Camera Workshop 1

Camera Workshop 1 - 5th October 2015

Today was my first time using the Sony EX cameras and it was great learning about the many ways you can use the camera to shoot a film. This was my first workshop with Fergus and he showed us through the many options available on the camera as well as the basics of adjusting the focus and zoom on the camera. The main point of this workshop was to operate the camera as well as selecting the right frames.

In this workshop we were issued with two tasks, the first being setting up a focus, also known as a rack focus which is when the focus switches between two people/subjects in the same frame. This meant setting up the camera, having the two subjects, in this case Matt and Alex, framing the shot and then using the focus ring to switch between the two subjects. To make this task easier, I had Matt and Alex stand a few feet from one another so that I could focus between them a lot easier. Fergus then stepped up the challenge and had us focus between two people while they were on the move. To do this I had to use both the zoom control as well as the focus ring to keep both subjects in shot as well as focus between them. As I lack any real experience with a camera I found this task increasingly difficult as both subjects were out of focus as well as slightly out of shot. Despite this I feel that I have learnt a lot from this experience and feel that I could definitely improve the next time around.

For the next task we practiced framing. We did this by pulling off a number of different camera shots and angles to film a scene involving a bag. We were given a number of different shot types and were told to use at least 5 of them. It was decided that I would be on the camera as I lack the most experience and I felt that I needed to gain some more experience for the future. Though some of the shots were a little off and one of the scenes was a lot darker than the others, I felt I did okay and was happy to gain a bit more experience on the camera.

Once done we edited the footage to create a short video. Colour correction was used so that the discolouration was not noticeable and music was added to add drama to the scenario. This was the end result:

My film moment

My film moment - Pulp Fiction: I shot Marvin in the face

Having gone through what a script should contain with professional script writer Steve Coombes, I was given the task of finding my favourite moment from film or television. I found this task very difficult as there were a number of moments I have enjoyed from both film and television from shows such as Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones as well as films such as Fight Club and Reservoir Dogs.

The moment that stood out for me however was from a film I have watched very recently, Pulp Fiction. The scene in question is called I shot Marvin in the face.

In this scene Vincent Vega (John Travolta) questions Jules Winnfields (Samuel L. Jackson) judgement when he claims to have witnessed a miracle. Vince then turns to a young man named Marvin asking what his opinion is on the matter which results in Vince accidentally shooting Marvin in the face.

The meeting

The Meeting

25 word pitch

A young girls deteriorating life results in depression and drug abuse, until she meets a young drug dealer who she discovers to be worse off than her.

Characters

Cindy (the young girl)

-  16 years old

-  short in height

- typically seen wearing a tracksuit

-  very smart

-  depressed

-  pale face and baggy eyes (always looks tired/ill)

-  sympathetic

Backstory: During school time, Cindy often kept to herself and was really excelling in a number of subjects, especially english. Though she was reasonably satisfied with her day-to-day lifestyle, she wanted to become more outgoing. This is where she was first introduced to drugs. On a night out with friends, one of them offered her some weed. She wasn't hooked on the stuff but eventually started to go out more and more often and started to smoke more and more weed, abandoning her studies and revision periods. Her life really turned around when her parents got a divorce shortly before exam period which led to poor results. This is where she fell in a state of depression and started using drugs as an escape from her depressing life.

Reece (the drug dealer)

-  19 years old

-  average height

-  always wears tracksuit and sportswear

-  lack of english skills

-  always on edge/very jumpy

-  from a poor background

Backstory: Due to a number of issues in his family life, Reece decided to drop out of school at a young age to take care of his family. With no money and nowhere else to turn to, Reece decided to get involved with the distribution of drugs ranging from weed to cocaine, occasionally contributing to the production of the drugs. Though he made good money from this, the money was spent on alcohol by the mother and drugs by the father, eventually leading to his fathers demise.

Genre

The story is a very dramatic story and can at times leave the viewer on the edge of their seat. I would say that it is a drama/thriller short film as the story falls on a rather dark and depressing story and though the two main characters do develop a bond and a good, trusting friendship, it doesn't really go any further than that which adds to the drama. There will be a bit of action and a lot of conflict but not such much so to consider it an action. It will certainly keep the viewers on the edge of their seat.

Story telling: short project

Story telling: short project

The task - Working in pairs, our task was to create a pitch for our idea using two main characters and a location picked at random. For this task I was paired with Josh Bayly.

Main characters - A single mum (Layla Stevens) and an escaped convict (Ritchie McNair)
Secondary characters - The single mothers son (Daniel Stevens)
Location - Forest (in this case a log cabin located in a forest)
Protagonist - The single mum (Layla Stevens)

Single mum (Layla Stevens)
38 years old, no occupation, had been married for 9 years, single, brown hair, brown eyes, typically wearing a coat or a jumper.

Escaped convict (Ritchie McNair)
35 years old, wrongly convicted of murder, mostly bald, first seen with white shirt and blue work trousers supplied by the prison.

Forest cabin
Located near New Forest in the south of England, small and very remote.







The story - Layla Stevens, a single mother with serious sleep deprivation, lives in a log cabin home in the middle of the forest and is told she is an unfit parent by child services and has her son taken from her. Her whole life changes when she meets escaped convict Ritchie McNair.

The plot - This short film is set in a small forest town near New Forest, England showing the struggles of single mother Layla Stevens as she battles a serious case of sleep deprivation created by the death of her husband, Richard Stevens and worsened when her only son Daniel is taken from her by child services.

Her battle with sleep deprivation softens when she meets Ritchie Stevens, an escaped convict and murderer. Scared at first, she calls the police informing them that an escaped convict was hiding in her home. After a long and thorough search, the police came to the conclusion that the prisoner had moved on. When the police leave the house, Ritchie is seen watching TV. Having convinced Layla that he did not murder anyone, Layla begins to pick out the similarities between Ritchie and her family and over time they fall in love.

Having got over her sleep deprivation problem with the knowledge that there are people worse off than her (in this case Ritchie), Layla calls child services regarding her son and pleas that he comes back home. Having being told that Daniel has found a new home, she convinces Daniel to come home to visit and meet Ritchie.

Daniel returns home confused as to who it is that his mother is talking about and questions her as to who she is talking about and claims that there is no one else in the house. This results in Daniel leaving prematurely and Layla confused about what just happened and why Daniel never noticed Ritchie in the house.

The following day Layla wakes up to find that Ritchie was no where to be seen and had left without a trace. Recalling back to previous events, she goes to see a doctor who confirms that Ritchie had been a hallucination created by her serious case of sleep deprivation.

Summer Project

An introduction from me summarising why I chose to take a course in Television Production at UCA as well as a short video of me playing football with my mates.