Post Thirteen: Advanced Production Skills Workshop 3

WORKSHOP #3

In a class lesson approaching our third and final workshop, we had group discussions revolving around way in which the quality of our filming products could be improved in terms of video quality through the lighting within our short films; whilst in this discussion the point was raised the as well as amending the quality, lighting can also develop a specific and desired sense of style within a film. After establishing this we began our workshop and begun by looking into how lighting affects sources and colours within a shot.

To being this process we looked at two stills from the film 'Forest Gump'. The first was img1, the contrast between the two images was dramatic, the first image obviously contained a lot of natural lighting as well as containing an element of soft lighting to enhance and continue the natural style created. Within this image there are hardly any noticeable shadows on the characters themselves and their clothing; In this image there are limited attached shadows on the characters clothes. The soft lighting used highlights the reduced differences between light and dark areas.



img2

The second was img2, as you can see there is a stark contrast between this image and the first image, the style of this shot is completely different. Opposed to using a soft lighting affect, this still consists of the hard lighting affect, this is used to create an artificial lighting affect withing the shot. The effect it has on this shot is that the costume looks bleached and any attached shadows are very difficult to pick out.
 


During this lesson I decided to make notes of the progress I made in understanding the development of a sense of style. The main focus within our discussion and therefore within my notes was the analysis of the two stills above from 'Forest  Gump'. Additional information within my notes also contain elements of mise-en-scene of other photographs we analysed and self reminders and descriptions of '3 point lighting' that we also learnt within the lesson.

***INSERT BRAIN STORM***



“Lighting can be characterised by its source. In making a documentary, the filmmaker may be obliged to shoot with the light available in the actual surroundings. Most fictional films, however, use extra light sources to obtain greater control of the images look. In most fictional films, the table lamp and street lamp you see in the mise-en-scene are not the principle source of illumination for the filming.” After reading and looking into this quote as a group we managed to establish that a light within a film can be limited; from what sources of lighting they can use to which sources are available. 

The following images are still from a 'Harry Potter' shoot - the obvious director's intent is for the central source of light to be the lamppost, within the shot this will appear the case however the light from the lamppost alone would not have been bright enough and would have created a significant amount of shadows and not enough light to fully illuminate the central character within the shot. Therefore the director has employed extra lighting the created the desired effect, by doing so it still appears within the shot that the lamppost is the only source of light but the additional lights emphasise upon the actual source of light. 



img3



We next looked the next set of stills, these helped us establish how lighting can add to and essentially create atmosphere - The first photograph, img3 is of  an empty corridor, if a director had chosen this as a location for a film they would have limited control over the lighting, the lights are pre-fixed and in shot, therefore covering them with gels to adjust the colour or blacking them out completely would not be an option. The artificial lights create a a hard lighting affect and cast reflections on the floor as well as the walls. Considering the lighting within this image it would be highly difficult to adapt the setting to a desired film setting. 

img4

The second image we then looked at was img4, completely contrasted to img3 img4 contains light sources that have been purposely used in order to create the desired style, the lighting has been used to create shadows below the lights due to the lights being positioned upwards. Positioned strategically between the segregations in the ceiling, there are lights placed between them so that within the shot the middle of the corridor is also slightly lit, enabling us to see the whole of the way down the corridor. There is a light positioned in front of the central character's face, so that his face within the shot is completely visible, finally there is a light source positioned directly at the end of the corridor, this is placed there so that the end is visible.

 MY LIGHTING IDEAS

Once as a class we had discussed lighting we went about thinking about the lighting for our own short films. We established that it is important to take into considerations elements of mise en scene within the film when considering certain lighting aspects. This includes consider the location, set design, hair and make-up, costume, props and possibly most importantly character movement as all of these factors can affect lighting dramatically. Having dark lighting during a shot with which the character movement did not match would make no sense, therefore in order to avoid this lighting has to be matched to the scenario tightly:

We then learnt about gels, how to use them and the affects they have on shots. A gel is a device that you palce infront of a camera lens, this allows the shot to change colour accordingly. Gels come in different colours including red and blue, the strengths of them also differ e.g. 1/4 blue/ 1/2 blue and a full blue. Gels can also affect several elements of shots, they can create the appropriate mood, temperature and tone of a shot.

Within studying the lighting employed in films there are two typical lights that are identifiable, these are key lights and fill lights - fill lighting is a technique used to create less intense illuminations within the shots, it does this through the use of 'fill ins', this softens the lighting of the shot as well as the shadows. The opposite of this is the use of kay lights, these provide an intense illlumination and cast strong and prominent shadows.


CLASS PRACTICAL VIDEO

Once we had studied the use of lighting to enhance and create atmosphere and studied photos of how atmosphere was created within photos of corridors we participated in a task to create desired atmospheres within our own school corridors. This task involved the shooting of two seperate scenes: The first scene we shot we used the available lighting, these included natural lighting from windows and doors and artifical lighting from the ceiling lights. In the second scene we shot we manipulated the available lighting to attempt to change the atmosphere within the shot, we did this through blacking out the natural light and changing the positioning and strength of the artifical lighting.

Post Seventeen: Film Reviews

The first step I made into creating a film review for the short film I have created was carrying out research into film reviews which consisted of looking at both examples of film reviews and the method and layout for writing one. In looking into examples of written film reviews I chose to research two magazine - 'Sight and Sound' and 'Empire'; two British film magazines.

Empire is a magazine with an online version also available- the link for which is above. Empire is one of the sources that could debatably reach the largest audience - with ranges from new 'most recent' films, 'interviews' to 'future films'. Both the website and online version providing the reader with multiple options of what they want to read up on; all of the film reviews both in the magazine and online come with a brief summary of the plot as well as a very short verdict on the film, including a quote paired with a star rating. Following the short review featured the reader can then chose to read full reviews on desired films. The writing style employed within this magazine is relaxed and bordering on informal, the reviews are serious but often contain an element of humour or mockery.

Sight and Sound, an 'international film review magazine' which similarly to Empire has an online application of the monthly magazine. However, disimilarly to Empire the target audience for Sight and Sound is a niche, audience - this niche audience are those who prefer art house films, independent and social realist type films. The film reviews within Sight and Sound are completely different from those found in Empire, the writing style is very formal and highly analytical, the reviews are full length and of a high quality - a technical and descriptive vocabulary are used in analysing and describing the film as well as the review fitting rigidly into the conventions of a review. The high quality, language and analysis involved with the Sight and Sound reviews make it clear that Sight and Sound is a magazine for people who have studied and have a real interest in film studies, the reviews are not easy to make head and tale of if the reader does not understand the terminology.

As well as looking into magazines I also carried out research into online film reviews on websites such as http://www.rottentomatoes.com/  and http://www.filmcritics.com/, these websites are similar to empire in terms of audience, context and writing style - rotten tomatoes features a laid back and similarly humorous affect. Rotten tomatoes has review sections including - DVD: top rentals, top box office and coming soon - but rottentomatoes could also arguably act as an advertising site for films as much as it is a critical film review site. Film critics is laid out in a more formal style however, the films critiqued on the website are usually smaller films, including art house films and animations, this website provides a generally publicly generalisable view on films. Reviews can be and are often used within the purpose of advertising e.g. posters and leaflets in cinemas - these advertisements are created with the intent of providing the reader with a positive image of the film e.g. they made include a positive quote or rating from a magazine or website.

After my magazine research I carried on to look at the structure with which a film review is written - Firstly I looked online at several websites on which a specific configuration was made clear. One website I found gave me a set of guidelines to follow -

1. After you have selected your movie, get familiar with its context. By this I mean, before you even see the movie, get to know a little about it. What have the actors and director worked on before? Maybe check out some of their past work. Are they Oscar winners? Are they known for a certain style? Is the movie based on a book or an historical event? Is it a remake or a sequel? Look into those kind of things. All of this information will help you understand the movie better. You'll pick up on details, allusions, trademarks of the actor or director, and probably have more insight into important story elements. You'll be able to tell readers how it lived up to the original, say, or the book. These are the things that help a critic write a solid movie review that is of interest to the fan.

2. After you see the movie, formulate a specific opinion in one sentence. Your job as movie reviewer is to give an opinion of the movie. Ultimately, this may come down to a "thumbs up" or "three stars out of five." But you want to have a specific thesis to drive your critique. For example, "I didn't like this comedy" becomes "The story had funny moments but it went on too long." "This horror movie is good" becomes "This horror movie works because it builds suspense right up until the end." So, try to find that very specific opinion that will be the foundation of your film review.

After all of the research I carried out, including analysing several sources and debating which magazine my personal writing style would fit into. I decided to base my film review around the styling of Empire magazine - the paragraping and language within my review were on par with empire magazine. During my research into Empire magazine I also found that they have published several 'short-film special' issue of their magazine.

img.1

My first step in creating the review was to established my layout: 

1. Introduction

2. Plot Summary

3. Positives about film

4. Negatives about film

5. Overall verdict

 Whilst doing so I created a brainstorm based around the ideas I had for the layout of my film review after looking at both Empire and Sight and Sight articles (img.1). Once I had carried out all of the above research I was ready to begin the creation of my film review.

The final thing I had to research was a short film festival - I decided that because I was creating my own conventions for a short film article spread in 'Empire' I wanted to make it look more authentic by adding in an advertisement for a short film festival - after a lot of res each past the obvious film festivals I could have used e.g. Schweppes film festival I found 'CineFringe film festival' - after researching the festival to check it was appropriate to be put into the double page spread I found that it was the perfect festival to include within my review due to the fact that it exhibited work from 'new talents', this was relatable to my short film 'Bruises' as well as the fact that the 2011 festival was taking place within the next couple of months making the advertisement at an ideal time.

Post Fourteen: Pre-Production Work

TECHNICAL RECCES

Technical recces consist of an aerial drawing of each location at which filming is taking place at within the production stage. These drawings consist of all furniture within the rooms/area in which filming takes place, the lighting sources (both natural and artificial). Once the detailing has been added into the drawings the next things to be added are the camera positions, these are labelled with the shot numbers for that specific camera position within the scene that is being filmed. Lighting details e.g. gels that are being added to the lights must be noted on the technical recce as well as the positioning of the actors within the shots. Technical recces helped us establish where problems may be encountered in terms of the furniture positioning, light sources, risks that need to be assessed as well as helping us visualise how the scene will pan out enabling any necessary changes to be made before the day of filming.

 

STORYBOARD

A Storyboard is part of pre-production documentation and is a document which places an image to each shot within your product - as well as the image, shot and scene numbers are mentioned and importantly the camera and character movement. There are two columns on a storyboard, the left hand contains the image and the right contains the necessary information. The detailing surrounding the images - the arrows surrounding the outside of the box containing the image indicate camera movement e.g. panning, tracking, general movement and the arrows inside the box imply the character movement within the shot. This detailing works to our advantage due to the fact that simiarly to technical recces it enables us to get a clear idea of how the shot should look with details such as the proximity of the camera and actors e.g. long shot, medium shot, extreme close up, 3/4 shot etc.

 

 

LOCATION RECCES

Location recces as part of pre-production documentation are the process in which a scout visits numerous locations and takes photos, these photos would then be shown to the director who selects the locations that would be used to film at - Due to a time restraint we decided where would be be filming and have then created a location recce for every area in which we are filming. Within our location recces we have analysed and annotated them for power sources within the area, the lighting (both natural and artifical) as well as permission for using the area. 

 

SHOOTING SCHEDULE

A shot list is the part of pre-production documentation in which the location is stated with the scene and shot numbers by it as well as a description, this involves camera and character movement as well as any other relevant details for the shots.

CHARACTER PROFILES

Character profiles are designed to establish elements of the characters within the media product you are creating, they include necessary information on the characters as well as examples of costume - the information character profiles establish includes details about their appearance, certain character traits they have and even possibly their background. These enable to character preperation to run smoothly e.g. costume and the actors understanding of their characters - (Due to reliability, Ryan was later changed to Martin Pridgeon to play Grace's Father).

CAST PROFILES

Similarly to character profiles cast profiles are designed to establish necessary facts about people, however the aim of the cast profiles are establish information about the cast members rather than the fictional characters within the media product - cast profiles can include information such as eye colour, height, clothing sizes and personal interests. The aim of these are to enable yet again the character preperation to run smoothly e.g. costume and the actors understanding of their characters as well as acting as an aid to make sure the cast member is correct for the character role - (Due to reliability, Ryan was later changed to Martin Pridgeon to play Grace's Father).

SCRIPT

A script is a written version of a play or other dramatic composition and is used in preparing for a performance - in this specific task we had to write scripts for a short film. This challenged me due to the fact that when creating a script there are many things to consider e.g. creating convincing dialgoue, creating action that was produceable, creating characters that had the desired affect upon the audience, having workable destinations in mind and generally having a realistic story line. However, once considering and planning idea I successfully managed to create a script that we then followed through to the production stage to create.

 

RISK ASSESSMENT

 A risk assessment is a vital part of the pre-production documentation - it is essential that a film has a risk assessment for each filming location before the production process begins. The risk assessment allows a film crew to both acknowledge risks present in an area as well as taking action to eliminate or minise the risk noticed. The usual format for a risk assessment is stating the location, the risk, the action being taken towards eliminating the risk and then the risk after action has been taken.

COSTUME LIST

A costume list as part of pre-production documentation is essentially a list that consists of all of items involved with costumes needed within the media product - it consists of detail descriptions of the items of clothing, the cast member name/the character name as well as the scenes the clothing is needed for. will need for each scene that requires it.

PROP LIST

Much like a costume list a prop list entails a list of props are needed within the filming of a media product - the list consists of the props that are required as well as the scene in which they are needed.

CALL SHEET

PRODUCTION LOGO

 

CAMERA TEST

SOUND TEST

CHILD ABUSE RESEARCH

MENTAL HEALTH RESEARCH