Contexts of Practice - 28th February

Sunday 28th February 2016                          Contexts of Practise                         Lucy Leake

King Kong Notes 

Carl Denham heads out to find a woman for his next picture, the public wants to have a pretty face to look at, have a love interest, make the picture worth twice as much. Whilst Denham is searching, he comes across a woman in the shop he’s at, the Shopkeeper catches the same lady stealing a piece of fruit, Denham steps in, gives the girl a job as an actor, she pleads to know what it is for, he says he has picked her for the lead in his next picture. (Lady’s name is Ann Darrow).

Once on board the motion picture ship, Denham gets Ann to dress up so he can take some cut away shots on board before they reach the island, showing her screaming and in fear, petrified as too what Denham hopes to find at Skull Mountain/Island.

The crew set out on a smaller boat with the camera, ammunition and gas bombs, to find out where the drumming noise is coming from. They spot the colossal Egyptian wall, over hear the tribes language as they chant kong (type of tribal dance). Denham seizes a chance to take a picture so steps out of cover with his camera to take a picture. The gang are spotted, approached by the tribes leader, he offers to trade 6 of his women for Ann, wants to give Ann to kong as a gift.  The whole crew flees back to the ship pretty sharpish.

Once dusk falls, the tribe people come on board the crews ship to take Ann back to the island. They open up the gates and tie Ann to the top of the steps outside the wall, she screams as Kong takes her back into the woods. The leader summons Kong by banging the drum. The crew enter the island but its too late, they can’t open the door in time, once they open the door they head into the woods in search of kong and ann. Denham uses gas bombs and ammunition to take out beasts along the way.

They decide to make a raft so as to get across the lake, they come across a second beast which destroys the raft and kills some of the crew. Kong wrestles a beast to save Ann, only two of the crew remain, Carl Denham and Jack Driscoll, Carl heads back to tell the skipper what he saw whilst Jack heads in search for Ann and Kong.

Jack takes Ann back behind the wall, they shut the doors but kong breaks through scaring everyone and destroying the natives village, Carl uses a gas bomb to stun kong, brings him back to his show all chained up, however whilst the press takes pictures of the capturers and kong, Kong suddenly escapes the chains and goes on a mad rampage to capture Ann, once he has her he climbs to the top of the empire estate building, they order in planes to take him out. They do so and Denham tells everyone that it was the beauty who killed the beast. 

Reference:

King Kong (1933) Directed by Merian C. Cooper. Radio Pictures 

Moving Narrative - Updated Script - 28th February

Sunday 28th February 2016                    Moving Narrative                     Allister Gall

Updated Script

Blue indicates camera angle // Green indicates sound

SCRIPT – The Meeting of Two Minds / Hobbies Apart

EXT - Wide angled shot of garage door opened – Night - INT.  Shot from Paddy’s point of view to show the mechanics of the bike. Sound: Radio tuning in, hear tinkering.

Right from the start, there was a disagreement between these two neighbours as Cameron complained about Paddy working on his bikes late into the night, revving up engines.

EXT. Tracking shot to follow Cameron as he leaves his house, walking towards Paddy’s garage. Background noise of footsteps, radio and mechanics

INT. Paddy’s Bedroom – Mid Shot to show Paddy and the Coffee mug on the bedside table. Bed and floorboards creaking.

After tossing and turning for most of the night, at about 4AM Paddy decided to get up and make himself a drink.

ENT. Kitchen – Long shot to show Paddy walking through the kitchen.

Mumbling to himself (Can’t sleep again, what’s that noise).

On entering the dark kitchen, he notices headlights through the window. He decides to get a closer look, only to discover it's his neighbour loading his car, with the same black bags, which he had noticed being unloaded 2 days previous.

INT. Looking through the window at his neighbour, jump cut to a close up of the bags being loaded. Sighing, car doors being opened.

EXT. Outside the Window – Early Dawn – Boot and car door being slammed, starting up the engine and driving off.

The re-occurrence of this early morning activity lead him to become suspicious as to what his neighbour was up too. Paddy decides that he is going to keep a closer eye on the comings and goings of his neighbour.

 EXT - Wide angled shot of garage door opened. Changes to a wide angled shot from Paddy’s point of view. Tinkering, car engine, wheels screeching.

A few days later when Paddy was working on his motorbikes, the chance arose for him to confront Cameron when he saw the neighbour’s car pulling up. Once again Cameron starts to unload the bags from the boot of his car.

EXT. Mid Shot to reveal the two characters face to face, looking at each other. Paddy Sniggers- thinks to himself, if only he knew).

Paddy sarcastically gets up and shouts "Had a good day poaching”, to which Cameron replies "I could have you for that mate" Paddy heads back indoors.

INT. By the Window – Daylight – TV blaring in the background.

A few minutes after Cameron has taken the black bags in…

INT. Close up looking out of his window, EXT. Cameron holding the objects in his hand. Drags the shovel along (scraping noise along the pavement) – Paddy mumbling to himself.

Paddy noticed him returning to the car and removing a coil of rope and a shovel and he heads back inside, arousing Paddy's suspicions even further "thinks to himself - what is this man up too".

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INT. Shots of Paddy’s plans, various drawings, notes, on the website researching the manual for the device. Computer typing, drawing and scribbling.

Paddy comes up with the idea to fit a tracking device to the underside of Cameron's wheel of the car, he is going to give this some serious thought.

INT. Standing at the window with a cup of tea, watching as Cameron gets into someone else’s car – Car engine, slurping, microwave pinging.

Having hatched a plan, his chance to do so comes three day later when he see's Cameron going off in someone else's car, as soon as night falls and still no sign of Cameron, Paddy seizes this opportunity and rushes out to fit the tracker, taking the chance to peer in the car windows to see what lies within.

INT. Paddy’s Bedroom – Dark – Looking down on Cameron – Car pulling up on Cameron’s drive, Paddy running up the stairs.

An hour or so later, Paddy watches from the upstairs window as Cameron is being dropped off outside his house. A few minutes later Cameron reappears placing 2 black sacks into his recycle box, before heading into his car and driving off.

EXT. Outside – Dark – We see Cameron walking with the black sacks

EXT. Low angle shot to see the rubbish waste dropping into the bin with the lid shutting. Lid being lifted off and slammed down, rustling of the bags.

EXT. High angle shot – Over the shoulder as Paddy rummages through household waste in bags. Pinging of latex gloves being put on, rummaging through bags.

During this period, Paddy becomes even more suspicious since it's not bin day, he uses this opportunity to search through the recycle bins wearing ordinary latex gloves, to his disappointment he discovers that the bags are full of household waste (Cameron's created a diversion) and nothing suspicious was found as he was hoping to give him a lead, he returns to his house.

EXT. – Tracking shot to follow Paddy as he walks around the side of his house and gets into his car. Walking, birds singing and car engine being started up.

Paddy thinks he would be more discrete by using his car rather than his motorbikes to follow Cameron.

EXT. Montage of clips showing Paddy’s route of travel to find Cameron. Lots of car noises

EXT. Long shot of the country lane // INT. Show Paddy’s hand as he turns of the engine. – Engine dying, getting lower and lower, car wheels crunching on gravel.

On approaching his neighbour’s destination, Paddy switches the engine off and rolls forward down the country lane, keeping a discrete distance between him and Cameron (following the tracker).

EXT. Establishing shot from inside Paddy’s car to see two cars up ahead. – Gravel crunching.

At the end of the lane, with the aid of the tracking device he spots Cameron's car and also the car that dropped him off a few days before.

INT. Inside Paddy’s car – Looking through the windscreen, his eyes fixed on Cameron’s friends movement. Close up of the Mallet. Birds calling, walking, heart pounding.

He notices Cameron's mate returning back to his own car and taking out what appeared to look like a mallet (used to bang down the tent pegs), he then heads back into the woodlands.

EXT. Paddy’s car boot – Day – Reaching in for his sons binoculars and putting on the waterproofs. Opening the boot and rustling of the waterproofs.

Paddy discretely gets out of his car, he remembers that his sons binoculars are in the boot of the car and so he takes these thinking he can use them to keep a watchful eye on his neighbour from a distance, he also finds a pair of waterproof trousers and jacket, he places the tracker into the boot of the car and starts to put on the waterproofs, he then shuts the boot and adventures into the woodland.

EXT. Woodlands POV from Paddy as he ventures into the woodlands – Foggy atmosphere. Treading on soil, leaves and rustling of waterproofs.

He moves slowly and quietly through the woods whilst using the binocluars to scout/scan the area, he notices Cameron’s friend at the top of the hill, with his back to him swinging a mallet above his head, rousing Paddy’s suspicions once again.

EXT. High Angle Shot to see Paddy as he reaches the top of the hill.

Treading on Soil, panting and chatter up ahead in the background.

Paddy continues to venture through the woodland, making his way to the hill to search and investigate what this pair are up too. Once reaching the hill, he notices a hide up ahead, to which he can hear talking. Paddy listens and gets anxious towards what he over hears

Possible Dialogue

Cameron: Did you get it!

Cameron’s friend: Here it is, hit the head this time!

Thinking something serious was about to happen, he slowly creeps downwards to confront the men, who are located at the bottom of the hill.

On approaching the men, he notices the black bags scattered around the tent, ripped up and full of what appeared to look like cloth and mesh, he hears more banging and someone shouting this time “Ouch” which he fears the worst. He scampers around to the side where he see’s Cameron’s friends hand bleeding and Cameron holding the mallet.

Paddy asks, “what is going on here” and Cameron replies “what an earth are you doing out here, how did you know I was here.

Paddy replies “I could ask you the same question.

Cameron’s friend: We are trying to put up the tent, would you mind giving us a hand, Cameron holds out the mallet to Paddy, Paddy panics and grabs the mallet as a form of protection. Cameron notices that Paddy is wearing waterproofs and has a pair of binoculars around his neck, “I never knew you were into the countryside Paddy, “I’m not” replied Paddy as he lifted his hood off, I came out here too see what you were up too. “You mean to say you have followed me all this way into the woods, Cameron’s friend grabbed the shovel and cable tires whilst staring at Paddy. You couldn’t help us dig a hole to place a trap could you, Paddy got really anxious and replied “A trap, what an earth do you want a trap for”, Cameron reaching inside a trunk and pulling out a suspicious device, “Yes a trap” he said and handed to Paddy, we have been arriving to the woods early every morning to collect and set up our camera traps to record suspicious animal activity in the woodlands. Paddy: That still doesn’t explain the black bags that I saw you putting into your car on multiple occasions, Cameron replied they were full of mesh and my waterproofs… Cameron and the shovel would be used to dig a hole in the ground for the camera traps and the rope was to tie the camera trap to the tree.

(All stood around laughing together, sharing a flask of coffee in the tent awaiting the glorious wildlife).

The end - They tolerate and respect each other’s hobbies and interests. Paddy goes out on the very rare occasion bird watching with Cameron and Cameron lends a hand with fixing up Paddy's bikes.

ENDS BOTH OUT IN FIELD WITH CAMERAs, paddy gives Cameron the bike that he has helped him fix up and get back on the road.

23/02/16 - Moving Narrative - Script Development

Session 2 Notes                          23/02/16  Moving Narrative                    Allister Gall

Cinema is much more driven, from the camera.

Brunel got together with Dali to create a film with no meaning.

Pure film without dialogue! Makes you think more about the types of conflict that could happen between the characters, start to think about how they can link together

Robert Bresson - French film director

Use what you already have, make your own film in your own way, don't try to mimic other people's work, help you stand out. Thinking about sound for your scripts are important, helps to bring the visuals to life, gives a different perspective

Close-ups are the difference between cinema and theatre, you can skip straight to a close up, restricted to camera direction within cinema as oppose to theatre.

Use this module to focus on drama or narrative - Explore these ideas Aristotle wrote stories 2,000 years ago, his theory of drama contained 6 aspects - he believed the most important aspect of action was the plot.

Session 2 - Set Task

Developing the story further, thinking about the types of shots, whether they are internal or external, choosing a film of my choice to analyse the first 10 mins of the film and the script, see how scenario have been filmed once they are described in the script, have they achieved what was intended.

My chosen short films for next week's lesson are

How Wolves Changed Our Rivers: https://vimeo.com/86466357

What's he Building in Their: Tom Wait's: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaLjwSpZ6Cs

Alone in the Wilderness: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYJKd0rkKss&feature=youtu.be

The Lunch Date: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epuTZigxUY8

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Walk The Line - Chosen Film and Script to analyse

The chosen script and Film that I have decided to analyse below is that from "Walk The Line" 2005 film starring Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon.

I have watched the first 10 minutes of the film and read the first part of the script, from what I can see in the film, at the start we hear the band playing at Folsom Prison for the prisoners to listen too, the script is written from the same starting point, annotating what we can see on screen in front of us, using adjectives and verbs to describe what is going on within the frame, types of movement on camera, the script helps to set the scene by describing the conditions of the prison.

Next we see a shot of the saw machine and we hear someone calling “Mr. Cash onto the stage, I know from watching the film that the shot cuts here and we see the band playing in the prison right at the end of the film, Johnny performs live with June up on the stage, singing their songs, especially A ring of Fire. However, when reading the script it annotates that we see the saw machine, Johnny gets called on stage and then it says that Johnny plays right away to the prisoners. Going back to the film, I know that we have a cutaway shot as Johnny is called to stage, we are taken back to the year of 1944 when Johnny and Jack his brother are living on the farm with there mum and papa. They appear to be working hard for their dad to receive money to support the family. We then get a cut away shot where we see the same type of saw machine, which JR uses to cut the wood for his father, Johnny decides to go fishing, when he is walking home his father picks him up in anger and takes him home, Johnny finds that JR has been injured from the Saw machine and he sadly dies whilst Johnny and their mum and dad are in the room.

This particular scene was not in the script at the start, however when Johnny is in the prison looking down at the saw machine, we can hear a VO over the top which sounds like there Dad calling JR, which then cuts to the farm scenario of when they were children growing up. I guess you could argue that the film has been shot in a non-linear fashion at the start.

The script has been used as a way to annotate what goes on in each frame, used as a guideline for the director and cinematographer to make everything work whilst on set. The script helps to space out the whole project into scenes, sections used to tell the story from different characters point of views, the script is obviously used to narrate the dialogue for the scenes, camera angles, duration of clips sometimes, possible sounds and of course the names of who will be speaking.

References

Short Films: 

Sustainable Human . (2014). How Wolves Changed Our Rivers. [Online Video]. N/A. Available from:https://vimeo.com/86466357. [Accessed: 28 February 2016].

Kuro Groves . (2007). Whats He Building In There. [Online Video]. 22 August. Available from:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaLjwSpZ6Cs. [Accessed: 28 February 2016].

Swererbob. (2009). Alone in the Wilderness. [Online Video]. 27 January. Available from:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYJKd0rkKss&feature=youtu.be. [Accessed: 28 February 2016].

Springboard Schools . (2008). The Lunch Date. [Online Video]. 14 July. Available from:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epuTZigxUY8. [Accessed: 28 February 2016].

Analyse Film 

Walk the Line: (2005) directed by James Mangold. 20th Century Fox 

Directing and Performance - 22nd February

Monday 22 February 2016          Module: Directing and Performance    Lecturer: Andy and Lucy

Film A Screening and Film B Development

For the first part of the lesson, we spent the time watching other groups short films, I liked the use of colours, the sound design that individuals have created over time, the majority of groups went for the technique of Projection, whereas my group chose to use Green Screen, I think looking at the idea of projection I was able to gather an understanding of how this could be shown across visually. I liked the types of camera angles that I had shot for our film, they were similar to the close ups that the other groups were achieving, I especially liked one shot from the film "Interrogation" where the opening shot appeared elongated, helping to set the scene for the film, I felt whilst watching that the characters were in a wide opened space, however when everyone was getting interrogated in front of the frame, I felt as if the space around them closed up, it was as if the actors were invading each others space.

Towards the second part of the lesson I took the time to head up to ERC as I wanted to find out a few things about the camera, my group are planning to film our first shoot tomorrow, the camera of choice will be the XF100, this was decided as a group from last lesson, looking back on the types of films that we have created so far and the capabilities that we have been able to achieve using this particular camera. I will be able to adjust the shutter speed on the camera according to the movement within the frame, I will be able to use the gain option to make the frame brighter but I was made aware that this would add a lot of noise onto the camera's image, could lead to the film quality becoming grainy. I will have to play around with the lights accordingly but myself and Nat have teamed together so that he can move the additional LED lighting whilst I check the frame to see the difference that it is making, call out any ideas for repositioning the lighting, working with the director to achieve the shot that they require, whilst giving my own input into the shot positioning.

I generated a list of equipment that I thought would be needed for the filming tomorrow;

2 x XF100 Camera's, 2 Libec Tripods, 2 x LED panels, 2 x  2  x Extension 4 way plug, Card reader and USB lead, Zoom H4N Recorder, XLR Lead, Boom Mic Recorder etc.

Out on our test shoot: Myself and Nathaniel booked out the above equipment, I made sure that I checked everything that we had booked out to make sure that it was all working efficiently, made sure that nothing was loose and that everything was secured. I did notice that one of the tripod feet were missing but I slipped a bar mat underneath the leg to make sure that the tripod was stable, it worked well.

Anyway, once we got to the location, as the cinematographer I started to charge the batteries whilst I set up all the lighting equipment and cameras, then I started to position everything for the first shot, where the two actors were sat at the bar talking about their weekends, as well as ordering more drinks.

The actors wanted some pen and paper as well as a copy of the script to read which I had brought with me, I set up a camera either side of the bar to capture different angles of the actors and the lights as they were projected across the wall in the background of the frame.

We had trouble with the sound which threw the whole production out of proportion, I couldn't believe that whoever got out the sound equipment they obviously hadn't checked the equipment to make sure that it was working and that it was all compatible, we worked out that there was something wrong with the zoom recorder, I used the time when everyone was chatting to get loads of camera angles and cut away shots for the majority of scene 3 (ED Scene), everything is hand-held and I added some camera shake to make it look as if it was from the POV of the actor as if they were hungover.

The cut-away shots that I managed to capture were close ups of drinks panning shots for coolers, pumps, beer bottles, cups, mugs, glasses, slot machines, darts board, crisps, boxes etc.

Here are some pictures from the shoot:

Directing and Performance - Film B 17th- BAFI104

Wednesday 17th February 2016       Module: Directing and Performance     Lecturer: Andy and Lucy

Planning Work - Developing the idea

Today myself and Danielle met up from our group, we had been talking in the FB chat, the majority of the actors have created their character profiles and so Danielle created a drafter script for our film b project, included the messages, morals, character structure and what she wants to happen in each scene. As the cinematographer I took it upon myself to ask her to print out the script so that I could have a copy but also so that I could annotate different camera angles and lighting setups that could be used, I have again been doing similar research too that of film A about the types of cameras, looking at existing footage that I have shot, reading through the script I was able to create some shots in my head which could be used

Here is the script with the annotations that I have made, i thought that I would upload this to show my research and contribution to the group so far, as well as attending the meeting with Danielle where we have created a concrete idea on the whole film, hopefully I can achieve this as the cinematographer, I want to experiment a lot more with lighting for this project, getting to grips about the best lighting set ups, where it looks best, best was to light the frame and show of the characters.

We are currently chatting with the actors in the group chat on Facebook, posting links and ideas and trying to generate their character profiles a lot more, we are awaiting conformation on our location, whether we can shoot their and then we shall arrange a date to have a test shoot, myself and Danielle will arrange this and then let the group know what is happening shortly after.

I have told Danielle that I will now try to look at a few part films, scenes in a bar an see how they are shot, what kind of camera angles, trying not to steer away from the establishing shots she had in mind, I will also try to talk to peers in other groups who are doing cinematography, see if we can benefit by helping each other with ideas.

Script - Film B - with my annotations

Directing and Performance - FILM A Evaluation - 17th February - BAFI104

Wednesday 17th February 2016        Module: Directing and Performance     Lecture: Andy and Lucy

Evaluation for Directing and Performance Film A - Including the classwork - BAFI104 

We began the module off by meeting the actors and familiarising ourselves with the Marjons University Campus, getting to grips with the kinds of locations that we could use which were on site, most of which we filmed at for our test shot films, of which we created two, my groups were called "The Mirror" which was about voices being overheard inside a teenager boys head, messing with his mind talking about that they know what he has done. this film itself received great feedback, I was the editor and the sound tech for this specific film, I wanted to get to grips with testing out the equipment and try out a different role which I thoroughly enjoyed being a part of, the team were working hard, generating new ideas.

Here is the film that I managed to edit together with the footage and sound, syncing it up with a loud clap at the start, great way to introduce the short film, filmed at Marjons in the toilets.

 
There is a Mirror (Short Film) - Directing and Performance from Luke Curno on Vimeo.

Another film that I created with a different group was generated through the script that a group member had written whilst listening to his housemates playing a game of FIFA, we took this to a whole new level as we got the actors to act as if they were spectators of a match out on the pitch, I was the cinematographer, helped with sound as well for this film, unfortunately the editor hasn't managed to finish the edit for this. Anyway we received great feedback for this film, they way that we used the spectator sign in the shot to annotate where the actors were, also everyone liked the idea of a few member of the group running up and down on the pitch with a ball as it gave the actors something to track as they watched us run up and down, constantly moving and even shooting the ball in time with their chants and screams from the side of the goal.

Film A Brief and Exeter Visit

Shortly after these films were created, in lesson we were given the brief for our first practical assessed film with the Marjon students of campus. We were told asked to get into groups based around the people on our table, the boys went together and the girls, we were then told that we would be travelling to Exeter City Centre for the next session, we would be set the task of collecting as much footage from the place, including a range of camera angles, picking the footage carefully as it was to be featured in the background of our studio footage. I gave full consideration to the sound design whilst out in Exeter, point the sound tech in the right direction in order to collect sound that would match the filming I had shot whilst out on location, I took a variety of camera anglesWhilst in Exeter we went to visit the Bill Douglas Museum where we would be shown different types of cameras, films, actors, genres and just a lot of interesting information about filmmaking, how it has progressed, advantages, downfalls and being able too see the types of antiques, books, comics, cameras, artifacts, work that others within the industry have created over time, helped to learn some of the techniques that have been used over time and about how they could be achieved, you just need a concrete idea and the drive to get on with it. The idea of visiting the museum was so as too learn the basics of using a device/mechanism to help create meaning / tell the story, something that we could think about using for our own project, we have chosen green screen.

Here is a link to my blogpost that I created when I was out on Exeter, shooting on location as well as noting the visit to the Bill Douglas museum. (INSERT BLOG LINK). 

http://lukecurnopca.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/directing-and-performance-18th.html

Job role

For this module I had the job of the cinematographer where I shot external and internal footage, in Exeter as I mentioned as well as the green screen footage at Plymouth College of Art in the green screen studio. However, my role expanded throughout this module as I took on a lot more job roles due to the lack of attitude from other group members, they didn't turn turn up to the majority of shoots, lessons or weren't on hand to help whilst out on location.

Here is a link to my blogpost from the green screen shoot, we just need to film one more scene which we will be planning to finish over the next few days, I feel like this blog post details my job roles and the extra work that myself and Janusz took on throughout the project.

Blogpost from first shoot too note the job role I had as well as the extra roles that I took on for this module. 

http://lukecurnopca.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/directing-and-performance-12th-feb.html

What I liked about Film A

Planning

I think that myself and Janusz worked really well together, myself researching the type of camera angles, locations to shoot before we actually went out to exteter, looking at existing film noir, watching films, annotating the script, constantly blogging about the progress of us two and the work that we were doing behind the scenes. I thought that Janusz had created a brilliant script, I thought that we had developed a short shot list but it was something and through the module I started to test out the camera, types of framing that I could create, researched into the lighting, types of lighting equipment that we were using and how to operate them, helped myself towards the shoot as I was able to set them up quickly which gave more time for the shoot and this was vital as it was only myself and Janusz who had turned up for the main shoot.

Filming

Firstly I liked the visit to Exeter, enjoyed filming out on location, experimenting with the camera to achieve different angles, pans and lots of cut away shots. I really pleased with the look of the Exeter footage, 3/6 people turned up to this shoot, we worked well as a team, directing each other what we wanted and started to think about how we would achieve, where the actors could be positioned in front of the frame for when we start to film the green screen footage. I think that it was a great idea of mine to run a few tests, i came up with the idea for the test shoot in the green screen room, from that session myself and Janusz were able to set up the lighting, green screen, laptop, camera, sound mic and any extra equipment that was required. Also I feel that by deciding to go out to the train station for some shooting, I was able to practice with the framing of shots, I think that I achieved many great camera shots from this shoot, myself and Janusz had the idea of these shots being used as cutaways for the green screen footage, help to establish a scene relating to the interview in our script, helping to drive the narrative forward.

I thought that despite all the complications, myself and Janusz worked well to inform the actors on what was going on and I think that we copped well with the amount of added pressure from all the extra roles that we took on.

I thought that the actors were really good, listened to what we told them, worked efficiently to achieve the product that we wanted, despite only having two of us on the main shoot. I thought that they learnt their lines well and it was good the way that they kept asking for us to critque them on their performances, if they wanted to re-shoot they let myself and Janusz know clearly which was good.

Here's a link to my blogpost from the first shoot that we carried out (INSERT BLOGLINK HERE).

http://lukecurnopca.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/directing-and-performance-12th-feb.html

Edit

I thought that I worked well, it wasn't my job but I went through the footage and labelled the clips that myself and Janusz wanted to use for the edit, I feel like this made it a lot easier for the editor to cut and chop the footage together, we already knew from the test shots which shots that we wanted too use, the types of camera angles and of course by looking at the script, myself and Janusz were able to order the shots. I thought that once the editor finally came in, he cracked on with it straight away and it started to come together, the clips worked well together and he knew what he was doing, myself and Janusz helped of course too show where we wanted the scripts, Dan wasn't too familiar with how we wanted the piece edited together, where we wanted the clips and whether we wanted anything cropped, or the duration shortened or perhaps exploring the possibility of colour correction to make the clips a little brighter.

What I didn't like 

Planning

There was nothing that I didn't like from the planning at all other than the fact that not everyone was present, which meant that it was only myself and Janusz who had contribution and research on hand to create something out off.

Filming

I didn't like the fact that not everyone was present at the filming, giving myself and Janusz a lot more to think about, having to get everywhere earlier to prepare, the fact that we had to take on extra roles which messed around with the time that we had but we just got on with it.

Edit

I didn't like the fact that the editing was left to the last minute, when editing we decided that we would shoot another scene for the ending of the film, otherwise the narrative might not come across clearly which was a really annoyance on my part, we filmed everything early and got the script and everything done, all they had to do was start editing and collect the footage, this meant that we now have to rush the filming for the last scene which we plan to do throughout the next few days, had to cancel plans that I had in place for filming my project outside of University.

What I think could be improved for future work

Planning

I think that the other members of the group should have contributions too the group work as well, I think that there should be someone else to arrange the actors, book the equipment out, do research on lighting, come up with sound effects and music for the background etc. I think that the booking should be put in place a lot earlier but it has been extremely difficult to arrange a time to film with the actors, they are in at different times than us, the group chats worked well though that we had with them on FB and the fact that we exchanged numbers at the start so as to ask them when they are available and let them know about the availability for booking out rooms and equipment.

Filming

I think that all of the members of the group should turn up too the lessons to understand how everything is going to work and I think that they should have a read of the script to get an understanding of the type of project we are trying to achieve.

Edit

I think that they should make a start as early as possible so as too leave the rest of the group and actors with plenty of time to re-shoot instead of leaving it to the last minute and then because the rooms are fully booked, the rest of the group have to work out an alternative for the location to shoot at.

Overall

Overall I liked my job role and working with Janusz in the group I feel like we came up with a great idea, executed the filming on the shoot well with the aid of Dan in Exeter for some of the filming, I feel like the actors were great on shoot as well as off shoot, it was hard to plan dates around them but we got through it, it would just be nice to have a lot more contribution, people to turn up to the shoot to lend a hand, and the whole crew to muscle together instead of leaving it to the last minute.

Creating an app - IPhone/IPad/Android - 17th February

Wednesday 17th February 2016           Module: Creating an App             Lecture: Martial Bugliolo

Introduction into App Design

Today we started of by being introduced to this module, what it would entail, he asked us to have a look at the brief in our own time, he explained that we would need to start off by working out the resolution for our phones, typing"What is my Screen Res" into google it came up with a website which once clicked showed the size of my android phone which was 360x640 (Nexus 5 Screen Size). Throughout this introductory lesson, we got to grips with the basics of layouts, button actions and the way to preview our ongoing app designs using a programme called Adobe captivate.

Towards the break everyone had managed to open adobe captivate, set the resolutions to match their personal phone, had created the front page for the applications that we were designing as well as creating 4 different slides for their application i.e front page, about, portfolio and the contact page. After the break we started to create text entry boxes where we were able to use variables to create our own passwords for the application as well as presenting an error that would come up if someone entered the name or password incorrectly.

I found this first lesson very interesting as I was able to learn the basics of creating an interface for my application, I took the time in the lesson to show my drafted plan for the application that I wanted to create, Martial said that he would very happy to help out and hopefully all of the features would be achievable, he liked the idea of the geo tagging for photographs but he wasn't sure whether I would be able to sync the photos or any files directly to google drive, so i may have too carry out my own research in order to create this.

Since the lesson, I have read through the brief again, making sure that I understand what will be required to evidence on my blog as well as the ideas, planning and the application itself. I thought that i may have already been ahead of the game though as I had already created a plan for my application, even if I don't use the plan I can then show my research and progress up too the final creation, the reasons to back up my decisions are clearly labelled in my research document which shall be uploaded onto my blog further through the sessions.

Introduction to Moving Narrative - 16th February

Tuesday 16th February 2016            Module: Moving Narrative        Lecture: Alli Gall

Introduction to Moving Narrative

Today we went through the project brief, started to understand what we would be required to submit and work on throughout this unit, the fact that we would have to create a 8 - 10 page script, we were told that it would have to be formatted correctly, how it would have to be submitted, the fact that it could be about anything we wanted, told to reference it as much as possible, our idea that we had chosen, told to think and talk about our decisions.

Creating a character task:

Here is my character bio for my Protagonist

Character Name: Paddy Cliff 

Appearance: Black hair, clean shaven, glasses, clean/casual biking gear, 42, athletic build, tall (5'9). 

Backstory:  Ex-detective/police officer, taken on tough cases in his career, good investigator, lives with his wife and 2 teenage children, passion for tinkering with his motorbikes, has a collection of classics.  

Present Situation: Works from home, doesn't like where he is living, very little to do around his area, he gets enjoyment from the freedom of his motorbikes. 

Accent: English, Norfolk

Politics: Politically he leans more to right (more Tory than labour). 

Values: Been promoted in the police force as well as been given an award for his detective skills which he was highly commended for and it hangs up on his wall (proud of this and has pride of place).  

Beliefs: Wants the best for his children, wants to lead a good life.

Imperfections: Thinks of himself a lot, out on his bikes, wife thinks he could spend more time with the family. 

The goal for Protagonist - To work out what his neighbour is up too, he wants to also travel all over the country on his motorbike and he wants to carry on his bike collection, perhaps fix some of them up so they are ready to ride or sell on. 

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Here is my character bio for my antagonist

Character Name: Cameron Chapman

Appearance: Grey Hair, Full grown beard, wearing camo Trousers, scruffy T-shirt,  Wearing Baggy Waterproofs, coat zipped up, tall, 36, drives a black Corsa.  

Backstory: BAFTA award winning cameraman, worked on Blue Planet, Life In The Freezer, up and coming cast for Life Story. He's had trouble with his wife at home, been set aside from his children, his life revolves around nature, he spends his sleepless nights outside listening to the calls of the woods and is always seen placing black sacks, containers into the back of his car. 

Present Situation: Working on a local wildlife film which he plans to pitch in Vienna, why he loves where he lives, giving an insight into nature's traits.

Accent: English, Norfolk

Politics: Left Wing - Doesn't agree with persecution strategies on wildlife, he has his own outlook on life - wants to look after wildlife. 

Values: Naturist, been out in the field on NatureWatch, set up his own company who specialise in wildlife around Norfolk, feature like minded peoples footage, viewers of the programme.

Not afraid to experiment, creates own rigs, constructs own lenses, uses what he has, comes to appreciate what he is surrounded with. 

Beliefs: You have to be patient, enthusiastic, open minded, professionalism and organisation are key. a bit of a loner and be discrete. 

Imperfections: Knows what he wants, has set goals but he's only travelled so far, wants to experiment more and become an idea maker as oppose to the technical side.

Set back created by antagonist 
Suspicious activity, carrying black mysterious bags and placing a coil of rope and a shovel into the boot of his car, these activities take often noticed taking place late at night or early hours of the morning. 

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Create a dramatic situation as a short story/treatment between two characters. Include both the concrete goal of the protagonist desired and the obstacle supplied by the antagonist - involving tension, conflict and action - but with no dialogue. 

My idea for the story/short synopsis. 

Right from the start, there was a disagreement between these two neighbours as Cameron complained about Paddy working on his bikes late into the night, revving up engines.

After tossing and turning for most of the night, at about 4AM Paddy decided to get up and make himself a drink, on entering the dark kitchen, he notices headlights through the window. He decides to get a closer look, only to discover it's his neighbour loading his car, with the same black bags which he had noticed being unloaded 2 days previous. The re-occurrence of this early morning activity lead him to become suspicious as to what his neighbour was up too. Paddy decides that he is going to keep a closer eye on the comings and goings of his neighbour.

A few days later when Paddy was working on his motorbikes, the chance arose for him to confront Cameron when he saw the neighbours car pulling up. Once again Cameron starts to unload the bags from the boot of his car, Paddy sarcastically comments "Had a good day poaching"/"Did you ought to have SWAG written on the front of those bags mate", to which Cameron replies "I could have you for that mate" (Paddy Sniggers- thinks to himself, if only he knew).

A few minutes after Cameron has taken the black bags in, Paddy noticed him returning to the car and removing a coil of rope and a shovel and he heads back inside, arousing Paddy's suspicions even further "thinks to himself - what is this man up too".

Paddy comes up with the idea to fit a tracking device to the underside of Cameron's wheel of the car, he is going to give this some serious thought. Having hatched a plan, his chance to do so comes three day later when he see's Cameron going off in someone else's car, as soon as night falls and still no sign of Cameron, Paddy seizes this opportunity and rushes out to fit the tracker, taking the chance to peer in the car windows to see what lies within.

An hour or so later, Paddy watches from the upstairs window as Cameron is being dropped off outside his house. A few minutes later Cameron reappears placing 2 black sacks into his recycle box, before heading into his car and driving off.

During this period, Paddy becomes even more suspicious since it's not bin day, he uses this opportunity to search through the recycle bins wearing ordinary latex gloves, to his disappointment he discovers that the bags are full of household waste (Cameron's created a diversion).

Paddy thinks he would be more discrete by using his car rather than his motorbikes to follow Cameron.

On approaching his neighbors destination, Paddy switches the engine off and rolls forward down the country lane, keeping a discrete distance between him and Cameron (following the tracker).

At the end of the lane, he notices Cameron's car and also the car that dropped him off a few days before. He notices Cameron's mate returning back to his own car and pulling what appeared to look like a mallet (used to bang down the tent pegs).

Paddy discretely gets out of his car, he remembers that he has one of his sons cricket bats in the boot of the car and so he takes this as some form of protection in case he needs it. He moves slowly and quietly through the woods following Cameron's friend, with the cricket bat in one hand and the scanner in the other.

The end - They tolerate and respect each others hobbies and interests. Paddy goes out on the very rare occasion birdwatching with Cameron and Cameron lends a hand with fixing up Paddy's bikes.

Ends with both characters out in the field, Paddy gives Cameron the bike that he has helped him fix up and get back on the road.

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What ideas are important to you as a screenwriter!

As a screenwriter you have to know your characters, you need to know about their lives, you need to be able to relate to what they like, how they are going to act within the script, come up with the types of body language that they show, the types of dialogue that they are going to use which can link back to where they are from. You need to know about their background, yes okay you create all of this yourself but you need to have a clear understanding of their hobbies, where they live etc. so as to work with other characters i.e. how do they meet or interact with one another, is there a particular scene where a dramatic situation occurs.

You need to know about the types of music that you want to use and whether they are fit for purpose, you need to think about setting a mood for the script, can help to bring the visuals alive but it will predominately help to give atmosphere and build up tension to the main actions that happen within your script.

Creating a location is key, you need to help to set the scene, all of the above will help the rest of the crew to achieve the camera angles that you and the director want to achieve, the types of music or sound effects that you think would be required to fit your script, the kinds of props that the designers will need to get (clothing) as well as the types of movements that the actors will perform in front of the camera for the shoot.

It helps to let others listen to your ideas, it helped myself to generate a concrete idea for my script, it can help to add additional parts to your script, fill any gaps that you may have and make you aware of anything that you haven't linked up, perhaps you forgot a key part to the characters or perhaps you could be more specific with the dialogue but obviously don't copy word for word as that is plagiarism.

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Ideas for shots: 

Beginning - Wide angled shot in the workshop of bikes, zoom into the bike that the two characters end up fixing at the end of the script. The noises that I could use here would be a radio being listened too in the background, noises of an engine being revved up to set the scene of the motorbike, have a noise of someone tinkering with bike parts on top of that.

Middle: High Angle shot looking down on Paddy as he rummages through the neighbours black sacks, but all he finds is Household waste. I thought I could have a fast tempo tune playing as Paddy leaves his house and approaches the bins, a loud creak when he takes the lid of the recycle box and when he places the lid back on. Noises or rustling as he rummages through the bins and perhaps a sigh as he is disappointed that he hasn't found anything.

Ending: Close up shot of the two characters out in the field together, chatter in the background to set the atmosphere and the noises of camera shots being taken.

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Additional Ideas for the script

Cable Tires, Shovel to dig holes to place camera traps.

Cameron thinks that paddy is a very nosey inter-fearing neighbour or is there more to him than meets the eye.

The goal for the protagonist would be to work out what the antagonist is up too, looks suspicious and shifty.

Paddy realises that Cameron must be somewhere in the woodland, to draw him out he reaches into the glove compartment and pulls out his son's bird whistle which echoes throughout the trees.