there's always someone cooler than you

Today panned out to be one of those 'which do you want first, the good news or the bad news?' type situations. So I think I'll just start with the good for the sake of our sanities.

GOOD: Everything looks amazing on film. The lighting is great, white balance is surprisingly consistent, the actors' expressions are flawless. Latch did a steady job as DoP, and things were generally well-timed.

BAD: The fucken sound is shot to shit. Half of it is good, the other half sucks some major hairy moose balls. How gutting. I don't even think we ca blame anyone as Kyle mentioned numerous times while holding the boom that a mysterious buzzing would appear and then disappear. This is exactly what I feared would happen! I never knew nightmares could come true like that. Just.. fuck.

It's just so painful to watch.. I mean to hear it, it literally grates on my ear drums. How can something so good be so inherently bad? argh.. Anyway. So we captured and that process went as well as could be expected. I stayed around until 6pm, putting together the first minute or so of the rough cut on my own. Some of the other stayed back longer, I think Latch was pretty intent on putting it all together in one hit before Friday's class.

There's always the ADR option but in essence that just means more dicking around. I can't quite describe this just-been-kicked-in-the-guts feeling properly. Or maybe nuts would cut it better. If I had nuts I'm sure the feeling would be similar. Drama, drama, drama. Does it ever end? Will it...?

surreal

So, the past two days were spent lugging around cumbersome equipment and finally getting to film... I can't quite describe what it was like to hear 'action' for the first time, let alone in my house, where the first (not sequential, just the first to be shot) scenes took place. It was like being Alice in wonderland and taking a bit of magic cake, where everything around you instantaneously gets bigger, and you begin feel like the most insignificant cluster of atoms in the world. It was a pretty momentus feeling, and one I'm not sure to forget for a long time.

I'm pretty bloody drained, to say the least. Friday, despite the imminent stresses of having so many goddamn people (strangers) in my house, was probably more of an involved experience for me. Saturday, aside from the fact that I battled an unweidly migraine for most of the day, didn't really require as much of my input. Most of my production design ideas were canned (for no apparent reason, which I'm still not happy about), and the space inside Scott's kitchen wasn't really conducive to having as many people around while the camera was rolling. So I got stuck doing the odd jobs - picking up pizzas, picking up the dolly, etc etc... Sure, this stuff needed doing, but I wasn't exactly in my element. Still, things ran as smoothly as they could have, and I had a great time coaching the actors - Mel in particular.

Now I'm just looking forward to capturing our material and cutting it up into some semblance of a drama. Since everything was pretty much filmed out of order, my poor addled brain just wants to slot these scenes into formation so we can work out what effects will work best, and what sounds will enhance the viewing experience. I wouldn't call production an anticlimax, but it was certainly built up to be something in my mind that I'm not quite sure was realised - in full. Then again, that's probably a good thing.

stage fright

Wish I could have made last night's rehearsals.. am dying to meet the actors, but alas, my stupid job continues to get in the way of more important pursuits. Meh.

At least I know the test shoot went well and by the sounds of things, the cast all get along - which is fantastic, because I'd hate to think that the animosity-ridden atmosphere in the script could spill out into real life. One big bonus is that the actor playing Mike is happy to bring all of his own clothes, which seem suitable (overalls, shirts, typical dadsy stuff), so that will be one less strain on our budget.

So for the next 18 or so hours I'm left to tie up the loose ends, and prepare my house for an entire entourage of crew. Never did I imagine that my involvement with a subject would penetrate my bedroom door, but I believe I have been proven otherwise :P How's that for dedication folks? Can't fault the ultimate sacrifice of privacy, ESPECIALLY when it's willing! Although, my nervousness is growing about it, as I want the room to look like an absolutely perfect set... Like I want to prove my worth as a production designer, so the pressure's on, in that respect.

Dig these posters though: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
(was I an emo kid in a past life or what? ahah, acutally don't answer that question, I might go cry and kill myself :P tsk tsk)

Also, in a serendipitous twist of fate (Hi Paul), I FOUND MY GODDAMN TV1 LECTURE BOOK! It disappeared into the ethers around week 5 and decided to rear it's head again all of a sudden... Couldn't possibly have had anything to do with the fact that I was forced to clean my room from wall to wall in preparation for tomorrow's guests.. oh no. haha. Solved that mystery at long last. Such a relief, too, mind you.

Before picking up the gear tomorrow I shall make a last minute venture into savers to buy a netball skirt. After that, we're all set. I think it's safe to say that I'm more jittery than those actors.

Fingers crossed...

the home stretch - remember to breathe

It's week freaking 12, people.

It seems like only yesterday we were sitting huddled in a circle with Di and Paul, tossing around ideas for characters and script-crafting.

And now we're here. Some of us have already filmed, other are just about to. My group falls into the latter category, but I'm kind of glad we chose to grad it out. Especially considering that no matter how much time you get in pre-production, you're always going to feel half-baked when you venture out on set.

This week's lecture was another Final Cut intensive. Timely, I must say, and it's nice to have it shown on the overhead so that we can get some kind of mental feel for the software. I swear that program has a level of complexity that not even I'm used to coping with.. argh. Anyway. It was good to learn how to insert text - we are reccommended to use the fade in/out technique as opposed to lame-o rolling credits. I think we'd have gone that option anyway, considering the feel we have chosen to embellish our piece with.

It's good to know, too, that we have options in post to make our film look spiffy, should some of it turn out underexposed or just plain droll. The formula Paul used went something along the lines of 'white whites, black blacks, saturation, softened edges' - sounds simple enough, but I swear it made a hell of a difference to the footage once the settings were applied. Just like magic :P

Grounded some of the basics once more, I think more than anything so as to solidify them in our skulls. Some key things to remember when shooting, and I think Robin summed this up nicely back in week 9: 'Sun is light and silence is still sound'. Omission is a very deliberate move in film - which is why post counts for so much.

a sneak preview of my pre-production

1 - mike's pipe, tv hits mag, tablecloth
2 - dull kitchen painting by request of jen
3 - gwen stefani - emo bedroom fodder
4 - fruit bowl, 2 oranges, 2 aprons, there's also a hairtie for the lou that isn't in the shot
5 - 2 x 2 placemats, one being of reverse phallic design (peaches, ahahahah *ahem*)
6 - marilyn monroe poster as per the script

Enjoy.

the inner shop-a-holic gets her fix

So this arfternoon, after work, I pretty much raided every Asian variety store in the Brunswick/Coburg area, scouting for the props that would best suit our quaint little production otherwise known as Potato Cakes.

And boy did I strike gold!

I can't wait to show the rest of the group the Monroe poster I found. I also got one of Gwen Stefani, looking hot and pouting accordingly, as well as a bunch of stuff for the kitchen, Lou's outfit, tacky shit that will come in useful on the day. I'm so proud of myself. AND it's all within out budget. Score! Got to love doing things the cheap and nasty way :P I think it has salient thematic connotations for our film as well, just quietly.

I gotta say, I am thoroughly enjoying this role right now. I've got such a clear idea in my head of how I want these sets to look, and how I want them to translate onto film. It's kind of phenomenal. I guess being this visually orientated is finally serving a productive purpose in my life. Can't say I haven't waited long to draw that conclusion! Point being, however, that if we don't nail the look and style of the film it isn't going to elicit the desired reaction from our audience... which in my view, is basically going to undermine the whole reason for making it. True?

Gonna get some pics of these babies up and running so all can see... ahh.

factoid

The human brain needs 2/25 of a second to process a cut (between scenes).

The things you take forgranted eh.

'when Godard zooms, you know it's a zoom'

I'm beginning to realise just how conscripting and formulaic filming drama really is. Even with just crafting the storyboard, for example, you are made painfully aware of what you can and cannot do as student filmmakers, especially when the look you are going for has a set of codes and conventions that aren't overtly experimental.

Every niggling little thing needs to be thought out. Every crash cut, jump cut, focus pull.. stuff like this you can't really afford to make up on the fly. And it makes sense now why doco and drama were swapped from one semester to another - I really can't imagine having to work within these confines for another 3 month block. But at the same time, it's probably better to get us used to this emulative approach so that once we do get around to making our own docos, we'll be much more likely to come up with something innovative.

In as much as we can, anyhow.

That aside, pre-prod seems to be running smoothly. No major hiccups, and now that everything is sorted, we seem to be on track. The only noteworthy difference is that instead of fiming this coming weekend, we'll be doing it the next. Which theoretically gives us less time in post, but more time to fine tune everything for our big day. Also, the equipment factor isn't really one we can get around. In a way I'm glad it's been pushed back, because it means our actors will get time to rehearse, and won't feel as though they've been thrown in the deep end.

Always be kind and accommodating to your actors. If there's a lesson that doesn't need learning by any of us, it's that.

the production designer: an integral part to the collaboration process

This post is purely for my own understanding of production design - but may contain something useful for any other people who may be presently undertaking a similar role:

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The term 'Production Designer' was coined in 1939 in respect to the work of William Cameron Menzies on the film Gone with the Wind, for the amount and calibre of design work he single-handedly accomplished on set. Previously, and often subsequently, the person(s) with the same responsibility had been called "art directors," but it is clear nowadays that this term is often both insufficient and inaccurate.

From early in pre-production, the production designer collaborates with the director and director of photography to establish the visual feel and specific aesthetic needs of the project. The production designer guides key personnel in other departments such as the costume designer, the key hair and make-up stylists, the special effects director and the locations manager (among others) to establish a unified visual appearance to the film.

Production Designers have one of the key creative roles in the creation of motion pictures and television. Working directly with the director and producer, they must select the settings and style to visually tell the story. They are the person ultimately responsible for the overall look of a filmed event.

Some of the crew who work in the art department under the production designer include: art director, assistant art director, set designer (draughtsman), set decorator, concept illustrator, graphic designer, model maker, although these roles can sometimes be interchangeable.

The set decorator, often someone with experience in interior decoration, finds decorative items for the sets such as furniture, wallpaper, knick-knacks and lighting fixtures. Working under the decorator are buyers, as well as a crew of set dressers who bring the items to the set, arrange furniture, hang curtains and “dress” the set.

A prop master coordinates with the production designer, but also works closely with the director and actors to provide the items handled directly by the actors such as newspapers, weapons, musical instruments and food. For the most part, the prop crew, along with an on-set dresser, maintain the integrity of the production designer’s vision during the shoot and manipulate the items for the camera.
[adapted from wikipedia.org]


Clearly, my role in Potato Cakes includes several components of 'art direction', none of which can really be simplified. However, Production Design is probably the closest summation we are going to find, as I dont think the term 'creative gopher' would resonate with too many folks out there... do you?

we've got out work cut out for us

So today's tute comprised of a viewing of all the Lennies, across all tutes, and I must say - in comparison to what some of the other groups put together - ours was ridiculously mediocre. Now, I still think I did the best I could with what footage we had.. but seriously, some people pulled off gorgeous ECUs and some beautifully crafted focus pulls.. yeah, some people completely crossed the line and filmed at different times of the day, which just looked weird. I guess the point of the exercise was to learn, but hot damn, I never realised how talented some of these media kids were. It's nice to see them all on top of their game.

With any luck, I'll be able to spend some time this weekend gathering the bits and pieces necessary for the girls' outfits. I'm talking accessories, makeup, hair bits.. the little stuff that all-too-often gets left to the last minute, or worse still, overlooked entirely. Even though it looks like we'll be using my house for the bedroom scene, we're still going to need fresh props for these guys. Got to be professionals here! Practice makes perfect... or so they say.

unedited notes on editing itself

So any Sopranos fan would have been in 7th heaven on my couch last night.

Mickey Blue eyes is a flatly linear narrative... not once is there a flashback, flashforward or memory sequence (the closest there is is a recurring snapshot of Mickey 'kissing' a ditzy blonde waitress). Each shot is constructed in a logical order. Many of the shots (esp at the beginning) are also rather long in duration - adding further to the one-dimensional feel of the movie, its fluidity and freely flowing capacity.

One very careful editing technique that stands out is the use of sound and the rhythmic ordering of shots to match its tempo. The film thrives on a seasoned buffet of alternately tense and jovial 80s Italian hit songs, not to mention a fair dash of romance thrown in for good measure. There are heavy uses of non-diegetic sounds, one in particular that stands out is the loud gong that introduces us to the Chinatown (fortune cookie proposal) scene. In fact, sound (and quite often, music) prefigures image in all of the location/scene transitions, suggesting a mood-oriented relationship between it and the film's visuals. There is one part where the music is even synched up with a series of gunshots, making for an rapidly unsettling sequence among the longer takes.

I found the shot-reverse shot sequence between Mickey and Gina's uncle to be particularly inlluminating. I love how the camera is angled looking down upon Mickey, whilst it points upward the uncle, an understood sign of the preeminence that longtime gang members these longtime gangsters were surrounded with. Think Citizen Kane on a smaller scale.

As for mise-en-scene, the smoke hovering above Gina and Mickey from her uncle's cigarette is a classic Hitchcockian prefigurement of their wedding day doom.. And, in the last five minute build-up toward the speeches, real time is utilised to heighten the sense of tension that is slowly erupting as Frank is expected to shoot his newly-pronounced son in law. For the most part, dialogue drowns out the rest of the sound, leaving an odd, lingering silence as the audience awaits the trigger being pulled. This is soon disrupted by a rather loud, abrupt turn of events that ends in momentary tragedy as Gina herself is shot..

Momentary, of course, because this is Hollywood, where restoration of love in imminent and a shiny resolution is unanimous. A highly entertaining watch, with a unique element of slapstick and darkness that one can only hope we are able to mimic to some extent in the coming weeks.

aced it.. all that worrying for nought?

Soo the TV1 exam I dreaded with great ominousness turned out to be rather.. simple in the end. I scored 54/54, which according to my calculations is PERFECT MARKS. hehe. Yay for getting that hurdle out of the way, and yay for being able to concentrate solely on pulling next week's production off.

We finalised our actors tonight, so everything seems to be falling into place nice and smoothly. It's such a headache though. Jen's done a fantastic job coordinating everyone and making sure we all have the contact details of the people we need. I'll be finalising wardrobe and costume over the weekend and buying the rest of the props, so things are definitely picking up in that department.

Must remember to bring my notes on genre as well. God there's so much to take in, I fear an early onset of senility creeping up on me.

Tonight I'm watching Mickey Blue Eyes (love my gangster/mobster flicks.. even the pseudo-British ones), so hopefully tomorrow I'll have some note-idge on the way editing is used within that narrative, and will find some way to incorporate that into our own drama. This is particularly timely as Latch will be finalising the storyboard so this sort of thing will need to be carefully considered early on.. I want as many details as possible to be sorted by the day of the shoot so that somehow, it all adds up in my mind to something frasible.

The countdown begins.

coasting.. on the upward gain

Friday's prac was probably one of the stand-out best pracs we've had all semester.

I got stuck right into it and actively did what I could to make my lesson in lighting count for as much as it could - And I have to say, I never did realise how complex a filmset could be - and how important it is to be precise (and safety smart) in getting these things set up.

There are several ways to skin a cat, I'm fast learning, but the key here is forethought. You don't want to have to spend oodles of time fiddling around with exposures when so much of that can be solved by making sure the lighting both is adequate and appropriate. Since we'll be shooting mostly in the evening, it's going to be interesting to see how we go with creating that subtle moodiness.. and not tripping over random shit in the process.

Again, you can never be too anal about safety.

I don't particularly wish to walk away with multiple bruises to my skull from hitting my head on a stand, or poking myself inappropriately with something.

That sounded kinkier than it really needed to. Time to get some of this pre-production shizzle happening, methinks.

...between a rock and a hard place

Is anyone else shitting their proverbials about the exam we're meant to be handing in next week?

I've been (albeit a good 5-10 minutes impunctually) to every lecture, prac, group gathering associated with this subject.. Read that freaking dossier from week to week and still, still cannot fathom how I'm expected to demonstrate my acquired 'knowledge' in an exam format... Unless we're talking in terms of safety precautions, or what button to press and when, or what to plug into where, which has been about the extent of it.

Seriously though, the whole assessment approach this course has taken is completely bizarre. I'm going to write a nice constructive response when the course evaluation surveys do the rounds in the coming weeks. This course could really have done with a Summer intensive to show students how to operate the technology PRIOR TO getting put into groups... Because it's not really fair to expect Paul and David to aid each and every one of us in our individual understandings of how the cameras and editing suites work. That's just not practical.

As a student, however, it's just so frustrating having to work with all this gear while pretty much clutching at the straws trying to get your head around it. I find this especially difficult being from Prof Comm, where movies are not my life 24/7. I thought the fact that I could appreciate communications more broadly would assist me in taking this course, but if anything it seems to have had the opposite effect.

Knowledge in philosophy, literature, drama, the classics, history and politics is what gives context to any media, for me, but I can't seem to find a level with anyone with a straight film bias. My HD in Broadcast means nothing because I can't translate any of that into what we're doing now - and it seems to be because of a) lack of one-on-one teaching and b) 2nd yr media clique culture. I feel stuck.

chop chop - and a smorgasboard of fresh ideas

Well, I probably couldn't have picked a better flick to apply the principles of yesterday's lecture to. Chopper makes some of the best and most deliberate use of lighting I've seen in a film since Gattaca (at least as far as modern films go), and has brought a lot to the table for our group to work with as far as organising our set for Potato Cakes is concerned.

The first half-hour or so of the film is shot within a prison set, so as you can imagine, there are plenty of tungsten lights and filters used to create a shady, gungey atmos that gives the viewer a sense of unease. The key lighting used is minimal, because the white walls refract most of it back into the space and onto the characters. During the more climactic moments, i.e. stabbings and brawls, the lighting has a tendency to become harsher, signifying an elevation in mood and adrenaline, similar to what the main characters are experiencing. Shadows, however, seem to follow Chopper wherever he goes - and with good reason. His jeckyll-and-hyde criminal persona plays out not only through the plot but via the careful use of mise-en-scene. Below, pictured with his girlfriend 'Tanya', you can see the way lighting has been manipulated to always keep some part of his face out of view:



This either suggests that he is constantly hiding something, or there is some dark part of his personality that cannot be revealed. Perhaps both. Throughout the film, there are several scenes filmed in the dark that seem to add to the overall insidious feel of the piece. However, some of the artier non-plot events or sequences that operate inside Chopper's mind employ some very contrasting lighting techniques - bright, cabaret-style lighting, blinding bulbs, in-your-face sort of stuff to jar ones own consciousness. I wish I could get some of my own stills happening so ya'll could see what I'm talking about. Bana's performance is flawless, and it's well worth a look for those who are keen on indulging in a hearty slice of Aussie gangster culture. Pretty gory in parts, but worth watching for its technical innovation.

Back to Potato Cakes - we've decided we want to make this more of a 'dark' comedic take on dysfunctional Australian family culture, so a lot of our cinematography will be relying upon similar lighting set-ups. To begin with, we're also filming at night, which means the fine line between dull mood lighting and being too dark is something we'll have to be constantly mindful of. We don't want to cross over into the abyss of shooting poor quality footage when in reality the flick of a switch and some careful angles could have added ten thousand times more meaning to a scene... Need to discuss this one with the guys, but I'm going to suggest that we have at least one red head spare in case we run into the problem of 'dead space'. Tbe last thing we want is poorly lit shots that offer nothing in the way of subliminal fodder... I guess that's where my role as Production Designer becomes important, because I can afford to take note of this stuff while the others do the more 'hands on' kinds of roles. Hmm.

Going to go and work on some character stuff now. Fingers crossed Jen gets back to me with some actor profiles to trawl through.

all lennied out

Well, I spent a good hour and a half tonight editing lenny down to about a minute and making the best of the footage we shot last week. Luckily no-one had touched it since, so I got to navigate my way around FCP a little more and work some of that post- magic again... I've gotta say, every time I get into post I'm reminded of why I chose this major. That sense of achievement that washes over you once you've effectively created something somehow makes the rest of the bollocksing around worth sticking out (hey, you've gotta get your rocks off somewhere).

Impressively, the sound was probably the best aspect of the entire exercise - and given that it was my first time being technically responsible for that on shoot, I was pretty stoked. Unfortunately you can see the boom in one of the shot sequences, and on the whole the shots themselves are fairly bland (dir/DOP didn't heed my advice on getting in some angled close-ups, which would have made a huge difference, visually).

Thus I pretty much did what I could for visual continuity - there are some very complex movements of Lenny's that I worked hard to match up, i.e. when she crosses her legs after sitting down, and when she gets up to make a getaway from Ms Sargeant... little things, but important things nonetheless. It's amazing just how much of a difference trimming one frame here and there can make when you're attempting to convey a simple narrative. I wish we'd have organised some time out of class to film it so that it wouldn't have become such a rush job - but that's the nature of the beast at this stage and I can only hope this makes us more determined to be thorough when it comes to filming Potato Cakes. Cause we'll be inconveniencing a hell of a lot more people next time round if we don't get it right. meh.

Interesting (& elongated) lecture on lighting this morning - we learnt of key/fill/hard/soft lights, when to use them and how practical they are. Also, they tried to play us a bit of The Sweet Smell of Success, but the dialogue came up in German, much to everyone's amusement. But why do we light? 'To achieve temporal continuity' (visual, spatial). I'm going to watch Chopper now, so will update later or possibly tomorrow with reference to what we discussed.

peace.