- My Role(s)
- Building Workshop with Jim Casey
- Directing Actors workshop with Nigel Bristow
- Moving Camera/Gripping workshop with Anne and David Cooper
- Building the set
My Role(s) and Prep for the Studio Shoot
For this project, we chose the roles we would like to do via google document but in the end the 2 class representatives finalised everyone's roles for them. I was put as the Production Assistant because I had researched that role to present in class early on this term. I was content with this role because I was put in a group with people that I felt I could work well with especially as I would be working very closely with the producer and the director during pre-production.
First Meeting & Finalising Our Idea
We had our first meeting as a group after we got the assignment briefing with Rosie where we established our roles etc. We then had the first proper meeting about the pictures we were given to choose from, but due to being ill i didn't attend the meeting in person. I had to join my group over a video call. During this meeting, we chose our image and then began to brainstorm and share ideas around the group. We had many ideas mainly involving our story being set in a dystopian world. There was one which I really liked that involved some mannequins but then we had to be realistic and work around the fact that we did not have a high budget for this film, and also not everyone in the group was enthusiastic about the ideas floating around. In the end we decided to leave it to the director, Natalie to make the final decision, which she did and thus 'Exhale, my Love' came to fruition.
Synopsis, Treatment & Script
Tilly then proceeded to write the script after one of our meetings which she shared with the group on our Facebook group chat.
& the treatment (
which can be found here)
We all agreed to go with this idea, so Tilly wrote the script which can be found
here.
Equipment and Prop List
The Director (Tilly) and Assistant Director (Preston) on the colour palette of our film, and the overall feel of the set that we wanted.
This is the mood board that they presented to me when I had to switch roles and do set design alongside Daniel.
I had a look at the mood board and started thinking about the overall look of the set. That day, I sat down with Arturs during a meeting in the library and I was telling him what I wanted the set to look like while he created a 3d drawing of it.
These is the final 3d design of the set.
(insert snapchat videos)
From this meeting, I then had a look at the script and wrote down a list of props and some equipment that we'll be needing for the set and in the film which I had to go out and hunt for/buy. Gathering props and equipment was a group effort as everyone contributed and helped out with what they could.
Camera crew had to decide a list of props that they will be needing on the shooting days (28th and 29th of Nov.)
Daniel created a costume list for the characters.
Tilly provided Daniel and I with a costume plan and costume table which we could have a look at whilst we were shopping.
I went into Guildford and bought some clothes that we would need for costume and also looked around my flat and some people in the group also have things we could use. It was a pretty successful trip and I had fun looking around. I sorted out all of Bella's outfits whilst Daniel sorted out Elliot's costume.
Lighting Plan & Storyboards
Umor created the Lighting Plan which can be found
here :)
Our storyboards can be found
here :) which were done by the camera crew.
Shot List
Below is our shot list
Sound Script
The sound script can be found
here :)
Budget
Once we figured out all the props and equipment we were going to need on set, we could then start doing the budget sheet. We tried to stay within the budget as best as we could by using some of the things we personally own on the set.
Casting & Auditions
I really wanted to be involved with this part of the project because I am really interesting in casting actors for the role. However, our director, assistant director and producer decided that the less people they had in the audition room the better so they declined my help. I was gutted but oh well we move on :).
They created a document with a list of scenarios/prompts for the actors and actresses that were auditioning. Because we only have 5 words of dialogue it was very important that we find actors that were good with body language and facial expressions, so that is what they mainly focused on. The Directing Actors workshop we had with Nigel Bristow really helped during pre-production because we were able to think about how to audition actors who were going to be acting without dialogue.
Preston created a poster to advertise around uni and on social media.
We got a couple of responses to this which were then put into a table with times we had given each person to attend on the auditioning evenings.
It was up to the 3 of them to decide who would be cast, I didn't really have much involvement in that so I can't say much about it. Our Elliot is
Jacob Dudman.
But, the actress we had cast dropped out on us last minute so Tilly and I started looking around for people who could take on the role. Which was a very difficult task to do last minute. Shooting on Monday 28th, we still didn't have a replacement on that Sunday. I decided to ask my friend who has dabbled in a bit of acting and had what I felt was the right look for the film if she would be interested in being Bella and she agreed. So we went shopping for her costumes last minute and got everything sorted out. So now our actress is
Yasmin Curren.
Building Our Set
On the 18th of October we had a building workshop with Jim Casey to get us inducted with the tools that we might be using when building our own sets. It was great and I leanrt how to use tools that I had never really had to use before. I feel like it really prepared me and gave me the confidence to believe that as a group, we could build a pretty good set.
When the time came to build our own sets, we worked with the other group to see what their plans for the set were. I personally spoke to Jay to see what their general set plan was and he sent me this image.
The next week, both of our groups had conversations and also spoke to Anne and Rosie. We decided on building the set in an 'E' shape so that our group could use the room on the right and decorate it how we wanted to because they agreed to work with whatever we had there. There was a lot of miscommunication between both groups at this stage but we sorted it all out.
(insert videos and pics)
Camera and Gripping with Anne and Chris
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The TV Screen and iPad
After building having the set build and most of the things we were going to have on set in place, it was time to think about what we were going to add to the TV screen as the countdown clock of Elliot and Bella's verbal credits.
Preston and Arturs created these to go on the screens.
Call Sheet
