Last Thursday, auditions were held for the roles of our main characters in our script and we were really pleased with the results!
Overall,the characters that turned up were really excellent in bringing out what we wanted them to in the script. Because our script was very narrator based, we want the actors to well, literally act! Over the top, dramatic kind of acting to bring out the comic film we are creating. The main characters are really eccentric and over the top and extreme.
The whole movie is very the cat in the hat kind of a cartoon-y crazy reality and the actors really reflected that.
The narrator was fantastic as well, with the exact voice we were looking for. In fact, it was tough deciding between a few but we ended up choosing by votes and logic.
So that's settled, next up would be the costumes and makeup and other such details and then, probably the practice shoot itself!
I'm still settling into my role as sound and after recording the auditions, I have realised that
a) pointing the microphone directly at the actor, even at a distance, makes a huge difference than when it is pointed slightly away. The microphone picks up even the slightest bit of noise which is a pro and a con. It is fantastic in delivering excellent sound but also picks up ambiance noise as easily. When playing back the audtions of the narrators, there was this bit were the background noise was overwhelming due to some cleaning truck outside. So, although we are filming indoors, we definitely have to be very aware of our surrounding noises as it would make a big differences.
This also occurred in the Lenny exercise as well where we filmed in a room and in the corridor. The difference in the levels of the natural sound of the surroundings was very obvious and even after editing, I think we could still tell that there is a difference. So, if possible, the microphone should not be switched to many different positions if it is the same shot from a different angle.
b) Spare batteries is essential. We ran out of batteries during the auditions and it would have been a hassle, not to mention unprofessional if we had to run out for new ones and made the actor who was auditioning wait.
c) Must remember what goes where!
Getting the hang of it, but still pretty nervous when plugging in wires!!
We will be filming May 15th, followed by editing, and then narrating voice over, and then editing again.
There is a long journey ahead of us!
28 Apr 2011
New Lenny!
Lenny
The Lenny exercise was really great for us to practice being comfortable in our roles,and to minimize mistakes on the actual filming day.
One such mistake was made on my newly appointed part as a sound director.
The mixer was running on low battery and the levels at which they were reaching weren't very clear, but I was getting great sound through the headsets and decided to leave it as that. Smart move.
It sounded great on FCP..... until it was batch captured. Dismay.
So, mixer levels.Important.Duh.
We added sound for the drama of it all too.
Also, the actors were standing around for a good half of the time while we were setting up and figuring out how to go about shooting the scene. So we're going to have to be very prepared in advanced for the day itself for professionalism's sake. We definitely would be needing the extra hands on set or we'll really be fumbling with setting up and the process of it all.
We have to have a clear vision of the location and positions to avoid any unnecessary procrastination on shooting day.
The Lenny exercise was really great for us to practice being comfortable in our roles,and to minimize mistakes on the actual filming day.
One such mistake was made on my newly appointed part as a sound director.
The mixer was running on low battery and the levels at which they were reaching weren't very clear, but I was getting great sound through the headsets and decided to leave it as that. Smart move.
It sounded great on FCP..... until it was batch captured. Dismay.
So, mixer levels.Important.Duh.
We added sound for the drama of it all too.
Also, the actors were standing around for a good half of the time while we were setting up and figuring out how to go about shooting the scene. So we're going to have to be very prepared in advanced for the day itself for professionalism's sake. We definitely would be needing the extra hands on set or we'll really be fumbling with setting up and the process of it all.
We have to have a clear vision of the location and positions to avoid any unnecessary procrastination on shooting day.
4 Apr 2011
Film project idea
So I realised I hadn't reflected at all on our group work or what we have acheived so far.
Firstly, we are going with Hugh Brophy's idea, the original one you can view on the class blog.
However, we have tweaked it here and there, to come up with an expanded and better version of it.
Here's the script.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scene 1:
VO
Let me tell you a tale, of envy and woe
The tale of a boy, known only as Joe
A vulgar and ill mannered prick was he
At his funeral, his eulogy would simple read “whoopee”
A selfish and greedy ball bag of hate
he even stole money, from his little sister Kate
He worked in a building, made of stone and oppression
making others miserable, had become his obsessionIMAGE
Joe, a 20 something insurance consultant, is a predominantly despicable person. When he is first introduced, the audience is shown a brief montage of Joe’s favourite things to do. These activities include not holding elevator doors for people, giving small children the finger, and wiping his filthy hands on other peoples clothes.
Scene 2:
VO
When Joe’s birthday arrived, you’ll be shocked to hear
no one had bought him any gifts that yearIMAGE
After the narrator has introduced Joe, a calendar, with a date circled and the words “MY BIRTHDAY” written on it, is shown hanging on Joes wall. When Joe arrives at work, he is shocked to find that no one has gotten him any gifts for his birthday, or even wish him a happy birthday as he walks in to the office.
Scene 3:
IMAGE
Joe sits at his desk, moping and mumbling to himself about how rude everyone else is and how they don’t care about him at all. He tries different ways to attract attention to the fact it is his birthday, he puts a party hat on himself, answeres his phone to a fake call and says out loud “thank you so much for the BIRTHDAY WISHES”, “I’ve had a great BIRTHDAY!” He keeps looking around to see if anyone has ntocied him, but all he realizes is how disinterested everyone else is and how his desk is isolated from everyone and everyone’s back is towards him.
Scene 4:
VO
When he confronted his co-workers, one gave him a cup
when deep down, she really wanted to tell him to get f*#$edIMAGE
He angrily confronts his co-workers, who, surprisingly, aren’t very sympathetic. However, one of his co-workers generously gives him her coffee cup-which says world’s best mum- purely to appease him. And walks straight off leaving Joe standing there fuming with this coffee cup in his hand.
Scene 4:
VO
Despite the nice gesture, Joe was not impressed
And he glared at his co-workers, with growing distress
His anger was rising, and he spat under his breath
“a curse on these fiends, f*&#ing a*%holes didn’t buy me any f*&$ing presents”.
A bad rhymer and even worse sport
Joe decided “I’ll steal all their s*%t without being caught”.IMAGE
Joe does not appreciate the gesture, and rather than changing his ways, decides instead to teach the rest of his office a lesson by stealing all their belongings- or at least any he can get his hands on. When his co-workers head out to lunch, Joe seizes the opportunity to liberate their possessions for himself. He scours the office, stealing things as mundane as pens, as well as going so far as attempting to steal chairs and appliances. He even steals pictures of family members, pushes papers off their tables..
Scene 5:
VO
Satisfied with his office looting
Joe gets into the lift hootingBut like any good steal
Making an easy escape is not part of the deal
IMAGE
Joe puts all his ill-gotten goods into a large sack (a sheet filled with empty boxes), and squeezes into the elevator, heading down to the ground floor. As he struggles to pull the sack out the door, it breaks, and a few items tumble out.
Scene 6:
VO
And just as he thought he had committed the perfect crime,
His co workers were in the lobby waiting in line.
No explaining would justify Joe’s actions,
And the cake his friends had bought him, just missed his face by fractions
Poor, old, Joe, got what he deserved,
But not what he wanted, which was just to be lurved.IMAGE
He turns to gather them up, only to find that his colleagues have returned from lunch and have witnessed his thievery. As he begins to splutter excuses, the woman who gave him the cup walks up to the camera and appears to knock Joe out cold.
Or
The lift opens and all their belongings come tumbling out and all his co-workers are standing there with a birthday cake for him in their hands with candles.. and they all stand there awkwardly for a minute in silence then ends or they chuck the cake in his face.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The words highlighted in red are the voice overs in the scene and the image is what the actors would be actually acting out.
We waned to do it following a Dr Seuss "The Grinch" style. However, we decided that it being a big production, and us being on a tight budget, we would not set that expectations to meet it exactly and panic when it flops to be something far from it, but rather, incoporate elements from films we like to make it our own.
This tropfest piece, 'bubble boy' is something to similar to ours in regards to the piece being mainly around the narrational voice over.
My groupmates thought that this piece was slightly too draggy though, being 6 minutes of non stop narration and images instead of scenes at times.
Hence, we want to mix it up with narration, and the actors actually reciting words or lines so that it would not be too mundane.
We're still in the process of getting it all to make sense, so... keep watching this space!
Firstly, we are going with Hugh Brophy's idea, the original one you can view on the class blog.
However, we have tweaked it here and there, to come up with an expanded and better version of it.
Here's the script.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scene 1:
VO
Let me tell you a tale, of envy and woe
The tale of a boy, known only as Joe
A vulgar and ill mannered prick was he
At his funeral, his eulogy would simple read “whoopee”
A selfish and greedy ball bag of hate
he even stole money, from his little sister Kate
He worked in a building, made of stone and oppression
making others miserable, had become his obsessionIMAGE
Joe, a 20 something insurance consultant, is a predominantly despicable person. When he is first introduced, the audience is shown a brief montage of Joe’s favourite things to do. These activities include not holding elevator doors for people, giving small children the finger, and wiping his filthy hands on other peoples clothes.
Scene 2:
VO
When Joe’s birthday arrived, you’ll be shocked to hear
no one had bought him any gifts that yearIMAGE
After the narrator has introduced Joe, a calendar, with a date circled and the words “MY BIRTHDAY” written on it, is shown hanging on Joes wall. When Joe arrives at work, he is shocked to find that no one has gotten him any gifts for his birthday, or even wish him a happy birthday as he walks in to the office.
Scene 3:
IMAGE
Joe sits at his desk, moping and mumbling to himself about how rude everyone else is and how they don’t care about him at all. He tries different ways to attract attention to the fact it is his birthday, he puts a party hat on himself, answeres his phone to a fake call and says out loud “thank you so much for the BIRTHDAY WISHES”, “I’ve had a great BIRTHDAY!” He keeps looking around to see if anyone has ntocied him, but all he realizes is how disinterested everyone else is and how his desk is isolated from everyone and everyone’s back is towards him.
Scene 4:
VO
When he confronted his co-workers, one gave him a cup
when deep down, she really wanted to tell him to get f*#$edIMAGE
He angrily confronts his co-workers, who, surprisingly, aren’t very sympathetic. However, one of his co-workers generously gives him her coffee cup-which says world’s best mum- purely to appease him. And walks straight off leaving Joe standing there fuming with this coffee cup in his hand.
Scene 4:
VO
Despite the nice gesture, Joe was not impressed
And he glared at his co-workers, with growing distress
His anger was rising, and he spat under his breath
“a curse on these fiends, f*&#ing a*%holes didn’t buy me any f*&$ing presents”.
A bad rhymer and even worse sport
Joe decided “I’ll steal all their s*%t without being caught”.IMAGE
Joe does not appreciate the gesture, and rather than changing his ways, decides instead to teach the rest of his office a lesson by stealing all their belongings- or at least any he can get his hands on. When his co-workers head out to lunch, Joe seizes the opportunity to liberate their possessions for himself. He scours the office, stealing things as mundane as pens, as well as going so far as attempting to steal chairs and appliances. He even steals pictures of family members, pushes papers off their tables..
Scene 5:
VO
Satisfied with his office looting
Joe gets into the lift hootingBut like any good steal
Making an easy escape is not part of the deal
IMAGE
Joe puts all his ill-gotten goods into a large sack (a sheet filled with empty boxes), and squeezes into the elevator, heading down to the ground floor. As he struggles to pull the sack out the door, it breaks, and a few items tumble out.
Scene 6:
VO
And just as he thought he had committed the perfect crime,
His co workers were in the lobby waiting in line.
No explaining would justify Joe’s actions,
And the cake his friends had bought him, just missed his face by fractions
Poor, old, Joe, got what he deserved,
But not what he wanted, which was just to be lurved.IMAGE
He turns to gather them up, only to find that his colleagues have returned from lunch and have witnessed his thievery. As he begins to splutter excuses, the woman who gave him the cup walks up to the camera and appears to knock Joe out cold.
Or
The lift opens and all their belongings come tumbling out and all his co-workers are standing there with a birthday cake for him in their hands with candles.. and they all stand there awkwardly for a minute in silence then ends or they chuck the cake in his face.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The words highlighted in red are the voice overs in the scene and the image is what the actors would be actually acting out.
We waned to do it following a Dr Seuss "The Grinch" style. However, we decided that it being a big production, and us being on a tight budget, we would not set that expectations to meet it exactly and panic when it flops to be something far from it, but rather, incoporate elements from films we like to make it our own.
This tropfest piece, 'bubble boy' is something to similar to ours in regards to the piece being mainly around the narrational voice over.
My groupmates thought that this piece was slightly too draggy though, being 6 minutes of non stop narration and images instead of scenes at times.
Hence, we want to mix it up with narration, and the actors actually reciting words or lines so that it would not be too mundane.
We're still in the process of getting it all to make sense, so... keep watching this space!
Week 5- Frame
This week was all about working with the camera.
Learning how to zoom, white balance, the camera iris, and the different camera functions in tut.
As the 'camera person' of my group, I have to say, I'm rather overwhelmed by my responsibilities.
We did a practise exercise trying to film a Lenny scene, and my group helped with my fidgeting of the camera, but the end result was quite pathetic, prompting us to rent out the camera on a practise basis before we actually get down to any filming.
Sound is going to take some work too, with all the wires and knobs. Thank goodness, 4 brains are always better than one!
From last week to thsi week, importance was placed on the frame.
Be it a wide shot, a mid shot, a deep or shallow shot, it was up to us to decide what kind of shot inside a frame would best capture the emotion and character of the scene we were shooting.
"Whatever is in the frame is all there is. There is nothing else." (Oumano, 2985)
Drawn from the week 5 reading, it helps us understand the importance and emphasis we place on a frame. Why we draw out story boards in preparation for a shot, etc. It tells us to play with the frame, to play around with the space of the frame to our advantage. It tells us that due to real life situations we expect things to be a certain way in real life, but with frames, we can play around with that to cause suspense or relief in a movie.
As a camera person, I will have to master these different techniques to suit what we will decide in a group to do.
This is a useful list I have found to help me with working the camera.
Pan: The framing moves left & right, with no vertical movement.
Tilt: The framing moves up & down, with no horizontal movement.
Zoom: In & out, appearing as if the camera is moving closer to or further away from the subject. When a shot zooms in closer to the subject, it is said to be getting "tighter". As the shot zooms out, it is getting "looser".
Follow: Any sort of shot when you are holding the camera (or have it mounted on your shoulder), and you follow the action whilst walking. Hard to keep steady, but very effective when done well.
Different Kind of Shots
This is just a video describing the different kinds of shots I went through previously in visual detail.
Learning how to zoom, white balance, the camera iris, and the different camera functions in tut.
As the 'camera person' of my group, I have to say, I'm rather overwhelmed by my responsibilities.
We did a practise exercise trying to film a Lenny scene, and my group helped with my fidgeting of the camera, but the end result was quite pathetic, prompting us to rent out the camera on a practise basis before we actually get down to any filming.
Sound is going to take some work too, with all the wires and knobs. Thank goodness, 4 brains are always better than one!
From last week to thsi week, importance was placed on the frame.
Be it a wide shot, a mid shot, a deep or shallow shot, it was up to us to decide what kind of shot inside a frame would best capture the emotion and character of the scene we were shooting.
"Whatever is in the frame is all there is. There is nothing else." (Oumano, 2985)
Drawn from the week 5 reading, it helps us understand the importance and emphasis we place on a frame. Why we draw out story boards in preparation for a shot, etc. It tells us to play with the frame, to play around with the space of the frame to our advantage. It tells us that due to real life situations we expect things to be a certain way in real life, but with frames, we can play around with that to cause suspense or relief in a movie.
As a camera person, I will have to master these different techniques to suit what we will decide in a group to do.
This is a useful list I have found to help me with working the camera.
Basic Camera Moves
As with camera framing, there are standard descriptions for the basic camera moves. These are the main ones:Pan: The framing moves left & right, with no vertical movement.
Tilt: The framing moves up & down, with no horizontal movement.
Zoom: In & out, appearing as if the camera is moving closer to or further away from the subject. When a shot zooms in closer to the subject, it is said to be getting "tighter". As the shot zooms out, it is getting "looser".
Follow: Any sort of shot when you are holding the camera (or have it mounted on your shoulder), and you follow the action whilst walking. Hard to keep steady, but very effective when done well.
Different Kind of Shots
- extreme wide/long shot (subject is not visible, used as an establishing shot)
- very wide/long shot (subject visible, but emphasis is still him in his environmenmt)
- wide/long shot (subject in the full frame)
- mid shot (shows a part of the subject, but impression on him as a whole subject)
- medium close up
- close up (certain feature or part of subject takes up whole frame)
- extreme close up (shows extreme detail on that part, gets right in)
- cut in (shows other parts of the subject in detail)
- cut away (shows a shot of something other than the subject)
- two shot (shot of two people, framed as a mid shot)
- over the shoulder shot (looking from behind the subject)
- noddy shot (shot of the interviewer listening and reacting to the subject)
- point of view shot (shot from subject's perspective)
- weather shot (for, wait for it.. the weather! Can also be used for the background of shot)
This is just a video describing the different kinds of shots I went through previously in visual detail.
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