Malac shooting

Before we started shooting Malac we changed the title slightly to "malica" to make it sound more like a model or object.

The first thing that we did to start shooting was to let the actors come round early so that they could rehearse there lines and get used to working with eachother, the set and the script:





When they had rehearsed the crew and I went to the first set to start shooting the establishing shot:











After we had finished shooting the establishing shot we went back to the set too start shooting the kitchen scene but there were a few problems as the actress got seriously delayed and we lost two hours of filming time. However when she got back we started setting up the set for the kitchen scene and started shooting:









After we had finished filming the kitchen scene we started to set up the main basement scene taking health and safety precautions first obviously:





After the safety measures had been taken we started to set up the scene and got the actors ready to start shooting. To get an effect that the characters had been there a while we used oil and water to make it look like they were sweating and dirt to make it look like the guy had been pushed around by the dominant woman:









When we had added the effects we started to shoot and after filming from all different angles and nailing the set and script we managed to finish at the early time of 11:30 but now we have all the footage that we need in time to edit for next thursday when I will upload the final video so look out for my next malac post

Here are a few promo images:

Malac update

Right since my last post a lot of things have happend which means that this is going to be a long post.

Firstly before the filming could take place we had to find a location so the director (duncan) and I went on a hunt for locations for the three scenes. The first set we looked for was for the establishing shot which we wanted to be in a secluded quiet and middle class area, so we headed for the park. After half an hour of wandering we found two houses in the same area that we thought were perfect for the part as they were right in the area that we wanted but we could not decide which one that we wanted to choose so I took pictures of both the houses so that I could show the rest of the crew and make a group decision and also so that people in other roles could decide what setting would be better for them for example camera man (umar) and lighting manager (diana). Here are the pictures of the two sets. Also because I chose two different houses I decided to risk assess the whole area so that we could use either house incase there was a reason that we had to change the house that we shot.

house 1:


house 2:



After all the risk assessments had taken place and we had made sure that we had made the right decision about the setting we started discussing what set we would use for our main scene and the director mentioned that he had a basement which might fit the mood for that scene so we went to this basement to see if it was useable for the setting. After looking over it I did a risk assessment just incase we used this room but I thought that there would be some space issues so I went to look for a backup setting which I thought would also be good for the setting so I looked over the script to see what would be relevant and I thought that my sisters flat could be good as it had a nice red interior which could reflect the emotion of the film.

Here are pictures of both the sets:

Basement:



Flat:



Again after I had risk assesed both sets I took the images to the rest of the crew for the same reasons and after long discussion and organising we decided to use the basement for the main set as we all agreed that we wanted the film to have an eerie aspect to it which this basement gave off as you will see when I publish the film.

The last set we had to decide was for the opening scene and we thought that because it was supposed to be every day life we would just use an every day life kitchen:



When we had finalised our decisions about the film and how we would go about shooting it etc we started to make sure that we all knew our roles and made sure that we knew what we were doing (even though by this point my part was nearly over) so we hired a studio so that we could experiment with the equipment:

Here are a few examples:







After we had tested the equipment we got in touch with the actor so that we could run through the script with them and get them familiar with the story and there characters so that they were prepared for shooting

The day before we started filming we took the equipment to the set so that we could decide what shots we were going to take and where we would put the lighting here are some pictures that I took while this was taking place:







While the rest of the crew was setting up the equipment the sound man (ryan) and I went to the first set to record some ambient sound:

Malac

Today we were assigned into our groups to start our practice project for project three which is the fictional film.
Before we started planning "malac" we were assigned a task in which we had to shoot different shots to get the jist of the sort of advanced shots we need to take into account when shooting which were deep flat limited and ambiguous. When we finished shooting we took our shots to get analysed and I will admit that there was more negative then positive feedback but if anything that made our group more determined to make this film better, I would go into more detail but I like to get straight to the point.
To start planning our shooting for malac our group met up we organised ourselves into specific roles so that we knew what part of the film that we were responsible for so that we could also organise our time better The role that I took on was the location manager/health and safety/photographer. After we sorted our roles out we started talking about the script and what we could do to improve the script and to make it unique from any other and I would say how we did that but you will find out in a week when the project has finished. I like to think our team worked well together as we all chipped in ideas for the film and came to a mutual decision. When we had discussed what we were going to do in our roles we each went away to start what we had to do in our area of responsibilty, I personally went to go out and find sets for the film so that I could choose were I want to film it so that I can risk assess it so that we can get the filming up and running but thats all to come so look out for my next post.

This is us working on our script:

the imaginarium of doctor parnassus

Today I went to go and see the film the imaginarium of doctor parnassus. I did not intend on going to see this film I was technically dragged down however knowing I was going to see this I looked up the synopsis and thought that the plot was quite interesting and I also found out that it was directed by terry gilliam who had produced directed acted and wrote alot of the monty python films which I am a great fan of so I was then extremely looking forward to go and see the film.

After watching the film I was very impressed by the plot and thought the film was put together very well all though some people may not understand the film. Being a monty python fan I noticed alot of similaraties to the monty python film in terms of the animation that monty python uses, also the way it was wrote and produced you could just tell it was terry gilliam.

I would reccomend people to go and see this film as it is very enjoyable and I feel that it is a film that every one can enjoy.

Task For M.I

This weeks task was to find out and describe the role of the location manager, so i have gone out and done that.
The role of the location manager is to go out and find a suitable location for either a photographic shoot or film that is taking place. When looking for the setting location there are alot of things that they have to consider such as price of the location whether it is suitable for the film meaning things like; does it fit the genre are the light levels good enough and if the setting is a safe environment.

Act Britain Act

Yesterday I went to the filming of a T.V pilot called "Act Britain Act" it was sort of like the x factor but for actors. This was the final and there were only three male and female acts left and the audience had to vote on who they wanted to go through to the actual filming of the show, for us to vote they showed the acts acting on film and then live on stage I observed them both and tried to look at them from the audio visual side rather than the drama side. The first thing that I looked at when observing it was from the film that they showed us, personally I thought that the acting and stage direction was all done fine but there was things like the lighting that I thought they did a bad job on for example there was one scene they had to act from Notting hill where they where in a room and the light was glaring and there were parts where I couldn't even see the actress's face and another scene was filmed in a night club and the lighting was very dark and once again you could not see the actors/actress's face. There were other things that went on during the live performance also when the acts got too close to each other and there was a lot of feed back in the speakers or it suddenly got too loud which the acts actually pointed out at the end of the show. But there were some good points about the the show the direction was good and the layout of the set etc.

At the end of the day enjoyed my self and learnt some more about A.V as I also payed close attention to the camera men and I would like to see the programme go to air so I can see how far the contestants get.

New Start

The academic year has started and I intend on getting stuck in straight away. I have just finished my first week of lectures and seminars of Moving Image and I am very impressed and cant wait to get stuck in to my first project. The project I am looking forward to the most I think is the documentary but im not quite sure what I am going to for it yet as we have not even been set groups but all the more fun to come I suppose.
One of the things that we have been told to by danny kaye was to go home and listen to dark side of the moon to get a good idea of sound mixing as he reccommended it and said that it was perfect and after going home and listening to it I would have to agree that the quality of the album was great and I would reccommend it to any one who is interested in sound.

Now moving on to Spp2 im thinkning to myself that im going to work to my hearts content this year as I would like to do astoundingly better than last year the first thing I am going to do is to go to the libary and get the reccomended books and to do quite a bit of researching and then start to plan my essay but other than that for now I dont think that there is much I can say about spp2.

Finally I move on to the tutorials. My tutor is Jools so i dont know about other groups but I have enjoyed my first tutorial as it was very relaxed and I can certainly say that I look forward to the next and other upcoming tutorials and you never know there might be more cake.