short post as the main parts of this shoot have already been covered in previous posts. This is because the shoot just consisted of the UV paint and the poster which I have already talked about in previous posts so I will touch on the filming aspects of these.

This is the UV light we used for the neon paint effect. This was easy to film as it was a case of turn the light on, frame the close up and then press record. This was a really simple and quick part of the shoot which was done in around 20 minutes and was really effective on screen.

Again this was the poster lit up which we then got multiple shot of from a few different angles, the high angle shots like this were done handheld from the top of a ladder which we had to get help for as we needed someone to foot the ladder for health and safety. These are some more shots that looked great and were really simply done.

That really all there is to say about this shoot as it was really short and went down without any trouble really.

Live Project 1: Film Shoot 17/02/16

Once again at The Studio in Hartlepool we had a second film shoot, this time we had extras and the band as well to film there segments of our video. This time we got all of the equipment that we needed and had asked for so we started this shoot a lot better than the last shoot.

This was supposed to be the final big shoot in which we got all of the band shots and of the dancing actors with extras. The shots that we wanted are of generic shots of the male lead dancing with his friends and of the female lead dancing with her friends and then the two groups dancing together. We also wanted to do all of the band shots of close ups of the instruments, as well as wide shots of the full band.

This all went smoothly with the only potential problem being that we weren't the only group which was filming on this shoot which meant that we may be tripping over each other and getting in each others way. However, this was not the case and we found that we helped each other a lot during the shoot and worked well parallel to each other.

The final thing we shot in this shoot was a narrative scene where the girl fall over and cuts her arm revealing that she is in fact a robot. This is something that links out film to the other two from the trilogy as it is a constant narrative that runs through all of them that she is a robot in an 80s style and he is just a modern man.

Live Project 1: Film Shoot 14/02/16

On Sunday 14th February we had a film shoot in The Studio, Hartlepool, this was with the two actors and no extras or band. This shoot got off to a bad start when we got to the venue and realised that we hadn't booked out the correct equipment and therefore we had to reevaluate what we could shoot on that day. Once we had spent some time sorting this out we then went onto set up the cameras and the lighting whilst the actors sorted their make up and costume.

When they were done we then started shooting the actors skating around and interacting with each other as well as filming their close ups, these shots where not in the original lighting that we planned as we did not have the gels for the lights that we wanted so we adapted it to suit this problem and just went more stylistic on the other aspects to compensate. 

Due to the fact that this shoot was purely just the lead actors it gave us much more scope for experimentation because we were working in a more refined environment and we had a lot of time to work with, this meant that we could throw more shot ideas and framing ideas around to improve the film. This is how the above shot came to fruition and we came about taking the "you are beautiful" mirror shot. 

Due to the fact that we had only the main actors and the crew, the shoot was mainly for close-ups and cutaways, however, the fact that we had two cameras and operators this meant we could cover a lot of footage in a relatively short amount of time which again meant we could get more content that would help the editor when it got that far.

Live Project 1: Role Research

My job role for this module (when making the video) is camera operator, this means that I am the one who physically films the shots of the film under direction from the DOP (director of photography) or in this case, due to the small crew size, the Director. As a result of this brief, I decided to look into what makes a good camera operator, in doing this research I found a list of 12 qualities every camera operator should have, these are as follows

(according to https://filmcameracourse.wordpress.com/2012/02/03/how-to-be-a-better-camera-operator-part-1-mindset/): 

1. Know Your Craft:

2. Offer Creative Input

3. Go the Extra Mile

4. Be Professional 

5. Be Confident

6. Be Punctual

7. Be Pleasant 

8. Be Tolerant

8. Listen carefully

9. Develop Instant Rapport  

10. Be Flexible and Versatile

11. Always Communicate

12. Take Responsibility

To me, this list is somewhat generic for any business, however they are noted and I will be sure to think of these skills when I am on set and filming, also when I am planning the shoots as the crew size means that I will also have a big part in their planning. Also I am glad that there is call for me to be creative as I enjoy putting personal touches on my work even if I am not in charge of the creation, this means I still can have an input. However according to Skillset, a camera operator "carries out the Director of Photography’s (DoP) and Director’s instructions for shot composition and development. They are usually the first people to use the camera's eyepiece to assess how all the elements of performance, art direction, lighting, composition and camera movement come together to create the cinematic experience."

This has opened my eyes somewhat as I did not know that it was down to the camera operator to comment on lighting and composition, I had thought that it would be the DOP who does this, it is not and therefore this research has helped me mould to this role more as I am now more aware of my responsibility.

Live Project 1- Locations

Filming a roller disco requires a hall. Therefore, it goes without saying that we had to find a hall. There were 4 locations we had in mind, a few of which we could get hold of but due to issues with the venue we couldn't use it. The locations we had in mind were, a church hall, a school hall, a roller derby and a bar.
The Church Hall

This is the exterior of the church, unfortunately I haven't got a photo of the hall but the main reason we had for not choosing this location was that it would more than likely be too small, also there was the issue that we may mark the floor with roller skates. We did not return to test the flooring with roller skates because we had already got a location by the time that it would have come to doing this.

The Roller Derby

The producer contacted all of the local roller derbies and we as a group looked for more derbies but we could not find one that would be willing to let us shoot in their building when we were looking to shoot. Although it is likely that the room wouldn't be what we needed anyway because they tend to be long and thin whereas we needed something more square.

School Hall

The school was almost perfect for our shoot, although we found that there weren't a huge amount of plugs for electricity which may have been an issue because we planned on using a few red head lights and some disco lights and a smoke machine so we need a good access to plugs. Also again we had the issue of potentially marking the floor and knowing that the hall is newly built I knew they would be particularly protective over this. Again, by the time it came to testing the floors we already decided upon a location.

The Bar

We eventually decided to shoot at a local bar called The Studio that ticked all the boxes for what we wanted. I don't want to talk about this too much on here because I am going to do an individual post for it.

Live Project 1: UV Light and UV paint

Another way that we thought we can really nail the 80s vibe of the music video was by using a UV light and UV paint to accentuate and stylise the look of the actors. When I looked into doing this I found that if done correctly, It looks really vibrant and neon, which is more or less perfect for our video.

This is an example of what I found and an idea that we could mimic. With this on board I then went about putting the paint onto actors to see if we could create a similar effect. We also got a UV light from a friend of Ryan (the other camera operator) and then turned on the light to see what it looked like. 

This was the first attempt, I feel this worked well and looked very in keeping with our aesthetic vision. We then applied this to some other extras and filmed their close ups so that we could use this in potential cutaways in the video.

Of the ones that we did this was my favourite as I think it looks good how the hair is illuminated coming out of the hat. This is just pleasing on the eye.

 

These are the last of the screenshots I have taken of the use of face paint in the video. I think the effect is really good and definitely adds the neon colourfulness and flare we are wanting it to bring.

Live Project 1- Poster Lighting

The final thing that we had to do for this poster was to light it for the shots of just the poster. This is only a short post because we got the look we wanted relatively quickly. At first we tried using the rig lights in the studio but eventually decided that it would be much easier to set up and position three red head lights and add filter to them. This is what we did.

This is a very basic lighting plan for what we used to light up the poster, with each circle being the light and the colour being the filter we added to the light. While this is very basic it is still useful on set as it gives a clear indication.

This is what it turned out like when we had lit it up, personally I feel that the blue could have been stronger but on the whole I think that this came out great. We then decided to add roller skates to the picture to show the actors kicking off their skates which we filmed, then I took a still of the skates in place.

All things considered I think this was very well lit up and looked fantastic on screen.

Live Project 1- Poster Photoshop

After we had made the poster from my previous post, but not yet added the stars, I was given this photo to try and tidy up the poster on photoshop in case we wanted to use a still of it on the video.

This was the completed poster without the stars as they were a decision we took later to add them in. The first thing I decided to do with this poster was to make a digital version, I did this simply by colouring in the areas in block colour of what they were on the original.

This is what the digital version came out like, it was very rough but I think that it benefits from block colouring because it makes it more vibrant and also less streaky. From here, if we wanted to incorporate this as a logo I could remove the background to make it transparent so that the image could be easily super imposed onto whatever we wanted.

The new thing I did with the poster was a lot more subtle but also very effective. What I did with this was blur the lettering and the background to remove the creases and streaks but still keeping the look of being hand made. It is unclear at this point whether either of these effects will be used in the final edit but it is of note that they were both done relatively quickly as a showcase and not to be considered the best they can be. If theses were needed in the final edit, it would be done much neater and more time and care would be taken over it.

Live Project 1- Poster design and creation

In the music video theres is a large poster that lays on the floor which has the band name on it (Lost State of Dance), as a result of this poster being in the film, obviously we had to make it, so we did.

First we had to make a single piece of paper big enough for what we wanted so we took some old posters that weren't needed and attached them together then flipped them over so we could paint on the white side.

It just so happens that our lead actor is on the illustration course at out university, this meant that we could tell him what we wanted and he essentially nailed exactly what we wanted when he drew it onto the paper. Then it was just a case of painting onto the paper what had been drawn out.

Apart from the "state" this was the poster finished until we later decided that there was too much empty space and we concluded that there needed to be some stars in the gaps to bring it to life that little bit more.

This was then finished and we just needed to film it. Although we did experiment with photoshopping  the poster to touch it up as well as experimenting with lighting to get the best effect of the poster, these are both things I will post about later.

Live Project 1- Actors.

This is just a short post to show the actors that we have cast for the music video as the 80s girl and modern boy.

This is the girl (Jess) who will be playing the 80s girl, we decided to choose her because she was the most like the vision that we had for how the girl would look, also with her having green hair it made her a bit more vibrant and even more suited to the role.

This is the modern boy we chose to cast (Ryan) as he is very modern in how he dresses so it would be a lot easier for us to dress him in a modern way, also he was extremely comfortable and confident during the audition, this set him head and shoulders above the other auditions.
It is also of note that both of the actors said that they had some experience on roller skates and thus this meant that we could work better with them as there was no need for doubles.

Live Project 1- Costume

As mentioned in previous posts, the music video that we are making is 80s themed with a modern element as well. I have also previously mentioned that this was going to be done by having an 80s girl and a modern boy meeting up. As a result of these two culture clashes we need two distinct clothing styles so the difference between the two is evident on screen. Because of the need for distinction between the two eras on screen I decided to do some research into costume for the two characters and the type of things they could wear.

The Boy
The boy is the modern one of the two, this means it will be substantially easier to dress the actor because in all likelihood they will already have the kind of clothing we are looking for.

One quick google search of modern clothing and you find this image and I think this is a good starting point for what we want him to look like, in particular note the dull colours, nothing neon or bright like it was in the 80s, I think in particular the middle one of these men would be the best for what we are trying to achieve, I think the other two (in particular the left one) are perhaps a touch too smartly dressed.

Looking into more casual wear I found this and think this is more or less exactly the aesthetic we should look for, although the white is a bit bright, it will add to the vibrancy of the overall video when it is lit up but will still look more dull in comparison to the neons of the 80s girl.

 The Girl

With the girl being 80s themed and me being born in the late 90s I had to do a little bit of research into the clothing styles of the time, I knew they were neon and bright but aside from that I had very little knowledge.

I eventually came across this image and thought that this was more or less the image we wanted for the actress, however, her legs were a little bare and also considering that they will be at a roller disco she would need dressing up a little. The best way for us to do this would be neon leg warmers, the most quintessentially 80s piece of clothing ever created. If we were to add this to the costume coupled with some bright coloured roller skates I think that the outfit would be perfect.

Something on the lines of this to just add that extra 80s factor to make the costume perfect and really sell the idea that she is a girl out of her time. The only other thing to think about is her make-up, this will also be 80s themed so as to really push the image, the man will not have any make-up because it wouldn't be normal for a modern man to be wearing make up. The make up that the girl will be wearing will be brightly coloured and it will most likely be the David Bowie lightning bolt, as this is one of the icons of the time and also it is something of a tribute because of his recent passing.

If you are unsure of what this looks like it is the picture above, this should be relatively easy to replicate as we have a make up artist coming along to the shoot who will be able to do this for us and thus make the ultimate 80s girl come to life. 

This is what we eventually put onto the actress as a nod to Bowie but not a copy Although it is clear of our influence there is a lot that is different about our version.

Live Project- Song 3 Idea

This is the third and final song for Lost State of Dance's brief for making them a music video for each of their three new, yet to be released songs. This was the song that (of the three) was hardest to think up a solid concept for although we did come up with a fairly strong idea which we had no problems with pitching to the client.

The song talks about the break up of a boy and  a girl and the struggles involved, because of this the core aspect of our idea for the video for this was the boy following the girl through a maze but never catching up to her. In and amongst all the chasing we will cut in shots of the band playing with each one being filmed individually as well as full band shots.

With regards to the actual maze we were thinking of doing it in the style of maze-like streets which we will manipulate regular streets and turns to appear more like a real maze as this would be substantially easier for us to film. However, we did also consider the idea of using a real maze as one of the crew members owns a couple of drones we could use for aerial views of the maze, however, finding a maze would have been hard on such a small time frame.

One idea we had was to have the band playing at every dead end that they hit in the maze just so that we can put the band into the video in a more imaginative way than cutaways. Another idea we had (which links to the narrative) is that at the end of the maze one of them exits into a countryside and the other into a city or town showing that they are so different and don't belong together. Another idea we had was that they could reach the end and then the girl leaves with one of the band members after we find out that the band was waiting for them at the centre of the maze.

I personally think that this was our weakest of the three ideas that we thought of, but it is still a very strong idea we could put into production relatively easily. Some of these aspects could be used in other videos but most of the ideas for this were specific to this video.