Car Test #3

Today our mission was to do the car shoot again, but in lighting the Director wants. However, this didn't happen. I think it will be a lot darker on shoot. We could still do some lighting tests today to see what works. Red heads outside would be a good shout, but didn't have much of an effect today with light still outside. We used the LED lights like last time but with the 2400k setting, however, even though it does create a menacing look, it's a little much, and this was on the lowest setting! I think the 5500k was better after all. 

We also used a light up mirror (couldn't find a compact one), if the director decides to use this, we can include a shot of the glove box and getting the mirror out to show that it's always in there (a few other shot suggestions is one of a gear stick to show that it's stationary). Personally, I don't think the light up mirror adds a lot to the shot (it may look better in the dark). A few other suggestions is going with the mirror on the sun block (no idea what you call this? The bit at the top of the car) or using a phone (we can always use an LED light to light the scene and make it look like the lights in the car). 

However, we do not want to overuse mirrors (this was an issue looking back at the edited version), so it's up to the director to scrap any shots. One shot that worked especially well is the opening shot with the slider, but could be longer. I was using my Canon for this test and was hard to focus (and my auto focus doesn't work), but for the actual shoot, it will be much longer, since I am using the P2. The director has a few concerns whether the P2 will fit in the car. I am certain it will, also if we use my Canon and mix it with P2 footage, there will be a huge difference in quality. 

Camera Research

A few YouTube tutorials for the 360 shot and jib shots without a jib (if it doesn't go to plan).



This one looks pretty good in theory, but I know that some of them won't look as smooth in real life. The 360 one looks interesting, and we will do test shots with the jib and this method to see which is better.



This one maybe as issue as the director wants quite a big height for the shot where we are using a jib. We will test both out tomorrow afternoon.

IMDb Credits

A while ago, one of my actors from Bad Luck made us an IMDb page. I procrastinated today correcting and adding details. I may also add pages for different films I have worked on (ones that I think are worthy of an IMDb credit). I also have a profile myself that is gathering up quite a few credits, so I may join the free trial of IMDB Pro to put a profile picture and claim the profile.

Here's a link/note for my future self for when I decide to do other IMDb pages for my projects: https://contribute.imdb.com/updates?update=title.

Audition and Concerns

Today we had an audition with an actor, which the lecturer took over for the first 10 minutes or so, doing a bit of improv with the actor, and using handheld camera and sound. We were all a bit confused why to film auditions this way, probably to see the actor's face and expressions (and maybe make him a bit more uncomfortable and nervous). It was very full on and terrifying, I felt a bit sorry for him and had to apologise.

We then had a few production meetings for each production. The lecturer also talked to me saying that the audition earlier was badly organised. I have to disagree, I did all I could. I had to get someone else to book out the camera and equipment (I said on the group chat what I wanted) due to me being very busy. I also sent out a message wanting a sound op and camera op (no one replied). I booked out the studio half an hour in advance to set it up, but I couldn't as it was being used. I tried to set up during them using it, but I had to get the actor as he said he was early. So I was outside waiting for him (apparently I was absorbing the sun). I am usually a very organised person (I mean, look at this blog) and I booked in advance for everything. I was a bit shook after that, as I could not have done anything else. 

Watching the test footage form Tag back was also enlightening. The footage was very dark even though I booked out red heads for people to use. I was a bit confused. I think we are doing a reshoot with the jib, I will have to chase it up with the director when we wants it for.

We have also not cast yet *screams*. We have had a few auditions, which I am waiting for the director to chose who he wants to cast out of them. I will also have to put another urgent casting call up.

Trombone and Car #2 Test Shoot

Today we took out the tracking dolly and P2 camera to try out a trombone shot, with a mannequin dressed as a clown. It was very difficult to get the speed of the dolly and the zoom the same, so we set up and pulled our hair out on the morning, had a quick meeting, and went back to it on the afternoon. 

 

We managed to get our hands on a Blackmagic to try and use something that would help (one of the items on it was a "whip", not sure if the whole thing was called that though!) It took a while to set up, and even longer to try and get it right. Much longer than the P2. I decided we were getting there faster with the P2 and I should try and push the dolly, zoom out and also move the camera to try and get the speed right (as this was easier than telling the dolly pusher to slow down or speed up). The likelihood of us filming with the Blackmagic was also slim and I feel like it would stand out too much against the P2 footage (we might also potentially use my or the sound op's Canon cameras as it's small and can fit in the car). 

We did a few different takes until we were sick of the sight of the shot. I hope there is something we can use. I also felt looking back at a few clips that it wasn't as dramatic as the director wanted; it's quite subtle and doesn't scream "look there's a clown behind you!" It's up to the director now to watch it all back and make a decision whether to keep it.

I also got a few pretty pictures of the progress of the circus being built (more pics here!)

On the evening/dusk, we did another car test. This was mostly to figure out lighting and try out the slider shot. The director did want the slider to go from black to slide out, but it couldn't reach or zoom in that far, so I would recommend fading in from black instead. The shot itself did look good, but I will need to constantly check focus (or even have a focus puller). We then got a few mirror test shots to try and angle them so you could see people in them, and also a few just so we can edit something together.

Watching the footage back, it might be a good idea if we have Lacey in white light, so for our next test, we are going to use a handheld mirror that lights up. The light on Shaun in the above footage (Sophie) will remain the same, maybe trying with the 2400k led setting rather than the 5600k.

Work Experience

This blog post is basically a list of all the work experience I have had at CCAD (I've lost count of how many and what I have done, and is handy to have for marketing and also for my CV).

• Maxy Neil Bianco - Hounds of Whitby
• Wynyard Hall
• Uniformed Services/Army Reserve
• Four Colour Ghosts - Freak
• British Legion Event (Billingham Forum)
• Pink Leisurewear

Industry Professionals/Primary Research

I have contacted 4 people in total to conduct an interview with, who I have found on the ICFC website. I have went with UK based cinematographers as that is where I am based and how they got into the industry here.

Catherine Goldschmidt. Also co-founder of illuminatrix (another female cinematographer collective)

Suzie Lavelle (I really want her to reply as she has been cinematographer for Sherlock and The Living and the Dead!) 

Nicola Daley and Neus Olle.

I have had Catherine Goldschmidt reply and interviewed already! I have another reply from Nicola Daley who I need to email back in two weeks as she is on a job at the minute. I will update this post if I get any other replies.

Useful Secondary Sources

This blog post is a collection of secondary sources (websites and books) for my report, which I will update when I find them. I wasn't very successful on the book or journal front, but hopefully the newspaper articles will make up for it.


12 Essential Women Cinematographers from Fandor on Vimeo.

LINCOLN, K. 'The Female Cinematographers of Neon Demon, Creed, and Dope Discuss Their Experiences in a Male-Dominated Field', Vulture, 27 June 2016, p10 - they talk about raising a family??? Whyyyy?

SILVERSTEIN, M. 'Statistics on the State of Women and Hollywood' http://www.indiewire.com/2014/02/statistics-240754/ (02.03.2017) - Backup source for facts and figures (probably won't use it if the internet sources is still 10%, I will have to ask)

https://www.digitalbolex.com/grant/grant-statistics/ (02.03.2017) - Great stats, definitely use! [As of 2014, 14 of 374 members of the ASC are women, just 3.7%. The first studio film with a female director of photography was FATSO (1980).]

COCHRANE, K. 'Why are there so few female filmmakers?', The Guardian, 31 January 2010, p52 - Pretty scary experiences of sexism and felony. They still talk about motherhood and raising a family!

LEVITIN, J. (2012) Women Filmmakers: Refocusing Routledge. New York and London - p436 is useful

ROBSON, C. (2016) Silent Women: Pioneers of Cinema Supernova Books. Twickenham. - interesting info on the first female cinematographer

GOLDSCHMIDT, C. 'Women Working Behind the Camera: Our Story En Masse' http://cinemajam.com/mag/interviews/women-behind-the-camera (02.03.2017) - very long article which I have partially read through and picked out some interesting info

LANG, B. 'Women compromise 7% of Directors on Top 250 Films (Study)' http://variety.com/2015/film/news/women-hollywood-inequality-directors-behind-the-camera-1201626691/ (05.03.2017) - [Evidence suggests that women in positions of power are more likely to employ other women. On films with female directors, women comprised 52% of writers, 35% of editors and 26% of cinematographers. When men directed, the number of female writers shrank to 8%, editors fell to 15% and cinematographers dropped to 5%.]

Pecha Kuta

Petcha Kuta Notes 

1) What do these films share in common? Very surprised if you get this. Beautifully shot. Different genres. Indie and mainstream. All have female cinematographers. 

2) No woman has ever been nominated for an Academy Award for Best Cinematography. The first studio film with a female director of photography was FATSO (1980). Women comprised 19% of all directors, writers, producers, executive producers, editors and cinematographers working on the top 250 grossing films in 2015. 

3) Pie chart= women in what roles of the industry. The roles with the least number of women hires are cinematographers, only 5 percent of whom were females. As of 2014, 14 of 374 members of the ASC (American Society of Cinematographers) are women, just 3.7%. 

4) Rarity. Why? Hollywood misogyny, lack of awareness, absence of opportunity? No expert and I am unqualified to say (but people are, which I will talk about later). 

5) Jennifer Lawrence, Meryl Streep and Viola Davis have all spoken out about this. Natalie Portman revealed to Marie Claire that she was paid a third of what Anton Kutcher was in 2011 film No Strings Attached. Women earn 77 cents to the dollar that men earn. Is this what’s putting women off? 

6) People say “riskier” to hire women, but there’s male newbies too! No studies show that women aren’t a bigger financial risk. This isn’t what Hollywood is about. Evidence suggests women are more likely to employ other women. Sexism? On films with female directors, 26% cinematographers, shrinks to 5% on films with male directors. 

7) Before you start, this isn’t a feminist inspired bash. I am weighing out all the options. While researching, I found a lot of sexist and even felony stories in the industry which were hard to stomach and would put anyone off working in the industry. Maybe this is what’s putting women off? 

8) Questionnaires. Ask people what they think. Post it to a few professional pages too, I found a few contacts on ICFC (international collective of female cinematographers) website. 

9) Interviews! Found a few interview sources but they were asking if it was hard to raise a family in the industry, which shows even more sexism. Would rather conduct my own. ICFC has a lot I can contact. Found four with email addresses and based in the UK. 

Catherine Goldschmidt (Interviewed!) illuminatrix co-founder (another female cinematographer collective)

Suzie Lavelle (I really want her to reply as she has been cinematographer for Sherlock and The Living and the Dead!) 

(two more but no reply Nicola Daley and Neus Olle) 

10) Female cinematographers and females in the industry are a dying breed. Why? A lack of female filmmakers has made it difficult to imagine women in charge. Cinematography is hiring a kit rather than a person- usually more males are tech savvy. But there are still biases we can’t control, and we need to support other female filmmakers.

Test Footage - Car

Today we did a few quick test shots of the potential beginning car scene to see if it could be done. We worked around having the car/action around the car stationary and worked through different shots the director had in mind to see if they were doable and also looked good. 

Me and the director teamed up to make a doable shot list, where the camera will be, and whether the shot is in the mirror or not. We got a few good shots using the mirrors, but getting them exactly right was time consuming. I think it paid off though. 

We learnt a lot from today, and we should be able to go ahead with the scene! However, we did have a few issues, such as lack of equipment (lighting today was terrible, so we need red heads! And the director now wants a slider shot) and lack of people (the director had to double up as both Step Mum and Dad!) We are hoping to try again tomorrow.

Festival Research - Tag

Me and the director talked briefly about festivals in today's meeting, so I decided to research into more. 

Grimmfest (http://grimmfest.com/grimmupnorth/)

Submissions: March 31st [earlybird deadline, £16], July 7th [regular deadline, £20], August 4th [late deadline, £28]
Location: Manchester
Specifications: Short Films under 30 minutes. Professional formats only (blu ray).
Awards: Not available until April
Festival Date: 5-8th October

Cinefest (http://ukcinefest.com/)

Submissions: Until April 28th, 12 noon. Upload to Vimeo (will this be an issue for other festivals?) No fees.
Location: Middlesbrough
Specifications: You can enter in as many categories as you like. Doesn't seem to be any time limitations.
Awards: Each category has a winner/award. There are many different categories for each job role.
Festival Date: 12th May

FrightFest (http://www.frightfest.co.uk/)

Submissions: July 1st - August 17th (£12 fee)
Location: London
Specifications: Online submission. Under 10 minutes. 
Awards: Can't find any information.
Festival Date: 24-28th August

Encounters Festival (http://encounters-festival.org.uk/)

Submissions: March 31st [earlybird deadline, £20], May 23rd [regular deadline, £25], June 2nd [late deadline, £30]
Location: Bristol
Specifications: Lots of different categories, including a student film one! Also "a good gateway to The Oscars and the BAFTAS". Under 30 minutes. Every/any genre. 
Awards: Lots of different types! Also up to £10,000 in cash prizes.
Festival Date: 19-24th September

Silhouettes and Knives - Test Footage

Today me and the director booked out the studio and did a few test shots of lighting and 'throwing' knives so see what could be achievable and also looks good. It is also something for the editor to experiment different effects and colour corrections with. I just used my Canon 750D for this, since it was just a test.

We experimented with different lighting set ups and props to produce different silhouettes (I'm pretty sure I took pictures of this, but I can't seem to find them!). We switched between two and one redhead and focused on the wolf mask. The director managed to make it blink and it looks really effective.

We then looked at using people as a silhouette. We used two red heads at first which produced a three dimensional effect (almost like the actor was fighting with herself). The director liked this one over the next one. For the strings (which also look effective in this set up as it looks like there are a lot more than there is), we attatched them to a broom stick and also to the actor (loosely).

We then used one red head to produce one strong silhouette. This set up looks more classy, which is not what the director is particularly after. The above one symbolises more chaos, like the atmosphere in a circus and the film in general. This one is more calm and conventional.

We then moved on to the knife throwing tests. We cheated the shot so no knives were actually thrown. We got a close up of the knife and I did a swooping pan (I talk about this more in the blog post here) to create the illusion of it being thrown. We attatched fishing wire to the knife already in the wood so someone could make it move (we did originally have someone move it with their hand but it's hard to get out of the way quick enough and is easy to see). 

It took a few times to get it just right, and the results do look pretty good! In the future, I should also do a swooping pan when the knife gets thrown so it's easier to edit (I didn't think it would be at the time since it happens to fast, but it does, so I will!) The director has also made a blog post about filming it in slow motion, and balloons popping in slow motion? But I have not been confronted about this. I am not sure how we would do this. We have used a camera with slow motion for Wynyard Hall (the Sony FS7) but we had to hire that out for a lot of money. Slowing it down in post maybe an option.

Initial Lighting Research

One of my secondary roles for Cirque Du Creep is Lighting. There are two people on lighting because it will require a lot of thought and tests, especially with the car scene at the start and the studio scene at the end, which will have to match with the circus lighting otherwise the illusion is lost. It needs to be done right or the whole production will loose its value... No pressure. Here's a basic three point lighting tutorial just in case.




Cirque Du Freak

This is our main inspiration. The lighting is dark and moody (with a lot of red gels). Even though the film is mostly dark, the actors are always well lit, using three point lighting. Using a LED light on the eyes to make the actors have some life in them (making a light pin prick in the eyes) might also be a good idea (this can be seen in the gif below). I will further discuss with the director if they want this, and if they want three point lighting or more mysterious shadowed lighting.

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8962.A_Living_Nightmare

Spotlight

For the big show at the end, the director wants the ringmaster in a spotlight in a circle on the floor. I'm pretty sure Submarine did this but I spent over an hour looking for the scene or any stills and couldn't find any (I didn't want to admit defeat), so I took this still from Black Swan as inspiration instead. This look should be doable in the location with the studio lights. I will need to do a few tests to see which lights need adjusting to get it just right.

https://jdanspsawyksui.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/black-swan.jpg

Initial Camera Research

After the intense meeting with the director at Production Design, we have 53 shots of just that location (baring in mind also filming some safety shots in case the camera movements planned do not work well). The director has also made a mood board so I can see what films she takes as inspiration and how I can recreate them in lighting (which will be in another post) and also their camera framing (which will be what this blog post is focused on).

Tracking Dolly

In the beginning shot with the parents and Sophie walking to the circus, the director wants a tracking dolly shot that curves at the beginning, with them facing camera, and the dolly moving backwards with them. This shot was the closest I could find that was similar to it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zm9Qb4SMGyk. 

Trombone Shot

The director wants a trombone shot (example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svEPWBxpYjo) when we first see the clown to put the viewer on edge. This shot is achieved with the dolly tracking in, and also zooming out at the same speed. You also need to keep the same head room and keep the focus. It is a very difficult shot to pull off so a few tests will need to be done.

Jib

The director is after quite a few jib shots, one in the street set using a lamppost with a dead bird skellington as framing/dirty with the actors walking underneath it. And also again in the circus scene where Sophie runs away; the camera tracks her as it turns into a big swooping shot of the whole set. And also when the parents first enter the tent to show them as outsiders and that they are isolated (and also to show off the production design set!). This video has some similar shots: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7dpIMCS9mA. 

Fig Rig/Camera 360 Shot

I came up with an idea to use the fig rig to turn the camera upside down (like a steering wheel) but keeping the camera operator static to give the illusion of spinning around, which we could use in the knife throwing scene. It will disorientate the viewer and looks great in my head. I can't find or know of any similar shots at all to this (potentially a new camera movement?) so a few test shots will be needed (and also to figure out how to cheat throwing knives).

Swooping Pan

This shot can be used to cheat throwing knives (this FilmRiot video shows quite a few shots of how to cheat throwing knives and what camera movement (and actor movement) so use):  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNqrEdATNrQ. Cirque du Freak (our main inspiration) also uses this shot when throwing knives.

Excuse the quality, I had to record this via my DVD since YouTube doesn't have a clip of it.

LP2 - Introduction

We have recently started out new module, Live Project 2, where we deliver films made to specific film festivals (check out my pitch for more information on this!) I am Producer on Tag and Camera on Cirque Du Creep. I am very happy with my roles as these were the two projects I liked the best. 

Me and the director had a good few hours in production design today to plan out each shot, where the camera will be, the movement, and logistics of each shot. We have a brief shot list which the director is turning into a storyboard as we speak. 

I had a look at Tag's script, which has very ambitious locations and stunts, such as a police station, lots of severed heads and fake blood, a contortionist, talking dead bodies, and a cast of many different ages. I definitely have my work cut out this module. I am working on a casting call and booking out the studio for auditions at this moment in time. I am also going to call a production meeting on Friday to discuss shortening the script and making it more doable.