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Showing posts from February, 2016

Directions: Drama: Production Day, Feedback and Evaluation

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Production days before rough cut hand in This day was a very interesting day for me as I learnt so much about myself, others and how to deal with certain situations.  Actors First of all I felt really unprepared and nervous about the SFX and my actors. Just knowing that everyone was relying on me was so scary. I was delayed with the make up and it was a very windy, cold day. My actor was getting stroppy when I kept asking to do more takes from different angles and it was quite stressful. Because I knew the actor was cold, I tried my best to accommodate him and I also ended up restricting the amount of shots I re did because I didn't want everyone to be out in the cold too long. That was my biggest mistake. I should not have put the actor's feelings in front of the task at hand as much as I did because I ended up limiting my coverage which is never a good thing. When it came to edit I realised that there were shots that I forgot to film, even though I had the shot list at h...

Directions: Self Portrait: The Development of the idea and Test Footage

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I had an idea of how I wanted my self portrait to look, I wanted to incorporate nice imagery from a collection of places that I have been and I wanted it to have a double exposure effect, almost like it was imprinting on me. I learned that in order to get that effect, I would need to be in front of a plain background, green screen would be best. I watched a few tutorial on this;   But I later found another tutorial where I learned that you can also achieve this look without a green screen, the background just had to be plain. After learning about this, I was relieved because it would be easier for me to do it on a white background, especially when I realised that the studios had plain white walls with good lighting after a workshop. I wanted to conduct some test footage and try out the design to see if it was actually plausible. Here are some stills of the test footage. After shooting this I realised that the onl...

Directions: Pre Production: shot list, risk asses, call sheet , contracts

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RISK ASSESSMENT Shot list I decided to hand write my shot list because it was easier for me as I could further illustrate the shots that I wanted. templates only allowed me to do so much. This was probably the most useful piece of pre production that I used, I had it on hand at all times and it really allowed me to keep on track with the shots that I needed.  Call sheet I distributed this document to my cast and crew so everyone would be up to date with what the schedule would be. Artist contracts I had to use one contract for all the actors because I forgot to print out more. I still believe this contract is valid as all artists understood and signed. This is something I will avoid happening in the future as it was slightly embarrassing.

Directions: Drama: Set Dressing

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Set Dressing For my production it was really important for me to get the set dressing right for my shoot. especially for the scene where rick goes into carl's room. Baring in mind that Carl is a young boy around 10 years old, I needed to find lots of things to fill the room with to make it look like an actual 10 year old lives there. I wanted to be cost effective so I borrowed lots of items from my step brother. He had things ranging from posters to toy helicopters, coloured super hero sheets and lots of children's books and stuff like that. I filled a suitcase with stuff and went to the location the day before and dressed it. I didn't want things to be too structured. It had to be messy and not look like I just placed them there. unfortunately I did not take many pictures of this but here is a still from the video after it had been dressed. bare in mind that this room was a completely empty room with nothing in it.  Before: After...

Directions: Drama: SFX make up

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For my production I wanted to create prosthetics to heighten the believability and the quality of my zombies. I watched a lot of youtube tutorials and I realised that there is a technique to creating such pieces but I was really willing to try it out. Usually you would need to make a a cast for the persons face but I decided to simplify it for myself and just use  plate. I learnt that this could be just as good after watching someone create a brilliant prosthetic that way.  In the video here you can see that she has moulded the clay in to the desired shape and preps it for the covering of the liquid latex. I then proceeded to doing the same.   I was using coloured, oil based clay for mine. I was then required to sprinkle flour over mine to thicken the layer of the latex. I would repeat that until I was happy with the thickness. In the same tutorial, she moulded teeth for her zombie and I thought it would've been cool to do the same. ...

Directions: Drama: Supernatural

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SUPER NATURAL 11 season TV series  longest-running North American science-fiction series  2005 - 2011 Mainly directed by: Philip Sgriccia ( 34 episodes 2006 - 2016) and Robert Singer ( 33 episodes 2005-2015)  Filmed in Canada This series follows two brother's quest to follow their father's footsteps to hunt evil spirits and supernatural beings. The pair encounter a variety of demons, monsters and extra terrestrial gods that roam the earth.  Why I chose to look at this series I am a person who enjoys supernatural themes shows, shows that emerge me into a world that is far from reality. This is why I enjoyed this show so much. During the seasons you find yourself learning about the main character's personality traits and you learn to empathise with them. Because this show goes on for such a long time (11 seasons is quite a lot) I couldn't help but get attached to the char...

Directions: Drama: The Art of Directing

The art of directing There are many elements that come into play when "directing" is discussed. It is no surprise that this type of craft is seen as an art form. There are just so many things to consider when you are a Director. But one of the main things I wanted to explore was the role of actors and the relationship a Director should have with their actors. I particularly wanted to look at this element because for my production I have to rely heavily on 1 main character and it is essential for me to be able to get a good performance from the character. My production quality would really struggle without it. I had a read through a few books to gain greater insight on anything that I should consider when directing my actors.  In "Directing Actors" by Judith Weston  she speaks of the communication between actor and director as a "different language" something that you must learn in order to get the message through to correctly. She then goes on to say...

Directions: Drama: Director Michelle MacLaren

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Michelle MacLaren born in Canada Producer and Director and Executive Director Known for Breaking Bad, The X-Files and Population Directed a wide variety of popular TV shows such as; Game Of Thrones, The Walking Dead, Better Call Saul One of the things that really stood out to me was the amount of episodes this lady has managed to direct. Not to mention she was the main Executive producer for the hit show Breaking Bad which is one of my favourites but it she has really put herself out there. I have noticed that MacLaren has directed a variety of crime episodes and episodes that require you to engage with the characters, and notice little details within the shows that help carry the story along. Shows such as X files, NCIS, Lie To Me, Without A Trace and of course Breaking Bad. It is clear that Michelle may be the type of Director who would like to focus on detail.  In a recorded talk that Michelle ran at a college called Brentwood College School, ...