Direction Unit: Assistant Director

On Thursday I acted as Assistant Director for Sam Wilder on his 3 minute episode of Park Story. This gave me the chance to give input during the shoot e.g. shot ideas etc. This way I got to see how my peers directed their episode compared to my style of directing. Like me I felt that that Sam had a variety of different shots which I felt worked well for his piece. Sam was well organised and knew exactly what he wanted as a director.

Direction Unit: Editing

On Friday I started editing my 3 minuted episode of Park Story. So far I have put together 2 minutes 45 seconds of footage. This is only a rough copy and is no where near completion however I am confident in my piece and am confident that when the editing process is completed that it will look great. That's all I've got on the editing front so far! but watch this space EDITING HAS BEGUN!

Direction Unit: Production

Last Tuesday I set out with my production crew to Vinters Park to film my episode of Park Story. On my team I had Sam Wilder as main actor, Zara Kemmenoe as the main actress, Tory Stewart-Wooler as my make up artist, David Anga as my camera-op and Melissa Liddicoat as my Assistant Director. We started filming at 4pm and finished around 7:45pm. Armed with my storyboard I set out looking for my locations and  informing my crew of what I wanted. I have never directed before, and telling people what to do isn't something I'm used to doing however seeing my creation come to live was quite enjoyable and I believe it was enjoyable for my crew as well! I believe that my crew selection was a good one and that everyone performed very well on set. One problem which I encountered was the time of day, as it got darker quicker than I imagined, however I prepared for this to happen and used a battery powered hand held light to brighten up the scene. Here are a couple of behind the scene stills from the shoot.

Direction Unit: Development

After receiving feedback from my peers during the group crit session, I have decided to change a couple of shots in my 3 minute film. To Identify that the male character was a paranormal photographer I had a extreme close up of his pass saying "paranormal photographer" but my peers suggested that perhaps I should show this in a different way, e.g. show some of his pictures he's done on previous jobs or show him putting up a note at the front of the park saying "paranormal photographer at work". I have taken these ideas into consideration and will most likely use one of them.

Direction Unit: Locations

A couple of days ago I went to Vinters Park to find some locations for shooting my three minute film theses are a few of the places where I plan to film.

Filming For Desi Blitz: Barfi

Over the summer holidays I did some filming for the internet website "Desi Blitz" at the English premier of "Barfi". Recently the interview which my friend did with the leading actor (Ranbir Kapoor) was featured on the website. The interview was recorded with audio only, however some of my footage which I filmed at the premier of "Barfi" was used on top of the audio of the interview. Here is the website where the interview can be found: http://www.desiblitz.com/content/ranbir-kapoor-as-fun-and-dumb-barfi

Direction Unit: Planning

In my take of "The Park Story" I shall be creating something along the lines of a horror genre. To achieve this I need to have a dark setting. My idea was, as the story progresses the darker the setting will become as the photographer goes deeper into the woods to find the ghost. I plan to put a blueish filter over the footage to give it the creepy and eerie sense that the photographer is being followed. The image on the right is an example of what I want my setting to look like.

The torch will be carried by the photographer and will be used to find where the girl is. I plan on using a hiking torch which has two different brightness settings. The torch is a key prop in the story and will be used by both characters (the girl will only use it in the last scene after the photographer dies). The torch looks similar to the one in the picture.







Another prop which I have chosen to add to the scene is a professional camera, which the photographer uses to capture images of the ghost he's looking for. When he tries to take pictures of the ghost/girl she does not show up when he looks back at the camera which starts to strike fear into the photographers heart. The camera will look similar to the one on the right.







The costumes which I plan to use for the actors have already been planned out. For the photographer he will wear a leather jacket with a white work shirt, jeans and black shoes. For the girl I need a white dress to represent the ghost like eeriness which is represented in modern day media.    

Direction Unit: The Letter

This is my work on a direction project we were assigned last week hope you enjoy

Direction Unit: Progress

The theme that I drew for the "Park Story" was "Death" and the prop was "Torch". My initial idea for this was to film it during the evening or night time, making effective use of the torch prop. I next thought was in what sort of scenario would someone be using a torch in the woods at night relating to death. My first idea was that a girl goes missing so her boyfriend goes out in search of her with torch in hand only to find her dead by a cliff, however this idea has not been look too much upon as my second idea is one which I prefer.

My second idea was a paranormal photographer investigating the park for a ghost of some sort during the evening or night time. As he walks through this park looking for clues he hears footsteps, sees figures in the bushes, etc. Along the way he notices a pale looking girl and tries to communicate with her, however this becomes unsuccessful and the photographer moves on. Not much later the same girl appears again before the photographer, he again tries to communicate with the girl but again this is unsuccessful, noticing that this is "paranormal" he decides to take a few pictures of the unusual girl. After taking a couple of pictures the photographer looks away to tighten the focus but when he looks away the girl is gone. Fear starts to come across the photographer so he pulls out the torch in order to find the girl who turns out to be right behind him. The photographers flight or flight instincts come into play as he flees the girl. He runs through the darkened trees he cannot seem to flee the girl. A hand then appears from the ground and grabs the photographers heel and tripping him up, the photographer struggles but the girl won't let go, he pleas for his life begging the girl to let him go. As he looks into the girls eyes the grip on his ankle loosens and he is able to walk away, as the photographer flees he looks back to see the girl in the same place where he last looked which is unusual considering the girl has vanished every time he's looked away. As he turns to head out of the park with the torch in his hand, he collapses shaking uncontrollably frothing from the mouth until he is still. Footsteps are heard as the girl approaches his body she picks up the torch, she points it towards her face looking straight into the camera, she switches of the torch and the scene ends.

The Girl in this short scene is representing death, the message of the scene is that death is always round the corner and that you cannot run away from death it will always be able to find you. This is still in the drafting stage and can still be edited.

Over The Summer Holidays

Over the summer holidays I did some camera work for the on-line magazine website DESIblitz. What I did for the website was film an Interview with some Bollywood actors at certain premiers and press conferences around London at the Indian Film festival and Feltham. I filmed at premiers such as "Teri Meri Kahaani", "Arjun & Alison", "Baishey Srabon" and "Barfi". At these premiers I filmed interviews with big name Bollywood actors and actresses including Raima Sen, Shahid Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra. Over all I found the experience enjoyable and I look forward to doing it again.