Tuesday 26th March - Wednesday 27th March
On Tuesday me and Becki were meant to have a joint pitch for our FMP at 10am. Unfortunately we were asked to talk to some students at an International Trips stand, with Aaron Dunleavy. This was so we could represent the trips and the course. This was meant to be an all day thing. However me and Becki had to get back to editing because we had to get the marketing video completed. When we managed to get round to editing again we had to stop to show some visitors our work and to talk about the international trip that we went on. We managed to get back round to editing but soon after we got called to do a photo shoot for the new prospectus. This was a pain. We didn't manage to get any proper editing done. This means that we are bit behind schedule. We also didn't get the chance to pitch. This means that we will have to pitch tomorrow. Pitching
On Wednesday me and Becki finally managed to pitch our FMP. The pitch went extremely well. We pitched to our Tutors Jamie, Jo, Richard and Kim. We showed them the current edit of the marketing video and told them that we wanted to send it forward as part of FMP. I explained that even though we are putting some edits forward together that we would also put separate edits forward. This meant that we would cover our bases for grading.
The edits that I am going to be doing for FMP
Marketing Journey (Short) - Joint edit with Becki
Marketing Journey (Long) - Joint edit with Becki
Tanzania Promo Montage - Joint edit with Becki
Masai Tribe Documentary - Solo edit
Our experience documentary - Solo Edit
Wildlife Documentary - Solo Edit
Pitch Feedback
Our tutors loved the 3 minute video that we had done for marketing. They liked the fact that we would be using the Marketing videos as part of our pitch. This means that we are working for a brief for our FMP. We still have to build our work up so that we can support out work. He explained that we need to have a good amount of research and visual evidence of our work i.e screenshots.
I was very happy with the feedback for my FMP pitch. We went straight back to work and finished the promo montage for marketing. This promo montage will be changed and turned into the Marketing Journey.
After pitching I thought about how I would like my work showcased. I would really like people to experience Africa. I still don't know how I would be able to do this, but hopefully People will be able to experience Africa in the way it should be experience. A beautiful country with amazing Landscapes and incredible wildlife and friendly people.
On Thursday 28th March I was asked to be a part of a group who are making a film called 'Seafoam Green Tangerine'. The idea for this movie came from a British film called submarine.
Seafoam Green Tangerine Plot
Seafoam Green Tangerine is a dark tale about an ostracized young school boy, Edward Turner, with a chronic fear of water who stumbles into the dangerous arms of young love.
Characters
Edward Turner is a fifteen year old school boy with a chronic fear of water. He is a black sheep; ostracized from the trends of modern society, but comfortable with his own company. Other kids play football and drink beer; Edward reads sophisticated literature and drinks milkshake.
Georgina Poole is a tall red haired sixteen year old schoolgirl with rebellious tendencies. She considers herself a free spirit and has a distinctive taste in fashion and music. Georgina's intimidating personality is a mere mask which she uses to cover a deeper, more mysterious side to her personality.
When I first read this script I immediately loved it. It has complex young characters and I couldn't place the script in an era. The script seemed timeless and I couldn't imagine it being made in modern times which I loved. This is the strongest story that I've been a part of.
Friday 29th March
This was mine and Becki's first production meeting as we only got asked to be a part of the feature film yesterday. We went over everything so that me and Becki know everything. Something that we are really excited about is that we are getting original music for this film. We are also getting posters designed by an artist. These are a work in progress.
Crew
Aaron Dunleavy - Director, Camera, Editor
Emily McGregor - Production Manager, Assistant Producer
We have to plan everything around Saturday 30th March as me, Aaron, Becki and James are filming a documentary for Heather. It is titled 'Weather or Not'
Once we went over all the details Me, Becki, Aaron and James decided to go to Pleasington because Aaron needed to practice with the Steadicam.
On Sunday we took all the equipment to Lancaster, to Jamie's house to leave it there for 2 weeks (Jib, Weights, Steadicam, Tripod, Lighting). This would make it easier for us to get to our locations if the equipment was nearer to us.
After we dropped the equipment off we went to meet Ryan, the actor that is going to be playing Edward. He is really enthusiastic about editing and about playing the part of Edward. His mum Del was really enthusiastic about and offered to take us to some locations that we could use.
River scene
River scene
Country Lane Location 1
Country Lane Location 1
Country Lane Location 1
Country Lane Location 2
Beach Scene Location 1
Beach Scene Location 1
Beach Scene Location 1
Beach Scene Location 1
Beach Scene Location 1
Beach Scene Location 1
Beach Scene Location 1
Beach Scene Location 2
Beach Scene Location 2
Beach Scene Location 2
Beach Scene Location 2
Beach Scene Location 2
Bedroom Location 1
Bedroom Location 1
Bedroom Location 1
Bedroom Location 1
Bedroom Location 2
Bedroom Location 2
Bedroom Location 2
Bedroom Location 2
The locations were amazing. The second beach location was my favorite especially because of the cave. I think that we definitely need to use the second beach location, I'm just not sure weather we should use it as the final beach scene. I loved the location that we looked at for the river scene but I don't think that it should be used for that. I think that it should be used as part of the montage. We decided that the first bedroom location should be the one that we use. I love the sloped ceilings. We thing they would look amazing with the records on them. It has more character to it and links with the character of Edward better.
Once we had looked round the locations we went to Jamie's house to rehearse. (He has kindly lent us the use of his house for a couple of hours on Easter Sunday). Becki and Aaron picked up our actress Sian and brought her to Jamie's house.
We were all nervous about how there acting would be and whether they could become the characters. After a couple of time going over the script they relaxed a lot more. After about five times of going over the script Aaron started to give them directions. Ryan is perfect for the role of Edwards. He plays the part perfectly. However I have my concerns about Sian because I think that she over acts it and I think that she looks too innocent to play the role of Georgina who is meant to be a rebel. I hope that she will come into the role more when we start to film on Monday 8th April.
Wednesday 3rd April
Today (Wednesday 3rd April) we decided as a group that we would have daily production meetings so that everything would be ready for filming next week. So today we made a list of all the costume props/props that we will need to get.
Props
Chessboard
Calendar
Table Lights
Red Telephone
Seaside Items (Lighthouse, shells things like that. It will give the impression the character lives near the sea)
Books
Message in a bottle/Boat in a bottle
Skeleton head (or something a little quirky)
Art and Music Magazines (This is a nod to our Course and our Tutor)
Lighter
Cigarettes
Costume Props
School Ties x2
School Jumpers x2
Bags x2
Boys Coat
Girls Coat (Brightly coloured red or orange)
Red Lipstick
White School Shirts x2
School Pants (Actor already has these)
School Skirt (Actor already has these)
School Shoes (Actor already has these)
Converse or Similar Shoes (Actor already has these)
Gum
Cigarettes
Lighter/Matches
Travel arrangements are still a problem. We are trying to resolves these. The train is too expensive for the amount of people and the amount of times we have to go up to Lancaster/Silverdale. Also the time of day that Aaron (Director) wants to start filming, there are no trains able to get us to our location.
In order for us to complete this film, we have to come up with some kind of budget. The first option we came up with was to try and get some money of college. but it is a bad time of year and we soon discovered that there is no spare money left, so this we are unable to do. Aaron then said that he could put £350 into a budget. £100 would come from a wedding that Aaron and Becki are filming and £250 from a promotional video college are paying him to make. James Kindly offered to add £100 from his wage into the budget. This means that we have £450 for our budget. Me and Becki said that we would put some money into the film once we had some money but the guys said that this wasn't necessary as we had come into the film late.
Thursday 4th April
Today the crew decided to meet up and go Prop hunting. This involved hunting through charity shops and £1 world shops until we found what we needed. We also managed to find props that we did't think of before, but thought would be good.
This is what we found
16 Albums (to stick on the wall in the bedroom) 75p Each - Charity Shop
Lighthouse Money box £8 - Ebay
A seaside Jigsaw £1 - Charity Shop
A Seaside Photo Frame £1.99 - Charity Shop
A Girls Red Jacket £20 - Johnny Monks Steals
A puzzle cube £1 - Pounds shop
An old Film Camera (is going to be a prop in the bedroom, but I came up with the idea of using it in the montage scenes) £3 - Charity Shop
Five old expired film reels for the film prop 50p each - Charity shop
A seaside Calender 50p - Charity Shop
Boat in a bottle £3 - Charity shop
Lighthouse £6.50 - Matalan
Boat £6.50 - Matalan
School Ties x2 £1 Each - Primemark
Briefcase £20 - Market
Boy Duffle coat £12 - Johnny Monks Steals
x3 Boys Jumpers (Different Colours) £8 Each - Johnny Monks Steals
Boys Grey School Jumper (Couldn't get the right size in Blackburn, Becki and Aaron had to go to Preston to get it) £6 - Primemark
These are some pictures of some of the props that we bought
Money Box (Bedroom Prop)
Boys Uniform (Example)
Ship and Lighthouse (Bedroom Prop)
Briefcase (Character prop, Edwards)
Ship in a bottle (Bedroom Prop)
Sunday 7th April
Yesterday Becki and Aaron went to get the school jumper that we needed. They told us that on the way back they discussed the time that the drama was being set in i.e now or another era. They said that seems that there are not going to be any modern props them we should make it timeless. The audience can decide what era it is meant to be in. I thought this is a brilliant idea as when I first read the script I didn't think that it was set in modern times.
We have managed to sort travel arrangements out, All the crew will be going in Becki's car. We offered Del (Our actors mun) expenses but she said that she would pay for all of Ryan's expense. This gave us more money This meant that we could pay for our actress to get to Silverdale every day and she could even bring her brother to chaperon or Del said she would Chaperon as she has a license for it.
So today we all met up to make a proper filming schedule. We also needed to contact the actors to tell them the plans. I'd been telling Aaron to do this all week as we knew what we wanted we just needed to get it written down. This is the original schedule that we all came up with. I had to remind Aaron that we had to make time for the actors to eat. If he had his way then he wouldn't have made time for them to rest and eat.
Filming Schedule
Monday 8th April
Get up at 5:30am, Becki picks James up at 6:40 am, Josh at 6:50, Emily at 7:00, Aaron at 7:05. Get to Jamie's at 7:50am to get all the equipment. Be at Del's/Ryan's at 8:00am.
EQUIPMENT: Steadicam, camera, Tripod and Sound)
FILMING SCHEDULE: Be at the Oak Tree for 9am. Start filming the oak tree scene at 10am. Finish filming the oak tree at 11am. (Lunch 11am to 12 noon) 12pm arrive at country lane. 12:30am-2pm film the country lane. 2pm-6pm find a cafe. 6pm-8pm get landscape shots ACTORS NOT NEEDED. Get home about 10pm
Tuesday 9th April
EQUIPMENT: Camera, Sound, Jib, Weights, Tripod and Steadicam
FILMING SCHEDULE: 9am-1pm Montage shots. 2pm-5pm River Scene. 6pm-8pm Lanscape Shots ACTORS NOT NEEDED. Get home at 10pm
FILMING SCHEDULE: 9am-11am Walking past the coffee shop scene. 12 noon- 2pm setting up the bedroom scene. 4pm-6pm filming in the coffee shop. 7pm-8pm filming the bedroom scene. Get home at 10pm
FILMING SCHEDULE: 10am-12 noon silverdale train station scene. 2pm-8pm filming the final scene, the beach. Get home at 10pm
Fridya 12th April
EQUIPMENT: Camera, Jib, Weights, Sound, Steadicam
FILMING SCHEDULE: 12noon-Undecided - Liverpool Lighthouse Scene NO ACTORS NEEDED.
Ryan and Del got back to us almost straight away. They said that this schedule was perfectly fine, they would be available all week. However Sian said that she couldn't do Tuesday Because she had Dram practice and she Couldn't do Friday because she had to go to a wedding. This wasn't expected because we had emailed our actors weeks before and told them that that week would be the week that we would be filming and that it would likely be a 4/5 day shoot. This was the first we had heard of the problems Sian would have. However in response to this we did change the schedule.
Monday 8th April
Get up at 5:30am, Becki picks James up at 6:40 am, Josh at 6:50, Emily at 7:00, Aaron at 7:05. Get to Jamie's at 7:50am to get all the equipment. Be at Del's/Ryan's at 8:00am.
EQUIPMENT: Steadicam, camera, Tripod and Sound)
FILMING SCHEDULE: Be at the Oak Tree for 9am. Start filming the oak tree scene at 10am. Finish filming the oak tree at 11am. (Lunch 11am to 12 noon) 12pm arrive at country lane. 12:30am-2pm film the country lane. 2pm-6pm find a cafe. 6pm-8pm get landscape shots ACTORS NOT NEEDED. Get home about 10pm
Tuesday 9th April - Break
Wedneaday 10th April
Get up at 5:30am, Becki picks James up at 6:40 am, Josh at 6:50, Emily at 7:00, Aaron at 7:05. Get to Jamie's at 7:50am to get all the equipment. Be at Del's/Ryan's at 8:00am.
FILMING SCHEDULE: 9am-11am walking past coffee shop scene. 12 noon-3pm setting up the bedroom scene, 4pm-6pm filming inside the coffee shop, 7pm-8pm filming the bedroom scene. Get home at 10pm
Thursday 11th April
Get up at 5:30am, Becki picks James up at 6:40 am, Josh at 6:50, Emily at 7:00, Aaron at 7:05. Get to Jamie's at 7:50am to get all the equipment. Be at Del's/Ryan's at 8:00am.
FILMING SCHEDULE: 10am-12 noon Silverdale train station scene. 2pm-8pm filming the final beach scene. Get home at 10pm
Friday 12th April
EQUIPMENT: Sound, Jib, Wrights, Camera, Steadicam
Filming SCHEDULE; 12 noon- 6pm Liverpool Light house filming scene. NO ACTORS NEEDED
Sunday 14th April
Get up at 5:30am, Becki picks James up at 6:40 am, Josh at 6:50, Emily at 7:00, Aaron at 7:05. Get to Jamie's at 7:50am to get all the equipment. Be at Del's/Ryan's at 8:00am.
FILMING SCHEDULE: 9am-1pm Montage shots. 2pm-5pm River Scene. 6pm-8pm Lanscape Shots. Get home at 10pm
At 8pm at night, 12 hours before we were meant to start filming Aaron got a call of Sian's dad who was refusing to let Sian act in the film. Apparently he didn't know anything about the film and its schedule.According to him Sian had just given him the details. Aaron told him how we cast her and gave him all the details. Aaron gave him multiple ways of getting Sian to the locations as her dad was refusing to be present because he didn't want to stand around all day. We said that we would be fine with her brother coming and if her dad feel uncomfortable with Sian getting on the train by herself Aaron said one us could go with her. Aaron even offered to drop some of the crew member so that Sian could travel in the car with us. Unfortunately after Aaron trying his best and coming up with multiple alternative we lost our female actress. The film was left hanging. We had to contact Del (Our actors mum) and hope that she would understand. Luckily for us she did. She was still willing to let her son act for us and even offered to help us find another actor. Later that night after a conservation with her this was we received from her.
Losing our actress 12 hours before shooting wasn't ideal and we all freaked out a little big. However we did arrange a meeting for tomorrow so that we could solve the problem as quickly as possible.
Monday 8th April
Today we all met up as planned to have a production meeting about finding new actors. Aaron told us that he had been recommended an actress by Del. This previous actress had worked with Ryan before so she knew Del and Ryan. Her name is Samantha Sim. A positive about this actress was that she was only 15 but she looked Older than Ryan which is what we wanted. Another positive is that she has worked with Ryan on numerous other projects so this means that there is no ice to break. Del said that talking to her she thought that she could do the part and she had parents consent to so so. Originally Aaron just wanted to cast her without auditioning her or even rehearsals. This did cause an argument because me and Becki wanted to at least do a rehearsal with her first. For both our piece of mind that she could play the part and so that Samantha would get to knows us a bit better first and wouldn't just be thrust into the role without any time to prepare. After me and Becki put our foot down we came to a compromise. We would do a rehearsal with her and Ryan tomorrow morning and we would start to film in the afternoon.
After our meeting we decided to go to Lancaster and Silverdale to search for some better locations. These included the cafe scene, the beach scene and the river scene.
Morcambe Beach
After looking at Morcambe Beach we decided that it just wasn't right. James, me and Josh saw the Beach from a distance. This was because Becki and Aaron had gone to a nearby cafe that we were going to ask if we could use. We all didn't go as we felt that it would be too overwhelming having us all there. Instead of coming back to get us to go down to the beach, Aaron decided that only him and Becki would go. Me, Josh and James saw the beach from a distance and we looked over the pictures straight away. We decided that it wasn't the right type of beach for the film. When we got to Lancaster we decided to split up because we were running out of light and there was another beach that we wanted to recce. Josh and Aaron went to the Old Bell Coffee House, while me, Becki and James went to recce a river. When we met back up Aaron and Josh had no luck at the Old Bell but they did find a little coffee shop in a theater. The coffee shop agreed that we could film there before they opened. http://www.dukes-lancaster.org/cafebar
This is the River that me, Becki and James looked at. We thought that it would be perfect for what we wanted. We took Josh and Aaron to it so that they could have a quick look.
Here are some possible shots.
We quickly went to Silverdale to have a look at another beach. Aaron didn't want to go because he said we would have lost light by the time we got there. Luckily me and Becki persisted and we went. It was perfect. We took some test pictures just to make sure it looked good on screen. (The test pictures are the ones that say a test shot underneath them)
A Test Shot (Wide angle Landscape shot)
A Test Shot (A wide angel shot of girl running into the water)
A Test Shot
A Test Shot
A Test Shot
Once we got back Aaron changed some of Becki's Pictures into super widescreen. Which is what the film will be converted into once it is edited.
I am really excited for the filming of the short feature film.
