#Film project

[thislifeisfleeting-blog]

adulthood is the unbearable loneliness of moving forward. it is the sorrowing old man painting by vincent van gogh. it is mourning the thousands of lives you could have led. it is perpetually going through it, that I beg everyone to hold my hand. adulthood is being struck by the feeling that you have somehow left yourself behind.

1. Megan Fernandes, from “Fabric in Tribeca” in Good Boys

2. Albert Camus, A Happy Death

3. Jonas Mekas, As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty

#filmisnotdead #filmcommunity #a personal project #film photography #film #film photo #lomoraphy tiger cn 110 #110 film #film project #filmshitpit #lomography #megan fernandes #albert camus #jonas mekas #words i dont want to forget #this life is fleeting project

[deerediary]

My dumbass forgot to make a trailer for my slender verse series. Episode 2 is in production. Last WEEK A WELL KNOW METH HEAD WOULDN’T STOP STALKING ME WHILE IM TRYING TO WORK. I started shitting bricks when I saw his lead paint stare slowly driving past me. So anyway, I got caught in mud down in the fields. RUINING MY STEVE MADDENS. But I’m alive.

#slenderman #slenderverse #emh #marble hornets #film #film project #creepypasta #creepypasta oc #analog horror #horror arg #filming #DeereDiary

[m0th-misruled]

as a media class project, i started working on a fanmade "movie trailer" for your turn to die, and now it is finally here!!

#your turn to die #yttd #kimi ga shine #kmgsn #short film #media #film project #creative film #school assignment #this took so long augh #Youtube

[realjbguys]

had a bad cough all day. starting to think slenderman thinks my film project is bad.

#creepypasta #silly #slenderman #found fottage #obviously a joke #the cough is a bitch though #film project #horror #writing

[orlafilmblog]

A Fun Holiday in St Catherines (aka the Saint Catherines shoot)

To be honest, I’m not even sure how to talk about the Saint Catherines shoot. Firstly, it has now been quite a while since the shoot, and it all feels like a bit of a fever dream! I am struggling to think of a productive way to reflect on and talk about the film, so instead, I am just going to thought-dump into this post with things that come to mind.

A Strong Sense of Belonging

Something I really pride myself on is the vibe I create on the sets I direct. I am hyper-aware that as director, if I am in a bad mood, or shouting, or annoyed, or any negative emotion, it trickles down and effects everyone. I try to minimise any unnecessary (and frankly harmful) power dynamics on set, however as the director I am still the one people are looking to for help and guidance. I do hold power, intentionally or not, over the set. I therefore start every shoot by speaking to everyone as a group and trying to create a safe and open space for cast and crew to express themselves. For Saint Catherines, it was especially important to me that everyone felt comfortable since we were dealing with such an impactful subject. I believe I achieved my goal of creating a strong sense of community and openness on Saint Catherines, however this could not have been done without the wonderful and kind cast and crew supporting this and upholding the vibes. It takes a whole group of amazing people to create something as magical as the Saint Catherines set.

I was concerned about us all also living in such close proximity with each other. It is one thing to spend intense time together on set, a whole other things to sleep in the same rooms and eat 3 meals a day in a tiny cottage with each other. Again, thanks to the wonderful group of people surrounding me, it was an absolute joy. Like one big fun holiday with my friends, but we also got to make a film! Endless games of Werewolf in the evenings, and some excellent shared cooking kept everyone happy 😊

When things fell apart…

Although the shoot went incredibly smoothly, there were some things around the shoot that fell apart a bit…

1) On Day 3 of the shoot, the boiler in the caravan (in which we were filming, and also the cast were staying) decided to break. When I say break, I don’t mean it just stopped working. I mean it started to violently, loudly shake, and the pressure dial was swinging about madly in the red. I can say hands down that I thought we were going to have to stop the shoot because I genuinely for at least five minutes thought we were all going to blow up and die. I wish I was joking. We managed to turn it off and empty the water from it, leaving the caravan without heating (aside from some shitty electric heaters) or hot water for the rest of the shoot. Not the end of the world… but not ideal! I will admit that the whole thing made me incredibly stressed. It was like when you break a mug at your friends house when you are 7, except the mug was a couple-thousands-of-pounds boiler. That could have blown up. This stress meant that I was a bit shaken going into directing Scene 6, which luckily is not super performance heavy. I was frustrated with myself for not being able to calm down, however in hindsight, I think it is fair enough that I freaked out a bit.

2) The day before the boiler incident… the door of the caravan broke. It stopped locking. All the kit was kept in the caravan. You see the problem? One could argue that we were in the middle of nowhere, but I was not taking any chances. A lot frustrated swearing, a desperate call to a locksmith, and £417 out my bank account later, and the door was fixed. Ouch.

3) So if the caravan falling apart wasn’t enough, the poor tiny cottage that we crammed ourselves into was also not having a great time. The old plumbing was not used to 15 people showering, peeing, and everything else, and by the end of Day 3 she was struggling. The shower wasn’t draining, the toilet was filling all the way up, and the sink started dramatically leaking all over the floor of the bathroom. God bless the crew for dealing with it whilst I slept soundly, not realising the carnage that was going on. The next day however, I did of course notice. My plumbing knowledge was probably even less than those heroes from the night before, so despite the many chemicals and drain un-blockers, there was not much we could do. So we banned shitting in the cottage toilet. You need to go? Someone had to drive you to the caravan. Sorry to all the IBS girlies. Again, this all made me quite stressed, and by the end of Day 4 I had a bit of a cry about it in my room. However, the rest of the crew did not seem to mind one bit, and I honestly cannot thank them enough for all their patience, and their incredible ability to endure whatever our accommodation threw at us. It is heart warming to hear that everyone still had a great time 😊 In the future, I will maybe try not to fit that many people into a house that clearly cannot cope with it.

I can now confirm that the plumbing has been fixed, and that my relatives were very understanding and did not mind us breaking it (thank god).

4) Last but not least, this one isn’t as fun. Not that the rest of them are that fun, but they have a funny side at least!

I don’t know why, but I feel the need to talk about this on here as it is something that really affected me on this shoot, and throughout the last few years of university: my eczema. In St Catherines, it got steadily worse throughout the week, and by the end it was pretty unbearable. I am unsure why it got so bad (I never am sure). Probably a mix of stress and the dampness of the old cottage. But really it could be anything. Basically, my reason for bringing it up is that I feel it has tainted my memory of this amazing shoot. When I think about it, the first thought to come to me is how much pain I was in, which SUCKS. It was such a beautiful week filled with the best memories and the most amazing people, and it frustrates me that yet again my eczema has impacted my life in such a negative way. I don’t think I let it impact my directing, or the way I was working with others on set, however it did impact my overall enjoyment of making Saint Catherines, which makes me really sad to be honest. Some people will understand this (shout out to eczema bestie Bonnie xx) but I assume the majority won’t. It’s pretty insignificant in terms of the production as a whole, but it felt wrong to talk about the shoot and not mention it. Anyway… back onto happier stuff!

The Joy of Creative Talent

This is a little section to give some praise to the wonderful team behind Saint Catherines. Being creative with these people has been an absolute joy, and I am constantly in awe of their talents. It is such a wonderful feeling to be able to trust that the team you are working with are going to do our story justice.

The camera team were ELITE. Katie, Eva, Sam C, and Alex C were a well-oiled bundle of energy and talent that have created some gorgeous images. I was so happy to have Eva on as 1st AC, as I think she is incredible to work with, and she supported Katie well. Sam Craigie is an absolute gem, and his knowledge honestly intimidates me. I knew nothing in 2nd year! Alex C is a lighting god, he took my silly little inspo boards and created real actual images! And Katie… the Katie Cox… what can I say! Watching her confidence in her own ability grow has been a privilege, and I am so so so glad that I asked/forced her to be cinematographer for the project. By the last day, she was operating on a whole new level. She knew exactly what she was talking about, she spoke with confidence and certainty, and it makes me so happy that this film has helped her to realise that she can do ANYTHING!!!!!! Katie Cox you LEGEND!

Working with this camera team helped to build my own confidence as a director working with camera. I didn’t feel out of my depth like I have previously on shoots, and always felt able to discuss scenes and ideas with the team.

The sound team, what an iconic duo! Peer and our last-minute boom op saviour George Palmer. They struck the perfect balance of knowing when to be pushy (#standupforsoundrights) and when to just leave it. Peer was a confident presence to have on set, I never felt like I had to worry about sound or chase him up for anything. He was so on it. George was a pleasure to work with, he has such a calming energy no matter what!

Being a sound girly myself, I made sure that at the end of shooting each scene, we had plenty of time left to take wild tracks so that Peer felt good going into the design. I was really pleased that we had time to allow for this, and I hope Peer felt that sound was respected on this shoot!

I was blessed with a super duper organised AD team of Ben and Monica. We had to swap a few of the days around and change the shooting order of some scenes, and Ben and Mon did this with ease and kept things on and off set as stress free as possible. Ben is a talented 1st AD (maybe I’m biased though…) and he somehow ensured we finished early/on-time every day, without ever feeling like he was pushing us or stressing us out. The man is magic! Monica is a God send. One of the most lovely people I have ever had the pleasure of meeting, and she was always the first to volunteer to help out with anything that needed done.

Aimee as solo member of her production design department did a great job bringing the extra level of realness to our set. Her costume direction worked incredibly well for the characters, and I was so happy with the outfits they ended up wearing for each scene. Having Claire wear the red jumper for the first ‘day’ in the story was a great call as she stands out straight away as the main character! She has a real eye for making things look great on camera.

Our script supervisor was from out with Napier, so I was nervous that Sophie would feel slightly left out. However, she was so lovely, and fitted in immediately with the rest of the crew. This was my first time working with a proper script supervisor, and wow. She is incredible! Sophie was quietly on top of everything, just standing in the corner taking notes of every detail, every take, every thing! We had a question? She had an answer! What a joy to work with.

Jack B was my co-producer saviour. Whilst we shared the majority of the pre-production, he really let me just direct on the shoot, which made my life so much easier. I am so grateful that he was there, despite also having Crave looming on the horizon!

And last but not least, Rosie and Tom W were a bundle of joy arriving at the end of Day 2. Rosie took some gorgeous BTS photos that I have spent hours looking at again and again, and god bless Tom for acting as our personal chauffeur whenever we needed driven to the shops for snacks. It was lovely to have such great people join our crew!

Overall I feel I worked well with every department, and that we all were our best creative selves on this set. <3

Directing Friendship

As I have mentioned in previous posts, a big concern of mine was that the cast just wouldn’t get on. There was only so much I could control – if they didn’t click then the dynamic of the group in the film just wasn’t going to work. Luckily for me, the four cast members Claire, Fraser, Millie, and Amy, are some of the most lovely and talented actors I have had the privilege to work with and befriend.

I sneakily made sure that they spent as much time together as possible when not filming, and this started by asking Fraser (who was the only one with a car) if he was able to pick some of the cast up when driving to Saint Catherines. They then stayed in the caravan together (along with Sophie on the sofa), with Amy and Millie even sharing a room. I think this was a great decision on my part, as it added a little bit of reality into what they were experiencing in the film. They got on like a house on fire, taking the energy and connection from the initial rehearsal and creating real friendships. There were moments when we would be eating dinner, or be in between takes, when I would turn to see them all sitting together chatting and laughing, and acting like a real group of friends who had known each other for years. Honestly, we could have just filmed them in their day to day lives and made the most wholesome friendship holiday film ever!

One of my main aims with this project was to improve my technique when working with actors, and I think I achieved this. Some moments were harder than others, but overall I feel I was confident in my directing, and that I was able to get some great performances out of the cast. I found that being able to open up about my own experiences in relation to different scenes was a helpful way to put myself in the same vulnerable position as the cast, and it helped me to describe emotions and aims of scenes without doing the cursed “be more sad/be more angry/be more happy” directing, which is sometimes hard not to fall into.

A key aspect of the film is the realism of the performances, so I made sure that the blocking was very loose to begin with. I let the actors do what felt natural in our rehearsal time before takes, and then we would adjust the blocking according to what they did. This allowed for them to focus more on their performances rather than where they should be putting their feet. The same applied to the dialogue improvisation which made up a lot of the earlier half of the film/the group scenes. They had certain lines to hit, but mostly just bounced off each other and made it up as they went along. It was great for me to see how much they understood the characters, each of the cast were adding in lines that related to their back story or highlighted aspects of their personalities. Some of my favourite lines in the final film are improvised!

Definitely one of my favourite scenes to direct was Scene 2 which we filmed on the first day. Watching the cast run around like sugar-fuelled children filled me with pure unfiltered joy, and still when I watch that scene back I cannot help but smile and giggle.

After the shoot, I received a lovely email from Fraser which I have to admit to move me to tears. Being a classic imposter-syndrome-filled film student, I often doubt my abilities, so to have someone who I respect as an actor reinforce what I am doing was a lovely feeling. I have included a section of the email below:

“As an actor it is hard to find directors who you can work with that instil confidence in you as a performer and you did just that! At the beginning of the week, I was simply pretending to be Harry, but by the end, through your direction and trust, you helped me slip in and out of character like he was real. By putting faith in my abilities and helping tweak small moments you brought out what I think could be my best work till this day which makes you one of the best directors I have ever had.”

:’)

To wrap up…

As always, this post has ended up being much longer than I first anticipated! Despite a few lows of the shoot, I was blessed to have such an amazing experience surrounded by an incredibly talented and supportive team. I am proud of my directing, and although I still have soooo much to learn, I think I succeeded in what I was wanting to achieve with this shoot. I just hope that the final film reflects the love and care that went into it.

#film project

[visceral-rage]

This semester I'll have to make a short film based on David Fincher's directing style for uni!! It's gonna be a long long project. Right now I'm gathering as much information as I can, so if you know any good resource I would totally appreciate it!!!!

I'm mainly looking for

- books/blogs/articles on David Fincher

- tips on filmmaking

- tips on cameras, lights, sets

- anything else that could be useful!

I'd be so so thankful!! 💛💛💛

#david fincher #cinema #fincher #se7en #gone girl #fight club #zodiac #the social network #the girl with the dragon tattoo #film #filmmaking #film production #film project

[saskiamcc]

Mr Balloonhead Man - shoot day 1

14/03/2024

Call time for today was 08:30, with a plan to start shooting for 10:00. 08:30 seems a little early, however in my experience, there needs to be a little bit of time for people running late and also greetings with actors/crew who have never met each other before being on set. I knew that we would run a little over for the first shot as that usually happens when people are getting used to the environment on set etc. As soon as crew started arriving, I made everyone coffee's and also got started on making sandwiches for lunch as I knew we were planning on using the kitchen for the shoot later. I also put out any snacks for people to have throughout the day.

It was so so lovely to get to see David, our voice actor, again since I worked with him last semester and it was nice meeting Lev for the first time properly. We wanted David on set so that he could record dialogue on set - so that he could coordinate the lines with the movement.

As expected, our first set up and shot ran overtime by quite a bit but as soon as we got that shot it was pretty much smooth sailing for the rest of the day. My main job on set was ensuring health and safety regulations are followed and to make sure that there are no problems (including welfare checks :))

The only time I was worried about Lev in the suit was when we were doing the take where Mr Balloonhead Man was walking from the living room to the kitchen. Because this was a front on shot, Lev's face had to be almost completely covered, meaning she could not see where she was walking. We did a few rehearsals with her and she was able to do the blocking by counting her steps. However when it got to doing a take she would often walk a bit too far - into the wall. Luckily she had a helmet on and she was walking very slowly so was not hurt in any way, but for every take I was on stand by in the kitchen to spot her if she was going to walk into the wall.

Throughout the day we managed to catch up on time and we ended up finishing early!! The last thing we had to do was record lines of dialogue in the space and then everyone could go home and rest for the next day.

I had an appointment just after we wrapped so I went off to that but came back as soon as I was finished to have a debrief with Duncan and Gus and go over any glaring issues - which luckily we didn't have. We went over what was happening for tomorrow's shoot and discussed etiquette when shooting in a shop - something that Gus and I are experienced in based on our last project. I finished up the call sheet and sent it out to the cast and crew, and Duncan, Gus and I did final testing of the Glide gear before packing up and heading home.

testing the glide

I sent out the call sheet for the next day and prepared for the shoot.

#third year #film project #producer #mrballoonheadmanproducer

[shokogoth]

Trying to build my own computer for my film project! My computer is very old and keep crashing on me 😅

gofund.me/765850e8

#gofundme #fundraising #filmproject #animation #filmseries #computer #computerbuilding #funding #charity #onlineseries #creative #business

#minecraft #gofundme #fundraising #film project #computerengineering #computer help #computer building #funding #charity #online series #creative #buisness

[coffinofteeth]

Some spoilers ahead for The Raven Cycle!!!

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I have decided that I am going to make a Raven Cycle short film to the song My Tears Are Becoming A Sea by M83. 

The plan is that the beginning of the song during the buildup will be of Gangsey existing among each other and the happy aspects of their lives. Then the heavy emotionally-charged repeated drops will each be of a big scene throughout the books in chronological order (for example: Ronan’s fist connecting with Declan’s face, Adam surrendering himself to Cabeswater, Kavinsky’s death, Persephone’s dead body found in the attic, Noah attacking Blue, Adam and Ronan’s first kiss, and so forth). The end fade out I’m still deciding but I want it to probably be something like Gansey’s actor laying down dead with a zoom in slowly onto him before eyes opening and body jolting as he begins to breath again. 

This project is going to tear my heart apart a million times over.

#the raven cycle #trc #maggie stiefvater #the raven boys #the dream thieves #blue lily lily blue #the raven king #adam parrish #blue sargent #noah czerny #ronan lynch #richard gansey #henry cheng #joseph kavinsky #declan lynch #film project

[rott0dbf]

Continuing on from my past post, I seriously might make some Totheark inspired animation films and would actually love any suggestions or ideas.

My theme has to be metamorphosis so it honestly works so well... Even thinking about including codes that require deciphering?? There's so many possibilities so I wanna make something quality (I'm gonna include random mh and emh tags to get attention so apologies)

#marble hornets #mh #tim wright #brian thomas #masky #emh #everymanhybrid #habit everymanhybrid #hoodie #Film project #Animation project #Analogue horror #Found footage #Found footage project #Uni student #Guys interact

[thislifeisfleeting-blog]

“Cheers for spring; for life; for a growing soul.” Sylvia Plath

1. Kim Addonizio, from ‘New Year’s Day’, Wild Nights: New and Selected Poems

2. Mary Oliver, from ‘Hum Hum’, A Thousand Mornings

3. Unknown

#filmisnotdead #filmcommunity #a personal project #film photography #film #words i do not want to forget #sylvia plath #kim addonizio #mary oliver #film project #110 film #this life is fleeting project #film forever #lomoraphy tiger cn 110 #wake up spring is here

[deerediary]

“The world is beautiful, I love every artwork the lord has created.

Life can be beautiful too, only if I knew that I only get one chance…” - Dakota Deere

#analog horror #horror arg #slenderman #creepypasta #deerediary #slenderverse #emh #creepypasta oc #film project #film #marble hornets #mlandersen0 #hollowhemlocks #tribetwelve #I don’t care I can cross use tags!!!

[m0th-misruled]

i have done it again. keiji city music video.

#yttd #your turn to die #keiji shinogi #kimi ga shine #media #media assignment #film project #music video #parody #Youtube

[realjbguys]

hmmmm should i go out filming found&lost in the rain to film jesse going mentally ill and seeing things (pt3), or wait for the joey actor to get here to film the dumbasses being confused

#found&lost #poll #filming #film project #slenderman #slenderverse

[orlafilmblog]

Some extra thoughts...

I have some random extra details I would like to talk about that aren’t worth a blog post each, so here are some fun little details that I have been thinking about!

INT vs EXT

An interesting aspect of the script and the location was the contrast between the vast beautiful expanse of the outdoors and the cramped closeness of the caravan. One of the main reasons for suggesting to Katie that we set the film on a group holiday was because of this ‘trapped together’ sense that is created when you are away with your friends, and I really want to lean into this. There should be a distinct contrast between this feeling of freedom and openness and this crushing close proximity. This also comes into play with the confrontation scene being set in the woods.

The best way to describe this in terms of scenes is that as the night grows slightly darker in tone, and then after the assault happens, we move from exterior to interior locations, trapping Phoebe. We then move to the forest for the confrontation scene. This resembles Phoebe’s attempt to escape back to the freedom from before, however she cannot do this until she has faced Harry and let her hurt be known to him. She then has to face Sara inside the caravan once more before she can reach the true freedom of the loch, where we return to wider shots and vast spaces.

Shifting from Memory to Reality

Something I want to explore in Saint Catherines is how to effectively shift quite drastically in tone, whilst keeping a consistent style. I see the film in two halves, pre-assault and post-assault. Pre-assault, the film should have a memory-like feel to it, specifically Scene 2 and 3. There should be an almost dream-like quality to the free-flowing nature of these scenes. They should not be linear, and should just be montages of individual moments, in the same wat one remembers fond holiday memories. The colours should be warmer and more saturated, and the sounds should follow the edit in their free-flowing nature and fast paced fullness.

The shift in tone should he felt at first between Scene 3 and 4, but only slightly, and should be felt strongly between 4 and 5. Scene 4 is when the film follows a more linear pattern again, and lighting should return to a less saturated ‘normal’, and the sound should level out and calm down, focusing more on specifics. Scene 5 will complete the tonal shift by being just one shot of an isolated Phoebe, surrounded by silence and darkness. This move over these few scenes from fast paced energy and fun to a single quiet shot should hopefully communicate to the audience where the film is going from this point on.

To keep a consistent style, I plan on ensuring that the film still has a naturalistic feel to it, primarily through having every shot handheld. Through the cinematography remaining consistent, it allows for a drastic shift in tone without losing the primary style of the film.

Also, the help me visualise this idea of memory, I looked through my own photos of fun times with my friends to create a sort of 'vibes folder'. It was more of just a fun way to wast time but oh well!

360-Degree Set

I was listening to an interview with Mia McKenna Bruce talking about her experiences filming How to Have Sex (our fave inspiration film) and she mentioned a concept I hadn’t really heard of before: a 360-degree set. She explained that a lot of the rooms and spaces the girls were in were fully dressed sets, with props and things to interact with hidden in cupboards and placed all over the set. This meant during takes, the actors could interact with any part of the room that felt natural. There was mascara wands in the drawers, empty noodle pots in the sink. I loved this idea, and thought it would be great to try and incorporate into Saint Catherines to aid the actors with their performances. Lucky for us, the caravan we are filming in is already full of stuff for us to use, it is a natural 360-degree set!

( the 360-degree set in use)

#film project

[katieqnmr]

I wrote this a while ago, but just posting it now :)

That’s filming done for the performance which means my role is done in this film, which has been such a joy to be a part of :))

I was on a mission to gather as many pink things as I could so that the overarching theme would be pink or a perceived femininity to reflect Marie’s want to belong. I also thought it was a bit surreal to be greeted with such saturation of one colour, which was really part of the purpose of many of the scenes in this film, to create that unreality and feeling of surrealism/an oneiric feeling, to isolate Marie and reflect her state of mind.

I set dressed the bedroom with Ava, my friend who helped me :)) (David lent his room which was really kind) and it went pretty smoothly, I was really happy overall with the effect achieved. I did add more things after on the walls, and changed a few aspects but I didn’t get a photo in time!

I didn’t choose big posters in time, and I think that was because I freaked out a bit about the character and left it too late. I was gonna bring my own posters but I just overthought it and felt it wouldn’t fit. Anyhow everything else I thought through properly and it was all good :)) David’s room got YASSIFIED.

I also dressed the bathroom with pink shower gels and razors and other things, messed up a bathroom shelf with makeup everywhere. Orla and Ben spray- painted a white shower curtain pink which was so sweet of them (Orla helped me massively and provided plenty of her own sort of gay teenage items which really helped because I don’t have a lot of my own belonging here because I live too far to bring everything!)

I also created faked blood for the scene where Marie’s cuts herself in the shower, red food colouring and brown face paint worked really well consistency wise!

I drew these ideas for makeup (my first time drawing face charts which were really fun!)

And I feel like they served as really good visual guidance, though I did end up changing a few things!

And finally the club, which I also dressed a bit to make it a gay club :) rather a gay commercial club but we shall ignore that.

I made these posters, wrote some warnings about leaving drinks unattended, which though dystopian is realistic… made some felt bi flags and then used some other pride flags Orla had. I scattered cups and shot glasses everywhere and gave all the extras ‘drinks’! They were also instructed to wear pink red or black, to create again this surreal and homogenous group.

Overall I’m really proud of everything I did, I loved making this film and being a part of it!! I hope it’s obvious with all the work I put into it that I really adore this film and all the people working on it :)))

#film project #theperformance