Unit 1- Personal Pre-Production Roles

Within pre-production the roles that people have to consult are all significant for the production to develop and come up with a film/show which fulfils the needs and standards of the target audience. The process before the production is a collaborative team effort and this is what makes film/television such an interesting industry as a whole, without every individual you wouldn’t get the end result.

The film I will be looking at for the pre-production job roles is the film ‘The Dark Knight’ (2008). I personally am interesting in this films because of the prosthetics and makeup that we see on most of the characters and the memorable makeup on one of the leading actor (Heath Ledger) who played the joker.

The pre-production roles in this film included the main body, the Director who was Christopher Nolan, one of the most famous and recognized directors for his directing of many successful films. The directors role within pre-production is to control a film’s artistic and dramatic aspects. Has a key role in choosing the cast alongside the casting director, production design and creative aspects of filmmaking.

Next in line is the Producer who was Emma Thomas, her work would involve overseeing projects from conception to completion, also being involved with the marketing and distribution process. Producers work closely with directors and other production staff. There can often be more than one producer, the other producer for this production was Charles Roven.

An Executive Producer will often oversee the work of the producer on behalf of the studio , the financiers or the distributors. They will also ensure the film is completed within time and budget and to the agreed artistic and technical standards.There are often more than one executive producer working together with the producer. The executive producers for The Dark Knight were, Michael Uslan and Thomas Tull.

The Production Designer is responsible for the visual concept of the film. The production designer here was Nathan Crowley. He would have needed to identify a design style for locations, graphics, props, lighting , camera angles and cost times. Whilst working closely with the Director and producer.

The Cast of a production are probably the most important part of the whole film making process, this is simply because without them you cannot practically do anything, even if you have equipment/props etc. The main actors in The Dark Knight , were ; Heath Ledger, Christian Bale, Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman. Their role is to play the character in which they are acting as. Most successful actors/actresses will cast in blockbuster films.

The Cinematographer or in other words, the camera man/women, is in charge of the camera on a film set, depending on the camera they have they will try to achieve various shots,angles and movement in order to tell the story effectively. They work quite closely with the Director on set and will often be in conversation with the editor.

For my production I needed the following equipment;

• Camera - This is very important not only for achieving the camera language which helps to tell the story line but also it in itself is the basis for a production otherwise it would be pointless and achievable
• . The second piece of equipment we needed was a tripod, this was essential because it meant that we were able to get a steady shot and the movement was controlled, if we didn't have this piece of equipment then the camera shots and even angles were going to be shifty and jerky which isn't particularly good if we want the audience to concentrate on whats on their screen.
• We also need editing software in order to edit and cut each scene together, for this we used 'Final Cut Pro' on the Mac's provided in school. This is also essential for our production because as well as the initial story / narrative the editing stage also helps massively with engaging the viewer and through the editing techniques the audience are also told the story.
• We also used my phone voice recorder to record our characters narrations, this is because the film is silent and we needed a voice over to go on top of this to guide our viewer.
  

Weekly Production Log 5- Unit 22 Single Camera Production

This week me and my group members have individually started editing our short films. We used Final Cut Pro to do so, and in my opinion although I thought it was going to be a hard job and really complicated to use , I actually found it quite simplistic and clear for me to use. This made it much more easier for me to go about editing the beginning of my short film. I would like to use this software program to effectively show how I can improve my film even further through editing and sound.
Although I am going to make the film silent, I think the narration and sound I will put on top will show and engage the audience. It is not always scrips and dialogue which makes a film successful and my short film will enforce this idea, hopefully.
Throughout this weak I will continue to edit my film and I am aiming to at least get near to the end of the edit, so that if additional scenes need to be shot I can have enough time to go out again and shoot these scenes.

Nada Mudawi --Weekly Log

Weekly Log-1


This week I attended the Creative Sparkworks film course, where we were given the task to go out and film someone else's film. As part of the crew my job was to unpack all cameras + tripods, lights and lens's. The location was an old warehouse owned by the famous Freddie Notes & The Rudies. We chose to film in this location because it was perfect for the plot. As our character is going to be a homeless teenager we needed somewhere that was rough / sleazy looking. This location had an old back space behind the warehouse where it was easy to show the sleaziness. Freddie's old warehouse was not used for a long time which made it look even more suitable for our junkie character.

 

Here I am holding the black magic camera, filming Prince who is playing the role of a homeless teenager, who has reached this stage due to difficulties at home and getting kicked out of school. He is sitting on the ground, showing us that he is homeless and has nowhere to go. I chose to use a high angled shot as it is effective in showing place or value. For instance he will look quite vulnerable if the camera is above him, the angle of the camera helps to establish authority, us as the audience feel superior to Prince. The lens I used was a fixed lens , and the size was 85mm which gives me a really tight shot, this was good in order to capture his face more clearly- getting all emotions and feelings in his eyes.


Again I am shooting a similar shot, and the angle of the camera hasn't changed much. This time I am using a steadicam because I wanted to get as many shots of the same scene, in order to make it easier during the editing stage, where I can be flexible with what shots I choose to use. The steadicam was a very easy going to use, I felt more comfortable using it, rather than the black magic  which was more stiff and required a lot more energy.



Another scene which we filmed was of a coffin, where Prince had lost his mum after she was diagnosed with cancer. I set the lights up the lights so that the coffin is lit correctly, not only did I have to consider the correct light dim/level , but also the barn doors on the lights had to be straightened well , the tripod had to be the right height so that I was able to get the lights to point downwards.


We also filmed Prince, walking outside, leaving supposedly his home. For this scene we had to turn off all the overhead lights , to make the room completely dark. We then set up the lights to the right dimness, our actor was sitting in the corner of the room, and was getting abused by his brother.  I was assigned to the steadicam , which I was satisfied with because I feel much more better using it in terms of positioning it correctly to get the best shots. I reckon I got some really successful shots, making sure that I stack to what the actor wanted, whether that be angles or shot types.

Overall this week, I have learnt to shoot a film, referring to storyboards and scripts and checking for the right lens and focus. Also, making sure that the light is set up properly and isn't making any shadows of actors. The cameras are in the right mode and they are sitting firmly on the tripod. The last thing I would say was most important was packing up the equipment back in their bags. This is because the equipment is worth a fortune and so there can not be any lens caps or camera's left lying around.

Weakly Production Log 4(2)- Single Camera Production

During our group meeting today we discussed many things involving our film. Some of the issues included anything that we have changed about our film , the characters and their availability and confirming any equipment that we have or still yet need. 

Firstly, two of our locations have changed from Lambeth North Park to Kennington park and the cemetery which was Nunhead Cemetery. This is because the original locations are too far of a distance and some of our actors could not make it. We have gone into a lot stress trying to find actors to play the different roles of our characters, and although some people dropped out we have finally come to an agreement with three people, who have offered to be in our short film.

I organized this, because two of them are my neighbors and the other is my brothers PE teacher from school. In doing so, we had to slightly alter the storyline because we had excluded some characters which meant that we couldn't stick to the same storyline with them in it.
We have decided to make the plot simpler, which I think probably made our story less gripping.

Weekly Production Log 4- Unit 22 Single Camera Production

This week my group and I have started filming our short film. The first location we filmed in was the flat, where we shot two scenes one being in the living room/dinner and the second in the kitchen. I would say that the day ran smoothly, and filming was done quickly where we managed to get all the shots/angles and movements we wanted, directing the actors was also quite easy because they done exactly what we asked of them.
The second location we went to was Kennington Park where we filming the mother watching the father as he is walking and the father when he arrives at his daughters gravestone. The weather did start to get cold and there was some rain, which could have been a hazard, however we still got through it quickly and we finished all the scenes that day. Overall I am happy with the shots and panning we used and the lighting was definitely the highlight of the film.

I have also recorded the narration for the voice over, for which I went to the actor who played the mother. This is because she is the only character in the film who doesn't know anything that is happening between her husband and her daughter.

Weekly Production Log 3- Unit 22 Single Camera Production

This week we changed some things to do with our film narrative and plot. Instead of having the son wake up in a hospital which we thought wouldn't have be achievable, because we do not have access to a hospital room. Another thing we changed was that instead of having the son be tortured by the father we decided that the daughter should be tortured, partly because she is a more vulnerable character than the boy who can fight back. Also, we wanted the mother to not be aware of torture that is going on because it adds to the suspense and suspicious mood we want to achieve.

Also, we decided that the way the daughter was to be torture was with a slash to the neck because it is gruesome and a vile way to torture someone, and as part of the fathers representation we want him to come across as cold-blooded.  Finally, the way the story would end is by the daughter overdosing herself and dying. The final scene will show the father walking up to the daughters gravestone and visiting her.
Another thing which has changed is that there is no longer an actor to play the son, this is because the person who was supposed to be acting the son is not available and we decided that he was not going to add anything to the story or at least nothing significant and so losing that character wasn't much of an issue for us. I have realised that recruitment of actors in a film shoot is actually a really difficult part of the pre-production part of making a film. 

Weekly Production Log 2 - Unit 22 Single Camera Production

This week we started to discussing the locations for where we are going to film, for this we need a cemetery and a flat. I reckon the actor playing the mother character will

We have also started completing the paper work for unit 1 including storyboarding our film, and writing up the call sheets , getting the risk assessment done and also release forms. This is following the cast that I have chosen to act, they are neighbours of mine who didn't mind being in front of a camera, also I thought they were together as a whole the suitable family. One of my characters playing the daughter is the PE in school, who would be great for looking like a teenage daughter.
We also have a character to play the son and a doctor character, know we have to advice them on what to do or to expect when we come to the filming day