R+P Post 20: Reflections so far/ looking ahead

Reflections so far:

I feel that our test shoot went really well. The day itself was excellent, and all through this part of the project Noa and I have worked really well together. We've managed to have fun, whilst also getting the work done. Although our rough cut was not brilliant, doing the test shoot and the rough cut has really emphasized points we need to change, and how we can make our opening sequence even better.

Looking Ahead:

I'm really positively looking forward to the main shoot, especially acting more in it. I feel that with all the reflections we have made on the test shoot we should be able to complete the main shoot and create a successful opening sequence.

R+P Post 19: Our rough cut

Our Rough Cut Video:
We created a rough cut version of our project to get a good idea at how the sequence would work as a whole. Doing this was a big step-up from our animatic, and really allowed us to see the issues that would arise when filming, and if the different parts of the sequence fit well together.

Editing the video was one of my favourite parts of the project so far. Me and Noa worked really well together, getting on with the work whilst also being able to have fun. hopefully this fun was also able to transfer over into the video itself. Editing also allowed us to pick up on issues that needed to be revised prior to our main shoot.


Revisions needed:
Many revisions we decided we needed to make I have already mentioned in my previous post, but there were certain ones that we were able to really pick up on whilst editing:

•  Be careful what is behind the Toby puppet, as sometimes the strings can be seen and this detracts from the realism of our piece.

• Use more cross-cutting on Joyce's interview shot, as it is quite long and this will make it more engaging to the viewers.
• Overall improve the framing of the interview shots, and make them look more professional to better contrast against the hand-held style of the moving shots.

• As already mentioned in a previous post we need to change the beginning shot, as it makes no sense for the camera crew to already be in Toby's bedroom.
• Also we need to change the end sequence. Currently it makes no narrative sense and feels tacked-on purely to give us opportunities for continuity techniques. Instead we will have a sequence of him packing his car and being driven off by Joyce. This will give a bit of finality to the opening sequence separating it from the rest of the film, and letting us know that this is the end of the old Equilibrium.
• Also we plan to put around the house "hidden" cameras, as this will enable us to show our continuity techniques without it feeling fake and forced in. This will also give us better opportunities for the cut-away shots.

We created a new list of the shots we plan to use in our sequence for the main shoot from the problems we noticed in the edit:

The New Shot List

R+P Post 18: Our test shoot

Our Test shoot:
We had a Test-shoot create a preliminary draft of what our final sequence may look like, and to get an idea of what it was like to film in location and in a more serious environment. Having a test shoot was vital for our project as it allowed us to get an idea and plan ahead to problems we might face on the main shoot. Me and Noa worked well together, breaking the workload into easily manageable chunks. We started by creating shoot-boards for the day. These were very useful as they allowed us to have all the information we needed for filming each shot including: timings, dialogue, framing and location, actors and props.

Test shoot-board page 1

Test shoot-board page 2

Test shoot-board page 3

Test shoot-board page 4

We started the day off at 9:00 in the morning, this gave Noa and I time to set up before the actors arrived at 9:30. The day went well and we finished at around 1:30 in the afternoon. However there were some things that could have gone better and need improvement.

Improvements needed:

• Better plan out the shots involving Toby e.g. the puppet shots, as they feel slightly clunky and really slow down the pace of the film. In our main shoot we are just going to use the puppet for the interviews, and have the actor for all the movement shots.

• Changing Shot 4. This will be changed to a tracking shot of Joyce, that will make more narrative sense, and feel less staged and more like a real documentary.
• Use better lighting in all shots, specifically the interview and living room shots. We attempted to go with natural light but this caused some issues e.g. Joyce doing squats and her face being in shadows, so for our main shoot we will be using the lighting rig to get, natural looking, but good quality lighting.

• Use props to give a better sense that Toby is going off to Uni. We can do this by simply just scattering cardboard boxes around the house.

Improving Casting and Costumes:
Below is a table of the casting and costumes of the characters in our sequence for the main shoot.

Finalised cast and costume list with changes from the test shoot.

• We are going to recast the actor who played Toby, as we do not feel he is correct for the role, and his dialogue felt clunky and wooden. We also got the impression that he did not enjoy the filming environment, and he would rather not do it again.
• Change Kenny. As it stands Kenny is an underused and boring character, who we feel could be better used to create comedy and awkward situations. We realised that if Joyce payed more attention to Toby, then realistically Kenny would act up and try to be more like his mother to get attention. We are going to change him into a more narcissistic personality and put him in more shots. This will also help to even out some of the balancing problems with the majority of the sequence being taken up by Joyce.
• Joyce is going to stay almost exactly the same in our main shoot, as we feel we really nailed her character.

Improving the sets:

• To improve the interview set-up for our main shoot, we plan to make it look much more professional, to improve the contrast between this and the other shots. To do this we plan to remove any unnecessary props from the background, such as the kitchen roll, to try and make the shot less cluttered. We also plan to improve the lighting for this shot.

• In the bedroom shots for the main shoot we want to actually create the atmosphere of someone who is going to uni, as if Toby were really moving out, he would have more than one suitcase. Therefore, in the main shoot we plan to clutter the room with lots of card-board boxes.

• In the living room set-up to improve these shots next time we will be trying to improve the lighting, with more artificial lighting. This was a big problem we noticed when editing, as it was very hard to see Joyce's face a lot of the time.

R+P Post 17: Our editing arrangements

Our Editing Arrangements:

Our Test Shoot editing schedule

We used Adobe Premier Pro to edit together our video. This is a great software, as it has a visible timeline on which you can drag your videos straight onto. This also allowed us to do multi-track editing which was very useful when doing very delicate edits. We also used two playback screens, allowing us to look through the raw footage, whilst also being able to watch what we had edited together so far as a whole.
As you can see from our editing schedule we did the majority of the editing together, and had at least one session per day where we could show each other what we had done. This was great as it meant we were both very involved in the decisions needed for the edit, and neither of us would feel left out. We also stayed in contact throughout the whole editing week on a Whats app group chat, and using the app Wunderlist.

R+P Post 16: Casting, costumes, hair and make-up

Casting, Costumes, Hair and Make-up:

• Toby
• To be played by: Tamir Halevi

Tamir halevi as Toby when we tested the bandages.

• Costume: Average teenage boy clothes e.g. Jeans and a Hoodie. He will also be wearing bandages, goggles/sunglasses, and gloves.
• We will use bandages, gloves and goggles for Toby, as he is invisible. Therefore we need to cover all of his skin that would usually be visible to allow for the suspension of disbelief.
• Toby has the most time-intensive makeup, as we will have to completely cover his head in bandages.
• In the interview shots Toby will be played by our puppet, but with Tamir's voice dubbed over.

• Joyce
• To be played by: Finella Craig

Finella Craig, who will be playing Joyce

• Costume: Workout clothing e.g. Legging, trainers and a T-shirt. Joyce will also wear multiple pairs of sunglasses around her body, this is to create humor.

• Kenny
• To be played by: Tom Brown

Me (Tom Brown) prior to playing Kenny

• Costume: Dull and normal teenage boy clothes e.g. jeans and a shirt.
• Kenny will also be the only character to have his hair specifically styled.

For revisions to the casting and costumes after the test shoot see Post 18.

R+P Post 15: Our filming location, set design and props

Our Filming Location:
We are going to film in Noa's house as it is a medium sized family home, this fits the bill of what would be the family home of the Lerones.
Within Noa's house we will have specific set-ups that we will use for each shot:

• Set-up 1:
• The living room.
• We will use this set up for the interview shots. We plan to make this contrast with the other shots, by including lighting rigs in the background and a boom mic, to create a more staged situation for these shots.

Noa's Living Room (interview area)

• Set-up 2:
• The bedroom.
• We will film in Noa's bedroom for these shots. We want to try and create the atmosphere of someone who is moving out soon. We will try to do this through the use of the suitcase as a prop.

Noa's Bedroom

• Set-up 3:
• The living room.
• These shot will encompass the main area of the living room, in-appose to the corner that will be used for the interview shots. These shots will be mainly used for cutaways for Joyce. In these shots we will have the Wii fit set up to try and show how much Joyce is into her fitness.

Noa's Living Room

Top-down plans:
We decided to make detailed plans of how each shot would work. To do this we created top-down floor-plans for Noa's house, and planned out each shot on them.

Top down plan of Shot 5

Top down plan of Shot 7/9/13/17/19/21

Top down plan of Shot 10-12

Top down plan of Shot 14-16/20

Top down plan of Shot 22-25

Top down plan of Shot 25-27

Props:
We will use some props for our opening sequence:

• Suitcase and Boxes:
• These will be littered throughout the house, specifically in Toby's room. They are supposed to push the idea that Toby is about to move out to Uni.

• The Wii Board:
• This will be used by Joyce in her exercising scenes as she is really into fitness, and used to be a Pilates instructor.

• The Toby Puppet:
• We will use this as a stand-in for Toby in some shots.

The Toby Puppet from us experimenting with it early on

• The aim of the puppet is for us to be able to create a convincing depiction of someone being invisible with our limited time and resources.
• The Puppet is made out of a pair of glasses, some 'invisible' string, and two pieces of wood.

R+P Post 14: Our filming arrangements

Our Filming Arrangements:
We decided to film in Noa's house, as it fitted the bill for the Lerone family's home, as it is a medium sized family house.To transport the kit I got assistance form my dad, who picked me up from school with it, and was able to drive me to Noa's with it on the day of the shoot. We had already had our shoot-arrangements form signed off earlier in the week.

Our Test-shoot arrangements form.

On the day of the shoot I arrived at Noa's at 9:00 in the morning. This allowed us to get started early and be prepared and ready for when the actors arrived at 9:30. We choose to shoot on a Sunday as it was the best fit for our actors and Noa and I.

For the Main-shoot:
For the main shoot we decided not to change any of the decisions we had made in the Test-shoot arrangements form as it had all worked quite well. One element we did decided to change was the actor, and the day. After re-casting our main actor, we also changed the day of filming, as the Saturday better fit for our new actor.

Overall I feel that our arrangements went well as the shoot was a success, and we managed to finish our filming in a good amount of time.

R+P Post 13: Our Animatic

Our Animatic:

For our project we made an animatic, this was a very basic draft of our final video consisting of still images and voice overs to represent the shots. It was basically our storyboard brought to life. The animatic was a great tool as it allowed us to properly see how our sequence would fit together as a cohesive video, shot by shot,

Our Animatic editing schedule

Making the animatic allowed us to get the first proper taste of what our sequence was going to be like, and allowed us to step back and realistically see how all the shots fitted together, and if we needed to tweak anything prior to our test shoot.
The animatic was a really useful tool as it allowed us to reflect on our sequence and make any changes needed, for instance we needed some explanations to the setting of our sequence in relation to the rest of the film (why he was at home if he was going to uni). We did this by implementing a new inter-title at the beginning, that better set the scene.

R+P Post 12: Our Storyboard

Our Storyboard:

The story board is a shot by shot plan of our sequence. Making the story board was probably one of the most helpful things we could have done for our project. This allowed us to plan our sequence out shot-by-shot, and get a good idea of the finished sequence. We were also able to use this to plan out our music and dialogue in a much more detailed way than the timeline allowed.



Our Storyboard at the time of the test shot



We were provided the template by the media department and decided it would be the best way to go. The post-it notes were useful as it allowed the storyboard to be visually stimulating, also allowing us to be able to change the order and sequence of shots as our idea changed and adapted. We were also able to create a key using all the shot types we would need for our shoot.

A close up of the key of our Storyboard

Using post-it notes for the storyboard also allowed us to make the changes we needed to make in preparation for the main shoot.

Our Storyboard at the time of the Main-shoot.

Overall the Storyboard was an extremely useful bit of kit, as it was the first proper visualization of our ideas, and allowed us a better insight into how our sequence would work, shot-by-shot.



R+P Post 11: Our Timeline

Our Timeline:
Our first step when planning our opening sequence was the creation of our timeline. This was really helpful as it allowed us to plan out our sequence in general sections. This also allowed us to focus on the timings of our sequence, and making sure that sections fitted together well.

Our Timeline

The Timeline was really useful as it allowed us to make a preliminary plan for how our sequence would fit together in terms of shots and duration. From the decisions we made when creating this timeline we were then able to go away and create a much more detailed plan in the form of the storyboard.

R+P Post 10: Reflections so far/looking ahead

My Reflections:
Overall I'm happy with how our project is going. I feel like we are doing a relatively unique take on the project.

Me and Noa have worked well as a group so far and the project has been a success, it does help that we both have a very similar senses of humour. Together we have been equally splitting the workload and this allows us to have kept working at a good pace. Our time management has also gone well, as we have been able to complete all our work before it was due, and not need any extensions. The meetings we have organised have also really helped us to keep on top of our work and both be fully conscious of everything that is going on with our sequence.

So far throughout the project we have managed to work through all major problems and it is nice to look back at how our ideas have adapted and changed throughout our time working together. Completing our animatic really helped us to look back at parts of our sequence that may need tweaking. This really assisted us in the refining of our overall idea and opening sequence.

One thing that I am personally pleased with is the humour we have managed to work into our sequence mostly through the character of Joyce.

Looking Forward:
Our next task will to be to create our shoot-board in preparation for our test shoot next week.The prospect of filming next week is a daunting one, but one which I know we will be fully able to tackle with all our Media prowess.

We have already managed to tie down actors for the characters in our shoot and we are quite prepared for what is to come.

One problem that we will have to deal with is the issue of how we are going to pull off a shoot with an invisible character, but i feel that if anyone is up to the task, it's us.

R+P Post 9: Our opening sequence's soundtrack

The Soundtrack:

In our opening sequence we will use non-diagetic music to create a jocular and documentary style tone. The piece we plan to use is Investigations by Kevin Macleod, mostly as it is, but with some cuts and mixing to fit with our video.

We feel that this give a light-hearted tone to our sequence. Also the piece is royalty free so we will be able to easily use it in our film.

The music is royalty free and available at the link in the description of the YouTube video above. It is available under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.

R+P Post 8: The credits in our opening sequence

Institutional Logos:

• At the beginning of the sequence we plan to have the Focus Features ident. It is quite common for Mockumentaries to start with the distributor's ident. For example What We Do in The Shadows (2014)

Director and Writer Credits:

• In our first shot we plan to have a clapperboard with Me and Noa's names on it. Very similar to the style used for the beginning of Surf's Up (2007).

Trollhunter (2010)

• We do not have any actor credits at the beginning of the film as it is very unusual for mockumentaries to have these. All the credits will be at the end. For instance Trollhunter (2010)

Inter-titles:

• Throughout the whole of the sequence we will have inter-titles. The first set at the beginning will introduce the premise of the film.

• When each new character is introduced we will have a graphic showing their name and role in the family, like in What We Do in The Shadows (2014).

• Also at the end of the sequence we will have an inter-title displaying the title of our film.

R+P Post 7: Our opening sequence's planned mis-en-scene

Camera:

• Partly hand-held and containing lots of camera movements like tracking, pans, zooms and focus shifts. This will be to mirror the on-the-spot, live style of documentary filming.

• During the interviews we will set the camera up on a tripod and keep it very steady, making sure that all the interviews are shot in an identical way. This is very conventional of documentary style filming and will help to tie our sequence together as a constant in amidst all the hand-held and camera movements.

Lighting:

• We plan to use very natural lighting to try and represent an un-staged and realistic tone to our sequence. This will help it feel more natural and believable as an actual documentary.

Naturalistic lighting

Settings:

• Our whole sequence will be set inside Toby's house. For shooting we will be using Noa's house. It is conventional for documentaries and mockumentaries to focus mainly on one location for example the house in What We Do in The Shadows (2014) .

Props:

• Photos of the family.

Family Photos



Wedding Photo

• Photo of Joyce and Tony's wedding day with Tony's eyes scratched out.

• Invisible acrylic thread for use in making things appear to be moving by themselves.

• Lap Trays with food on them.

• An alarm clock.

Lap Trays

Invisible acrylic thread

Alarm Clock

Costumes:

• Toby- glasses suspended on the acrylic thread. Clothes and Bandages for some shots of him.

• Joyce- Gym clothes for her Pilates and yoga.

• Kenny- typical clothes for a teenager, for instance jeans and a shirt.

Inspiration for Kenny

Inspiration for Toby

Inspiration for Joyce

R+P Post 6: Our opening sequence's characters and how we plan to represent social groups

Characters:

• Toby:
• An invisible boy and the main protagonist of the film. He is very socially awkward as he has been home schooled his whole life. It is very conventional of the mockumentary genre to centre around a socially awkward character, for instance Viago from What We Do in The Shadows (2014).
• Toby also shows representations of disability, as even though he is invisible he still tries to live his life to the full.
• To represent this in Toby we will have very awkward dialogue in his interview shots, and show him being quite clumsy around the house, and not really socially aware.

Stereotypical socially awkward teenage boy

• Joyce:
• Toby's Mum. She was a yoga and Pilates instructor and is very much into new-age medicines and ideas. She favourites Toby as he is the 'special' one out of her two sons. For her character we decided to go quite outrageous as this allowed us to create comedy through her interactions with others.



Outnumbered (2007-2014)



What We Do in The Shadows (2014)

• Joyce is obsessed with health and fitness, very much reminiscent of characters like Aunty Angela in Outnumbered (2007-2014).
• To connote these in our sequence, you will see Joyce exercising on the Wii board, her favouring Toby through her interviews and her passive-aggressive attitude towards her ex-husband.

Stereotypical yoga/fitness mum

• Kenny:
• Toby's identical twin brother who isn't invisible. Although quite odd Kenny is the normal one in his family.
• We chose to represent Toby and Kenny this way so they were very contrasting teenage stereotypes.
• To do this we are making Kenny have very bland dialogue and costume, as he isn't the interesting member of the family.

Normal/boring teenage boy

R+P Post 5: Our opening sequence idea

What We Do in The Shadows (2014)

The Basic Story and Structure:
Our opening sequence begins with inter-titles introducing the premise of the film. Inter-titles are a very conventional start of documentaries and mockumentaries a like. For example the beginning of What We Do in The Shadows (2014). These inter-titles will also use enigma codes, as you are told that he has a genetic condition but don't find out he's invisible until after the first shot.

The first shot will pan over his bed showing the sheets rustling but you cant see anyone in them. You then find out the main premise of the film, that he is invisible.

The sequence will then continue with interviews with Toby and him introducing us to his family, there will also be interviews with his family as they are introduced. The interviews will be crosscut with various shots of family photos and the characters themselves. The introduction of the main characters in the film at the beginning is a convention of documentaries.

We will then see his family sitting down for their last meal before Toby goes off to university. This shot will freeze frame, then cut to the title of our film.

Parks and Recreation (2009-2015)

The Script:
For our script we choose to use very awkward interview dialogue. This is to create humour and believably in our piece. Many mockumentaries use awkward dialogue to create humour. For example Dave in Parks and Recreation (2009-2015).

Our Film Opening Script

R+P Post 4: Our film's genre, title and plot outline

Genre:

• Comedy Mockumentary

Title:

• A SIGHT FOR SORE EYES
• We tried to create the title as a pun to do with vision or seeing as the main character is invisible. This is quite common for Mockumentaries, for example We're Wolves (in development).

Plot:

A documentary crew was sent to film the ups and downs of Toby, an invisible boy's, first year living away from home.

• Equilibrium:
• Toby is at home for the last day of the summer holidays.
• Disruption:
• Toby goes to university for the first time and finds it hard to make friends due to his introverted and hermit-like nature.
• Resolution:
• Toby realises that people do want to be his friends and he was the one distancing himself from everyone else.
• New Equilibrium:
• Toby returns home after the end of the school year, more confident and happier than he was before.



24 Hours in A&E (2011-Present)

• In a homage to documentary style filming we plan to have a 'since filming ended' sequence at the end like in 24 Hours in A&E (2011-Present). We find out Toby was killed when a driver couldn't see him, Kenny finally got a job, and Joyce without Toby restricting her moved to the Himalayas to become a new-age guru teaching Pilates and yoga.

R+P Post 3: Our production and distribution institutions

Production Houses:
As our film is an Indie we decided to follow the independent model of ownership of having multiple production houses collaborating to create the film.

• Triggertoa Films:
• This will be handling the production and more creative aspects of the film. Triggertoa films is of our own creation and is a combination of our names. Many Indie directors have their own production companies which allows them to still have some semblance of control over the film after they have sold off the rights.

• Film4:
• Film4 is responsible for the financing and management of our film. Film4 is known for being a key player in the financing of independent films such as Trollhunter (2010).

• BFI:
• Also responsible for financing our film through the national lottery fund. The BFI is known for funding British Indie Films that can pass the British cultural test. As our film is set in the UK with British actors, British directors and British themes and situations we are sure it would pass the cultural test.

Film4 logo

BFI and the National Lottery logo

Distributor:

• Universal Studios/ Focus Features:
• For our distributor we chose Universal as it is a major Hollywood studio that is well known for investing in Independent films such as American Honey (2016). Universal would also be able to distribute our film worldwide. Focus Features is a subsidiary of Universal that focuses more on the distribution of independent films.

Focus Features logo