British Film Institution Trip

Yesterday's trip was to the BFI along the Southbank, the day's agenda was made up of several talks and Q & A sessions that would be specifically helpful for our media coursework. We heard from Associate Director Hannah Rothman who works for 'Create' in order to produce trailers for hit movies. We also heard from Dexter Fletcher, an actor and director that we recognised as the 'McDonald's voice over guy.'

I found his Q & A session especially useful as he spoke in detail about producing his own movie openings for 'Wild Bill' and 'Sunshine on Leigh'. Fletcher spoke a lot about trial and error while his opening was in production, he said that the first error was one of the very first shots in which another character's eyes are shown before the leading character. I'd never considered this, but he explained that the audience will subconsciously focus on those first pair of eyes that they see. This will not be difficult to achieve in our opening considering we're only using one character, but for future reference and the exam it is a useful fact.

Fletcher then went on to explain the importance of settings and location while filming. For 'Wild Bill' he said that he had access to a block of empty flats, making the process so much easier. He had costumes, makeup and actors all in a single location. Meaning that there was very little travelling time needed, convenient when you're working towards a deadline. From his advice, we decided to alter our location arrangements. We initially wanted two separate parks and open fields to film in, but as a group we've decided to narrow it down to one. This will make filming so much more practical and it will be less chaotic if there's no need to move equipment and costumes between settings.

However, by completely dismissing one location (a play area with a swing set) we now need to build our own swing set which we can place in the second location (a vast forest area). As a group we need to decide on how we're going to construct a swing set, hopefully it's as simple as a plank of wood and rope that my dad could build. This DIY swing will also help our overall mise-en- scene as it will add to the old fashioned, Victorian look we were hoping to achieve. Before altering the locations we were going to film the swing scene in a local playground, we didn't consider the modern- look of the location which would have spoilt the look of our film introduction.

Swing set we are hoping to replicate by change
 location.

While on the trip there were few other changes made to our concept, but we did pick up advice and also began thinking about the title sequence which we hadn't given much thought to previously. I'd completely forgot that we even needed titles in our opening two minutes and I really didn't consider how important they were to our overall mark. Media teacher and blogger, Pete Fraser, spoke to us about producing the titles well and showed us examples from 'Napoleon Dynamite' and 'Dawn of the Dead' in which the titles are pretty thought provoking by themselves. He then gave us the advice of creating timelines for movie openings. This would give us an idea of the timings used by professionals, e.g when the text begins to appear, the duration of the text. This is something I definitely plan to do before storyboarding as it we'll have a better insight into the finished project.

Timeline made by Pete Fraser shows the timing
of individual texts and the duration of each.

Fraser also gave advice on making our titles look professional. The first of which was to avoid red text, when used in horror movies it does look cliché as seen in some of the student examples we saw. He also advised us not to place the text over faces or important features of a shot, fairly obvious, but he said students are always making the mistake.

The day ended with a talk from Pete Fraser about the important features of the coursework and advice on gaining the highest marks. He shared with us a fairly simple 9 step guide which led us through every aspect of the production process. 

Step 1: The Task

The first step is fairly self explanatory, we need to be clear on the task at hand.

Task:To produce a two minute opening to a film, including the titles.

Time frame: Film production to be completed by 13th February, final deadline is 13th May.

Equipment: Large tripod, gorilla tripod, handheld digital camera, flip camera.

How we are assessed: 100 marks; 60 from construction, 20 each for research and evaluation. 

Step 2: The blog

In order to record all research and planning we need a blog for the examiner to see, this will be our evidence which will hopefully gain those 20 marks, as long as I keep it up to date and maintained. Pete Fraser emphasized the point of varying the blog and recording everything.  

Step 3: Build skills

We can not jump straight into our film production, we first need to test the equipment and play with a few ideas for an opening. We have already performed a preliminary test which gave us our first insight into camera angles, editing and directing. However, we still need to carry out experiments in order to build our skills with sound as this will be an important element of our final piece. We already know it will contain 'foley' which we have not yet practiced. Fraser also gave us the idea of reenacting a film opening which inspires us, this will act as a second preliminary exercise and will make us more aware of professional camerawork, hopefully building our skills. 

Step 4: Investigate

In order to create the most successful opening possible, we need to research and analyse other work. Although we already have a clear concept in mind, adjustments can be made if we find inspiration in other's work. I need to begin looking at past student's work as well as professional movie openings. I'm going to start the investigation by making timelines of professional openings. 

Step 5: Brainstorm Ideas

Fraser suggested to begin this planning step by performing a pitch to our class. As a group we've already shared our movie idea and have recieved feedback, so our brainstorm ideas are already underway. We now need to continue by producing mood boards and rough drafts in order to finalize our final project.

Step 6: Planning

This is a continuation of the previous step in which the ideas become more concentrated, at this stage we need to be taking pictures of locations, actors, props, costumes.  This is also the stage at which we produce a storyboard and begin thinking about specific camera angles. A risk assessment is also a necessity once we reach this part of production, we first need to find the perfect location. 

Step 7: The Shoot

This is point at which all planning is complete and precise. We need to have the storyboards finalized before we even consider recording the film. Fraser gave huge amounts of advice for this part of production; he suggested giving each team member a job on the day of shooting, he also said rehearsals will be vital.The most important thing I picked up from this section was that 'there's no such thing as bad acting, only bad directing', this emphasized how important our directing will be on the day in order to get the final product we want. 

Step 8: Editing

There was emphasis on teamwork at this stage, and were made fully aware that everyone needs to take part in the editing process. We were also told that this stage will be much more time consuming than the shooting phase, as editing is about precision. We must remember to leave enough time for this whole process, just in case we need to re- film or alter any of the footage. This is the time we insert the 'foley' sound effects, I know this will be difficult and we need to have various preliminary tests. The foley sound will be needed for the diagetic sound which is added on later, our concept included the sound of the creaking swing set and also shoe scuffs. 

Step 9: Evaluation

Post film opening, we need to analyse the work that we've produced. For this we will have seven guided questions to work from, answering them in depth, and hopefully creatively enough to gain those final twenty marks. 

The presentation ended with a few final tips. 

What not to do: 

DO NOT produce a short trailer/film.

DO NOT have insufficient titles.

DO NOT include poor sound or poor lighting.

DO NOT shoot with poorly directed actors.

DO NOT produce something that will confuse the viewer. 

DO NOT use an over-produced idea (hooded stalker follows girl, victim wakes up tied in shed) 

Our group now has 9 steps and 6 tips to live by.