Cheyenne Joseph // UCA Television blog

Since I am the DOP and Camera woman for Rosie's production, it was important for me to understand her plans and what would be required of me from the test shoot. She also needed me to give her assistance on how to film the test shoot.  The crash scene   Since her production will include a crash scene, it was important for me to understand how to film this. I drew up a diagram to further understand how this scene will be shot;  We decided that we will have  Long shots for the exterior and close ups for the interior shots with the characters. The main concern that I explained to Rosie was that we have to be careful to not break the 180 degree rule when filming from front to back. She notified me that she imagined the conversation shots in the car between the two main characters being over the shoulder shots where I would be in the back seat. This could work but I worry that the logistics of this may be tricky if we are trying to avoid the 180 degree rule. E...

Finding a Sound Op After having a very important meeting with my DOP, He alerted how important it is to get a good, confident sound operator, that way I won't need to worry about it on the day. At first I was going to use one of the students but I think I would still end up having doubts on the day so I want to look for a real industry professional.  I decided to use Mandy.com because of its wide database. I love the fact you can search for crew as well so I made sure to make use of this feature by posting an advert. In the advert I wanted to give as much details as possible because I want the sound op to understand the working conditions and how many actors are involved because this would let them know what equipment they would need.  The advert : I made sure to add the script so they could review this as well. Surprisingly I have received 8 responses so far and they all seem very professional and have their own kit. The applicants;  I was over...

FINDING CAST AND CREW My next task was to find an actress that was appropriate for the role of Mariette (Isaiah's Mum). I decided to use Mandy.Com as I really enjoy using this website.  I didn't want to create a new listing because I would then have to wait for it to be accepted. I wanted to take control on who would fit the part better so I decided to use the "actor search" feature to generate suitable candidates.  I then created a shortlist on people I thought fit the part, lived locally and was interested in short films (based on their profile interests). Below is a list of 5 women who I shortlisted and eventually messaged regarding the role.  When contacting the actresses I wanted to clearly lay out the requirements of the role as well as the rate of pay. This is the message that I sent out to all candidates;  I even attached the script for their review, thus making it easier for them to make a decision. Below are the responses I receiv...

Second meeting with the DOP/ Camera man - Sam Creamer  After providing my camera man with the pre production package and script for him to review over the Christmas holidays, we re grouped to go over our options regarding the equipment choices. After our first meeting I was advised to look at the Black Magic Ursa because of the cinematic imagery that can be created. With it's 4K capability, images would be really clear and would leave a great room for possibilities in the editing stage as well.   Black magic video;  Pros - Great 4k imagery -  XLR ports for sound - Would be able to operate sound mixing kit.  - EF mount, this means I would be able to make use of canon lenses Cons - Not good in low light (maximum ISO is 800)  - need a fast lens   However, there were many limitations that come with using this camera. First of all the cost. To rent this camera I would be set back by about £200 to £400 once renting from Fa...