Final Film

Sweet Dreamer - Short Drama from Daniel Wild on Vimeo.

Evaluation

Overall the making of this film has been a very steep learning curve for us all. It is the longest piece of drama we have made and certainly the most complex. This proved a problem for me as director initially because the sheer scale of the task was very daunting. Turning the script into storyboards and shot lists seemed to be an uphill struggle but I also felt it was necessary with my tendency to get lost within the production.

Our first day of shooting ended up being more of a rehearsal. We had not made some vital decisions about lighting and shooting order and I felt somewhat out of my depth being the final word on things. We did not end up getting great performances and reshoots were needed because of this.

I had been reading Film Directing: Shot by Shot by Steven D. Katz and I had specifically looked at the section on storyboarding in which Katz cites Hitchcock's attitude towards storyboarding, "For Hitchcock, who began in films as an art director, it was also a way of making sure that he was credited with the design of his films. He liked to say that his movies were finished before they were ever made, before the cinematographer or editor touched a piece of film." I tried to take from this, in a decidedly less fascistic way, the idea of storyboarding and planning the film so that as little could go wrong as possible and so we would always have something to go off. If we weren't sure what was next on shoot we could consult the storyboards and shot list.

Again, in Katz's book he says, "Even Jean Luc-Goddard, who throughout his career discarded or subverted the continuity devices shared by comic strip illustrators and classical Hollywood films, used storyboards at times to work out the connection between shots." This was a major part of planning for me so that I could figure out the logistics and physicality of shooting and getting from one shot to another, all this being said, the storyboarding did not go exactly to plan.

Immediately after the first day of shooting I went away and amalgamated the storyboard, shot list and script into one document so that there were clear points at which the shot, shooting method, action and dialogue (if there was any) were given. Initially I had thought the three documents separately would suffice.

 These are a few pages from the new document

I also spoke with my producer and we agreed to be much more hands on with the actors, not be afraid to give them constructive criticism and to go ahead with more takes if and when we need them. There were certain sections such as the date scene between Tom and Samantha that we filmed we ended up filming numerous times through from numerous angles, which was necessary to get the shots but we  then went back and filmed the scene in smaller segments so as to get exactly what we needed from each performer. One of our actors did not have the experience of the others and so we would do shot some bits two or three lines at a time so that Paul and I could give much more detailed performance direction.

As a team I feel we worked very well in this circumstance. On account of the time lost on the first day we had to really pull together to get everything we needed, not to mention the time constraints with actors. After the first day we reviewed the footage and decided that we had to be technically sound from then on as one of the major problems with our two minute piece was the loss of quality when pushing the ISO. I did some research on what were the best shooting settings for DSLR cameras and we tried to keep to this as best we could. We also acquired two new lenses, a 24mm and an 85mm. We made a lot of use of the 85 when taking close-ups to get a shallow depth of field and I think this upped the production value of the film greatly


After the second day of shooting I started to worry that there was no distinct style or directorial mark to the film and felt that the narrative needed spicing up a bit. The film seemed to be shaping up as a very British piece about somewhat of a loner who finds himself in a strange relationship-based predicament and although I knew how I wanted the piece to look I was still worried that it could become boring if the situations just simply played out one after the other. I decided to look at the film Submarine (2010) by British director Richard Ayoade, as this is a film where the director really wears his influences on his sleeve I felt that I could do the same in referencing it. I had the idea that as we see Tom watching Sam and Dale's date seemingly go brilliantly we could be transported into Tom's imagination where he dreams of what could happen with Samantha if he won this competition. For this I was inspired by the short section in Submarine where the main character Oliver talks about how he see his first week with his love interest as a romantic video shot on Super 8 film.

The Super 8 section from Submarine (2010)

I found that in my role as director the most consistent inspiration for shots and sequences came from music. For instance I had always liked the idea of someone walking, possibly reluctantly, down the street to the song I'm Going To See You Today by Joyce Grenfell which we ended up using for the walking sequence. As well as this I had, for a long time, wanted to use the track Sad Sweet Dreamer by Sweet Sensation in a scene and when it came to it I saw it as Tom and Samantha dancing in a dimly lit room while the camera spins round them.

A still from the imagination sequence

I feel this imagination sequence is one of the most successful parts of the film because it really helps establish Tom's character as well as his want. It also gives a break in the forward motion of the narrative to amp up the emotion. This scene was one of the last things we shot and to me it represents how comfortable we were with the actors and how comfortable the actors were with each other by the end of the shoot because Josh, playing Tom, who had previously been very reserved improvised the nod towards the camera and he and Rachel, playing Samantha, choreographed the dance between themselves having only been directed to dance.

The cast

 

Some of the crew

After shooting I learnt that in edit it is preferable to have quality and quantity. I think in the end our film flows quite well and avoids being boring and I would say we achieved this through coverage and time taken looking through footage to work out which shots and performances were best.

In the book In the Blink of an Eye the American film editor and sound designer Walter Murch says,

"An ideal cut (for me) is the one that satisfies all the following six criteria at once: 1) it is true to the emotion of the moment; 2) it advances the story; 3) it occurs at a moment that is rhythmically interesting and "right"; 4) it acknowledges what you might call "eye-trace"- the concern with the location and movement of the audience's focus of interest within the frame; 5) it respects "planarity"- the grammar of three dimensions transposed by photography into two (the questions of stage-line, ect); 6) and it respects the three-dimensional continuity of the actual space (where people are in the room and in relation to one another)."

 

 

 

 
He then goes on to put these rules into a "slightly tongue-in-cheek" list in order of importance:     

1) Emotion                                                      51%

2) Story                                                           23%

3) Rhythm                                                       10%

4) Eye-trace                                                     7%

5) Two-dimensional plane of screen               5%

6) Three-dimensional space of action             4%

 

In the edit I would say that initially we focussed on story, then followed by fine cutting and focussing on the emotion of the piece and then honed the whole film down with time and rhythm in mind. I think we tried to do our best in sound with the three-dimensional space of action by adding in off-screen footsteps to get characters from one place to another (something which we worried about too much in the two minute film when we should have been thinking more about emotion, rhythm and story) and much of the two-dimensional plane I tried to address in the storyboarding and shot planning.

Overall the goals of the film seemed to change slightly throughout production, as the director my original goal was to create a working film with some style and substance and although I kept with this I feel I lost sight of it at times. At points I felt my role could have just be damage limitation because I was getting overwhelmed and the task seemed too big but thanks to my team I came back from this and we had the chance between shoots to assess how things were shaping up and add more to the next day of filming. I feel I was afforded the luxury of thinking specifically about the new imagination sequence to make the run of the film more interesting (something which, again, I already should have done) when the main focus could easily have ended up just being to create a film that functions. The practical goals of the production were changing as the production went on also we originally wanted to achieve an aesthetic in the style of A Changed Man (2003) by Jens Jonsson but having tried to work with the lighting we realised we could not quite get the dark look and had to start to think how best we could work with a much brighter film. Therefore we made the piece much more about colours. Tony's art direction and the location added so much so that I feel that the room ended up being another character. Some things really added to and reflected the feelings of Tom like the amount of empty chairs and the awful buffet. Other things such as the red curtains and balloons simply took up a semiotic role.

We also tried to use more creative ways of exposition than in the two minute through visual metaphors, a better written script and more performance. Performance-wise I was helped greatly by the actors, especially Danica and George playing Margaret and Dale because they were the most comfortable to do improvisation. I think the only way that Josh's performance could be low key was if others were really going big with theirs and George and Danica achieved that really well.

Going back to planning for the two minute I referenced the film Election (1999) by Alexander Payne, inspired by this I wanted to try and use freeze framing and in the final film we eventually did although this time it was not my idea. Paul wanted to shoot small sections of each character for the credits to go over in a Dad's Army esc way and having done this put forward the idea that the clips would freeze when the actor's name came up.

 

A section like this had also been suggested to me by George as a way to introduce characters in the way you might see in a western which really brings me to my point that this film, to me, ended up being a complete collaboration between us all as it should be, but even the actors were working with us to help progress ideas.

With regards to the specified technical elements in the brief I would say that we used synch dialogue where appropriate and I would say we made quite good use of off screen space. This came almost accidentally through a desire to cut back the run time. Our used of natural and staged lighting ended up being somewhat of a battle but as shown in the imagination sequence, there were some distinct changes, from natural to unnatural light, which helped to convey emotion. The use of exterior and interior locations was there but we didn't need to stray from the script. One of the things I thought we could have done better was to make more of the interaction between three characters. I would have liked to have tried to create a sequence like in a Woody Allen films like Manhattan (1979) and Annie Hall (1977) where people are speaking over each other and where sometimes there are two conversations going on at once.

Although we did consider character positioning at times, like when the results are being announced and when the two male characters are looking across to the woman, I feel we could have played with these scenes more than we did.

The two guys out of focus on either side of the girl

Again the two guys on the opposite side of the frame.

In conclusion I'm pleased with the final piece. I think it's rough around the edges but we all put a lot of work into making it.

 

Style and Aesthetics

We have looked at different films with speed dating scenes for cues of how to shoot the film.

 

 

 



For the walking section of the storyboarding I used this scene from Shaun of the Dead to plan how we could shoot.

 

The camera follows the character across the road. first in front then along side then behind. We would achieve this with a shoulder rig.



 

Storyboarding

I storyboarded how I wanted the film to play out and ran it by the group. I will use this as well as a shot list to avoid any problems while shooting and make sure we get everything we need.

 

Locations and Actors

We used the website starnow.co.uk to find actors. Paul sifted through and messaged numerous people who we thought looked the parts and could play the roles. Although he had a few people in discussion who then dropped out he managed to secure four actors who we were really confident about.

Below are the actors:



Joshua will play the role of Tom. He has the sort of 'everyman' look which we are looking for and has experience as a stand up comedian.



Danica will be playing the role of Margaret, she has the right look, plenty of experience and seemed extremely enthusiast.



George will be playing the role of Dale, he is 6,3" and muscular which will be a big part of his role.



Rachel will be playing Samantha. She has the right look being pretty with long blonde hair and has a experience as a model and actress.



At this point Paul went about securing Walkley at a time that we had arranged ith everyone.

Locations

We looked at some locations and chose the one most suited to our film as a group.

Firstly we looked at the Sheffield Jesus Centre. Although this had ample space it is probably too modern for our needs.


We then went to the Broomhall Centre which is in a very good location and has a nice look but was not exactly what we wanted.


When we came into the Walkley Community Centre we knew immediately it was the place.


Walkley Comunity Centre has exactly the right aesthetic for this film. It is a very British looking place. The wooden floors are perfect for the look and sound of the film as it is supposed to be a deserted speed dating event I feel we can make a big deal of people walking across the wooden floor.
The room is very well lit and the colour scheme is great because the pastels and greys are juxtaposed with the red curtains. Also the wooden chairs and felt curtains add a lot and there is access to the PA system.

Script

This is the script that Tony wrote after we had discussed it and changed certain bits. I plan to start storyboarding from this.

 

 

Ideas

For this brief we kept with the emotion of anxiety and started coming up with ideas with our two minute in mind. We knew we wanted to keep the film light hearted and centred around relationships.
Our main initial idea was more of an elaboration of the two minute in which we would see the protagonist before the date getting ready, then we would re-write and re-shoot the actual date and work on the things we felt we could inprove from the first film and then further the story after the date.
We wanted to play with the idea of building the character up to over come his anxiety and then possibly have it return. I liked the prospect of shooting the character in the same locations and doing the same things before and after the date except things have changed. Using repetition to show the character's attitude.
At this point ideas were coming very slowly and then Tony came to us with a new idea which we had a meeting about and took further.

The idea was basically the a terrible speed dating event in a village hall. We follow an anxious young man named Tom to this event. When he walks in the place is dead, he is met by an eccentric woman who is running the night. She ushers him in and he notices that the only other person in attendance is a beutiful young woman sat at a table. As the older woman is getting the night started she is interrupted by the arrival of Dale, an arrogant man who walks in like he owns the place.

The story carries on from there to take the protagonist up and down through emotions. At one point setting aside his anxiety only to be brought down again.

5 - 10 Brief

5-10 minute fiction film

You will make a 5-10 minute narrative drama, which adheres to the rules of fiction; namely, a 3 act structure, with appropriate plot points, inciting incidents etc as studied on the module so far.

These technical elements need to be considered:

1).        Use sync dialogue as appropriate.

2).        There must be one scene where three characters are interacting. You must consider the staging of the actors and the placement of the camera here.

3).        Use a combination of natural and staged filmic lighting.

4.)        Use a combination of exterior and interior locations.

5.)        You must consider tone, style and atmosphere within the film with relation to camera, sound and editing.

 

Final Film

The feedback we recieved really reflected some of the worries we had about the piece. Overall the film was a bit too long so we could have spent more time in post to cut the run time. A major worry of ours was that the ISO was pushed at times and some of the quality was lost, especially in the establishing shot of the restaurant. Also some of the comedy didn't really come through as we would have liked it to which is my fault because I should have had a clearer vision of how each gag would playout. We weren't sure about how much exposition to use and in the end probably put too much in the phone call. Having said this, I feel we really worked well as a team and were ambitious with the short run time. I feel we can take the feedback and use it all to work towards a really good 5-10 minute piece.


The Set Up - 2 Minute Drama from SHU Film & Media Production on Vimeo.

Titles

We were struggling throughout the whole edit trying to think of a title for the piece but one suggestion was The Set Up and another which came from this was The Upset, we decided to use both and try to incoporate a title sequence which could tell the story of the film ie a set-up which changes into an upset. For this I had an idea of printing three wine labels saying The, Up and Set. Then sticking the labels to bottles and filming a scene in which The bottles are arranged to say The Set Up and then a waiter's hand comes in from the side, pours wine from the Up bottle into a glass and puts it back down only this time between the other two bottles to now read The Up Set.

There are numerous films that use title sequences like this to help quickly get you into the world of the film.

Napoleon Dynamite - movie titles from DYRM Daily on Vimeo.




"School of Rock" Opening Titles from Curiosity Shoppe on Vimeo.


Below are some of the designs I made for the labels. I included a back-up label which just read The Upset so that we could film a simpler version if the action didn't work.

We did actually film this but felt that the sequence didn't work well enough and that the footage was not of the same quality as the rest of the film so in the end we stuck with the name The Set Up