LO3: Task 4 - My Contribution to a Production Role

During March last year, I worked in a group of four for Unit 46: Audio Visual Promos in Creative and Digital Media. For this task I shot and directed a short made-up film trailer which would be pitched to Sheffield-based Warp Films. Warp are known for producing many well-known British films and television programmes such as Four Lions, Dead Man's Shoes and This Is England and its subsequent spin-off series'.

Along with Jake Dungworth, Lewis Leversidge and Alex Raynes, first brainstorming the concept and theme of the film, me and my friend Alex came up with a script and storyboard for what we wanted our made-up film to be about. I used my skills in writing that I have developed from studying English Language in A-Level and took inspiration from films such as This Is England in terms of dialogue to match the conventions of a Warp Films production.

We came up with the story of a drug-addict who begins having strange blackouts that often result to him awaking next to a corpse who he assumes he must have murdered. Then he begins to suspect that someone is doing this to him purposely.

Contacting Actors

Following the responsibility of a director, I needed to be as cooperative and well-communicated as possible, which skills I feel were improved in the process. Before filming anything, we needed actors to act in our film. For this, I acted on my own initiative and went out of my way to find actors through contacting the BFI Film Academy, as I had completed a Silver Arts Award there. Meabh O'Donovan suggested contacting Rob Speranza from the South Yorkshire Filmmaker's network. I sent him an email explaining what our project was and enquired if he could suggest any contacts. He suggest around six contacts based on the descriptions we needed to fit the cast, and I emailed a group of them asking if they would possibly be willing to help us out, despite the lack of budget.
I feel I went out of my way to perform this task and improved my networking and communication skills in the process.

Carrying out the Role of Director

On our first shoot we had to meet two of the cast for the first time, Luke Goddard and Wilson Davies. I outlined what scenes we would be filming before this through email after sending them both the script and treatment, filled out by Jake Dungworth. I was also responsible for designing the Call Sheets outlining how many of us were filming, which actors were turning up and what equipment was required. We used Canon DSLR 650Ds for the project.

During shoots, I had to make sure the actors were following the script and shot plans correctly, giving them instructions on how to portray our chosen vision of the trailer. We would tend to shoot the same action from different angles and camera movements so we would have lots to work with for the post-production. For example, a scene where the two actors would walk across a row of flats was done in multiple takes, using tracking shots, panning shots and dutch angles.

I feel I was very clear with the actors on what action was required of them and managed the cinematography and camera settings well also, checking the frame rate and focus at all times. I feel I demonstrated what creative image I had in mind for the project and think the actors felt confident in our direction.

I felt we as a team interacted well with eachother, making sure all cameras were ready for action and that we didn't interrupt eachother's shot. We all prepared the equipment successfully, making sure things such as tripods and steadicams were setup to match the shots we needed.

There were times before shoots that I felt I went really above and beyond to extensively achieve success with the project. During another shooting date, featuring Wilson carrying a fake dead body through fields behind my estate, I took it upon myself to make a prop for the dead body, using scrunched up news papers filling jeans and a coat, which was then wrapped carefully in bin liner and black duct tape. The "body" looked surprisingly convincing, sometimes having to assure passers-by that the body was not real! I also took it upon myself to use my house as a shooting location for when Wilson and his "ex-girlfriend" played by my tutor Miss Allen argue.

There were a total of 8 shooting dates for this project, which I organised myself as I was the one in contact with the actors. I made sure I attended all of the shooting dates in locations such as sports bars, friends' estates, the college basement and offices at Sheffield Live Studios, which I also contacted for permission to use their location. In terms of organising and networking myself, I feel I did very well for the project as I was always the one organising what days we would be shooting and who would be there, which meant designing many call sheets such as the example below.

Editor

As well as helping direct and shoot the film, I was the main editor in the post-production process. I used Adobe Premiere Pro and took all the footage from when we shot the actors in multiple locations and organise them all so I could successfully arrange them in our chosen sequence according to my storyboard. I feel I was successful at this project and took as much time out as I could to complete the edit, following the edit log and script with accuracy and consistency.

I organised the shots from different dates and locations into different 'bins', and used them all accordingly, creating an edit decision list also to plan out which footage will go where, and what transitions and effects will be used.  Here I timed how long each cut would be and what effects would be used on each one.

The editing could get very tedious at times and difficult to organise, but I feel I was very patient with the edit and managed to create a creative and successful trailer edit. I understood my responsibility as an editor and had to oversee the storyboards at all times and follow the initial post-production planning documents. I also made the trailer follow our initial vision of the film and used the editing as a tool to establish the style and pace we wanted our trailer to have.

Overall Contribution

Overall, I feel my contribution to the role of Director in Film was proven well through the Audio Visual Promos Unit and I think I displayed many qualities a director should have. I think my organisational skills have increased massively after this project, as I was consistently checking when the actors were available and when they could make it to the shooting dates. On set I was always making sure the equipment was set up correctly and constantly communicated with the cast and crew to make sure the storyboards and shot plans were being followed correctly.

I was also very pleased with the final edit I was responsible for, as I had never fully edited a project before and think this was done well. I think I extensively contributed to the production of the film trailer and took lots of time out to do so.

Once we finalised the trailer, we pitched to Mark Herbert, head of Warp Films. During the pitch I explained how many locations we shot in, how we got in contact with the actors and how the film was edited. Mark was very impressed with the end result comparing it to University-standard film projects.

I plan to take film in both directing and editing further at Stafford University and hope to further my understanding and knowledge of the field there.

LO2: Task 3 - Understand Skills Needed to Carry Out a Chosen Media Production Role

My Suitability to be a Film Director

Having always being interested in film and a love for watching films, I discovered a passion for filmmaking after applying for and taking part in the BFI Film Academy in which I learned many aspects in filmmaking as well as learning about the history of film as a whole. In a group of four, I was chosen to direct a short film which was shot in a day and then edited in the post-production the next day. When directing the film, I found myself communicating very well with the actors and crew, making sure the film was directed to our group's vision. Since taking part in this activity, I have learned directing is a strong point of mine and feel directing is definitely a path I would like to take.

Written Communication

Directors use materials such as storyboards and shot plans to communicate their ideas to the cinematographers working on set, which had to be done in my experience of directing with the BFI academy.
Before shoots, I would have to prepare using written communication when designing storyboards to match the vision I wanted the film to look like. I would write what shot types would be used on set and outline which parts of the script this would match. I had to be very clear with my written communication, which I think is already a strong point of mine due to my early interest in writing which has also developed through studying English Language and Literature at college, so this has already proven to benefit my skills as a director.

Verbal Communication

As stated earlier, directors need to be very communicative and cooperative when working on set, making sure the cast and crew are following instructions to create the directors preferred image.

When directing the short film, I had to ensure the actors were clear on their motivation when on set. This meant using verbal communication to explain what was required of them. As well as actors, it was my responsibility to decide when the camera begins shooting and when the camera cuts, so I had to be clear to those managing cinematography when it was time to shoot.
I think I communicated well for my first time directing, and this definitely helped develop these communicative skills. I feel these communication skills I have improved through this experience will certainly be of value if I take directing further.
Aside from the BFI, I feel I have always enjoyed communicating with others and think this quality in itself will benefit future projects that require directing.

Practical Production

Being a director on set, I needed to follow the camera at all times to make sure the correct shot was captured. I feel I was good at planning the camera movements and angles, making sure that I was constantly monitoring the cinematographer, George Unitt, and assisting him in capturing the shots. Though the practical side was mainly resting on the shoulders of the cameraman, I felt I also made contribution to how the film was shot while directing the actors on set.

Creativity

I have always considered myself a creative person, having always been interested in art and design, photography and writing. I feel this shone through well in my first time directing a film. Before directing anything, we as a group of four brainstormed and planned what our film would be about. We came up with many ideas that all eventually turned into a story about a girl who relives her life through a series of rooms in an old house, ending with her looking down at her own dead body through a window as she is hit by a car.
I think I contributed a lot into the planning of this short film and expressed unique and imaginative ideas doing so, which I then demonstrated in the shot plans for when we would shoot the film, carefully planning what shots would be most effective for this story.

Areas for further assessment

For being a film director, I feel my knowledge of the technical side of filmmaking is still amateur. Having shot with DSLRs, I still feel more knowledge is needed to fully express ideas through film and direct how a film should look. I also think some of my organisational skills in filmmaking could be a little improved, perhaps producing more production schedules, recces and GANTT charts.
To successfully improve these skills, I plan to study Film Production further at Stafford University next year to fill these skill gaps in order to become a professional film director. This will allow me to cooperate with many other like-minded filmmakers, learn about more advanced equipment and help me develop more creative ideas.

My suitability to be an Editor

Before the BFI Film Academy I had no knowledge of editing whatsoever, but after learning skills in the software Adobe Premiere Pro, I feel I have acquired skills that would benefit me in this field.

Written Communication

In written communication, this is very similiar to a film director. I will use storyboards to plan out what shots would go where and how long each cut will last for. I will also need to create edit logs which will feature how long a shot must last in the sequence and what transitions and effects will be used throughout.

Verbal Communication

Not much verbal communication is necessarily required for an editor, as the process mainly involves taking cuts from the shoots and organising it into a sequence which takes much patience and possibly privacy to do. Apart from maybe consulting the director for assistance to see if the project matches his or her vision, the job is heavily relied on just technical skill.

Practical Production

Practically, an editor must be very knowledgable of the software they are using to cut down the shots into a sequence. Through the BFI Film Academy, I gained valuable knowledge of how to use Adobe Premiere Pro and learned how to cut footage, overlap music, use effects and transitions and create a short sequence from multiple camera perspectives. This skill I think could be taken into other projects if given the opportunity to edit.

Creativity

Editors also need to have a creative mind when it comes to how each shot and cut is transitioned. While the director has a creative vision for how the film looks, the editor also needs to match this creativity with how he or she puts the footage together. As mentioned earlier, editing is often seen as an art form and a skill, so creativity and imagination goes hand in hand with this technical skill.

Areas for Development

Again, my skills at editing are still amateur as there are many other aspects to today's industry standards of editing I still need to learn. My plan of action to change this is again to study Film Production at Stafford University, as the editing facilities are of industry standard and I will be able to develop this skill further learn more about the field of editing.

LO1: Production Job Roles

Task 1

My selected media field and organisation is Film. I have chosen this as I am very interested in film and think that there are a variety of roles in the field that can be discussed and partaken in. Film has had a huge impact on society and the media since its beginnings around the early 1900’s and continues to captivate audiences through a number of genres. I have always enjoyed film and television and the idea of storytelling through motion pictures. Filmmakers such as Sergio Leone and Quentin Tarantino heavily inspired me to take film further and pursue a career in the field. The roles I will be investigating are the film director and the editor, as they are both key roles in filmmaking and vital in the creation of film.

In the Film industry, producing a full motion picture takes many job roles to successfully do, including producers, directors, screenwriters, cinematographers, editors and cameramen.

Task 2

In Film I will be looking into two roles within that media field, these are Director and Editor.

Directing

A film director is the person who controls what should happen in the creation of a film to create their preferred vision of how the motion picture should look. It is their duty to monitor what goes on on the film set, how the actors should act, how it is filmed, edited and produced in order to create their preferred image. The role of Film Director is sometimes considered the most important and vital job in film, and are the people who control everything that happens in front of and behind the camera.

 The director uses written communication to create storyboards and shot plans (sometimes writing) to envision their work before directing the film crew on set once pre-production has been completed. 

Directors have to have good communication skills when on set to achieve their wanted vision of the film, addressing the actors on how they should work and act and how the cameramen should shoot the film, to create a preferred meaningful performance. The director has to be artistic yet practical. They need to have good ideas yet do anything on set to motivate the crew to do the job right. Directors can sometimes come across as very demanding, but are sometimes required to to create the perfect sequence. 

Directors need to have a good knowledge of the camera in order to create a successful film - they need knowledge of the different types of shots used in film, and how different techniques can alter connotations and mise-en-scene. Directors often carry their own camera for planning shots and how they should look. Though it is not all simple enough for them to envision whatever they want and have it shot, they need to still realistically stay within the boundaries of the film’s budget which will be organised by the Producer, so this can often be a challenge for the director if one particular sequence may cost a lot to produce.

Though other key elements are vital to a film’s success such as editing, producing and cinematography, directing is considered the most important in terms of the creation and innovation involved in film. Directors are often referred to as the “author” of a film, as they project their own visual thoughts and ideas onto the screen. Some notable film directors include Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino, Stanley Kubrick, Spike Lee and James Cameron. 

Skills needed

Director's need to have a good set of communication skills to successfully direct a film. As well as this they need to be organised with the cast and crew, focused, but more importantly creative. Director's need to have a good vision for how they see the film and use their skills to make this happen on the screen.
Directors also need to be technically skilled with the camera and oversee the cinematographers, which means they must know what equipment they are dealing with.


Contribution

Director's have a very large contribution into the making of a film. They are sometimes viewed as the most important role in filmmaking, due to them being the one who chooses how the film will look on set, but other roles such as producing, editing and cinematography are all also vital to a film's success. Director's are responsible for making sure the entire crew are working up to standard on the set of a film and will go over takes after takes to make sure a certain scene or passage is filmed correctly.

Equipment

A "Viewfinder" which helps determine the angle, frame rate and scope of what the camera filming the scene will be set to. This helps the director know what they want for their vision of the film.

For some larger areas where the crew could be filming, director's often use a megaphone to address to the cast and crew orders on what to do if it is a long distance between the cast and the crew.

Editing

Film editing is an important part of the creative post-production process of filmmaking. It is the activity of taking all the rushed raw footage from the shooting of the film and cutting it down into smaller shots and combining them into multiple exposures and sequences matching the director’s storyboards. Film editing is described as an art form, and takes precision and a lot of patience to achieve. Editors can create expansive or fast cuts, and can have just as much of an effect on the audience as certain camera shots do on set without the audience even noticing the editor’s work. The editor’s role isn’t to just simply put pieces of film together, but to creatively and coherently piece together dialogue, images, story, music, the pace of the film, and to generally re-imagine and almost rewrite the film in terms of these elements. In some cases, the director of a film also edits his own - some examples include the Coen Brothers and Akira Kurosawa.

In earlier days, editing was much harder than it is now. Editors would have to physically cut down and splice the film reel into each other, which was very time-consuming and less cost-efficient than the digital age that came which completely changed editing and made things much easier. One of the first films to be edited and feature multiple exposures was Scrooge in 1901, a silent black and white drama film that has a duration of 6 minutes and 20 seconds. 

Nowadays editors use digital software such as Adobe Premiere, Avid, Final Cut and Sony Vegas on PC and Mackintosh computers. These softwares now store all the footage from digital cameras directly and are cut down on computers using these softwares.
Editors need to be extremely patient and organised, making sure all the footage is there for them to cut down and edit and make sure they all follow the storyboard and script.

In comparison to directors, editing is much more technical and less communicative. An editor is responsible for taking the footage from the actual shoot and rearranging the cuts, which takes a lot of patience and time. Editors tend to work alone and not in a team, rather than a film director who needs to be consistently cooperative with the cast and crew.

Equipment

Modern editors tend to work using Macs or PCs, using softwares such as Adobe Premiere Pro or Final Cut.

Comparison

Both a director and editor are quite equally important roles into the production of a film, yet are both very different in certain ways. While both work creatively and artistically, visually making their images come to life, the job process for both differ practically and technically.
A director has a much more cooperative role in the industry, having to communicate with everyone on set of a film and make sure that the roles are carried out professionally and to his or her preferred image.
An editor can be described as taking the ingredients of a film and "cooking" them, splicing all the pieces of a film together to make a large, transitional sequence. This also means an editor works much less verbally to a director, working alone a lot of the time and not on a large practical set.

References:

http://www.filmtools.com/shopbytrade/directors.html

http://www.mediacollege.com/employment/film/director.html

http://www.prospects.ac.uk/film_video_editor_job_description.htm

http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/film-editor1.htm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAK3aUq25fo