Roles:
From the start I devised the idea for the piece, which originated as a personal project. I wrote the script, created the storyboards, became the producer, director and primary camera operator. A friend of mine (not on the course) advised me on certain character development. There were three actors, one of which was myself. The two other actors in the film served as additional camera operators. For post-production, I edited the footage and applied the visual and sound effects. I also performed some Additional Dialogue Recording (ADR) for my character.
Plan:
I originally wanted to create a music video. However I couldn't think of a decent enough idea for the project. Simultaneously I wanted to create a personal project with a few of my acting friends. Eventually (by 15th March) I decided to use the latter project instead. It was inspired by the television series Supernatural and was inspired by the online stories created by fans of the programme. (known as 'fan-fiction' or, if they are particular types of stories; 'slash-fiction').
(17th March) I came up with a quick story that bullet-pointed the key events, featuring five characters. The entire story was set in one single location, mainly for practical and logistical reasons.
Script & Storyboard:
The original script, featuring the five characters, was ten pages long (finished by 12th May). Unfortunately due to two of the actors becoming increasingly extremely dificult to get in touch with, I decided to drop those two characters from the script (ironically being the two characters inspired by the only two constant actors in Supernatural). Despite this, I had a quick table read-through (17th May) with the two remaining actors to ascertain the tone and style of the short.
I rewrote the script over the following weekend (18th-19th May). Despite the two brothers being removed, the story was essentially the same. The resulting script became six pages long. In terms of practicality, it removed a lot of situations to do with blocking, having characters in specific locations and organising/liaising with two extra people.
I also set about dividing the script into segments that I would later use for storyboarding and then shooting; it divided the script into what I see as 'readable edits', essentially turning the script into a (chronological) Shooting Script. For me, this proved to make sense more than the storyboard! However, the divisions did help to inform the storyboard, as I could then collate the shots of similar set-up/angle into one or two storyboard panels. This proved especially useful for areas of conversation when the focus would switch back and forth between multiple characters. I also felt that it saved crucial time from setting up.
Location Recce:
During writing, I envisioned that the shoot would happen in C14 in the Old Building. On the 16th May, I doodled a floor plan to visualize the action.
Then for Monday 20th I visited the room, ascertaining the suitability, determining the risk assessments (the only real hazards were cables beneath the compter desks) and scale/space. And then on afternoon of the 20th, I had the room booked for shooting for the entire afternoon of the 22nd May.
Shooting:
Shooting took place on both Monday the 20th and Wednesday the 22nd of May. For the two days, I had borrowed a Canon Legria HF M52 camcorder. I wanted the set up and shooting to be as problem-free and as efficient as possible. As such, I decided to record some of it hand-held. I also reasoned that hand-held would be more suitable for some shots and moments than others. Plus, for Monday's shooting, I only had within an hour to film, so I didnt have a tripod to set up. On Wednesday, however, I had the entire afternoon, so I had a tripod to use then. As other film students were busy with their own projects, I directed the shots that I appeared in, with either one of the actors as camera operators.
Editing:
The editing was fairly straightforward. During the process, I found a couple of moments that were tricky to work my way around with (in terms of making visual sense of the events). For instance, breaking the 180 degree rule to record from behind a computer monitor (though I believe it seems natural to see someone sat behind a computer from that position, in order to see the face, so I believe that the break is subtle enough to not stand out). And another example is when logically my charcter would have passed two others to get back to the computer, but the edit I created made it look like I travel there in one step, so I added an effect to make it look like my Angel teleported (as he did earlier in the story). In general, editing is quite enjoyable for me, because it allows a degree of being creative, even with pre-existing material. With a bit of editing experience in the past, I've usually determined most standard edits by 'feeling'...If a shot's reached a point where you feel as if it needs to cut away, as it were. And in shots/sequences with action, I tend to try and not become overly attached to something in the cut, because with fast action, an edit will occur for a shot that needs to become shortened to a point that it's extremely fast; in my short, such an edit occured twice. The idea is, of course, to carry the sense of motion from the start to the finish (so if the middle shot virtually has its own 'beginning' and 'end', it won't work). Thankfully for both of my instances, I believe I edited them down to sequences that carry the motion with sense.
Sound:
I didn't record sounds during filming with an external microphone, because I wanted the project to have post-production work on sound to begin with. For me, sound became crucial in helping to sell to the viewer that the characters are supernatural beings. I used several wind effects and 'whoosh' noises for the teleportation and the abilities & powers that the characters use. I also put in a bone-crunching effect for my character when he appears to set his neck and jaw. As with the original programme, this was intended to be the result of Angels being more ruthless warriors and missionaries...So with my Angel, when the Demon shows, he doesn't care that much about his flesh and bone vessel, as long as the Demon is vanquished.
I've also inserted sounds effects such as doors opening & closing, body impacts and general ambience. However I did not insert foley such as footsteps and clothing, because I wanted the absence of some regular sounds to create the same supernatural effect as the extra supernatural sounds (I reasoned that an Angel would be very light-footed for instance).
I also added additional dialogue recording (ADR) for my Angel. The other two characters' voices were absolutely fine, but was unhappy with how mine turned out during recording, so I redid it...This also gave me a bit of experience in how to perform for ADR (I had done vocal acting before), based on script and memory (next time I need to refer to the footage).
AM
No comments:
Post a Comment