Camera Techniques

Looking back at our AS task, as the cameraman and director for this film, a skill which I would really like to improve on for this year's short film is my assets in camera work and shot manipulation. I found it obvious that last year I had a very natural eye for the camera and I was able to record the best looking shots when we were on set. For this year' coursework production, I wish to push these skills further and improve on my techniques more to help this short film achieve a better "film look" in comparison to our task at AS.

I decided to therefore research on YouTube for a tutorial that helped me explain the basics on how to improve my camera work when on set.

This tutorial I found by DSLRguide gives an overview of the different camera techniques he uses in his short films and also gives me some potential ideas on how to improve my camera work using filming equipment such as a tripod or steadicam to help stablise footage.

He also explains about a technique called "shallow depth of field" which is a common technique used in most films to help the audience focus more on a particular subject within the film.This is a technique which I would very much like to implement in this short film and experiment more of.

Final Screenplay

After creating a first rough draft of our screenplay for this film previously, I have now successfully completed with the help of Alex our final screenplay which describes in detail the narrative to our short film. In the screenplay are the actors lines which they will be given prior to the filming days that we have organised with them, sluglines on specific plots that happen throughout the narrative as well as any camerawork descriptions to guide me on filming days for how I will film each shot, with the help of the storyboard too.   In comparison to our rough screenplay, this final version is very detailed and a lot easier to read since I had followed the standard screenplay formatting used for screenplays in the film industry and each slugline is clearly headed to give Alex and me clearly direction of how we will film on set our short film. By developing the screenplay, it meant the narrative has also been improved and polished. I added a section in the story where Crimson enters the scene to interrogate Jack more since Zeb couldn't really get much information out of Jack regarding the clue which he possesses to a Swiss vault.  Soon enough, we will be filming our first scene with Harry in the city. So Alex and I will make sure we give him a copy of the screenplay and that he reads it through before film day.

Tzvetan Todorov's Narrative Theory

CULTURE by bearjohnstone
Tzvetan Todorov's narrative theory undermines the crucial patterns the narratives of films today. Not all films however follow the same equilibrium pattern, which was why it was important for me to research this theory and what existing film apply this theory to them and which ones don't. Eventually this theory will help me illustrate how my short film will fit according to his theory (if it does).

Developing Script

Once Alex and I had fully drawn out our storyboard in detail and created a shot list of every single shot we intend to use for this short film, it was about time that we both began to think about the screenplay and script in a little more depth since we are still undecided as to what our characters are going to be saying in our short film. We listed on our animatic "*Dialogue*" to show the moments when our characters will be speaking when on set. We are both very lucky to have actors who have some experience in drama or stage performance so they will hopefully be able to deliver exceptional performances with the scripts when on set.

When developing our script, it was important for us both to understand how the script will relate to the overall story of our short film but also making sure the script also makes sense to our audience. If the script isn't meaningful and doesn't make sense to our audience, this can have really huge impacts on the overall construction of our product and thus reduce the audiences interest in our short film. Alex and I decided to sit down during a Media Studies lesson and for us to plan our script/screenplay based on finalised animatic and storyboard. The screenshots below show the notes we wrote following the standard Hollywood screenplay format.

Within the script, we made sure our character's lines are delivered in different emotions; angry, scared, confused, cheeky etc. For example, in the opening scene of the interrogation, the protagonist character will be acting scared and confused as he is unaware of where he has been taken to, whereas the criminals in question interrogating him will be portrayed as more superior and powerful to him as there are greater numbers of them.

Now that Alex and I have a rough idea for how our script is going to work, it's now time for me to write a more formal screenplay for our actors to read rehearse in their own time before filming day and so that we are fully prepared and not wasting time when on set.

Shot List

Now that Alex and I have completed the final version of our storyboard and animatic, I went ahead to produce a shot list for every single shot we plan to film throughout the entire short film. On each of the film days, we intend to bring a copy of the shot list and our storyboard on set so that we prepare ourselves in advance and so that we can get as much filming done as possible. As our ideas for the production improve and we receive more audience feedback for the short film drafts, we will eventually diverge from our original shot list and think of new camera shots to use for the short film.

The slides below shows the full shot list which Alex and I have made for this coursework production.

Our Short Film Animatic

Having completed our new and improved storyboard for this short film, I went ahead to produce a new animatic for our short film. In comparison with the first animatic we drafted out, the storyline did not make much sense for our audiences to understand and there were a lack of sound effects in the animatic which can help enhance specific trigger points throughout the sequence. In this animatic, I have carefully placed each individual frame and have added in a lot of sound effects to match with the scenes we are planning to film which has impacted the way our audiences now see our film.

This screenshot shows the number of Audio Tracks I used to insert the different sound effects. In total I used around 50 different sound effects to make this animatic which realistically is what we are both expecting to have in our final product.

Having completed the first planning stages of our short film and having consolidating our ideas for this short film, Alex and I are now ready to continue researching on the themes we would like to introduce in our short film as well as continue receiving feedback from our audiences about our progress with our product.

Storyboard - Final Version

Having fully researched into our chosen genre as well as working from the preferences of our intended audience, Alex and I have now created our final draft of our storyboard for this short film. When Alex and I showcased our Animatic to our secondary audience, a comment which they made was that they found the storyboard very difficult to follow since the drawings were rushed and did not demonstrate to them what the narrative was explaining. The drawings were drawn by Alex and I which was easy for us to follow since we knew exactly how the story was going to flow, however this did not translate for our audience members who couldn't really picture our story very well.

This is why we both decided to refine our storyboard even more since we had developed new ideas for our story line as we continued our research as time progressed. Comparing this storyboard to the previous one, each individual frame flows with the next as well as being incredibly detailed with both the drawings and description of each frame. I ended up drawing about 100 frames for this short film storyboard which is realistically the right amount we will need to be fully prepared in making this production. 

Audience Theory - Initial Research into our Audience

Once Alex and I had delivered our pitch to our secondary audience about our ideas for our coursework production, I came to a conclusion that is was necessary for us both to do some detailed research into our audience and really start to understand the importance of understanding how different audiences interpret the information they see in any media text. We received helpful comments from them that we needed to develop our storyline more to grab their interest in our short film but also change some aspects of the storyboard and animatic we showed to them shortly after we pitched our idea to them. This SlideShare shows in particular some research I made about popular Audience theories and explaining the importances of knowing our audience.

How To Storyboard | Short Film

Looking back at our old storyboard and animatic, I realised that the ideas we were trying to convey to our audiences didn't really show within the storyboard. The rushed drawings, the unfamiliar sequences, the lack of additional sound effects and the lack of detailed notes all made it very difficult for Alex and I to be prepared with what camera shots we were going to use before we arrived on set.

To help me develop my skills in storyboarding, I decided to research a tutorial to find out how to storyboard for any media production. I found this tutorial of YouTube by RocketJump Film School which introduces the methods of storyboarding.

By the end of watching this video, I learnt the essentials I needed to know when creating our new refinement storyboard including the following:

• There aren't any strict, exacting rules on how to do storyboards - conveying information is what's important.
• Storyboards are a technical document, a tool. So it doesn't matter if you a skilled illustrator or not. (As long as Alex and I understand how to frame each shot we capture then that is all that matters.)
• Depending on the media production, consider the size of the panels you wish to use for your storyboard. In this case, a widescreen panel is needed for our storyboard since our coursework production is a short film.
• Drawing arrows can help determine movement in a shot. Use them to show if a character or object is moving.
• Storyboards are typically drawn with the help of a script, although in some cases they can act as your script if you find it helpful to visualise your ideas first before writing the screenplay.
• Depending on the resources you have, you can even use photos from the locations you wish to shoot and even pre visual recordings of your ideas to see whether these will work on set.

Having completed my research on the basic concepts of making a storyboard, Alex and I are going to sit down and begin redrawing our ideas for this short film. 

Illustrating New Ideas

Following up from the previous post about the improvements we needed to make, Alex and I talked our ideas for developing the story of our short film further in depth. During our conversation, he stated that in order for our short film to stand out from the rest, the camera angles and sequences editing needs to be well thought through and meaningful to our storyline.

This photograph below shows the sketches he made illustrating some of the ideas he was thinking we could implement.

Besides the fact that we need to re-work our storyboard in detail and develop our storyline even further, he wanted to state a point to me the importance of us planning our camera shots in advance before we are on set filming.