This term we were divided into groups in which each would receive a different script to produce. The aim of the project was to utilise our creativity and originality in order to develop the script in our own way. My group was given ‘Dog’; initially, we found the story to be extremely outlandish. However, given thought we realised that we could make this film exciting, humorous and interesting. Since I was given the responsibility of Filming and Lighting, my preliminary thoughts were directed to the different camera angles we could use and lighting that would be needed to set each the scene. Moreover, I was forced to consider the time span of the film, whether it take place during the night or day.
During the first three weeks, we began planning; research was conducted as well as formulating a necessary risk assessments. Props were brought in addition to locations identified. As a storyboard was drawn up detailing our exact filming schedule, we invested in an actor to part-take. The original script was about a man who eats dog food, takes ‘a difficult shit’ as he gradually forms the characteristics of a dog. After reading the script, we decided to give the film a ‘comic’ tone as this is the genre we found fit the script best.
We were excited to shoot the film as we had some innovative ideas and wanted to trail their success. However, we soon faced a problem when an actor was unable to attend; we realised it was hard to rely on other students and trying to fit around their university schedules, therefore we resorted to employing a member of our own group to be in the film itself. Although he had no acting experience, he knew exactly what persona we looking for. Despite this, I still do not feel this worked to our advantage as he was unable to aid the rest of the group in filming.
I felt my role i was successful; the multiple different angle shots I suggested for each scene looked effective in the final film. It allowed the editor to do a number of cut edits to keep the flow of action constant and entertaining for the viewer. There were a number of issues I had with the camera, such as focus and white balance. This forced us to re-shoot a number of shots, but after mending the settings it allowed us to film smoothly with no mistakes. Nevertheless, I do not feel the lighting was as successful; in one the scenes near the end of the film, there were solid black shadows making a stark contrast to previous scenes. Time permitting, I would of fixed this lighting problem and reshot this scene. Feedback played a huge role in allowing us to refine and develop our film once we had edited a first cut; by uploading it to YouTube, we were able to receive feedback from a wide audience who commented on both the sound and lighting. This constructive critism was beneficial in allowing an audience to give us accurate developments in order to improve our film.
Overall, I felt that for a first attempt at a ‘Short Film’ our final outcome was quite reasonable; it fulfils all our aims set at the beginning of the project. I believe that the different camera angles give the film a diverse and realistic atmosphere as it allows the audience to comprehend the life of this unusual human being. In hindsight, I feel I was not as prepared with imagining exactly how the lighting will look; in future projects I will spend more time predetermining the complete vision of the scene. Furthermore, I believe the use of a more skilled actor would have added to the quality of the film. Another setback we encountered over the five week period was the lack of attendance of members of our group to seminars. This caused us to have a lack of communication. We did however get around this problem by the use of a Facebook group which worked quite effectively. Collectively, I have learnt a number of things while shooting. The most significant being the impact of small changes which can dramatically affect entire scenes and the overall affect of the film. Errors with lighting, costume design and camera settings can all have considerable and distracting influences on the audience. The most vital knowledge I can take away from this project is a sound understanding of the design process when shooting a film. In conclusion, I enjoyed this project thoroughly and it has forced me to rethink about what pathway I would like to follow next year. Below is a link to our film:
http://vimeo.com/20077304
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