Film Blog 18 - Production Photos!

Technology has changed it's mind and decided that it will allow me to share with you my photos from the production of Silent Disco.

So here you go!

Casting.

David & Dan in their suits; giving the audition a professional vibe.

Ed with his camera.

We all enjoyed casting and I feel that we were successful in setting the standard for the kind of cast that we were looking for. I organised and advertised the audition and we held a full two hour casting session. I think this was hugely beneficial to our film as we were able to pick and choose our actors, rather than having to take who was available like in Choices 2.

 Rehearsal.

 Georgia, our leading lady, and Ed.

We held a rehearsal about one week before the shoot. This allowed the main actors to meet each other and to get to know Ed and myself a little better. We ran through some of the dialogue and Ed informed the cast about some of his ideas about staging and how he wanted the characters to be portrayed.

On Set.

 The fig rig that came in very useful.

This photo was taken during the shooting of our very first scene. In this Scene Hannah, a deaf university student, is getting ready for a night out. She's not confident about going but her housemate Rachel encourages her.

In this scene we tried several different shots in a mirror. We wanted to show Hannah's reflection as she's applying make up and to have a clear close up of her facial expressions. For this we used the fig rig as David, our camera man, was able to hold the camera close to the mirror without getting in shot. The fig rig also helped steady the camera and so we were able to try a few different handheld angles.

Here, David is showing Ed the angle he's set up with the camera. Judging by Ed's cheerful expression, he was happy with the shot type.

This photo is from the shoot of the last scenes of the film. In this scene Hannah and Chris go home together after the party, and in the morning she writes a message on the mirror and leaves.

Again in this scene we used some mirror shots. I think this worked really well because the first and last scenes both use mirror shots and close ups of Hannah. I think this helps to tie the film together and is also interesting visually.

Here we have David and Dan setting up for a scene at the house party. This was really enjoyable and we were lucky to have an enthusiastic cast and a good number of extras. Initially I was concerned that the extras would be difficult to get hold of or to direct, but they all took Ed's instructions well and I think everyone enjoyed shooting this scene.

We also had a few laughs with Ed during these scenes. Ed took on the role of Dean, the house party host, and so we decided we needed a few comical shots of Dean enjoying the party. This included spinning around on a desk chair, falling off the chair, and being sick in the sink. I understand that this doesn't portray a very positive light on drinking or students, but I hope that people will see it is only Dean who is misbehaving and that he is a comic extremity; the other students and guests are behaving more responsibly.



Film Blog 17 - Production Weekend

Now we've had our production weekend, and things seemed to go well. Our cast were all efficient and hardworking, and we even gained a couple of extras on the day! We filmed almost all day Thursday and Friday, and we kept Saturday penciled in as a day which we would film on if necessary. It turned out that because of lighting issues (the sunlight disappeared quicker than we expected), we did in fact have to use this day to film. We shot in the morning when the lighting was just right. Overall I think this was a successful shoot and that everyone worked really hard. I took my camera on set and captured some interesting on set moments, however unfortunately my camera is now being temperamental and won't allow me to upload the pictures to my laptop. Hopefully this will be fixed soon and I'll be able to update this blog with the photos!

The last few days Dan has spent logging and capturing the footage. He's put together a rough edit, which he and Harry will finish later on. Harry and Ed will be working on the sound. I've been finalising the release forms and permission forms for the production folder.

I've just received a call from Ed who has informed me about a problem. It seems that during some of our takes there was dust on the camera lens and this has affected the quality of the footage. It has only affected a few of the scenes, of which were only in one location and with just four cast members. We will have to re shoot these scenes, Ed has recommended Saturday the 24th March. This is because most of the cast members study Performing Arts and so are incredibly busy during the week. I have just emailed them, and hopefully this date will be ok for a re shoot.

Film Blog 16 - Audition Poster.

I thought you might like to see the audition poster that was put up around campus! I created two versions of the poster, one which had bigger text and didn't specify on characters, and a second with small text that had details on the cast we were looking for.

Here's the second version.

AUDITIONS FOR A SHORT FILM-

Silent Disco.

“When you can’t chat someone up, how can you get their attention?”

We are a group of Creative Writing and Creative Media Practise students looking for actors to play several roles in a short film titled Silent Disco.

The filming will take place between THURSDAY 3^rd MARCH – SATURDAY 5^th MARCH.

Auditions will be held on TUES 15^TH FEB in CE.G01 (Castle building) between 3pm – 5pm.

WE ARE LOOKING FOR:

Lead  Female Role: Deaf 19-year-old female, seemingly reluctant to party but out for a good time

·         Attractive, young student

·         Must be able to learn very basic sign language

·         Must be comfortable with dancing and smooching scenes

·         Must be available on all days: Thursday 3^rd March, Friday 4^th, & Saturday 6^th

Supporting Male Role: The good guy who falls for lead female

·         Good looking in an innocent way

·         Must be able to learn very basic sign language

·         Must be comfortable getting intimate with lead role

·         Must be available on all days: Thursday 3^rd March, Friday 4^th, & Saturday 6^th

Support Female Role: Lead’s best friend and housemate, out for a good time

·         Fun, bubbly, student

·         Must be able to learn very basic sign language

·         Must be available on all days: Thursday 3^rd March, Friday 4^th, & Saturday 6^th

Opposition Female Role: Lead female’s ‘opposition’

·         Must be able to be convincingly bitchy & cocky

·         Must be available on at least two of these dates: Thursday 3^rd March, Friday 4^th, & Saturday 6^th

Second Support: Third housemate and friend of lead and support

·         Good friend, normal kind of girl/guy

·         Must be animated during party scenes

·         Must be available on all days: Thursday 3^rd March, Friday 4^th, & Saturday 6^th

Party Host: Welcoming and tipsy host

·         Must be animated during party scenes

·         Must be available on at least two of these dates: Thursday 3^rd March, Friday 4^th, & Saturday 6^th

AND LOTS OF EXTRAS TO BE IN A HOUSE PARTY SCENE!!

If you would like to arrange a time slot to audition, would like to be considered but cannot attend the audition or are interested in being an extra in the party scene please email danielle.johns@bathspa.org

Film Blog 15 - One week to go!

This week are working on the final preparations for our shoot starting this Thursday. I have been working on risk assessments, creating documents which give clear details of the possible hazards on set and what we as a production team will do to avoid them. I have appointment myself as Health & Safety representative, and on each day of filming I will brief the cast and crew on the possible hazards and what must be done to avoid them.

Ed has done a great job of creating the shooting schedule. It gives exact details on time, place, who will be needed and what sort of costume the cast will need to bring with them to set. I found this document really useful, not only because it makes things clear and gives us a time frame in which we must complete shooting the scenes, but also because it makes things very clear to the actors about exactly when and where they will be needed. I sent the shooting script to the cast, with a brief message reminding them of a few other details. I think having this shooting schedule will help them see exactly what will be happening and hopefully should stop any actors turning up at the wrong time, place, or in the wrong costume. I added to the schedule all mobile numbers and emails of cast and crew, so this document will also work as a contact sheet in case we need to get hold on anyone on the day and I am unable to access their contact details from my mobile phone.

Ed has also been working on the shooting script, including details of shot type, shot length, etc. When he has completed this, Ed will send it to David who will create the story board.

Harry has been finalising the locations and getting permission. He has contacted the film office and is waiting for their reply, giving us permission to film on a street in Oldfield park. We will also be filming in two different houses, which Harry has also located, and he will be chasing up the permission from the landlords today.

Dan has completed the third and final draft of the script. I’m really happy with this, and think Dan has done well to incorporate all the ideas and changes we discussed in previous meetings. Although the plot line is very similar to the original script, we have swapped the genders of the main cast and added in a few small scenes and characters. I think we have taken on quite a light hearted and fun approach to the script; one that reflects us as a group.

I have been contacting people to be extras in the house party scene and so far we have a handful of extras. The house we will be shooting in isn’t too big, so hopefully it will look quite full! Ed, Dan, David and Harry have also spoken to their housemates to see if they will participate in the house party scene.

Earlier on in the production progress, I compiled a list of characters, locations and props. This week I have been getting the props together. We don’t need too many; a mirror (which Ed will be supplying), fridge magnets (which I’ve bought), lipstick (which I’ll bring to set), and empty bottles/cans (which everyone will try to bring a few of to set). I also plan to bring make up remover wipes to set, as there is a scene where the main character will be applying lipstick. Ed questioned how easy it would be to remove and reapply the lipstick several times, as we will need to do in order to get several shots. To overcome this I will bring make up remover wipes so that the lipstick can be removed quickly and easily between takes.

Each of us will also put £4 each towards the cost of food and drink, which I will be getting for us the day before the shoot. This way the cast and crew will be hydrated, fed and hopefully have a more enjoyable time on set!

I have just had a call from an actor one of the minor characters telling me he is apparently now unavailable for the shoot. I’ve spoken to Ed and seeing as the character only has two brief lines, Ed will take on the character.

I feel quite confident about the production and am really looking forward to getting on set! I feel that we’ve worked together brilliantly as a group, and that we have shared responsibilities and work load equally. I’m interested to see how things go on the shoot and if there are any changes we make or parts we decide to add in on the day. I probably shouldn’t say this, but... so far so good!