So Monday was an early start: 0815 with a kit return.
At 11 we had Andy's class on star theory, where I discovered that in the last few years there has been a shift from star-centred films to brand-centred films. I suppose this is simply taking the idea of what defines a star and seperating it from an individual actor. "Grab your coat - we're off to the pictures. The new ____ movie is out". If that is what defines a star, then what better fits into that sentence than a brand: Twligiht, Harry Potter, James Bond. And even if the word "new" is dropped, a recognisable brand is more likely to sell. (The Simpsons, Sex and the City, Watchmen) But this only be the case, I suspect, if the brand has something to do with entertainment. I can't see why a movie based on Cleudo or Monopoly, let alone Viewmaster, would sell any better than any standard detective or entrepeneur genre piece. After all, if "Coca-Cola: the Movie" was to come out, I wouldn't know whether to expect a rom com or a political thriller. All I would know was that there would be a lot of shots of hot people drinking bottles of coke. Having said that, "Irn-Bru: the Movie" would likely pull in the Scottish audience, largely on the back of their adverts which have such a cult following that an anthology of Irn Bru adverts sold out the GFT three nights running a year or two back. So again this is a previous link with the entertainment industry.
Tuesday was remarkably forgettable. I'm sure something must have happened!
Wednesday was a day off which I spent finishing Dust and editing my pitch for Enter the Pitch competition.
Thursday was a full day of editing where I learnt such useful things as how to change the colour scheme on Avid. I have decided to go for a sickly green colour to remind me of my antipathy for this over complicated and counter-intuitive program which continues to crash frequently when I use it. (In fact in the two days I have used it, it has crashed at least as often as Final Cut has done for me in all the time I have been using it since joining the Academy!) The afternoon was more constructive in that I managed to start capturing a clip after several abortive attempts. I had to cancel the operation before it was completed, in order to hand the deck round to the next man.
Friday was a tutorial with Adam regarding TV proposals. Interestingly he chose the one I was least excited about to enthuse over. So now the other two must remain in limbo while I do up a full outline for "Crooks of the Stone Age". I don't even like the title much! After this we watched The Island Tapes. I really enjoyed seeing that old footage, especially the two or three tantalising shots we had of Portree in 1938. I was surprised to see the War Memorial was already up in the square. I guess it was for the 1st World War, and I always thought it was a joint memorial. Maybe it was modified after '45. It was quite strange watching the musicians and the film together. My natural instinct was to watch the musicians and I had to keep looking away at the films.
Saturday was a shoot out in Mugdock Park - the fifth filmmaking adventure i have been out there for and the place gets more inhospitable every time. There was a dense fog over all the landscape, which provided us with some good shots, but combined with near zero temperatures, conditions were harsh. Metal equipment just sucks heat from your hands. I quickly lost feeling in my fingers and toes and did not regain circulation until lunch, during which time I succeeded in severely scaring some children by performing some mad dervish-Highland fling hybrid dance in the grounds of Mugdock castle in an attempt to spur on my sluggish blood to travel to my extremities. Highlight of the day was when I slipped on a wet piece of wood, and collapsed on the floor while still carrying all the equipment. It would have been funnier if I wasn't so cold!
Saturday 28 November 2009
Monday 23 November 2009
Week Beginning 16th Nov
Monday was a class on Cinema Movements, looking at genre theory and star theory. My appreciation of star theory is possibly hampered by my relative ignorance of contemporary actors. I could pass Shia Le Buoef (or however you spell that) in the street and not recognise him - I have only ever heard his name in class. Having grown up watching a diet largely consisting of TV and films from the 60's to 80's I have always felt slightly out of step with everyone else. Thinking back, apart from the occasional school trip and a solitary trip to see Beauty and the Beast, my first two times in the cinema were Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter, both in 2001, by which time I was 17. I am not saying this as some sort of sob story, but to try and explain my relative ignorance of films from the 90's with which my peers have grown up. In particular, my utter lack of interest in celebity culture means I never pay much attention to who is who in th movie world, unless a character or performance strikes me as particularly noteworthy. Hence my great confusion telling the difference between Heath Ledger, Jude Law and Colin Farrel in Doctor Parnassus!
Tuesday was an examination of Derelict - a rather dreary and generic program about unhappy people in unhappy situations, about which the viewing public are as helpless as they are about AIDS in Africa. This was followed by My Fake Baby, a far more engaging, and (for me) far more horrifying program than the first. There was something incredibly sad about the psychological state these women had got themselves into, where they were looking for some sort of satisfaction in a doll.
Wednesday was a program meeting where we expressed our unease at the apparent lack of pace within the course, and were querying what our end of year projects would be. I think the class are united in preference of filming our own films as opposed to bland and generic "scenes". A possible compromise would be writing (or at least choosing) our own scenes, but I'm glad to have received Adam's assurance on Friday that we would be making between 1 and 4 end of year films. In the meantime, I am more determined than ever to continue making films in an extra-curricular fashion. I can only measure my progress for this term by considering Golden Rule, the Enter the Pitch film, and the completion of Dust. Apart from that, I've learned some more, and discarded heaps of scripts, but haven't progressed.
Wednesday afternoon was another class on Documentary, where we watched a program about sleazy Bible salesmen. It was interesting, but my attention would have been retained if it had been half the length. I could certainly appreciate the non-intrusive nature of the documentators. The genuine nature of the footage they captured was amazing. But not the most entertaining piece of film.
Thursday morning was a class in Sound, followed by a class in Editing. I very much enjoyed Sound, but because I'd had no time for the toilet, let alone lunch (due to an over enthusiastic Gaelic teacher!), I was less collected for Editing. My thoughts weren't helped by my computer crashing half way through. I thought Avid was supposed to be uncrashable! I am slowly picking up the hang of Avid, but it is so much less user friendly than Final Cut (probably on purpose) that I doubt I shall ever like this program!
Friday was a short class with Adam, looking at proposals and the wording thereof. This was followed by filming the Brodski Quartet doing their thing in the Concert Hall. It was good to get back behind a camera again - it has been a very long time since I was operating previously and I was quite rusty till Paul oiled me up!
Tuesday was an examination of Derelict - a rather dreary and generic program about unhappy people in unhappy situations, about which the viewing public are as helpless as they are about AIDS in Africa. This was followed by My Fake Baby, a far more engaging, and (for me) far more horrifying program than the first. There was something incredibly sad about the psychological state these women had got themselves into, where they were looking for some sort of satisfaction in a doll.
Wednesday was a program meeting where we expressed our unease at the apparent lack of pace within the course, and were querying what our end of year projects would be. I think the class are united in preference of filming our own films as opposed to bland and generic "scenes". A possible compromise would be writing (or at least choosing) our own scenes, but I'm glad to have received Adam's assurance on Friday that we would be making between 1 and 4 end of year films. In the meantime, I am more determined than ever to continue making films in an extra-curricular fashion. I can only measure my progress for this term by considering Golden Rule, the Enter the Pitch film, and the completion of Dust. Apart from that, I've learned some more, and discarded heaps of scripts, but haven't progressed.
Wednesday afternoon was another class on Documentary, where we watched a program about sleazy Bible salesmen. It was interesting, but my attention would have been retained if it had been half the length. I could certainly appreciate the non-intrusive nature of the documentators. The genuine nature of the footage they captured was amazing. But not the most entertaining piece of film.
Thursday morning was a class in Sound, followed by a class in Editing. I very much enjoyed Sound, but because I'd had no time for the toilet, let alone lunch (due to an over enthusiastic Gaelic teacher!), I was less collected for Editing. My thoughts weren't helped by my computer crashing half way through. I thought Avid was supposed to be uncrashable! I am slowly picking up the hang of Avid, but it is so much less user friendly than Final Cut (probably on purpose) that I doubt I shall ever like this program!
Friday was a short class with Adam, looking at proposals and the wording thereof. This was followed by filming the Brodski Quartet doing their thing in the Concert Hall. It was good to get back behind a camera again - it has been a very long time since I was operating previously and I was quite rusty till Paul oiled me up!
Monday 16 November 2009
Week Beginning 9/11
Monday was a tutorial with Richard in which all my ideas were scrapped and I am back to the drawing board. I might try adapting old premises, or come up with new ones. I might even be bold and come up with an outline or two for one of the scrapped premises!
Tuesday was a class on the history of documentary where we heard about everything from "Nanook of the North" to "Sicko". Very interesting and informative. I've only got a limited interest in documentary, but Andy is doing his best to whip up my enthusiasm for it!
Wednesday was a PAT tutorial, very much a box ticking exercise, and I think I spent some time doing editing, but I really can't remember!
Thursday was a full day of Technical class - an excellent day where I learn quite a bit about a matte box, a follow focus and the uses of filters. I'm fairly certain camera is not going to be my specialism, but the more I know about its capabilities, the more confident I'll be in film-making in general.
Friday was a short class about themes and devices in TV. I'd have liked a more concrete definition of that a theme and a device actually are, but otherise, it was a good class.
This was followed by a screening of the Battle of Algiers: see other blog.
Tuesday was a class on the history of documentary where we heard about everything from "Nanook of the North" to "Sicko". Very interesting and informative. I've only got a limited interest in documentary, but Andy is doing his best to whip up my enthusiasm for it!
Wednesday was a PAT tutorial, very much a box ticking exercise, and I think I spent some time doing editing, but I really can't remember!
Thursday was a full day of Technical class - an excellent day where I learn quite a bit about a matte box, a follow focus and the uses of filters. I'm fairly certain camera is not going to be my specialism, but the more I know about its capabilities, the more confident I'll be in film-making in general.
Friday was a short class about themes and devices in TV. I'd have liked a more concrete definition of that a theme and a device actually are, but otherise, it was a good class.
This was followed by a screening of the Battle of Algiers: see other blog.
Monday 9 November 2009
Week Beginning 2/11
I am half asleep - so apologies in general to my devoted readership and fan-base for what is likely to be a somewhat slapdash blog posting.
So Monday was a class on genre theory, quite interesting. A film doesn't have to be totally unique to be engaging, challenging, entertaining and moving. Sometimes the use of genre motifs make the audience feel comfortable and a deeper story can be told under the surface.
Tuesday was a trip to the Mitchell library - it was intriguing to see the old documents, especially the 900 year old Papal bull and the rogues gallery from the police records. Having said that it seems like a solution seeking a problem. I can't think what situation I would be in, where I would be researching some aspect of Gasgow's life before 1970.
Wednesday was cancelled
Thursday was also cancelled - we watched an episode of Being Human, which I had already seen and blogged on last year.
Friday was Open Day, so general anarchy in the corridors and no classes.
Meanwhile all week, we were gearing up for a reshoot of The Golden Rule, which we accomplished on Saturday. The first time we had been out, the play-heads had been damaged or the tape had been corrupted and the footage was not useable for most of one scene. Seeing we were going out for this scene, we also decided to get some more coverage of another scene, on which we had been very rushed the first time. Depite some inclement weather we managed another successful shoot.
So Monday was a class on genre theory, quite interesting. A film doesn't have to be totally unique to be engaging, challenging, entertaining and moving. Sometimes the use of genre motifs make the audience feel comfortable and a deeper story can be told under the surface.
Tuesday was a trip to the Mitchell library - it was intriguing to see the old documents, especially the 900 year old Papal bull and the rogues gallery from the police records. Having said that it seems like a solution seeking a problem. I can't think what situation I would be in, where I would be researching some aspect of Gasgow's life before 1970.
Wednesday was cancelled
Thursday was also cancelled - we watched an episode of Being Human, which I had already seen and blogged on last year.
Friday was Open Day, so general anarchy in the corridors and no classes.
Meanwhile all week, we were gearing up for a reshoot of The Golden Rule, which we accomplished on Saturday. The first time we had been out, the play-heads had been damaged or the tape had been corrupted and the footage was not useable for most of one scene. Seeing we were going out for this scene, we also decided to get some more coverage of another scene, on which we had been very rushed the first time. Depite some inclement weather we managed another successful shoot.
Monday 2 November 2009
The Seagull
I watched the performance tonight of the third year actors performing the Seagll. Perhaps it's because I am not a theatre buff, but I really had no time for the play. It was exceedingly dull - the story was predictable and the pace pedestrian, the characters were hysterically emotional and generally unlikeable. The set was splendid however, but this tended only to show up the poverty of the actual piece itself. Like Ibsen, Chekov has gained some sort of reputation as a playwright among the middle-class intelligentsia of our society, but having seen one play by each of them, I am still very much waiting to be impressed! If I was to analyse the story in filmic terms, there was no clear protagonist, no drive, no goal, no inciting incident. Just a bunch of events happening to a bunch of people with vast amounts of pointless chatter in between. And then they threw in a random offstage suicide at the end just to make a clear finish to the play.
Poor show!
Poor show!
An Riaghailt Or
Having helped Phil in developing the script all the way back in Summer, I seem to have been involved in this production for a long time. Until today I thought it was all over - how wrong I was!
Meanwhile, what have I learnt?
1) A single Producer is not sufficient to deal with all the issues that are arising in a production of even moderate scale, short length. The help Gavin provided in the final stages was invaluable, and having the assistance and co-operation of a second Producer or Production Manager or some such from much earlier on would have made my job far less of a headache.
2) It’s best to give yourself more than one option for a role. Most of our actors were the only ones we could find to suit their role, and therefore we wnet with them by default, while other ones might have been easier to work with, if we’d found them.
3) Playback the tape while on set to ensure it is recording properly. This is the second time this has happened to me. The first time - in 2007 - I put it down to an error that was so rare it was not worth checking for as standard practice. Now that it has happened twice, I reckon it might be worth it.
4) Try to get on the extras list about twice as many as you think you’ll need, especially at no-fees level film-making.
5) Have a Pre-Production Schedule. I had none on this production and several things were forgotten or left to the last minute.
6) Either have the call sheets prepared in advance of the first day’s shoot, or have someone working on them remotely while the shoot is going ahead.
7) Runners and extra pairs of hands are exceedingly useful
8) When providing catering, provide plastic cups! For next time - note to self - prepare a shopping list based on what we had today.
9) It might be useful for the Designer to double up with, say, Wardrobe. We had no Wardrobe person, and, in retrospect, that would have been useful.
10) The pre-production schedule must contain a day for the final (major) script redraft. We had a major redraft at the last moment which threw us considerably.
Apart from the issue with the tape not recording, this film has provided to be fairly successful so far. While I wouldn’t call it a smooth and well-oiled production, we got there in the end. Some ingenuity from Gavin at the very end of the shoot gave us a few minutes of battery on the camera. Occasionally there would be a moment of friction between crew members (not least between my good pal Phil and myself during the pre-production stage!) But certainly, once on set, everything looked particularly professional, and the comradeship between the crew members (including those from outside the class) was outstanding. Here's hoping all will go well for the reshoot this weekend!
Meanwhile, what have I learnt?
1) A single Producer is not sufficient to deal with all the issues that are arising in a production of even moderate scale, short length. The help Gavin provided in the final stages was invaluable, and having the assistance and co-operation of a second Producer or Production Manager or some such from much earlier on would have made my job far less of a headache.
2) It’s best to give yourself more than one option for a role. Most of our actors were the only ones we could find to suit their role, and therefore we wnet with them by default, while other ones might have been easier to work with, if we’d found them.
3) Playback the tape while on set to ensure it is recording properly. This is the second time this has happened to me. The first time - in 2007 - I put it down to an error that was so rare it was not worth checking for as standard practice. Now that it has happened twice, I reckon it might be worth it.
4) Try to get on the extras list about twice as many as you think you’ll need, especially at no-fees level film-making.
5) Have a Pre-Production Schedule. I had none on this production and several things were forgotten or left to the last minute.
6) Either have the call sheets prepared in advance of the first day’s shoot, or have someone working on them remotely while the shoot is going ahead.
7) Runners and extra pairs of hands are exceedingly useful
8) When providing catering, provide plastic cups! For next time - note to self - prepare a shopping list based on what we had today.
9) It might be useful for the Designer to double up with, say, Wardrobe. We had no Wardrobe person, and, in retrospect, that would have been useful.
10) The pre-production schedule must contain a day for the final (major) script redraft. We had a major redraft at the last moment which threw us considerably.
Apart from the issue with the tape not recording, this film has provided to be fairly successful so far. While I wouldn’t call it a smooth and well-oiled production, we got there in the end. Some ingenuity from Gavin at the very end of the shoot gave us a few minutes of battery on the camera. Occasionally there would be a moment of friction between crew members (not least between my good pal Phil and myself during the pre-production stage!) But certainly, once on set, everything looked particularly professional, and the comradeship between the crew members (including those from outside the class) was outstanding. Here's hoping all will go well for the reshoot this weekend!
Week Beginning 26/10
Monday was a class on Mise-En-Scene, coming right in the middle of a day of pre-production on An Riaghailt Or. We looked at the subtext involved in a characters movement across the screen, and also certain visual metaphors (such as the window blinds as Fargo becoming progressively more like prison bars). I’m not sure whether this is supposed to affect the audience subconsciously or whether it is a foible by which film-makers show off to other film-makers, critics and intellectuals. If I pick up on something like this in a movie, I feel immediately very clever for spotting it, but only in the sense of respecting the direction. I am not sure it makes me appreciate the story any more. The key film here for me is “Atonement”, which is full of such visual metaphor. Some of these I got, some I didn’t. It sort of added a new layer to the film for me, but only because there were so many things glaring at me.
Tuesday was a day of Factual Content, looking at the ethics of reporting on individuals to the public. I found this class particularly interesting, especially the little ethical puzzles given to us. I had never really considered the implications of undercover reporting before, but I’m not sure that, as a Christian, I could do it, or get someone else to do it. The lies, deceit and indeed betrayal involved make it very difficult to justify except by the old adage that “the end justifies the means”. And I’m not sure that it does.
Wednesday was a day off - so I tried to get on with post-production for Dust. I only got an hour or two in before I was evicted from the DTU again! I’m going to have to think of a way round this predicament. The fact that Client Services won’t let me in is perhaps an obstacle I should raise with Upstairs. My name isn’t on the golden list!
Thursday morning was a class on Lighting with Gaffer Derrick Ritchie. While I’m not sure I learnt any specific technical trick, I found the class quite inspiring. Like a Masterclass, we heard an industry professional enthusing about his life’s work. It reminded me strongly of some of the talks I had heard at Showlight. I don’t suppose it’s an easy thing to teach. It’s like getting an artist in to teach you painting for one morning. All he or she would realistically be able to do is inspire you to continue with your own paintings. And the class certainly did the lighting equivalent of that!
Thursday afternoon and Friday morning were a class on Storyboards: their use, misuse and creation. This is possibly the first time we have done something in Zam’s class we have not touched on in any other class, and I found it very helpful. Zam’s particular teaching style I also find very good: lots of assignments to work on and continual input in shaping these ideas further. We also had a chance to discuss some of what we were hoping to do at the weekend, with An Riaghailt Or, and he offered some helpful advice.
Friday afternoon was “The Searchers” - see other blog.
Tuesday was a day of Factual Content, looking at the ethics of reporting on individuals to the public. I found this class particularly interesting, especially the little ethical puzzles given to us. I had never really considered the implications of undercover reporting before, but I’m not sure that, as a Christian, I could do it, or get someone else to do it. The lies, deceit and indeed betrayal involved make it very difficult to justify except by the old adage that “the end justifies the means”. And I’m not sure that it does.
Wednesday was a day off - so I tried to get on with post-production for Dust. I only got an hour or two in before I was evicted from the DTU again! I’m going to have to think of a way round this predicament. The fact that Client Services won’t let me in is perhaps an obstacle I should raise with Upstairs. My name isn’t on the golden list!
Thursday morning was a class on Lighting with Gaffer Derrick Ritchie. While I’m not sure I learnt any specific technical trick, I found the class quite inspiring. Like a Masterclass, we heard an industry professional enthusing about his life’s work. It reminded me strongly of some of the talks I had heard at Showlight. I don’t suppose it’s an easy thing to teach. It’s like getting an artist in to teach you painting for one morning. All he or she would realistically be able to do is inspire you to continue with your own paintings. And the class certainly did the lighting equivalent of that!
Thursday afternoon and Friday morning were a class on Storyboards: their use, misuse and creation. This is possibly the first time we have done something in Zam’s class we have not touched on in any other class, and I found it very helpful. Zam’s particular teaching style I also find very good: lots of assignments to work on and continual input in shaping these ideas further. We also had a chance to discuss some of what we were hoping to do at the weekend, with An Riaghailt Or, and he offered some helpful advice.
Friday afternoon was “The Searchers” - see other blog.
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