Pick-Up Shot List

After we finished filming on all the scheduled shoot days I cut together the footage I had and started to write down a list of shots that needed re-doing or still needed to be filmed. This was to inform the rest of the group about what still needed to be completed, especially the producer and director, so re-shoots could be organised.

Pick-Up’s

Scene 1 – Studio?

·         ECU of pages turning/ torch light flickering past camera

Scene 2 - Studio

·         MS silhouette of kite passing bedsheet

Scene 3 - Beach

·         All shots (10)

Scene 6 – Changing rooms (Birkdale)

·         All shots (2)

Scene 7 – Sports Hall (Birkdale)

·         LA MS ball going in hoop

·         Cu Daniel looking scared (eyeline starts level then looks up to match tilt)

·         ECU D closes eyes (SLOWLY) then opens them + turn

·         WS hall empty (both FA and BA if time)

·         CU/MS Daniel looking around hall then eyeline match with balloon

·         MS balloon

·         MS (SA?) D reaching to touch balloon

·         MS FA balloons fall on D

·         CU Daniel looking happy as balloons fall, continue shot to D looking confused/embarrassed then ball hits head

Scene 10 – Ext anywhere (park?)

·         LA WS clouds

Scene 11 - Park

·         All shots (17)

Scene 15 - Beach

·         All shots (8)

Scene 20 - Park

·         All shots (12)

Total: 61 shots, 9 Scenes, 4 locations

I was going off the 'final' shot list at the time that the director and cinematographer had created collaboratively:

 

Marked-Up Script

In preparation for production, I went over the final script and annotated it corresponding to how I personally visualised the film. This involved me writing down the shot's framing, movement, the characters movement/emotion as well as sometimes addressing how each shots would be cut together.
Here is a key showing the abbreviations I used with their meaning next to them.

Key

• ECU/XCU - Extreme Close Up
• MS - Mid Shot
• WS - Wide Shot
• OS - Over the Shoulder Shot
• SA - Side Angle
• FA - Front Angle
• BA - Back Angle
• LA - Low Angle
• HA - High Angle
• D - refers to the character Daniel
• POV - Point of View Shot
• Fwd - forwards
• V.O - Voice Over

 The purpose of me doing this was to share my own vision of the project with the director and cinematographer so we could collaborate all of our ideas when creating the shot list which would reflect and build upon the film's themes whilst enhancing the visual aesthetics.

Pre-Production Group Meetings

Ideally I should be distancing myself from the pre and actual production of our film, Daniel's Kite, to allow myself to be as unbiased as possible when it comes to the edit and not choose one shot over another because of my input to it. However, as we are only in small production groups, I have tried to be as helpful and active as needed during this process to enable us to make the best possible film we can.

We met as a group frequently during pre-production to discuss every possible aspect of the film and how we could plan and prepare ourselves. We addressed the tutor's feedback from the pitching sessions last semester first.

Tutor's feedback from pitching session

Ellen, the producer, auditioned a number of child actors ranging from ages 6-10 so we could find an actor who gave a believable and engaging performance. I also researched potential effects and editing techniques for the more complicated scenes which I will go into more detail in another post.

My main involvement during this time was with the script which the director, Chris, had written over Christmas. I, along with the group, read through it and edited out un-necessary dialogue or exposition, changed the order or style of sequences and ultimately tried to improve and discuss all areas of it. I discussed the logistics of how to visualise specific scenes and sequences through the editing with Chris, so we could both understand how they would be created and what we would need achieve this. For example, how we would get Daniel from one location to another through his imagination in the beach scenes, 3 and 15. We went through potential effects, transitions and camera angles until we settled on a feasible and effective method which we reported to the rest of the group to get their feedback and to make sure everyone understood our visualisation of the film.

We also debated the visual style that our film should have and how we would go about achieving it. We agreed on a very stylised grade that I would complete in post-production, which would give a very warm and surreal theme to the film to mimic Daniel's imagination. The use of high and low angles was also heavily contemplated during this time to once again allow the audience to see the film through the eyes of Daniel so they could engage with him more.

Finally, and most importantly, the group meetings always concluded with the group voicing any concerns or potential problems they had with the film so we could solve them in an effective and collaborative manner so we were all happy and on the same page when it came to filming.

Post-Production Schedule

To help me use my time effectively throughout this semester, I constructed a schedule timetabling my work for the 3 modules around my seminars and lectures this semester. I used the deadlines and screenings as guidelines for when I should be completing certain assessments for, mainly focusing on my editing progress.

As I cannot predict any problems or setbacks we may encounter during this semester, I will use this schedule mainly as a guideline which I will stick to as best as I can. I will review it every week to check my progress and to make sure I am on top of my workload especially when approaching deadlines.