Final Major Project
Jacob Gorman
Production Diary
11/03/19
Today, we have officially begun our work on unit 8, and we are in the very early stages of creating our projects. I am currently still on the ideas phase, though I do have a rough outline of the style and tone I would like to set. I will attempt to flesh out my idea into something more coherent in the coming weeks. I have also created a power point to pitch my overall idea.
1/04/19
I have begun to write a script for my short film. This will take around a week for me to complete, and during that time I will balance it out by working on a few other pieces of work, such as the storyboard. We also filmed some test footage as part of our experimental research, where we tested out different lighting techniques. This was incredibly useful, as most of us were inexperienced in this field.
06/05/19
We have wrapped our production and are currently moving on to our editing phase. While we didn't have quite as much time as i would've preferred, our production day went smoothly and without any major problems, other than a few shaky shots we did not have time to perfect.
18/03/19
We have solidified our roles and we are beginning to cement our ideas further. We are currently in the midst of listing our influences and points of research. I currently have 5 points of influence listed, but I may add more in the future. the next step is to continue with our primary research, mos notably contacting filmmakers for advice or guidance.
22/04/19
I have completed the storyboard and I have booked out the camera for may 3rd. The script is in its final stages, and only needs to be fleshed out in a few areas, to add extra details. Next week, we will film some more test footage using lighting and coloured gels, before beginning work on our production stage.
13/05/19
We are partway through our editing phase, and we are expecting to be finished by the end of next week. We have also used the sound studio to record our Foley sounds, and we will focus on implementing them in the following weeks. We also have several music tracks selected, which we will be employing towards the end of our post production stage.
25/03/19
We have currently been working towards finishing our research before we begin our pre-production. I have reading books on directing and filmmaking, and I have reached out to several independent filmmakers for advice. In the following weeks we will begin creating our individual presentations, along with the early stages of planning.
29/04/19
We have entirely completed our pre-production paperwork for the project, and we will be moving on to production very shortly. We plan on filming on the 3rd of May, and begin post production shortly afterwards. Depending on how smoothly our shoot goes, we may only require one day of production, however we are prepared if we require additional photography. We have around one week to production time to spare for this project, so we have an available safety net if things do not go to plan.
20/05/1
We are currently wrapping up on our editing, with our deadline for completing it on the 24th. We are expecting to wrap up production by late Wednesday, with only a few loose ends to tie up. I am happy with our overall final project, despite the lengthy issues we have faced creating it
27/05/19
Our final cut of the short film is complete, and we will now be focusing entirely upon our final evaluation. I expect to complete my evaluation before the 31st, and will hopefully have some spare time to make a few minor tweaks to previous pieces of work.
Pre-Production Paperwork
Storyboard
Here is the completed storyboard for our short film. The storyboard is an incredibly useful way of communicating an idea to your team, as it provides a visual depiction of the shot, along with an in depth description of actions and camerawork. Early in pre-production, we underestimated the importance of he storyboard, as we left it at the bottom of our priorities. We later understood that it is a pivotal part of the process, and that we needed to direct our attention o it as soon as possible.
Script
We have finished our final draft for our script. The script contains no dialogue of any kind, and therefore can be used in a more loose fashion. This kind of flexibility will be useful for production, as I will allow my team to pitch any ideas they feel would fit the short film. I plan of keeping the general outline, but I feel like this more liberal approach can help us come up with some creative shots working with our surroundings. One potential detriment to this system is the possibility that we change too much from the foundational idea, and create a potential tonal shift in the short film.
Call Sheet
We have completed our full call sheet. Not only is it useful to have full contact information with your crew, but it also contains useful information such as weather conditions, props and equipment, as well as emergency contacts. This is an incredibly useful tool for production days, as difficulties in communication can easily occur
Production schedule
We have finalized our production schedule. The production schedule is an incredibly concise and simple, but holds some essential information. The production schedule contains contact info, props, equipment and the overview of a particular days work schedule. It is an exceptionally useful way of organizing progress and your efficiency of work.
Shot List
Our shot list was an incredibly useful way of keeping track of our progress on our production day, as it is simply designed and easy to follow, as well as containing important details about the specific shots in our short film. The shot list is consistent with the storyboard and script, which greatly helped during production
Risk Assessment
The risk assessment is an essential part of the pre production process. it's not only arguably the most important part of the checklist, but it's also ultimately important to lay out the potential risks of a production day. It contains the most fundamental information of a production day, but also contains a clearly outlined list of potential hazards, along with contact information and potential counter measures.
