Final Man: a film student's odyssey

Henry Smokin’ Bacon

We’re working on a documentary about Henry Bacon, a Super Middle Weight professional boxer from a gypsy/traveller background. Here are some photos that I’ve taken on our shoots so far. I’ve been making an effort to try and take photos as well as filming as we go along, for possible use as promotional material and also to document the process of film making.

The Birdcage - some test shots

From our little test shoot/visit yesterday - Tomm’s sitting in the place of Birdy, and Grace in the place of Flea.

Thinking about angles - we want to shoot this in a ‘studio’ kind of way - we’re planning on using 3 cameras to shoot this section. Two will be close up shots of the two actors faces (at an angle with 50mm lenses) and a third will be a master shot (28mm) of the bar, looking at them side on if they’re facing each other (something like the top pic). We’d like to shoot the whole scene through using the 3 cameras (the end section would have to be separate as they move into the floor). We spoke to Justin about this in the tutorial, who said that we’ll need some good actors… Luckily, we do!

We’ll also get some cutaways of mise-en-scene. I also thought it might be nice to have Birdy rolling a cigarette as they are talking. In the script, Flea taps her feet on the metal of the stool … Luckily, they have cool stools…

One thing I’m slightly unsure about is the green light in the background… When I saw it initially, I thought… Urgh, turn it off… but it is kind of growing on me. I think it looks better in the shot of them both at the bar, rather than in the close up of Grace with the light in the background. When we’re shooting we’ll most likely use some extra lights, too…

P.S. I got a new camera! Maybe in future my white balance won’t be so off….

What’s going on? Err… Everything!

Hello! It’s been a busy time recently, trying to pull together all of the pre-production for Flea Circus. I’d say it’s going pretty well. We’re struggling with a couple of things - mainly finding a dance studio, which is actually not one of the things that I was originally concerned about. We’ve asked approximately a million (exaggeration.) people and gathered the same amount of “NO!”s. It’s frustrating when the shoot is looming closer and closer and we still can’t confirm when or where we’re going to shoot the dance sequence. There are a couple of possibilities at the moment and I’m sure something will come through. Please, please let it be soon.

Everyone that we’ve asked to be involved in the project has been really excited and gracious with their time. We’ve commissioned the construction of a gypsy caravan, to make the circus campsite complete. I got really excited last week when I was talking to my dad and we figured out a way that the caravan could be made that wouldn’t be too complicated and would look cool. Now that it’s actually being made, I’m STUPIDLY excited.

This is what we’re basing our caravan design on - image from Google.

We’ve decided to shoot the campsite scenes in my yard, where we did the test shooting (test shoot footage will arrive on tumblr at some point), which is going to work well in terms of how it’s going to look, and because it’s super practical. It’s in Norwich, we can use my house for electricity, keeping warm, eating, as changing rooms etc etc etc, and we can (technically) leave the set up for as long as we need it. Early on we talked about shooting in various other locations (mainly so we could build the campsite around a caravan) but after the test shoot we settled on the yard, which I’m happy with.

Me, Tomm and Grace spent literally the whole of today breaking down the final scene in the ‘bigtop’ (its not really a bigtop I’m afraid), sketching out diagrams and figuring out a shotlist. Looking at it now, it’s really detailed which is great, but I’m not sure how it took ALL DAY…? We also had a tutorial with Justin this morning - we had a good chat about the things we’re worried about - mainly the dance studio situation. It was really helpful to talk about it actually, and we decided that we need to start looking for alternative locations and to think about other ways that the scene could work. It would be such a shame not to have it in a dance studio though, and not to use the lovely ballerina’s that we’ve got… So for me, that really is the last resort. We also feel like we might need to consider some back-up actors for some of the roles. Most people have been fantastic and super flexible and lovely, but some others are of course busy and unable to shoot when we need them… it’s such a shame!

Yesterday we went to the Birdcage (which is where we’re hoping to shoot our pub scene - just waiting for the confirmation of the dates) to take some pictures and think about angles. Plus we had some tea and sat around and talked… it’s really nice in there, and it really suits the feel of the film. It’s lovely!

What else… We’re also still missing 1 actor, to play Margaret, Flea’s mother and the stern ballet teacher. We’ve asked a couple of people (although there’s a definite favourite….!!!!!!!) so we’re waiting on replies, and also waiting to find out about locations. It’s hard to get actors involved when you don’t know when you’re shooting.

The mission continues….

Ballet Stereotypes

I’m doing some script writing and thinking about traditional ballet stereotypes. It seems like in  most peoples minds, ballet is a middle/upper classed practice. It’s a weird, biased view of the dance, which should really be open to people from all backgrounds and cultures. So I’m ashamed to say that it is a stereotype that we’re making use of in Flea Circus, in the character of Margaret and in Flea’s opinion of ballet. Also, in the way that she’s excluded from the ballet world. Is it a bad thing to show such a narrow view on a stereotype? Or maybe I’m trying to be too diplomatic. There are always going to be morals, ethics and values in films that aren’t necessarily fair or… right.

I found this post called A feminist guide to ballet on a feminism website. The writer talks about her view of ballet, how she used to do it when she was younger. She says:

I’m not the sort of woman that people credit with ballet in her past. It could be the tattoos or the punk-rock aesthetic. But it comes down to this: ballet, in the public consciousness, is for ultra-feminine, delicate girls.

HOWEVER, she tries a class and then this:

Keith Hodiak, the class tutor, is not what I expect. My memories of ballet teachers are of older women in tutus with a ruthless attitude to any misstep. Hodiak, in contrast, bursts into the room wearing tracksuit bottoms and dreads, and he’s no waif. He says: “People come for all sorts of reasons.”

So there we go. Why am I writing this? I’m not entirely sure. I guess I just wanted to show that whilst I am writing a script that abuses the ballet stereotype, I’m not completely unaware of the fact that it may not really be like that.

Flea Circus Treatment

Here’s the Flea Circus treatment that I’ve been working on. I’m not sure if it’s quite finished yet - what do you think?

Flea Circus begins at night.  A ruffled ballerina is thrown out of the door of a grand ballet school. She lands in a puddle. Later, downing her sorrows in the local pub, she meets Birdy, an ex-trapeze artist. He wears a grubby feathered coat, with a pair of wings attached to the back. He comforts her and realising her talent, brings her to join his circus. He gives her the name ‘Flea’, because of her nimble tapping feet. The Flea Circus campsite sprawls outwards from a ramshackle caravan in the centre. A canvas awning covers a communal area. The ground is covered with richly coloured rugs and throws. The area is lit by candles, fairy lights and a fire, on top of which is an iron pot of chunky vegetable stew. Performers practise fire pois, juggling and contact ball. Esmerelda, a young fortune teller sits by the fire, stirring the soup. As Flea arrives, Sachi, a dark haired hula hooper, stares suspiciously.

Around the fire, Flea shares her story. Back at the ballet school, Flea is in a class of perfect pink ballerinas. Lined up by the bar, Flea is struggling to perform an attitude en pointe. Her leg wobbles. A strict ballet teacher with a solemn face glares at her. The ballet teacher is Flea’s mother, Margaret. The class continues on to different moves. Close-up of Flea’s feet, tapping in ballet shoes. Margaret stands in front of her, hand on hip. Close-up of Flea’s face, defiant. Close-up of Margaret, angry. Flea’s body starts to move with the tapping of her feet. They stare at one another, Flea’s tap-dance gradually getting faster. “Stop it” says Margaret. Flea carries on dancing. “Stop it!” Margaret repeats “Stop it right now Amelia!” Flea tap dances around the room, with a powerful grace. She grins at her mother, whose face reddens with anger. Margaret lashes out and grabs Flea’s arm. “GET OUT!” she yells. The smile is wiped off of Flea’s face as she is dragged down the corridor and thrown forcefully out of the grand wooden doors.  Again, she sits outside in the puddle.

The next morning, Flea wakes up to a view starkly contrasting the warmth and colour of the previous night. The fire has gone out, leaving a pit of of grey ash. The tents are ripped and tatty. Dirty washing lies on the grass. Performers lie drowsy in sleeping bags, the previous days’ colourful make-up smudged and hair messy. Behind her, Birdy and Esmerelda discuss the arrival of Fagin, the ringmaster. Esmerelda has concerns that Fagin will be displeased with Flea’s arrival, it lacking his consent. He has a fiery temper. Flea looks concerned.

Later in the day, the circus rehearses their acts in the bigtop. Spotlights create colourful lens flares, and striped white and red canvas is visible in the background. The performers wear formerly grand costumes in deep reds, purples and greens. They are tatty and faded with age. Flea appears wearing a rose coloured satin ballgown, the skirt shortened, reminiscent of a ballerinas tutu. Sachi hoops, lost in the moment. Esmerelda juggles, her jewellery jangling. Red, fire performer wearing a blue bandanna, does fire pois. They request a performance from Flea, who begins to dance in a modern combination of ballet and tap. Suddenly, everything stops. The jugglers drop their juggling balls and those talking are quiet. A door in the background slowly creaks open, light spilling through. A man appears in silhouette, wearing a tophat and suit jacket, holding a whip. He walks further into the doorway and stands still, watching. He cracks the whip, viciously. The fire pois held down at Red’s side goes out. Birdy’s glances at the door nervously. “Flea,” he says “this is Fagin.” Cut to black.

Finally back at NUCA after a long, busy summer! It felt like we’d been away for years. At the moment I’m getting used to some of the changes that have happened over the last few months…. mostly the move to Cavendish house. My first impressions are: it’s cold and it’s a bit of a downgrade. I thought we might lose some of the sense of community that we had at EPIC - so far I don’t feel like that’s the case and I’m really enjoying being at the centre of the NUCA campus. It’s nice to be surrounded by students on other courses, and to feel like the library and SU bar aren’t a million miles away. Our work spaces seem okay, although since we haven’t started full on production yet, so I’m not sure how we’ll feel about it then. Surprisingly, the chairs in the building are actually LESS comfortable than the ones in the EPIC lecture rooms, which we all complained about last year. Maybe this year we can invest in some bean bags….

Something I’m excited about is that we’re going to have more film related people speaking at the shared media lectures. I really enjoyed them last year, even if they focussed more on animation, but it will be good to have a bit more of a mix.

Over the summer I went on a stupidly long bike ride (from Forfar, Scotland to Leiston, Suffolk) and blogged about it along the way. I was hoping that I would be able to do some video blogs along the way too, but that didn’t work out in the end, which was a shame. I had planned on buying a new camera just before we left, but it fell through and I felt a bit discouraged. Along the way I found that I probably wouldn’t have been able to anyway, to be honest… cycling is bloody tiring you know! We cycled 45 miles a day on average, with our biggest day being just under 70 miles. That day was in the Fens, where its suuuper flat and easy to work up a good pace (some of the time we were at about 17mph). Anyway, you can see the blog here:A Dominies Blog.

I also went to my school reunion (and borrowed Grace’s 600d to play with, which was fun) and worked on The Power, a feature film which was being shot in Norwich. It was a pretty hardcore month, with little sleep and literally no days off, as I had to keep my usual job also. It was a really good experience for me and I really learnt a lot about the film industry. It’s made me think differently about how I’m approaching my work at uni. After the shoot finished, I had a week or so of feeling sad and lonely. I found it strange to be with all those people day in day out for a month, and for them to suddenly dissappear. I suppose that’s something you have to get used to when working in film. From working on The Power, I’ve got a possible job for next summer. I went down to see the director of this project whilst they were shooting some trailers last week at a studio in Norwich to have a chat, see what was going on and generally try and make myself useful. It was at a studio which is mostly used for photography, so it was interesting to see them using it in a different way. It felt quite informal - they weren’t recording sound so there wasn’t any *QUIET ON SET* panic and I got to spend the afternoon talking to people who were working there. One of the people I found most interesting was the owner of the studio, who is a photographer by trade, but was working on set design and lighting for this production. As lighting is something I haven’t yet managed to get into much, I found it really interesting to talk to him about his techniques and whatnot…. So fingers crossed, something will come of that.

Over the summer I’ve been thinking a lot about photography and its importance in film making… I’ve always taken lots of photos, but my camera is quite old (Nikon d50) and I’ve not really been friends with it recently, since I feel its a bit out of date. I’ve started using it more in the last few weeks though, with a manual 50mm lens. Since its a manual lens, you have to think a bit more when using it, which I’m finding fun. Anyway… back to the matter at hand :)

Set Design & Prop Hunting

This is a little map thing I made to show what I mean about the design of our killer’s surgery. Excuse my artwork please, I know it sucks but you get the idea, right? There’s this great SMEG fridge at the farm that we’re going to move into our surgery area and fill with lungs (which come in a pack of organs from the butchers on Magdalen st - we have to order them a week before we need them). The space we’re using has a lot of car mechanic stuff in it so it’s going to take a bit of work to get it how we want it - I think a day in overalls is in order. There’s a table there that we’re going to use..

(table, fridge. Photos from Hubble and Benji I think? From the location recce, anyway)

We’re getting Will on board as our set constructor/handyman type person - he’s going to help attach straps to the table to make it into a bit more of a gore surgery table. (we’re also going to make a Fig Rig! If anyone’s interested I found this great page full of rig ideas for DSLRs - http://filmmakeriq.com/2011/04/22-diy-dslr-camera-rigs/) Today me and Benji went on a charity shop hunt for some leather belts to use as straps - not as successful as I would have liked unfortunately. We got a couple (they were only 50p) but they aren’t real leather and look a little… flimsy. I’ve been wondering about getting some old horsey stuff from somewhere - not sure where to look yet though!

In terms of props for the surgery, I’ve been eBaying it.Today I bought a surgical scalpel with blades and these:

And I want to get a syringe like these (on eBay) but depending on how much they end up at (they arent much at the moment but have a few days to go) I might just go for some cheap plastic ones. You can get packs of 10 on eBay for £1.70.

I’ve also been looking at recipes for fake blood. Mmmmm <3

• Tropical fruit punch (Hawaiian Fruit Punch® works great)
• 1 cup corn syrup 
• 2 tablespoons of red food coloring
• 1 tablespoon of chocolate syrup
• 2 tablespoons of cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon of powdered cocoa

Combine all of the ingredients in the blender and mix for 10 seconds. Since different brands of fruit punch vary in color, you’ll need to use your vast experience in making fake blood to tweak the recipe to arrive at your perfect batch of fake blood.

Some fake blood connoisseurs recommend a cup of coffee in place of the fruit punch. You may need to reduce (or eliminate) the amount of chocolate syrup and powdered cocoa used in the recipe. Remember, it’s all about experimentation!

Take the white towel test… drip a few drops of blood onto a white towel to see how realistic it looks. Or better yet… roll up your sleeve and drip a little on your arm if you run into a neighbor!

How does it work?

Take a moment to see how the variables work as you adjust your mixtures…

• Corn syrup is used to thicken the liquid.
• Cornstarch is used to make the liquid less transparent.
• Chocolate syrup and powdered cocoa darken the blood, turning it reddish-brown, and add depth to the color.
• It may be necessary to add a few drops of green food coloring to change the color ever so slightly to the brown side. Mixing green and red makes brown and a few drops can do the trick.

That’s from here: http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/experiment/fake-blood-recipes. I’ve made some fake blood in the past using a combination of cough syrup, red food colouring, water and cornstarch… It was okay, but a bit too gloopy. I want to try out this recipe as in the photos on the page it looks quite thin (more like real blood) and a good colour. I also want to find a different recipe for scabbier/older blood for wounds. Stuff that would start to go a bit crusty.

On that lovely note I’ll leave it for today. Don’t worry, I’ll be back soon to discuss the pitch, research, casting and schedules. Yummy.

Welcome back + Pray for Japan

So welcome back :) we had the briefing for the new project on Monday. This time its a genre project and I’mworking in a group with the Emmas (to the power of two), Grace and Benji. We’re intending to work on a horror which I’m pretty excited about! We’re going to have a look at parents farmhouse (which generally tends to come in useful) on Monday, as a possible location. We haven’t finalised a storyline yet but we’re gathering ideas and it’s coming together. We’re also having a ‘research’ film night on Monday for some inspiration :)

I’m also working on a video to support the people in Japan suffering the consequences of the earthquake. My friend Meg (from Unshin, the band) is writing a song, so the video is to go with it. Not in a music video kind of way though! We’re just taking loads of shots of various people around Norwich and also at Summerhill (school) holding up supportive messages. I designed the little Pray for Japan doodah at the top to use as one of the signs. My brother is making a website as a part of the project for people to upload their own photographs with messages. We shot stuff around Norwich today (in the SU bar, the Playhouse, out in the streets and at the cathedral) and it went really well. People were really up for being involved which is lovely! As well as the video camera, I took my 35mm Nikon… It was nice to get it out of the house for a change! The downside is, I would love to share the photos on here but I haven’t had them developed yet.

On the note of other projects, I shot some stuff of the Norwich Circus Collective doing some circus busking in the centre of Norwich a couple of weeks ago. So I should be editing that in the next couple of weeks, hopefully to this song:

I accidentally saw these guys playing at Project and thought they were great. I spoke to them after the show about using the track for this project, so hopefully I’ll actually have permission for use :)