PTK Studio Shoot - Finished video and over all experience

I apologise now for how badly written this post is, because i went on a massive rant so wasnt focused on if it made sense or not so it not very easy to read  

So here is the finished video, its not as bad as it thought it was going to be but it was no way nearly as good as it could have been. 

I feel because some of the stuff was added in on set or last minute we ended up not getting enough footage of the right things  and generally not enough fottage at all which meant the edit was a nightmare as there was so many errors that were hard to find solutions for. 

I think the prison bit is ok, other than it didnt edit well together but i think the ending is weak. Like its not what i thought it would be at all when we first planned it, i think it looks so bland and dosent give of the impact we wanted to, i dont think it makes and scense to why hes crawled out the room and what hes looking at, over all it just feel very not well thought out and rubbish.  I might just have that opinion though because  i had such a crap time making this film. 

I dont even know where to start when writing this evolution because there are so many things i wanna say but i dont know how to say them. 

I feel we had a hard time from day one trying to come up with idea then when we did we couldnt work out the ending, i wish i was just like right we are doing it this way and we are going to perfect it and make this way happen, rather than trying to keep everyone happy by going back and forth no between no im not doing this or no we cant do that what if we do this blah blah aso i feel this would have made the whole things some much clearer and had a better outcome. 

I wish a lot of the people in our group wasnt so indecisive,  like i get people are trying to be polite and nice to each other, but saying yeah that fine or im not bothered  IS REALLY FUSTRATING. This was especially hard when picking out job roles as alot of people were happy 'doing what ever'  but then left me to give people roles randomly with no idea what they liked or what they were good at  so then people eneded up doing roles they didnt like or things they were best suited for  and because alot of the time people didnt research into there rolls meant things werent getting done very well which then fell back onto me to try and fix, and becuase i didnt want to let the project fail i ended up fixing them taking on more work that i should have.  For example with the production design as most people at this point had said they where happy doing what ever so i gave this task to leanna how ever i now dont think leanna was best suited to this role as when she sent me  here work for set deign this is what he sent me

 

I dont know if its becuase i really like production design or becuase leanna wasnt sure what a production designer was ment to do but this wasnt really up to the standard i should have been. So becuase it was the day before the production back was due in when i received this i had to work through with her what a production designer dose to get the kind of thing i was looking for, once the pack was handed in i gave the task to chloe to work on during set build as  i remember her being quite arty so i knew she would be able to make something that was like what was needed for the film.   I dont want to pick on leanna this was jsut the first example in my head that showed what i wanted to say.  I know switching roles around can be quite confusing for people but i felt this was the only way things were going to get done.  

I also had to switch roles around with diallo and hannah  as hannh didnt show up to any of the meetings or lessons so we didnt really have any one on sound  so i added in diallo on sound, hannah said she would be around to edit sound but wasnt so kat had to be added in last minitue

I dont like switching things around, it makes everything more complicated but when things are getting done i had no other option but to do that or do it myself. 

I wish we had an editor who was on set or involved in the pre production stages because this was a really negative experience which effect the final video and they way it was edited, it shouldnt have, but when youve had a shit few months making the film it was hard in the edit to not be like this is crap i hate it. An editor not invoved int he process would have a much clearer view and just want to get the job done to the best they can. 

I wish both group A and B  had the same set this would have made devision of time and space alot more easier, so rather than we be pushed to the side or to find other rooms to work in and then have to rush most of the work the day before filming we could have split the time up equally. If it was up to me this is how i would have split the time. 

both a+ b take 2 days to put up the set and decorate it then group a have 3 days to do lighting and plans  etc then group be get the room for 3 days to do it. 

this would have also given us more free time to go fix things and do work for other projects instead  but because we couldn't put our set up untill the day before filming it made everything more stressfull having to find different spaces to test lighting in or having to work out what we can do in set build days rather than waste them.  I just feel like the 2 set build weeks werent used to the full advantage as we had to tip toe around the other group and argueed between our group . Just, i dont know i cant even think of how to write it up becuase the whole thing was just a night mare.  There was one day wher me charlie and kat walked into the studio and we just sat in silence and didnt talk or move for like 20 miniutes becuase the whole thing had jsut made us feel so shit, in the end we ened up jsut sending everyone home because we couldnt deal with it. 

I wish comunication was better from some people,  i was constantly messaging or emailing or trying to get people to do things how ever from a few people i didnt get this back and had to wait for a long time for a reply which is jsut a pain when you have stuff to be getting on with. It was really annoying that when i asked for things to be done for a monday i got them 4 days letter putting the whole project back. I knew that some people werent reliable so i asked for them earlier than need this way when they were late it would actually be on time but even then they were still late,  like i dont get it  how is it so hard to hand something in on time when you know a group of people are waiting on you. 

I wish i didnt care so much about it, that sound like a really weird thing to say  but i wasnt willing to let this project fail no matter what it took and in the end i  let a lot of my other projects slide  to try and get things done, i spent alot of time panicing and getting worked up about it that  in the second term i was jsut so fed up that any project that was left over from the term before just made me hate it becuase it was associated with this one. Like i could have done so much better on avid and maps and journeys but because they were on at the same time as studio shoot i hated them too. Part of me wishes i would have been like you know what  ive done all the work i need to do you do your bit and if you mess up that sucks to be you  but at the same time i would have felt like i would have done a shit job as a producer/ director if i had let it fail. I dont know im so confused by the whole thing. 

I wish we had a clearer understanding of what the project was from the start as we didnt really understand what studio shoot was about so we tried to make it a bigger thing than it actually was. 

I dont understand what went so wrong on this project like alot of  the time i blamed myself, if i had produced it better or changed something in pre production it would have made things so much simpler,  but i dont know what else i could have done.  I did all the pre production work to a good standard, i was allways clear with what was going on and scedualling etc , i was allways in comunication or talking to someone about the project, i made sure everyone was ok knew what they were doing, I tried to keep everything up beat despite how shit i felt about it all, like what else could i have done as a producer to make this happen. I did everything and more which is why i feel so let down and disappointed by this project because i but 300 % of my life even made my self ill trying to get everything done  but it just wasnt happening. Maybe i should have just been the bossy bitch that everyone hated  who was like this isnt a group project its my idea where doing it this way and no other way , but thats no who i am i dont want to have to bossy  and nag people to get things done people should have wanted to work equally, collaborating and working professionally with each other  not jsut doing things to the lowest standard because someone told them to do it. 

I dont know, im a combination of pissed off and up set with this whole experience and myself for letting it impact me so much that its made my  view on university quite negative. 

This isn't really an evaluation any more its more of just me ranting about they way i wish things had gone so imma start thinking of some positives . 

I feel that this project has helped me step up my game a little bit more, like i felt in 1st year my work was a bit lazy and rubbish  so if i took all the determination and hard work i put into this project into a different one with different circumstances  i will be creating much better work than i did in first year. 

I already separated friends and work as we are such a small class nothing would get done if we was 100% BFFs all the time but i think this task made me realise more that you can be quite assertive to people on a professional level and it not effect your friendship.

I think my attempted at trying to keep the project professional despite the lack of imput from other members making it become less professional has shown me that i can  work in a professional way. 

I think i need to stop letting the negative things take a toll on the over all thing and work on that. 

i think it made me realise what parts of film i like doing as well, as much as i complain about having to produce things i know i have the skill and am able to do that well,  it reminded me that i like doing make up and like set design and like the arty kind of things , it made me think that im not very good at technical things or after effects so many i should stop trying to make things so complicated technically hoping it will give me some kind of skill i just cant do and start strengthing the things i am good at instead to become the very best at them. 

Ive learnt to trust my instinct alot more a fix problems at the start before they get to big.

ive learnt i can be a very motivated and determined.

I feel that i have been very negative about the group and i think 80% of people did try and put some effort in  and some people found it harder than others as they were doing something they had not done before  and thats great, how ever it was just no way near the standard of what a group of 20 ish  year old 2nd year university students should have been working at.  I think when things were working well becuase we are all friends and get along it was fun but the 75% of the time it wasn't it was stressfull as hell. 

I dunno i just feel the process wasnt taken very seriously by some people and i think it shows in the final video, like it looks like something i made in college when i was 16 and i feel like we could have done better.

  

Over all i think this project has been a pain in the arse and im so glad its over and i never have to look or think about it ever again.   I feel like i have learnt something from this project, weither its what the project was ment to teach us or not, and quite frankly i want a holiday from this year where i dont have to thinking about the whole proccess of this bloody project ever again. 

PTK Studio Shoot - Job Roll Evaluation

Producing-


I have mixed feeling about producing like some times i wish i was doing something more practical and creative but at the same time i find it really easy to do. Im very organised and like schedules and budgeting so all the stuff is fine and when things go wrong i can normally thing of an solution. I think the thing that made this project hard to produce is that not everyone was on the same level as me, so when i was trying to create schedules or sort out tasks for people to do id ask for them on a monday and get them on the following friday which made the whole thing stressful and generally just complicated the whole process as i was not only having to produce but run around after people making sure things would get done other wise we would have had no film.  One of the things i felt that was hard when producing this was that when things would go wrong everyone turned to me and even though i wanted to cry and punch everyone i couldn't and had to be like no its fine keep going  other wise the group would have completely given up. It was really hard to find the right ballence of being bossy and having fun aswell becuase its a 2nd year university project it didnt need to be stressfull and misserable so i was tying to be upbeat and make sure everything was ok, but when people were co operating  i didnt know what to do, i couldnt be like sit down shut up your doing this now do it my way kind of thing because thats not fair but at the same time theres only so many times you can say soemthing polietly to someone before its taking the mick.

so over all i like the producing side of things but i dont think i am bossy enough yet to look after a group of people.


Directing -


I dont really know how i feel about directing as i didnt get to do it correctly. I liked having more of an oppertunity to control the creative side of  but at the same time because things were messing up on the production side and with the team it was really hard to focus 100% on directing. It was hard to direct on set as the 1ad was really keeping track of anything or knew what a 1ad should do so that made me really worried  so i was then trying to direct and 1ad  which just wasnt working and charlie ended up taking over the directing a little bit. The thing that helped alot was the actor, he was really good so didnt need much direction he understood what he was ment to be doing and took to what i said really easily. I think id like to try directing again but with a better project and that being the only thing i have to do so i can put as much effort into it as is needed.

PTK Studio Shoot - Post Production

The first step of the post production process for me was to go through the edit with nick.


We created a rough cut and i went through it with him and told him  bits i liked as a director and things that need changing, one of the main struggles we had during this was getting the video down to the correct length because of a  lack of cut away shots.  As we came up with a some shots on set that ment the video was bordering on 2 minitues and didnt cut together well because we didnt recored enough verity of shots on set to cover them up leaving us with a few continuity errors. Nick had a migraine so went home but becuase the video needed doing i stayed and finished the rough cut.


Once i finished the rough cut i sent to charlie to colour correct, kat and diallo to do sound and me to after effects.


After a good 1 hour editing the effects i watched it back and felt like it didnt look right at all, this topped off with all the problems we had so far and the lack of time we had left i decided to get rid of it and work on an alternate ending that we felt look better.

The after effects didn't work for several reasons, the shots we filmed were really hard to lay the videos over the top and look realistic as they were too dark and just not very well thought out about. When i did manage to get them on top they looked really out of place and just over all bad, the videos that were on the screens didn't really show off any of the work well or give out any kind of meaning to the video. Over all the ending just felt really out of place and not right and topped off with the fact it took 1 hour to edit 4 seconds of the footage then was going to take another 4 hours to render, with the time we have left untill hand and and the amount of other projects i have to do at the minute i felt better to just remove the whole end scene and re work it. 

here is what the screens looked like with the videos on top

I then went back to charlie as she was the other person mainly helping out on this project  and she agreed we should change the ending, i  re worked and made it 1 min 30 secs long and so ray craws out the whole but it reverse back in and the camera pulls out to see the set. 

However when we showed anne she said it felt like it was missing something, what dose he see when he gets out the hole.

so i then changed the ending again, this time over laying using the blending options on premire pro one video onto the screen and cutting to different video as this looks alot neater and better + the timing was correct for what we wanted. 

The finished video now looks like this http://youtu.be/CYOiq9FhVeo

As far as sound went kat and diallo mostly got on with this them self, how ever kat was put in last minitue to replace hannah who was ment to be doing sound  so she didnt really know how to do it so she came for  me for help to do some of it. Diallo also seem to have done different sounds to kat which when i tried to put them together and use the sound track he gave me didnt really fit together at all so then charlie ended up making the sound track for the video. 

PTK Studio shoot - Filming Evaluation

The pre production process for this film has been a nightmare due to all the problems we have had to face and the general lack of input from alot of the  members of our group. How ever i think once we got to put our set up and having one good day building the set motivated some people to start pulling a little bit of weight whilst filming rather than just a few of us having to do everything.


How ever for me despite everyone turning up to the  shoot day with our actor the shoot was still quite stressful. After having a never ending list of problems during in planing side  i was constantly worried throughout the shoot waiting for something to go wrong, how ever i tried to put that a side and get on with the day as if nothing was going to go wrong and get the best footage we could out of the actor whilst we had him.


As producer / director is a stressfull job any way with out having an untrustworthy team to help with the shoot  i decide it was best for me to stay on set so i sent leanna and chloe ( Ad and continuity ) went to meet ray and get him settled in and ready for the day. Whilst they was doing that i got  the camera crew and cinematographer to walk through the first few shots we were planning to do to make sure everyone knew what they were doing. Once we had sorted that i went to talk to the actor, introduce myself and let him know what we was doing for the day. We then went on set and blocked through some basic movement and direction and got ready for a take.

I learnt that in-between takes it was important to talk to the actor first even if it was just to say you did great and no other direction before talking to the crew, to make sure he was happy so we could keep getting the best out of him.

As first ad wasnt keeping a check of time i  had to do that myself and i then started to become aware that we were running behind.  This was very frustrating as i was having to slightly ad as well as direct which ment i couldn't completely focus on what i was doing.  How ever despite being behind time everything else seemed to be going fine.  Me and charlie spent alot of the time communicating between each other as she was one of the main people doing alot of work during pre production and all though she was cinematographer she did help give direction at times as she had a very clear view of what we was trying to achieve.

One of the main things that was helpful directing  was having such a great actor. He took my directions well and as he  was very into his character he some time sugested things to do or ways he could do it dirrefently which he though would get the best out of his character, which was great and made him very easy to work with.

The over all process went pretty well other than that i was distracted by having to ad as well as direct.

I dont think i should be a director though, all though i have very clear ideas i am not very good at explaining / describing them to people which is the main point of a director.  I am also not very bossy or demanding and for this project as i was having to constantly motivate my crew too keep them showing up or doing something  rather than just be able to tell them what to do meant that people werent listening to me at times which ment i wasnt enjoying directing very much.

Ptk Studio Shoot - edit plans

After the holiday i feel some people had forgotten we still had stuff for studio shoot to do so i sent everyone this message. 

This project is due in by the 23rd of febuary, so we still have a bit of time to edit and stuff !!

Nicholas Lennon you need to get the footage off me and we can go through and pick the best shots out so you can go away and make a rough cut

We can meet to go through the rushes together with leannas continuity notes this week, then send the sound guys a rough cut  by the end of the week so they can get working on that. 

once we get the sound back we can get a team together to colour correct it, after effects and finalise it :) 

Katherine Milroy You need to get the dfsa show reel stuff from simon ASAP and give it to me + nick . There is roughly at 40 seonds on 6 screens to fill, get a verity so some dance films , some animation , some instaltion stufff Basically anything you think is worth while ok

heres a rough plan of what i want green screening on each screen for you to find footage

Hannah Park Diallo Williams You need to record foley sound and start looking for music etc, if you too can work together to do this that would be great. 

Charlie Whitworth Do you want to orginised the rest of the group and film so clips of us like in lessons / editing in the libarry, you know all that behind the scense jazz , make sure you cove a all aspects so not just people editing but get a bit of us doing thoery in there to show the wide range if that makes sense ?

Any way this is just a rough remind what we have to to becuase i know everyones busy with gallery and suffATM so ill come up with some more presise dates and deadlines soon

PTK - Studio Shoot - Putting the set up

Once group a had finished filming we gathered every single member of our group at got them in bright and early to put our set up. We had A LOT of things to do in a short space of time so i divided everyone up into group and assigned them a set of tasks  so things to get done quickly and efficiently. Here is a little video of random things i film through out the day.

PTK - Studio shoot -Final hand book

Pre Production Handbook - Final

PTK - Studio shoot - 720p

We want to use the slow mo function on the cameras rather than slow it down in post as it will give a cleaner quality of slow mo than stretching out the frames in post, however, to do this on the sony camera we have to film in 720p. 

We have decided we are ok filming in 720 as the output of our film would be mainly on the web, as an advert on youtube rather than on film or television ( or any where else where there will be a large screen )  meaning the viewer wont really be able to notice the difference in quality that much. They are probably going to notice if we film the slow motion badly more than we didnt film in 1080 

PTK - Studio shoot - Directors work shop

Over the two days of workshops we had with Nigel Bristow he thought us several tips and tricks for when it comes to directing actors. 

At the start of the workshops he explained to us the difference between stage acting and screen acting. 

In both situation the actor is trying to project there body language to the audience.  In stage acting the audience is quite far away from them so the actor has to project and be very broad with there actions. In screen acting the audience is the camera which will only be feet away from them so the actor can try and simulate real life actions.  How ever these actions all apear to like like natural real life actions on the screen as there are 2 main factors that dictate the acting 

1. the size of the frame 
2. the cut 

The size of the frame will determine how the actors body language changes , if the actor is acting for a wide shot they can act quite loose and natural how ever if the actor is acting for a mid shot  it will be tighter and half of their body will be out of shot so they will have to act more closed and exaggerated. When watching it in person this seems unnatural and weird but watching it through the screen it seems more  realistic. 

The cut will determine how the actor changes his body language through the shot.  If the scene gose from a wide slowly into a close up the actor will act along with it meaning there action become more closed as well 

He also gave us tips how to cast an actor when there is no dialogue in the film .  When in the audition you can get the actor to read out a script  thats has similar  actions as yours has  or you can get the actor to improvise and give them similar scenarios, for example  if you was casting a man who finds out they have gone to the shops naked you could get the actor to act out that they are on a tv show and have forgoten to wear clothes . 

he then gave us 4 key tips to direct an actor around a set 

1. Status of characters 
2. weither they walk in straight or curvy lines 
3. the use of verbs 
4. direction 

Giving a character a status will determine how they interact with each other  someone who is a 10 ( important ) will talk differently to a 1 ( unimportant ) than if they are talking to another 10. This will then determine how the actor portrays his tone of voice and body language towards the other person. This can also be applied to objects too for example is a chair is a 10 and you are a 1 you will be scared to sit on it but if it is a 1 and you are a 10 youll be reall confident maybe even put your feet up on it. 

The way the character moves around the space can change the way they act too if they can only walk in straight lines the performance will become more ridgid and stiff than if they can walk in curvy lines. 

When directing the actor it is best to talk in verbs as it  gives the actor something to play off. If you say i want you to say it in this tone you will get quite a flat preference but if you say act it like an excited 5 year old it will give the actor a chance to create there own tones and movemnets  but also give you the outcome you want. 

putting directions in the walk through after each line will also give the actor some thing to work off and create a pace to the film. for example they say a line then say i am thinking, line , i dont like this   when  when it comes to actually act it out they will be able to say there lines in the correct way. 

Since i am talking about directors and i am the director for our film  i thought i would take the time to evaluate what a director actually does. 

the director answers to the producer and is responsable for the details, quality, and meaning of the final film. the directors job is to coordinate the crew and inspire them to create a coherent story. during the preproduction process they work with the writer to find the purpose of the film, help with finding locations that advance the film, cast actors, develop the style through various department heads. 

during production they have 2 main functions stage the scene for the camera and make the actors performance strong. The first task involves directing the crew around and the other involves working with the actor. This process is made easier if all the cast and crew have done 100% they can do in pre production so the director dosent have to worry and can focus mainly on how it is shaping out. 

in post production they help glide the editor to the outcome they want, ending up with a directors cut of the film. They also need to make them self available for distribution and promotion to do things  like  press talks. 

the best directors have a strong scense of leadership and creative vision. 

Being a director is a very complicated role, to understand it more i am reading several books, the one i have found most interesting so far is called ' directing: film techniques and asthetics ' by michael rabiger. 

PTK - Studio shoot - Camera workshop

In this work shop we got inducted onto the Sony EX3 camera. This camera has several added fetures such as 

• Slow motion/Speed Up

• Detachable Lenses

• Hidden viewing screen

• Samurai Blade

The camera worked like most other cameras we have used how ever  this camera had its own storage cards which the camera wouldn't work with unless it was in it. 

here is more about the specification of the camera

The camera also came with a new toy called the samurai blade, this was not only an external monitor but also an extra hard drive meaning footage could be recored straight onto it. This is great for our group as it means everyone who needs to ( Mainly director + dop )  can watch the footage with out us all huddling around the camera.  As it allows play back from the device it means we can go through and remover takes we do not want to use straight from the device before uploading to the editing software. 

Ptk - Studio shoot - build work shops

Build schedule -

As group A have their set up first there wasn't really much we could do until we could put ours up so we decided to make the most of the time we had to plan everything and do as many tests as we could to make sure everything runs smoothly on the limited time we have to put our set up.

After the camera workshop on the 13/11/14  we decided that the creative world needed to change, the green screen boxes were to complicated and if not done correctly would look tacky. The painted wall we originally wanted at the back made the room look more like a kids play room rather than a futuristic place so we decided to get rid of it and cover the wall in televisions. This way it would look like a control room like someone has been monitoring the creativity in the prison which we could do some cinematic shots with and show more lots of show reel on.

Me and josh tried to contact the local tip  to get a lot of old tvs we could stack, how ever this came to a dead end as they kept sending us round and round in circles

Kat looked on line for tvs how ever free cycle and gum tree had very little crts and flat screens were too expensive

Chloe looked around different recycling websites  and found a place willing to give us tvs how ever it was in london and we had no way to transport them

We decided that it was best to stop wasting time on this idea and just use the tvs we all own and ones we could get out from stores to build a stack of them in the middle of the creative room, this isnt as visually as interesting as it would be alot smaller and have less of an impact on the viewer  but is a alot safer as we do not have to worry so much that they might fall over or break the wall if we tried to attach it to them.

We decided it would be best to test this out before the shoot to make sure it would work, that way if it didnt we had time to change the idea to our back up plan.

As we couldnt use our set to test this out we decided to book out an extra studio to host a Pre vis in.

On the 14/11/14    we decided to go out and start buying props for the set like books for wall paper and vhs tapes.

19/11/14 - Pre vis

We stacked the tvs we had to get them to stand up safely this is the best way we could do it.

We then did a lighting test, how ever as we didnt have the lights we would be using on the day we could only do this roughly.

We decided we could film in the black screen curtains in g12  rather than painting the set black. But we would need to find something to put on the floor to turn it black too. We worked out we need on light behind the tvs to give a glow from between the cracks, all the tvs on to light up nick from the from and a soft light from behind so nick wasnt so silhouetted

20/11/14 - Testing the break out

Chloe had spent the past week working out who to make the whole in the wall look realistic, yet be easy to break out of.

She came up with florist bricks, covered in clay and painted red to look like realistic bricks.
She thought wall filler would be the best way to create a layer over the bricks the actor could crumble away and  hit down. How ever this took 24 hours to dry so we decided on styrofoam.

Charlie managed to find a roll of styrofoam in home base which was thin enough to fit in the wall and crumble away easily all this needed doing was painting grey.

How ever when it came to assembling the wall it was very hard to wallpaper as there wasnt a solid back to it.  We worked out we have  to glue some of the bricks to wall to keep a stable base then  cut a large sheet of card board the size of the whole and paint them black and glue this to the bricks glued to the wall.  This will give us a stable base to wall paper over we can cut holes in it for the light to get through and make it easy to smash down. on the front we will have a sheets of card board with a large whole in the middle, then a layer of styro foam stuck to them, then a layer of wallpaper over the top. these pre cut sheets can slide straight over the bricks and be stable enough to wallpaper the sheets of books over for the actor to rip down.

21/11/14- wallpapering the walls 

After some debate to weither we should start on the wall or if we do it and it cracks when we move it will we have to do it all again and wed just be wasting time we decided to wallpaper over the wall but leave a gap over the cracks so when we mov it if it bends we just have to wall paper over the cracks not do the whole wall again

  

PTK - Studio Shoot - Casting and our actor

All though i wasn't involved heavily in the casting process, i thought i would write a small paragraph on the process and who our actor is.

When we started the initial process me and charlie came up with a small piece of information to put on the adverts of casting website. This contained information such as the gender, age, look of the actor we was going for , a synopsis of what our film is about as well as information such as casting days , shoot days and that the work was paid. Charlie then put this out on several websites, which we got quiet a lot of response too. 

The casting process on the day was done by Leanna and charlie but they filmed the auditions so me and charlie could discuss who we thought we best. 

The actor we went with is 

Ray calleja

we choose ray as not only looks wise is he perfect for the role but he seemed very confident and relaxed and took to being directed well. All though he hasnt had much experience in acting the style he gave off in his audition was ideal for our character. 

We are now going to send him a character background, the shooting schedule, the script and any other information he will need to prepare for the shoot. 

PTK - Studio Shoot - My job roll

My job roll are Producer and director

I am  going to focus on explaining what a producer does as that is my main chosen role.
We have been given workshops in directing which i can discus what a director dose more in that.

What a producer dose -

as i explained in my previous post the producer is in charge of seeing the film from start to finish focusing mainly on the organisation and planning of the film.

As well as doing research of my roll online i have also been reading the book producer to producer. 
This has been such a useful book to have as a producer as it goes through the role of a producer in alot of detail on how to do thing like budgeting  and what should be going on in a 12 week plan but in a simple format .

The  main parts of producing are ( click on each one to go to the blog post about it )
 development of an idea  
putting together a team
script breakdown 

Budgeting 

Funding 

preproduction 

legal 

sceduling 
production day 

post production

PTK - Studio shoot - What a producer does - post production

When the film has been wraped they would sort out any losses or danages then actualise the budget to see how much is left to hire a post team.

they would then work out the formats the film needs to be screens in to tell that to the post team.

they would then leave the team to it whilst the producer sorts out marketing and distribution.

they would keep checking in giving the editor notes and maybe orginise a m rough edit screening so all heads of department can see how the film is shaping out.


how a producer deals with marketing and distribution

when marketing the film they would come up with a press kit, this would contain

• loglines 
• synopsis 
• directors bio 
• cast bios 
• key personnel bios 
• press clippings 
• full credit lists 
• photos  that can be used in press articles 

they would then set up things like websites, social networks blogs etc, there more media you film is on the more it will be publisised ( things like social networking are good as they are free to use ) 

they would then hire a publisits who has better connections at promoting the film 

there are several ways a film can then be distributed for example 

• through film festivals 
• cinema
• tv 
• dvds 

it is important you have to correct legal work for which ever way you chose to distribute your film 

PTK - Studio shoot - What a producer does - Production

On shoot days the producers job is help the day run as smoothly as possible here is how things would run for a producer on set

• they would arrive early to make sure everything is going ok 
• help with setting up and things that need to be done 
• hold a quick meeting to set the tone of the day 
• check in with the talent 
• check in with the director 
• make sure the AD is running ok 
• give out snacks and food on time to make sure everyone stays happy 
• over all make sure everything is going to plan and on time 
• call wrap and make sure all locations / set were left in the way they were found 

PTK - Studio shoot - what a producer does - scheduling

From the script break down you can create an elements sheet, this allows you to see all the elements for each scene.  This will then be helpful when it comes to scheduling the film.

the main rules of scheduling a film are

• no more than 4 pages of script  in a 12 hr day 
• do ext shots first this way if the wether changes you can move thing around 
• put more complex scenes later in the schedule this way when the cast and crew have gotten to know each other they will work together better to challenge it. 
• shoot similar scense all in one go eg all scenese with one actor on own  this way they will all be grouped to gather an make it easier to edit 
• make the first shoot day easy so everyone can relax into the shoot 
• go from wide shots and work in 
• dont shoot in chronological order its not efficent 
• keep in mind location dates and times 

PTK - Studio shoot - what a producer does - legal

one of the main bits of legal work a producer deals  with is liability

liability is your legal risk and exposure, to avoid this you are best to continuously consult a lawyer as well as make sure you know what you could be liable of.

you need to make sure you

• draw up correct contracts for cast and crew 
• obtain the correct rights for copyrighted material 
• asses any damages that may happen 
• fill out a detailed risk assement 
• own the correct insurance 

when it comes to copy right there are some loops round it one of them being the right of fair use. 

fair use is freely using portions of copyrighted material for the purpose of commentary or criticism.  this means if you wanted to use something in a film say a line from a poem as long as it was referenced correctly and used for criticism it would be ok, but if you took it and claimed it as your own you would be in trouble. 

PTK - Studio shoot - What a producer does - Pre production

The pre production process is about making sure you have everything ready to shoot

there a 3 main things you can have when it comes to making a film

it can be good, fast or cheep

personally i would rather have something good and cheep, as i feel a lot of the errors of a film are made during pre production so it better to spend the time to work all that out than make a bad film.

here is how  pre production process for a producer would go in order of events

• get demo reels from heads of departments 
• make shot list/story boards 
• find locations 
• do script revisions 
• create a production book 

• start casting actor 
• hire department heads 
• lock locations and scripts 
• get insurance 

• have DOP give you lighting camera and grip requirements
• get props 
• production design gets to work on orginising set build 

• lock down an actor and crew 
• first draft of the hand book done 
• hire equiptment 
• create a scedual 
• sort out costume 
• get permits
• hire transport 
• do a pre vis 
• buy food
• finilise the hand book 
• create a run list 
• give out call time 
•  

PTK - Studio shoot - What a producer does - Funding

Pre sales are one way to get funding as a film maker but they are not that easy to obtain, you have to be fairly well know or have an a list actor signed up to your shoot other wise people will not think it is a good investment to put a large chunk of their money into.

if you cant get pre sales the next way to do it would be through equity investors, this is when people give you money to make the film but in return want a % of the profit. This can be a risky way of getting funding so it best to consult a lawyer before signing up to anything. 

Another way to stretch out funding is to deafer payments. This is when you pay the crew less then what you normally would eg 60% of normal sallery but say to them if the film makes a proffit they will get an extra 60% of the sallery meaning they have been paid 120 % in total. This again is a risky way to fund the film and should be stated very clearly in contracts. 

Other ways to fund your film is to take donations, join a union or have some kind of sponsorship. These are safer way to get money but most of the time they do not over a big pay out. 

the best way to get funding for your film is to find an executive producer, if you can find a well known producer will to help you fund your film things like pre sales become a lot easier.  

you should never fund a film on a credit card though as there is a chance you might not make the money back and this way you will put yourself into lots of debt. 

Ptk - Studio shoot - What a producer does - Budgeting

When creating a budget the best way is to create an initial plan that factors in every posible budget range to the highest posible price, even if you know you are getting free costumes still factor them into the budget this way you have something to fall back on if the original dosent go to plan. When making a film it is always better to have to much money left over than run out after day one.

The best way to format a budget is using budgeting software as it is faster and more efficient. Budgets should be broken down into categories, making them easier to plan and organise.

create a budget breakdown, this is when you take the script break down and elaborate on it with a price.  This way you can easily work out the budgets for each category with out getting muddled up. The factor in things like legal and post production to create your over all budget

a page 1 of a budget plan should have a top sheet, a middle and a bottom

the top sheet contains all the vital information like name of film, shoot date, contact details.
the middle contains subtotals for each section of the budget
the bottom contains  assumptions of what the budget is baised on

the following pages will then contained the detailed breakdown of the budgets

once you have made the budget you need to make a cash flow schedule, this states how much money you will need and when you will need it by