EVALUATION

Drama

The concept of our film is a short love story of boy meets girl. The boy (Flynn) has negative views about love and he meets a girl (Lily) who changes his perspective on love. The theme of journey is emotional instead of physical. The age group of this film is aimed at teenagers and young couples.  Our influences came from Submarine, 500 days of summer and Amelie. The film is a short version of Submarine and some of the shots are similar. I like the colour scheme in Amelie and I believe it would benefit well in the film.

Overall I find the film to be ok. The themes of journey and idea behind it can be portrayed within the film. Im not too happy about the sound of the film considering that it was all done in post production. You can tell that the dialogue between the characters has been dubbed and these are things which bring it down and makes the viewer less interested in the film. The atmos track and music is fine and creates a mood in certain parts of the film and as the editor, they bury some of the white noise of the dialogue. I liked some of the shots in the film and the colours. They did not come out as much as I wanted to but they worked. While blocking the scene at the bus station, I forgot to film a close up shot of both the two characters in the centre of the frame, which would have brought the audiences closer to the characters.

Given the chance to make changes to the film, I would reshoot the entire film and have sound equipment. I would also change the location of the park to look for a better one which would allow us to portray a passage of time and have more footage to work with.

The making of the film went on really well. At first I was worried we might have difficulties during the filming because it was only Carrie and me who were present. Nyle couldn’t come because of his medical condition and Chris had to go home to work. Because of the few group members we had, I took on multiple roles. I did the filming, editing and sound design with Nyle. The editing was great and thats where I found out the type of shots I was missing which would have benefited the film, like the close up shots of the bus stop scene and park. The major problem I would say we had was the sound. We had to do it all in post production and ADR the dialogue. Chris recorded the dialogue sounds but I had problems in trying to sync Lily’s voice because of her pace and how high pitched her voice was. I overcame this by cutting the dialogue and using the atmos sounds to cover the blank spaces in between the gaps. We had problems in deciding which music to use for the film and we ended up using Nyle’s music.

In this project, I learnt a lot of things and how the different roles work with each other. Firstly I learnt how to use the canon 600D which improved my technical skills. Since the 600D has similar features to the 60D, I am now confident in booking out a 60D and finding my way around. Secondly, I can now ADR the dialogue in films. I know the things to consider in order to get a good quality sound of dialogue when doing ADR which is, recording in a quiet room, making sure the actor matches the pace of the original dialogue, editing the dialogue so that it syncs and creating an atmos track using different sources of material. The editing role gave me an insight on how to place the audience’s in the film and which shots work best at certain moments within the film.

As a team, our team work was ok but I wish there would have been a better communication at the start of the project, that way we wouldn't have wasted time but everyone contributed something to the project, which was good. Our main weakness would be communication from my point of view. To improve our teamwork skills, we would work best if everyone was passionate about the project.

POST PRODUCTION

The edit went on smoothly. The film was more than 5 minutes long and trying to reduce it was a bit hard because the pace in some of the scenes became to fast, like the opening scene. Chris recorded all the sounds which were going to be used to ADR (Automated Dialogue Replacement) the film. Syncing Flynn's dialogue was fine because the voice sounded natural and he was able to match the pace of the film during the recording. Lily's voice was hard because the pace in which she talked in during the filming and recording was different and also her voice was high pitched. Using ProTools I was able to cut some of he dialogue to match her lips but you could tell at certain points that her voice was dubbed.  I tried to overcame this by cutting the dialogue and using the atmos sounds to cover the blank spaces in between the gaps.

During the edit there was a major problem when it came to the music. When Nyle did the sound design, he placed a music which was ok in certain parts but not the whole film. The director was not happy about the music because she wanted a slow smooth song which can create the mood of love like in submarine or 500 days of summer. For me, I liked the music at the start of the film up to the ending of the bus station scene. In the scenes of the montage me and Nyle used different parts of the sound track to fit that scene.

Below are some of the editing screengrabs which show the colour correction and sound design.

Colour correction

Colour correction

ADR

ADR

PRODUCTION

Because of our late schedule, we had to film during Easter and only Carrie and I were available. One major problem we had was that we couldn't book out any equipment so we used Carrie's canon 600d and no sound equipment. I brought my camera tripod with me and a 50mm lens. For the sound, we were going to do it all in post production.

The whole production process went well, even though it was just the two of us. The producer made a schedule for the filming day and we filmed it over a period of 2 days. We filmed on gell street and at a bus stop near the University. On day 1 we filmed at the park and street and day 2 we did the bus stop and ending scene + a few more extra shots.

I did all the filming during that day. It was my first time to use a canon 600d and I went on YouTube for tutorials on how to use it. The camera was really good but I wish we had a better lens because the standard lens had problems focusing on the subject.

RESEARCH

Inspiration

The main inspiration of the idea of the film came from Submarine and 500 Days of summer. I saw Submarine and had an understanding of what the characters are going to be like. Watching the film also helped me think of the shots we could use and how we could film certain scenes. Similar styles like this (fig 1) where the character breaks the fourth wall, would be great at the start of the film to help establish the character and draw in the viewer. 

Figure 1 - Submarine

Looking at the characters with in Submarine, I saw the kind of shots they were using in different moments. Below are some of the shots I like and might use them during filming. 

Figure 2

Figure 3

I wasn't able to watch 500 Days of Summer but I was able to get the concept of boy meets girl from the trailer. I also saw some of the shots they used and some of them looked similar to submarine.

Colour Scheme

The colour scheme from Submarine was a bit dark contrasting colours except from Jordana's red coat. From reading the script, The park scene made me think of Amelie and how the colours in that film created mood. In our film, I will try to use warm and cool colours (orange, green, red, pink, blue, peach).

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Equipment

The camera I'm going to be using will be a canon 600D. I've never used this camera before and looked for tutorials on how to use it online. I have a canon 1100D but I think the settings might be slightly different. The links below showed me specks of the camera and the additional specks which it has that cannot be found in the 1100D. 

Dave How To

Pete Spence gave me a link to a YouTube which gives you tips of what to consider when filming a dialogue scene. These included: 

• Rule of thirds
• Using different lenses and how it affects the footage
• Blocking your characters 
• Lighting
• Editing
• Angles

How To Film a Dialogue Scene

Story Board

Below are the storyboards I drew to help me during the filming. They are not 100% accurate but the give me the idea of what to film in each scene. 

Reference

Amelie (2001), [Online], Directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Netflix. Video from Netflix last accessed 09 May 2014 at: http://www.netflix.com/WiMovie/60022048?sod=search-autocomplete

Breaking the fourth wall (2013). [Online] Last accessed 09 May 2014 at: http://directaddress.tumblr.com/

OH, Jubilee (2011). Stuck on the puzzle "the submarine 2011 film", [Online], Last accessed 09 May 2014 at: http://provocallyism.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/stuck-on-puzzlethe-submarine-2011-film.html 

Searches The Depths of Teen Angst to Find Laughs. (2011). [Online]. Last accessed 09 May 2014 at: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/entertainment/searches-the-depths-of-teen-angst-to-find-laughs/story-e6frewt9-1226132173484

Jean-Pierre Jeunet

stuck on the puzzle''the submarine 2011 film''

BLOCKING & ADR

We made a remake of a scene from the last tycoon in my production skills session. I learnt how to block a film and how the different positions create a different effect of how the audiences are placed within the film.

What I mostly liked was editing the scene. Selecting the scenes to use was really interesting & I played about with the pace and reverse shots. This small scene made me think of the following:

• Angles
• Shots
• Blocking your set
• Positioning your characters
• Lighting
• Editing - Pace, reaction shots

We also had a lesson on how to ADR a film. This was a very useful session as it showed me how to correct or replace the dialogue in a film. Firstly you need the actor to get the pace and rhythm of the original dialogue, that way what they say will be in sync with the images. The recording needs to be done in a quiet room so as to get good sound quality and no background noise. The film we ADR'd was Mr and Mr's Smith. The scene was when they have dinner at a restaurant after they have been assigned to kill each other. I recorded the sounds using the zoom and they need to be mono, not stereo. 

CHANGING OUR IDEA

We ended up changing our idea last minute because there hasn't been any development on Nyle's idea and we tried to organize a group meeting but not everyone turned up. We chose Carrie's idea & it's now developed and it's possible to film it.

Treatment

Working Title: Whirlwind

Length: 5 mins

Hook paragraph:

A story about  a teenage boy trying to come to terms with the feeling of love towards a girl. A journey about how he struggles to figure out how to feel with pure infatuation and desire which he has never experienced due to a sheltered life.

Narrative Development:

Beginning: 

The story begins by introducing Flynn, a teenage boy. A natural introvert and unpopular, Flynn narrates a story about love and fantasy. Flynn leads a troubled home life and his parents are in the midst of a messy divorce due to infidelity and secrets.

The story starts by him walking out of his house, you can hear shouting in the background. We then see him journey in to Sheffield whilst daydreaming/narrating about his life and how he feels about topics such as love and societal norms.

He constantly points out that his life hasn’t been ideal and he’d rather not talk to anyone – choosing to spend his time alone with his thoughts in scenic locations – drawing and writing despite living in the hustle and bustle of a city. We journey with him as he explains his life up to now and how he hopes to move away. In the city we get more darker as we enter the city (Sheffield). No one notices he’s there but he doesn’t mind. In the city he waits at a bus stop for a bus to the countryside and suddenly you can hear his heartbeat – he sees a beautiful girl in a red coat approaching him. She introduces herself – Flynn looks amazed.

Middle: 

We notice an obvious jump in time. A montage of Lily dragging Flynn around from the city to the countryside it shows how they’ve come together and how close they have become. Accompanied by music. Flynn explains his time with Lily and their whirlwind romance. She becomes his muse, he spends all his time writing about her and drawing her.  Flynn explains his infatuation with her and talks about his new emotion – love.

Lily and Flynn are now in the woods laid next to each other – Flynn listens intently to Lily as she talks about how her parents are also divorcing and how she has to move.  This rocks Flynns world. Lily explains how they need to appreciate what’s around them and that nothing lasts forever.

End: 

Flynn gives Lily a collection of drawings and poems as she gets ready to move.  We see a montage of Lily and Flynn tells us what love is and how it’s changed him as a person. Lily kisses Flynn and tells him to appreciate every moment and see the good in the bad. Lily drives off. Flynn returns home and hears quiet and tranquility when walking towards his house.  Flynn smiles – he holds a picture of Lily in his hand. The story focuses on seeing things positive makes you more optimistic.

Style:

Visually similar to “Submarine” by Richard Ayoade.

Heavily narrated by Flynn.

Vintage/sepia effect so it’s slightly off colour to give warmer tones, especially to the montage and woodland scenes.

Red is a main colour that stands out to represent love and warmth. Red is prominent on Lily, as she wears the colour.

16:9 Letterboxed for a more cinematic feel.

Soft yet upbeat music through ought the montage sequences.  This really stands out with only little dialogue in these scenes.

Lots of wide shots to make the characters stand out.

Strange effects when Flynn daydreams about Lily. E.g. Kaleidoscope.

Audience:

16+ though mainly aimed at teenagers.

Both male and female.

Working Class

Would be more of an independent feature – shown on Film 4.

Roles

Director - Carrie Marples
Producer - Carrie Marples
Cinematographer - Myles Chimutanda
Sound recorder - Chris Kelly
Editor - Myles Chimutanda
Sound design - Nyle Roberts and Myles Chimutanda

We slightly changed our roles since we had changed the idea.

RESEARCH

Since we were sticking with the plane idea, I researched into ways we could make it work and not look cliché.

I found a video called Mid air emergency which shows the interior of an air plane and how it was developed using adobe after effects. Watching this video make me almost think that our idea was possible to recreate the space we wanted. The complications that came with this was

1. I didn't know how to use adobe after effects,
2. The person editing the mid air emergency used some plugins which I do not have access to and would require money to buy them,
3. We would have to recreate the space for every shot in the scene which will be really difficult.

I looked at some feature films which had air plane interiors to see how they had recreated that space. I found the visual effects of the air plane crash in Final Destination 5 and it involve's a lot of animation and set building which I think will be time consuming.

Nyle told us he had a studio in which we could film and his plans of recreating the interior involved having the seats and a plane poster and the final touches will be made in after effects.

I think we are not going to be able to make it work because to make the interior of the plane will be really hard & non of us have any experience of how to do it. Even if we tried to do it in after effects, getting the plugins & creating the air plane interior will be hard and I don't know how to do it. I tried to convince Nyle to change the location and use a train or coach but hi insisted we stick with the plane. This made us think of a plan B because we weren't convinced about how this idea would work.

We had a session with a few actors who wread the script and they give us feedback and how to improve it. They liked the idea of the awkward encounter of the girl and his old boyfriend but were be concerned about the plane setting. They suggested we use a train, bus or coach.

Reference

Final Destination 5. Visual Effects of Death: Airplane Crash (Special Feature) Full HD 1080p. (2011). [Online], Last accessed 09 May 2014 at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZcEGXEkHjo

Video Copilot. (2012). [Online], Last accessed 09 May 2014 at: http://www.videocopilot.net/tutorial/mid_air_emergency/

GROUP + IDEAS

I found a group but had to to leave because we had worked together before for the Documentary project. I had problems in finding a group at first then I managed to find one. I'm working with Carrie Marples, Chris Kelly and Nyle Roberts.

Two ideas were presented in the group. The first one was from Nyle which was about an awkward encounter between a girl and her ex boyfriend and This meeting takes place in an air plane and there's a sudden twist at the end. Firstly I liked this idea in terms of the story and characters but the air plane concept wasn't a good idea. I went along with the idea because it was fully developed & I thought we could change the location but Nyle didn't want to.

The second idea was from Carrie's which was a teenage love story influenced by Submarine. She only had a plot summary & it was under developed. I liked the idea but because it was under developed I pre-fared Nyle's idea.

Treatment of Nyle's idea

Boyfriend/girlfriend on flight from Australia, approaching stop off at Kuala Lumpur.

3 characters, 2 of them we know immediately have a relationship of boyfriend and girlfriend. The third is treated as a stranger, with no initial obvious relationship to the others. There is a slight Michael Haneke, Luis Bunuel, influence with slightly surreal ambience. Also inspired by recent events in the news.

Jamie Palter, 25 aspiring artist, middle class but with alternative edge background, sensitive well rounded introvert, but popular. Teaches art part time at a young adults college. Born near Brighton but Living in Sheffield after Uni at Leeds. Met Lucy at Showroom cinema.

Lula Ormsford, 25 upper working class suburban background, studied dance at Uni. has known Jamie for 3 years. Working as a teacher in a modern progressive school. Studied in Cardiff, but returned to Sheffield. She’s a loyal, giving, trusting person.

Third passenger is Jack Kerrigal, 27, studied journalism at Uni. but now working for sports agency, up and coming career, appears ambitious, ruthless, has been in Far East on sport business, caught up in a complicated deal to get investment finance for a British Football Club. Male who is secretly unsure of himself, and afraid of commitment in relationships.

                          Scene 1- Interior 3 seats on a long haul flight.

Distant fixed point shot of the 3 seats. One seat occupied by anon man. Interior plane hum sound of flying, occasional voice announcements.

The plot revolves around 3 passengers on a plane, two obviously connected, in a confined space, and the relationship between them. Their lives are somehow thrown together, intertwined by the past, the present and the future. Is there is chance or fate involved in their meeting? What’s their connection?

They are all on a journey, but which journey. Are they going to somewhere or going from somewhere? Are they contented or frustrated? How susceptible are they when confronted with an unexpected event, and total uncertainty?

We see their dreams, giving a brief glimpse and an insight into their lives, their aspirations, pre-occupations, and their worries. We hear their conversations so that we can gauge the closeness or distance of their connection. We can guess their bonds and also their conflicts.

The idea is to leave a twist at the end, we discover that Lula was in fact the girlfriend of Jack when they were at Uni together. Jack left Lula pregnant and in love, and it was a very difficult time for her. Suddenly she is confronted with this person who left her scarred emotionally. Now 5 years later she has a new boyfriend, Jamie, a different type of man, not commitment phobic like Jack. But is she sure of that?

Just when we are concerned with their personal lives, there is actually a second twist in the very final seconds, an unexpected event occurs, leaving the viewer in an ambiguous, interrupted, surprised frame of mind. As in a Haneke film, the viewer is deliberately left to make his/her own mind up about the possible resolution.

For this idea, these were our roles

Director - Nyle Roberts

Producer - Carrie Marples

Cinematographer - Myles Chimutanda

Sound recordist - TBC

Editor - Myles Chimutanda

Sound Design - Chris Kelly

Because there were only 4 of us in the group, some of us had to take a double role. 

SEMESTER 2 - TASK 2 DRAMA

The task for this project is to create a 5 minute drama film which conveys the notion of 'Journey'. I'm really excited about this project and I want to be the camera operator or editor in this project.

FINAL PRESENTATION

We presented our documentary film and it was great. We prepared ourselves for the presentation and we all knew what to say in terms of our roles and contribution and about our ideas of the film. Our colleagues enjoyed it and our lecturers loved it. They liked the mood and style of the film and the pace of it. They liked the background music as well, which was done by Paul's friend Anna Hambleton. A few minor tweaks they suggested was to increase the volume of when Michaels talking and to hold some shots for a bit longer.  

Overall I'm pleased with our documentary film. If we had more time, we would have corrected the minor problems. I enjoyed the whole process of making the film and working with Michael. As a group we worked brilliant and i would like to work with them again in the future. 

SOUND EDITING

I helped Louise on some of the sound editing she did. On some of the sounds I recorded, you could a fridge in the background and this interrupted with the audio. Using Pro tools and sound track pro, we removed as much of the buzzing sound as we could. 

Using pro tools we played with the high and low frequency to try and remove as much out the unwanted sound. We moved the audio files to soundtrack pro if we needed to more sound reduction. By using these two software's we were able to removed the unwanted sounds but if listened very carefully, you could hear some of the buzzing the background.

TUTORIAL WITH LEE

When we came back from Liverpool, our director and editor reviewed the footage and informed us about what we had and what was missing. We had the interview that we wanted and a couple of interesting stories about Michaels life as a violin maker. In terms of audio, we had the sounds that we wanted but some bits of audio were missing and some of the sounds had a buzzing sound in the background which was either the fridge or heater in Michaels studio. 

We had a 1 hour tutorial with our lecturer and he offered us some guidance in terms of themes to take with our documentary. We made a rough cut which we presented to him to watch, which had different themes ranging from his personal life to a professional perspective. Our lecturer made us aware about the mood and style that we taking, which was a persona approach of Michaels life in the studio and all the wonderful stories he told us. 

Our lecturer saw some of the other shots we had and in some of them, there were camera shakes or the image was either blurred. He informed us that such shots make the audiences aware that this is a camera and they become less engaged in watching the documentary. He also commented about the sound and how some slight adjustments needed to be made such as volume and background noise. He told us to think about a sound track for our documentary and Paul (Producer) was already on top of it, talking to a friend of his weather she will play a song for us with a violin. 

We informed him that we were going back to Liverpool to film more about the personal life of Michael and to record the audio that we needed. 

LIVERPOOL DAY 2 & 3

Day 2 of filming and we are prepared for what we are going to do. I had my sound ideas and sound log sheets all ready. We started filming in the morning and we began with the interview set up. I synced all the interview sounds onto the camera and James recorded them on the zoom. James was helping me in holding the boom pole and we were both taking turns. Below are some of the production snapshots we took during the day. 

During the day I was logging in the sounds that we recorded. I logged the sounds synced onto the camera on a different sheet so as not to mix them with the zoom. 

This log sheet is for the sounds synced onto the camera

This log sheet is for the sounds recorded on the zoom

This log sheet is for the sounds recorded on the zoom

During the afternoon, Lee and Neil visited us during our filming to check on us. We showed them what we had done and what we were planning to do. They gave us some advise on what to do. I asked Neil how we could record some atmos sounds within the studio and he told me to leave the zoom recording whilst we were on a break, that way it will record what Michael does when his by himself and these could be sounds of him walking up and down the stairs or him using his tools or playing the stereo. He also checked the zoom to see if the settings on it were correct and they were. I was pleased with this as it showed I had a clear sense of what I was doing.  

Towards the evening I realised that there was buzzing sound which was interrupting the sounds. Inside Michaels studio he had a fridge and a heater which was giving off a buzzing sound and we turned them off. I listened back to some of the audio tracks we had recorded earlier on during the day and that buzzing sound was still present. I later talked to Neil and Lee about it and they said the sound was ok and the buzzing sound could be removed using pro tools, which was a relief .

In the evening Michael showed us the candle light technique which was fascinating.The scraping and gauging sounds sounded amazing with the headphones. 

With sounds like this, I synced them onto the camera because it would have been a bit hard to match up the sounds and images if they were separate. I brought the boom mic really close to his hands so that I could get a clear sound. Whilst recording Michael using his tools, each tool had its own sound pitch. Before we did any filming, we did some sound tests of some of his tools so that I could adjust the volume to the correct settings.

Here his about to do a stamp print with a hammer

Here he hits the table to get a sound test which allows me to adjust the volume so that its not too loud or too low

We did not manage to finish off all the filming on day 2 but we were coming back the next day to finish before we left. During the day, I learnt a lot of things in terms of recording sounds. Not all sounds are recorded in the same way and I need to listen to my surroundings so as not to record some unnecessary sounds.  

We came back the following day to finish off our filming. We managed to finish what we wanted to film but we had a feeling that we might need to come back to Liverpool and record some more after we had reviewed our footage. Before we left, we got a picture taken with Michael as memory keepsake of all the fun we had during the filming.

LIVERPOOL DAY 1

Day 1 of our filming in Liverpool and I'm already excited about meeting Michael Phoenix and seeing his world of violins. We arranged to meet with him just to get a feel of the place and chat with him how the whole filming process was going to be like. I started looking around his studio and it was really small but not an issue. By looking at his work place, I started thinking about the sound ideas I had and weather or not it was possible to capture them. I got a chance to see his tools and talked to him about them and his violins. He was happy to see us and from the moment we met him, he told us lots of interesting stories which were great. 

                                                          Here's a glimpse of his studio.

I got back to the hostels and began to think of sounds that were possible to capture and how they will be recorded. For the interview I was going to sync the sounds onto the camera and some of his stories will be recorded on the zoom.  

FINAL PREPARATIONS

We started doing our final preparations before we went to Liverpool. This included booking out the equipment, drafting up shot lists, making sure we have our log sheets and consent forms. At this point there was a new addition in our group. We got a new member who is James Sargisson. We filled him in on what our idea was and what we were planning to do.  I ended up switching roles with Louise as she was not able to go to Liverpool because of her health. 

After this, I started thinking about what kind of sounds I was going to record while I was there. My sound list included:

• Atmos track of his surroundings within his studio
• sounds of the tools he uses
• Michael playing the violin
• Michael talking to his customers or people that he interacts with
• Interview

I also thought how I was going to record these sounds. The zoom would work well to record the atmos tracks and some of the interview questions. For the other sounds, I'm thinking of syncing them onto the camera, that way it wont be hard during the editing to match the sound with the image. I printed out the sound log sheets which will aid me in logging in the sounds. 

NEW TREATMENT FOR THE BLUECOAT

Our new treatment focuses more on Michael phoenix instead of the previous one which was about the bluecoat and the various artists who are there.

A documentary about Michael Phoenix maker, repairer and restorer of violins, cellos and bows Focussing on The Scouservarius Legacy Project which is the commissioning of the people of Liverpool to build ‘The Liverpool Quartet’ - two violins, a viola and cello. They will then be hired out for recording, performance and exhibition worldwide to generate funds to finance and support educational music projects throughout Merseyside for the next 400 years minimum.

Michael is the resident violin and bow maker at the Bluecoat, Liverpool’s creative hub. The Bluecoat houses a wealth of artists, working across a wide range of artistic disciplines, including painters, video and sound artists as well as fine artists, textilers and multi-media collaborators. Michael is unique amongst violin makers in that he keeps absolutely true to the style and techniques of the great Cremonese master, Antonio Stradivari (1644 - 1737). When making new instruments he uses no electricity whatsoever, working the wood merely with simple hand tools by natural daylight and at night by candlelight.

The documentary will feature interviews with Michael, asking what makes the Scouservarius so unique, a project he started himself without any funding in place, and how he feels that the people of Liverpool will benefit from having the project. We will look at the demand for Michael’s instruments and why he feels the project is so important. We will ask about the public response and discuss any funding difficulties the project may be experiencing in the hope that by raising awareness with the documentary, we may be able to assist in raising the profile of the project.

Given the unique nature of the project and Michael’s production methods w we intend to reflect this in our treatment of the footage during post production. We intend to use colour tones to further enhance the feeling of the film .We will begin with a brief history of the project utilising a small amount of archive footage from the projects launch. We plan not to use a traditional interview set up whilst speaking to Michael instead we will converse with him as we film him working at his studio. There will also be lots of close ups/ short depth of field shots of plenty of the instruments filmed on both a Canon XF100 and SLR. Audio will be a mixture of musical recordings on various instruments and played by Michael, alongside recordings of the tools as he works on crafting the instruments. 

The project has been influenced by the documentary Of Time and the City directed by Terence Davies. We have taken inspiration from the beautiful archive footage used and the haunting soundtrack that accompanies the images. Michael is passionate about Liverpool and we feel that there is a similar passion found in Of Time and City. We intend the film to be accessible to all audiences however given the nature of the documentary it will appeal predominantly to those with an interest in the arts or music scene. The film will be used as to promote awareness of the Scouservarious Project.

THE APOLOGY LINE

http://vimeo.com/16653052

The Apology Line is a short documentary about people apologising for their mistakes in life. This film gave me suggestions of how I was going to record the audio for our film. Seeing that you don't see the people's faces who are apologising, it would be best to record such voices using the zoom than syncing them to the camera. 

THE ARCHIVE

http://vimeo.com/1546186

The Archive is a short documentary about a man called Paul who has become the worlds largest record collector. Watching this film, I talked to my director and camera person whether they were thinking of doing the interview setup for the film. They said yes but it wont be played through the whole film as they are were going to include some shots of him doing his (Michael) work. This influenced me to think about syncing the interview sounds to the camera. 

PITCH

We pitched our ideas to our lecturers and they liked both ideas. It was a bit nerve racking but it went well. Other students got a chance to vote on their favourite pitch between our two ideas, the majority chose the Bluecoat idea. I was pleased when it got voted because that's the one I wanted. Our Lecturers gave us constructive feedback about our two ideas.  

Firstly the Bluecoat.

They loved the idea and they suggested on us focusing on a specific person or area within the Bluecoat because as a whole its too much to fit in 5 minutes. We told them about Michael Phoenix the violin maker at the Bluecoat and they liked it. They gave us suggestions on the things we needed to consider while we there which include tone and mood and how we want it to be seen by the audiences.

Jake Morrison

They liked our idea on Jake but they were a bit worried about the political aspect of it. This also worried me because once we present our final piece, it might not portray our ideas and its something we have to be really careful off. 

TREATMENT - BLUECOAT CREATIVE COMMUNITY

This is our treatment of our second idea for the Bluecoat creative community.

An exploration of a thriving arts community based in Liverpool’s most historic building. The Creative Community at Bluecoat consists of three groups, creative industries, independent creative retailers and artists who work across all art platforms.

The Bluecoat houses a wealth of artists, working across a wide range of artistic disciplines, including painters, video and sound artists as well as fine artists, textilers and multi-media collaborators. The documentary will feature interviews with artists, asking what makes Bluecoat so unique / successful and how they feel Liverpool benefits from having such an established creative community. We will look at the rise of the nine independent retail units, selling a variety of handmade and unique items, from textiles to ceramics and how/ if they can compete with big chains. Also looking at the stories of why some people set up these businesses. We will consider the contrast between the thriving creative community at The Bluecoat and the struggling high street and ask if the Bluecoat faces any issues in its immediate future in terms of budget cuts and how will it plans to sustain itself as an enterprise. We can ask the independent stores how they are faring in the economic climate, how important the bluecoat is to them to continue trading, what they would do without it. Also we can ask the shoppers why they choose to support small shops instead of large chains.

The piece will be light in mood and focus on the positive aspects of regeneration and community spirit. We will be mostly using diegetic sounds, recorded in the artists own workshops to accurately represent their world. Given the artistic nature of the community we will be profiling we intend to reflect this in our treatment of the footage during post production. We intend to use colour tones to further enhance the emotion of the film. We will begin with a brief history of the building utilising old photographs of the building then fade them in/out to our own shots of the buildings now. Alternatively we will use time-lapse shots of various parts of the building, and people making art. While using voice over of contributors stating how important the community is to them. We plan not to use a traditional interview set up whilst speaking to the artists, instead we will film them while they’re making their art. There will also be lots of close ups/ short depth of field shots of some of the art/ objects.

We intend the film to be accessible to all audiences however given the nature of the documentary it will appeal predominantly to those with an interest in the arts or independent scene. The film could be used as a promotional tool for the benefits of small business and arts communities nationwide.