Diet Coke Productions

Week 5, Tayjib

Cinematography

For the first time since our first short film in the Making Short Films 1 module of the first semester, I fulfilled the role of the cinematographer. This was a pleasant change for me in comparison to the roles in the other weeks. While sound design and editing have their perks, I quickly felt more comfortable when I had greater influence on the visual language of the film.

In preparation for week 5’s film The Disturbance we decided to go location scouting since one of the exercise’s requirements was to film outside of the campus and within 10 miles of Aberystwyth. We chose to visit the Ystwyth Trail in Llanilar and brainstormed ideas for the exercise while taking inspiration from our environment. Once we decided on an idea and chose our roles, I took plenty of photos as references to figure out where and how we could shoot different scenes.

Location scouting: Path. Photo by Tayjib

Compared to the last time I took on the role as cinematographer, I invested more time in the pre-production to find inspiration and put more thought into creating a visual style for our film. That was quite challenging since we had limited equipment and limited time for pre-production and filming. We didn’t have additional lighting equipment and thus, since we were filming in an exterior location, we were solely dependent on natural light. Due to that it was fairly difficult to find a spot with the right lighting especially in the woods. However, the more open spaces, like the broad path and the bridge, didn’t pose as much of a challenge.

In order to fix some of these lighting issues, Daniele and I worked with DaVinci Resolve to color grade the picture. We also took this opportunity to apply a more distinct visual style that the writer-director Aaron and I have chosen. We looked at films such as Children of Men (2006) in inspiration for the handheld camera and the bleak de-saturated image. Through this choice we wanted to amplify the sense of disruption in nature that occurs once the character steps into the scene and decreases once he crosses the bridge and finds peace. This was also aided by the sound design from Juliette. During editing we had a lot of discussions regarding the picture. We had different visions in mind and had to discuss those clearly, which was difficult because we didn’t have sound yet. After the sound came in it all came together much quicker and it was easier to settle on one vision. This experience made it clear to me how important sound is and how it impacts the meaning of the picture.

Further inspiration for the cinematography for me came from The Revenant (2015) which has striking similarities when it comes to the men in nature themes. Here I looked at perspectives in which the characters are shown in nature, especially in critical moments that could decide the characters fate in the blink of an eye.

I gathered all my ideas and inspirations and discussed them with the director. Of course, he also had his vision, so we tried to see what fits together and what aligns best with the story we wanted to tell. Following this I composed a storyboard to help us finalize our approach.

After I presented my storyboard to the director and we made a few adjustments, we managed to settle down on a shot list. However, we did have to make slight variations during filming due to weather conditions and unforeseen changes to our location; for example, the riverbank and parts of the woods being flooded. Other challenges caused by the weather were the need of the rain-protection kit for the camera which made certain things, like pulling the focus and even observing the monitor more difficult.

To conclude, this week’s exercise had quite a few challenges in addition to the usual short time limit, like the natural lighting in an exterior location and weather conditions. Working around these problems and finding greater appreciation for sound design as well as more experience with cinematography and colour grading made this week very exciting and rewarding for me.

Week 5, Korneliusz

Editing and a bit of help with sound

This week was very interesting. We already had a pretty well formed idea before the Friday lecture but after that I think it got even better. We already wanted to make the sound be the focus and now we could do it in a way to transform and further layer the story.

On the location we had a lot of fun walking around the forest, I was mainly following Juliette and taking pictures here and there.

Before coming to the editing room on Tuesday I wrote down what clip was which scene or sound, and went on to look for fitting sounds in from my libraries.

This time my editing process was a bit different than usual, I didn’t go into the sound until we locked the picture, and that took us a while. I’m starting to get a bit tired of arguing in the editing suite, I understand that everyone has a different vision and sense of how things should be put together, and I definitely appreciate the input, but I don’t think dwelling on things when the director says he likes the cut is a healthy teamwork practice.

We had some problems with juggling the project files from Avid to Resolve for grading and from Resolve back to Avid for exporting but I think it’s better to encounter all the problems, and make all the mistakes now when we have Siencs to help us than later in life when we’ll be far away from the university and the only thing to aid us will be that one forum post from 2009 that ends with “It works now!” with no explaining of how.

Overall I’m definitely taking that sound module next year.

Looking back:

These practice heavy modules are a real treat, I’m starting to think it’s less making good films and more making a lot of mistakes and developing an efficient and good production process. Theory tells you more of what techniques exist to make good art, but less on why they exits; well, when you actually get to do it yourself you see crystal clear the “why” of theory. Even the things that seemed very formal and unnecessary now make sense – like post-production crew being left alone for most of the time, like job contracts, like proper schedules. Who would have thought? Definitely not me from half a year ago.

Weeks 2& 3, Aaron Lyttle

FILMS: Desperate Measures & Highly Recommended.

ROLES: Acting.

Ah yes, the beginning of something beautiful. This was the first time we had been in a group together and it was really an experiment of getting used to each other while at the same time getting to know each others personalities and quirks during our first production. As I joined the group late, the main roles had already been decided, so acting what was set upon me, this didn’t bother me in the slightest as I had plenty of previous acting experience anyways. I was a tad nervous though after reading the script for ‘Desperate Measures’ as I’d read that my character whilst nervously waiting for an important meeting gets, hmm I don’t know how to put it nicely… Diarrhoea. So basically I had to perform in front of a group of people I didn’t really know all to well but the group were very welcoming and extremely well prepared when I arrived on the morning of the shoot which ultimately put me at ease, which was a good sign that this group was going to be a good one in the long run.

**Me in the midst of… taking a not so nice poo.**

I chose to act in the second film as well because I loved the script and the character I ended up playing in ‘Highly Recommended’. But I also wanted to get more of a sense of how each other roles like Directing, Sound, Cinematography etc, played out in the hands of fellow group members. So whilst between takes I could get a good view of what each person was doing and how they had their own individual processes. The group as a whole communicated well and it was a streamlined shoot with literally no issues besides maybe some minor script changes due to improvisation from myself and the fellow actor. The set design for this film was amazingly thought out and prepared before shooting commenced which meant we had maximum time for and to get any sound effects that were needed.

All in all these first two films gave me great incite and confidence to fulfil other roles in the future.

**Getting hypnotised isn’t as scary as I thought it would be.**

Week 5: Juliette

Sound Design

It was a lot of fun getting off Campus this week to film our Soundscape adventure sequence ‘The Disturbance.’ We went to the location earlier in the week to brainstorm together and think about what types of things could happen in the place. Our location was the Ystwyth Trail near Llanilar.

We had a pretty solid idea of what we wanted to do on Friday until Rod threw us for a loop explaining the assignment in different words. We discussed if and how we should change the idea to create the entirely separate soundscape for the story. In the end we decided to continue with the original idea but with a heavier layer of man-made sounds to create a metaphor of Humans disturbing Nature.

On the day sound recording was capturing the ambiance and sounds of the setting. Wind in the trees, bird song. The Rushing of the bursting river, footsteps in the mud, splashing of puddles, snapping of branches and heavy breathing of our character running through the woods. For most of that I had to stay a bit away from the filming unit as they were talking through blocking and could be heard on the recordings if I was nearby. I had time to take some photos as well for the first time on our set and I think this may have been the most documented short film ever.

Carefully collecting other sounds such as Helicopters, explosions, dogs barking, machinery was also a task as in the vast libraries of creative commons sounds we had to find the right fit for the theme and feel we were intending. Also as we didn’t have the opportunity to create the sounds afterwards to match the picture, Korneliusz and I collected a plethora of possibilities try during post production.

On the day of editing the picture lock took longer than I would have hoped due to some differences in opinion and that meant the sound designing was pushed back and felt more rushed than I would have liked. However, we were able to create a soundscape 16 tracks deep, full of fades and effects thanks to Korneliusz’s excellent editing skills and dedication to matching footsteps, twigs snapping, splashing and tumbling. Overall I am very happy with the results and the overall sensations the film creates.

Lesson of the week: Sound makes the picture. It is a crucial part of any cinematic experience and should never be thought of lightly.

Week 4, Korneliusz

Light Technician

At first I didn’t think of it much “oh yeah I’m just going to listen to the cinematographer and make this 2h basically a no brainer” it turned out to be a bit more than that, as things usually do when you look into them.

This time we filmed in a studio, first time in a proper filmic setting, I think at least. We set everything up, and generally prepared and it was at the point of preparing the lights I noticed how many fire hazards they bring. The light technician has to make sure nothing and no one touches the lamps and manage all the cables so that nobody trips over them. It was annoying that only one lamp had a decently long cable and the other ones were maybe 2m long and needed constant swapping with the longer cable one.

I finally had time to snap some photos in between the scenes. With a boom or a camera to care for I had my hands occupied most of the time, but now I could finally take a while to document our work on set. And what a perfect opportunity it was, a pitch black studio with only 3 lights and a sheet made it a perfect setting for quick photos that still turned out pretty nice.

I also became more conscious of the everyone’s well-being. I was worried our actors would feel hot under those heavy lights. I tried to turn the main lights off as much as possible, so everyone had a pleasant time.

Looking back:

This time I don’t have much to say, I’m proud of the past me for the quick realisation of how important not only the filming is but everyone’s safety and good time.

I think that was one of the big realisation points for me, when I finally saw what a huge part of the picture is light.

Week 3, Korneliusz

Cinematography

So this week was interesting, I feel like this time we actually started thinking like filmmakers, we dressed our set as we wanted and made the environment reflect our story and characters

I was the cinematographer and I did my best to capture the weirdness and mysticism of the place. I tried thinking outside of the box and experimented with angles and ways to show the action, I didn’t want to just boringly capture the image of what was happening, I wanted to make it feel like what we wanted to say. Personally I find myself watching a film and not noticing the cuts and changes in angles, it all feels so natural and logical I just accept it, that’s why it’s hard to go into that head-space where I’m aware of what’s happening, it’s just unintuitive. But it is quite nice to finally get your head around it and dissect the process.

As the cinematographer I still mainly went with my gut feeling for the shots, as well as trying to experiment with them. I tried getting interesting items in the frame, something to catch the viewers eye but not enough to distract from the story.

The handheld style of shooting our director of the week (Juliette) wanted gave me a lot of freedom to just see how things look like from angels I might have not tried if the camera had to be glued to the tripod.

Looking back:

I came to realise that the reason film-making seems so unintuitive during the production process is that the final illusion created by the shots we see on the screen is usually so tight and logical it is a challenge to notice it’s there, it’s like breathing manually, if that makes any sense.

Week 2, Korneliusz

Sound and editing

As a sound person I didn’t have much to be worried about, I just kind of pointed the boom at sound sources, grabbed some additional swooshes, cracks and hits, and was done, the most memorable things were getting tangled in the wires and the pain in my arms. I think it wasn’t the most sound depended project in the world.

But I was also the editor, and that’s several intense hours with no breaks because there is no time to waste. And I love it! The more I get used to Avid the less annoying editing in it is, which is pretty much the case for everything ever. I begin to see why it’s the industry standard for cutting, although it’s not intuitive at first, in the long run it is very much effective. I don’t know why really but I really like editing, it’s extremely satisfying to finish a project, to click that render button and then watch the puzzle assemble itself, knowing the production process and then seeing the final thing is quite extraordinary. Pre-production and production is a lot of things happening at once, in theory it’s all orderly, in practice it really isn’t, so many things could go wrong. Post-productions brings a little of calm into the picture (as long as you haven’t angered the gods of technology recently), it’s just you, the computer, and 5 other people watching your every move.

The editing process in itself feels good, it feels like cooking at times. It’s not writing down the shopping list, it’s not buying the ingredients, it’s actually taking all those items and making something that can be enjoyed by you and others.

Looking back (a reflection from the future)

As I’m looking at all my past thoughts it’s fascinating how much I’d learnt during those weeks. Today I can clearly see how wrong I was about sound and not taking brakes during editing. Honestly it baffles me how did it make any sense in my mind at the time. Maybe the exercise wasn’t very sound heavy as far as concrete sounds go but it didn’t even pass my mind that ambience is important, it’s the very thing that adds immersion and I just casually forgot about it.

And oh dear I dread to think about the torture I put myself through with my editing process back then. I definitely should have taken breaks, at least one for lunch! It helps immensely with focus and revitalises in preparation for more work.

Sometimes film-making isn’t so much the final product but the process of how you get there. Maybe you’re the best editor to ever walk the Earth, but after 8+ hours with no breaks your final product probably won’t be what you wanted it to be.

Week 4: Juliette

Producer and Actor

I am finding this experience of making a film every week so intense and immersive that I am actually struggling to transition back into my regular life. That has seemed to peak with this week. When I watched the Persona clip for the first time realized how huge a challenge this assignment would be. I offered to my group to be the producer and set to work transcribing the script. I knew that the actor being well prepared and knowing the lines would save us a lot of time on the day so also offered to act and found another actor for the other part so the rest of our group could be free to be hands on crew on the day.

After watching the clip through a few more times, I felt the need for a better understanding of the context. I found the full film on YouTube and watched it. Meanwhile I asked a few Swedish friends if they would be able to help with a better translation. Everyone was stumped by ‘Cut a Candle,’ it is what the actress literally says but as far as my friends knew it was not a Swedish phrase. One even called up her Father to ask if it had been a saying in the past. She suggested it was meant to mean ‘cut through the darkness’ and I liked that and thought it fit well. There were also a couple better suggestions for different words and after that I just took a few more liberties to make it flow a bit better in English. However, it still didn’t make a lot of sense and watching the full film wasn’t quite the ‘Ah Ha!’ moment I was hoping for. After some reading it turns out the meaning of ‘Persona’ has been one of the most discussed and any theory can be dismantled and contradicted at the same time. To act I needed the words to mean something to me. They didn’t have to literally make sense but if I could give them my own meaning they would come to life. As I practiced and learned them by heart, I gave them a meaning in my head as closely as I could to fit the story.

The location for filming makes quite a difference for being able to create the high contrast lighting effect. We wanted a room that could be dark except for the lighting we create and luckily, I knew of such a room in the Arts Centre from another project. After showing it too our Cinematographer and Light Technician I booked the room through my friend who works in the office there.

I spent a couple hours trawling through the charity shops in town, I think I went to every single one, looking for costumes until I found the right things. The right apron and hat where not to be found so I sewed them myself from a white bed sheet. The white sheets for the backdrop, rope to hang them from and chocolate syrup for blood where the last items on my list of props to bring.

As I was to be acting on the day I thought it would be a good idea to have a line producer on the day, especially due to the nature of the task it was imperative that we get all of the shots to match the original as closely as possible. I made a screenshot check list that we could check off on the day to be sure we had everything. This was especially helpful as we had to shoot out of sequence to save time with the camera and lighting movements.

Once again, absolute top effort from every member of our group to make our Persona Reenactment a close as we could.

Lesson of the week, Preparation makes a huge difference but seriously two hours is not enough time when we are also getting used to new equipment, the lights in this circumstance. If there is any element that that hasn’t been done before, practised or just not very sure about it will take up extra time.

Highly Recommended

Week 3: Juliette

Writing & Directing

This week we had a few days head start as we noticed the next assignment was already up on Blackboard on Tuesday. Those couple days made a huge difference to the development stage. We were able to meet and talk about the idea as a group a couple times before Friday. My initial idea for the tone of the film was to be very corporate, minimalist. I think that was from watching too much Suits lately, (I was curious if Meghan Markle was a good actress) but that really isn’t my style. We went down to the prop room and like magpies started collecting a pile of random oddities and so the style of the movie evolved into a timeless fictional space. I started to think of the film Brazil and wanted to create, as much as we could, a sort of bizarre world for our characters to inhabit. I packed a suitcase of blankets and other adornments to bring from home and other group members brought their own oddities to set up the mise-en-scène on the day.

As I tend to rise to a challenge and immediately want something I am told I can’t have I wanted to find a way to get around the no music rule by recording mood music on our set in the very limited time frame we had. Overall, I am not sure this was overly necessary, but it did add a sort of eeriness to our film that was otherwise quite quiet in some places.

In the very limited time, we did well on coverage but did have some limited choices for certain takes and pieced together others in editing. The Cwtsh, where we filmed was somewhat limiting with one of the walls made of glass but overall, I think it worked well for the scene. It transformed very nicely into the Hypnotist’s office.

I really enjoy working creatively in a group. Ideas bounce back and forth, immediately taking form and developing into something better by the minute. Having a couple extra days for the preproduction process made a huge difference to how much we were able to develop the story and set the scene.

Lesson of the week: Not everything will work the way you think it will in your head, so get back up versions. I had a plan for a line for the hypnotist to say off camera while we are still looking at the Patient. I asked for it to be recorded with the microphone pointing away from the hypnotist, thinking it would sound like he was behind us. Once in the editing suite in just sounded like something had gone wrong with the audio and we had no other versions of the line recorded. Luckily the story didn’t suffer without it so we dropped it, it might have actually been better without it. But had it been really important to the story we would have been stuffed.