Trailers

For Newcastle Film Festival, we had a choice of making a trailer for the film. This would be good for marketing as well as another box to tick on the application form. So I did a quick edit, luckily I knew the film well and what shots look good. With a bit of help from the director for artistic vision, we came up with this.

Cirque du Muerte - Trailer from Janice Lee on Vimeo.

The director liked this so much they requested a one of Onion Man (which I am 10x prouder of). Again had a few creative outputs as I didn't know the film as well, but it looks very cool. I think I have found my calling haha! Also had to alter the aspect ratio as the footage at the moment had the film peaking through in the back. I edited both trailers in Premiere Pro mostly for ease as I have it at home and also on all of the Uni computers. Basically made an adjustment layer and changed a few of the settings. Learnt a new skill!

MNIJ - Shot Choices

While creating storyboards and shot choices for My Name is John, I looked at how other comedies use shots to their advantage and make the film a lot funnier. One of my favourite shots in the film is when John cracks a joke in the self help group and we pan to the other characters reaction (unamused faces). It's tense and you feel the space between them. The juxtaposition of both is a great technique for comedy but the pan is even better. If we just cut to the faces, it wouldn't have the same impact. 



The handheld camera in comedy that just makes everything more natural and funny, it also makes the viewer more involved in the action and like we are following them on their journey. 

Throughout the film, looking closely at the house scene, I wanted mostly medium close ups. The hand movements as well as facial reactions also add to each other and generate more comedy. 



Crash zooms are also used in comedies to further exaggerate tension as well as characters reactions, very similar to using panning. 

Fourth wall breaks are used sparingly in comedies. There is one break in MNIJ where the shopkeeper looks at camera like 'what just happened'. A lot of comedies use it to make the audience more included and involved, like the character is talking to them, just further exaggerating the joke.

RTS Awards

Cirque du Muerte (last years live project) has been nominated for a regional RTS award in Yorkshire, in the category of Entertainment/Comedy. So tonight roughly 30 of us went down to support it and the Uni. 

Glad to report that WE WON! CCAD have not won a category before (only craft awards) and we are now shortlisted to be in the national awards down in London. They did play the worst clip of the film though, guess they just picked the most 'comedic' bit. We got certificates and a trophy (hope this will be on a rotor), but we are getting our sound ops name engraved onto it. Sadly the certificates only say 'nominees' too instead of winners. 

It was a very good night and we have had an article on the CCAD website already. (http://hartlepool.ccad.ac.uk/ccad-film-students-win-rts-yorkshire-student-awards-2018/)When we were emailed about this we were told it might go into the papers too!

Hope - Day 3

I have to stop calling the film Afterlife, but I will still tag my posts as Afterlife as I have a lot to go through and change. 

Today I couldn't make it on set. Due to complications giving blood, I couldn't lift anything and was told to rest by the official NHS nurses. Luckily Liam stepped in to lend a hand. I had booked out equipment, risk assessments, etc. and was all organised. I also uploaded storyboards and lighting plans on the VLE. I have heard that it went well, but didn't get all of it done. From the pictures I have seen it looks very dark too which I am a bit concerned about for the colourist. 

Echoes Stand In

Today I was a stand in for the computer voice in Echoes of Silence, as well as just generally helping out. Most of which was trying to work the long LED lights to make it stay constantly on blue. Got there eventually! Found out that my voice was echoing and thought it would be better to ring me from across the room, which still echoed, so I was in a room (which I was grateful for in the end as it was very cold! I know now for Hope that I need more heaters, blankets and hand warmers). I said I was up for it tomorrow but had to be at home, but this was fine as it was just a phone call. However I think the director had a lot more to worry about the next day so it didn't happen. At least I did what I could to get everything set up easier and quicker on the Monday.

Website Fine Tuning

I have reworded a lot of things on my website today to make them sound more professional. I have also deleted the blog on my site as I thought this was too informal and too much work to change this close to deadline (have to prioritise). 

One problem was deciding whether to put the bios in first or third person. I have decided to put the home page and portfolio in third person to make it seem more professional, and my About Me page in first person so people would connect to it more. The About Me page has been reworded quite drastically as I have always been unsure how to word this, so I asked for advice and have a better understanding what to change and focus on, as well as my own judgement when it comes to pronouns and wording things.

I have also made a few fine tweaks to the website to make it look more aligned and aesthetically pleasing.

Freebies/Subscribers

Some things that were suggested to include in our professional package was a subscriber tool, offer some freebies and to add a narration to our showreels. I have decided against the narration of the showreel as mine is mostly visual and I can't really envision or think of anything I could talk about. 

I have added a subscriber tool to my website but can't seem to edit it. So I put a headline above it.

I'm not 100% sold on this idea yet. I will ask for opinions on this feature as well as researching into what professionals do. I will also have to change the email that people receive and carefully word it. I'm not sure how to make a consultation completely free either unless it's like a Skype call or something, or it's fairly local. If someone from like Australia or even London is interested then I might be in trouble. Might need to put this on terms and conditions!

Update 19.03.18: Typically, cinematographer pages do not offer freebies on their websites, their website is more of a big portfolio for just work. I have looked at Nicola Daley's and Suzie Lavelle's websites for research (hitting LO1) and they are all very visual. Mine is more like a business page where I can get jobs from, so I have decided to use the subscriber idea, especially now I have created the email template as I really like it. I have used Wix Shoutout to create an automated email for everyone who subscribes. I made the background similar to the website for synergy. I was also careful about wording the free consultation in case it is hard to travel in the north east on a particular day or distance or whatever. 

Action Plan

Plan 1

Get a reply to my email for work experience at MediaCity (and eventually a job). Haven't figured out logistics of travel yet, so probably will learn to drive, or house share on site, or live in Leeds with my brother as it's a bit closer and transport is often.

Plan 2

Get accepted onto The Network in Edinburgh and hopefully gain a job from it.

Plan 3

Move to Leeds and live with my brother for 6 months until I get on my feet. Apply for jobs at the BBC, ITV and Channel 4. 

Plan 4

Stay in the North East and apply for jobs where I can. Noticed ITV usually hire in Gateshead so I can apply for those jobs.

Edinburgh International Film Festival 'The Network'

Got an opportunity emailed to us a few days ago about a scheme from Edinburgh Film Festival called The Network. Basically it's a four day course to try and kick start a job in the film industry. There will be industry professionals there and looks like it will be valuable experience. I tried to find any flaws and I just can't seem to find any. Accommodation is supplied and I could get my travel and food expenses back. The only flaw I can find that I might fall at is that I have to come up with a new TV show idea. I'm more technical savvy than ideas, and I will be extremely unhappy if they pick my idea and want me to organise it all (want experience with the cameras ideally). But hopefully I can change my path and just focus on my technical skills in my CV and three questions that need to be answered alongside it. 

Deadline for this is Friday 27th April so hopefully I can come up with a fleshed out idea by then!

Side note: This also fulfils learning outcome three for Professional Practice by using my skills in this module for potential employers.

Create Write Here

I have helped a classmate creating a facebook group for creatives to share their work to and receive constructive criticism. Hopefully this group will encourage people to collaborate if they like an idea as well as kick start their projects. I mostly offered my knowledge as I admin a few Facebook groups. It hasn't quite kicked off the ground yet but hopefully it will.

CV

Currently focusing on formatting my CV to send to employers as well as the Edinburgh Film Festival 'The Network' (will discuss this in another post). I focused on this website on how to write a CV that is relevant to jobs in the industry. I was in two minds whether to put my experience or skills first. It is suggested and more typical to put skills first, however my experience is impressive and it might grab people's attention if I put BFI and BAFTA first. Having said this, I have decided to keep it typical and put skills first; my experience is still on the first page and is eye catching.

Researching into this (websites such as BBC and Prospects, hitting LO1), CV's are usually only a page long. For creating my CV I used this website as a reference as it seems very professional. But mine is one and a third. The first page is my skills and experience. The second page is mostly a quick bio and my education and can be seen as optional. I have included that I am RTS awards nominated and also have social media experience in my bio. I have also put a link to my showreel at the top of my CV.

I have not included a picture as it is not typical of a CV. I added a splash of blue and some bold letters to the CV to make it a bit different and highlight key words. I also found that referees are usually included in a CV so I just put that they were available on request. Most, if not all, of my CV is based on independent research.

By doing all of this research and making a high quality and well researched CV, I have hit LO2 which is to enhance my individual practice as it could lead to potential employment.

Afterlife - Day 2

Today we filmed the opening sequence to Afterlife in Wetherspoons and originally the Marina. However the director decided for ease as well as aesthetic to keep it all in Wetherspoons (still did the risk assessment for the Marina anyway!) I put a call time for the crew at 1 and for the actor at 3 on the call sheet however the actor turned up incredibly early and we got equipment late. Luckily this was the only bump in our schedule. We also ended up shooting day for night as a few people needed to be headed off at 6pm, which was when sunset was.

We also chose not to bring the red heads and use Hutch's new lighting kit and I'm so tempted to buy one myself. It was so much easier to carry, set up and less dangerous as they do not get hot. However, they do not have batteries and are not portable, so we took a few studio LED lights with us in case we needed them outside in the dark. 

We had two camera ops on set today so I assigned myself to the handheld camera and the second camera op to the safety shots and tripod. I did this as I rehearsed the complected opening shot before and know where I need to pull focus. We both got a lot of great looking shots and plenty of cutaways for the editor to work with. I also tried to make a few edit cues when the mother leaves the pub (e.g. walking into the actor to make it cut to black).

For the outside car shot, we had an issue with delivery drivers and people so we had to find the right time to film and quickly move out the way. The exhaust shot that the director wants didn't work amazingly well and may need some smoke put on in post. 

The shoot went very smoothly, and we finished at 6 (before the estimated wrap). I also feel like we got a lot shot from having two cameras on set.

Cover Letter

To add to my personal documents, I have filled out a typical Cover Letter which could be used for any job associated with being a Camera Assistant, it only needs small rejigs like the job title and where I found it from. The one which will be uploaded to the VLE is for a specific job from Sky News based in London. I had every intention of applying until I realised you had to travel the whole country so therefore needed a drivers licence as well as a valid passport; all of which I do not have. Which is a shame. 

In this letter, I have repeated and emphasised responsibilities they have marked as essential from the job post here, such as mentioning using the Sony FS7 (used once during the Wynyard Hall shoot) which they have marked as 'desirable'. I didn't want to go overboard with this, I could have mentioned that I like to challenge conventions which they seem to like (lecturers at my old college used to say this about me) but thought this would be a bit too soon to say. I also could have mentioned interest in main news stories but I think that would have been too gushing? I tried to find the right balance and focused more on the technical roles which is what they emphasise the most in the application.

By doing all of this research and making a high quality cover letter, I have hit LO2 which is to enhance my individual practice as it could lead to potential employment.