Embedded Files
This week was our second week of this production documents assignment in the overall project. Fahmida gave us time to get on with our work and went round to discussion context with each of our groups. I had a long conversation with her about the prominence of arranged marriage as an aspect of the original Midsummer Night’s Dream play. We discussed that arranged marriage was a common thing in nobility during Shakespearean times and even to this day in many cultures. Although I have removed the marriage aspect of the play to suit a teen focused short film about relationships, this was a necessary discussion into the culture and social context of the location. The awareness of arranged marriage has influenced my decisions in character backstory with Anna and Will being set up by their friends rather than a traditional relationship start. This plays on the original context in a more grounded modern setting. My discussion with Fahmida also delved into the idea of escapism with the act of the characters running away to leave behind the boundaries halting their relationship. These are concepts I will explore more deeply following the assignment’s completion as for now I’d like to focus on preparing all my documents to hand in. This dialogue with Fahmida was thought provoking and got me to more deeply understand my characters. Following our discussions, I carried out a Call Sheet and Equipment list using the equipment I used for the test footage and my own personal equipment I plan on using for the real filming in future.
In my home life, it has just been my birthday so I have invested in my own filming equipment including lights, tripods, rigging, a mic and, most importantly, a Sony A7 iii camera. This camera is great and manoeuvrable with connection to my phone so I can transport files and use the phone as a monitor screen. The camera shoots in 4K which will be excellent for my projects both within college and at home.
On Wednesday, with my project for this assignment nearing competition, I was able to help a variety of groups with their own productions. Over the course of the day, I assisted Jacob, Kwyn and Alex’s group as a cameraman. For Alex’s, they used a secondary set built in the hair and makeup room while the TV studio is being used for the Level 4 students. Alex and Finn were working on an Oliver Twist short film, with Michael, Felix and as test actors in it. They needed an extra man to do the camera while Alex directed and Finn operated the boom mic. This was great experience for me as I was coming into this not knowing anything about the project so it made things easier taking directions of shots from Alex. I also lended them one of my personal lights as, with the RGB, they could get the green light they wanted without a filter. Moving on, I fulfilled a similar role for Jacob as we used a classroom to get his scene from Romeo and Juliette. The test footage for that is below.
Alex's group
Alex's group
Jacob test footage 1
Jacob test footage 1
Romeo & Juliet test 1.mp4
Moving to the afternoon, Kwyn, Jacob and I had access to the Green screen room and the actors from Zahra’s class. We had two of them and were able to repeat Jacob’s test filming with acting students as well as finishing Kwyn’s shots from last week. This space allowed us to use dramatic lighting. At a point, I needed to switch to hand held camera work to get the more intimate close ups Kwyn was after. The results of Kwyn and Jacob’s test footage is below, each are filmed by me but edited by them respectively.
Jacob test footage 2
Jacob test footage 2
Romeo & Juliet test 2.mp4Kwyn's test footage
Kwyn's test footage
David Copperfield - Test Footage.mp4
This week isn’t as detailed with a write up as there is less to write about. I spent the Friday writing this journal so far and updating my website with the content from this term so far. I drew my blocking script yesterday as well as converting my test footage from last week into a new storyboard. Overall, this week has been fairly productive with helping others and having experience behind the camera.
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