Production Skills

Step Outline

Name: Neature Walk

Genre: Action-adventure/Post-Apocalyptic/Comedy

Content: Green band splash screen, stock riot footage, filmed media.

Plot: The Untitled Good guys commission two slightly dumb, rogue mercenary filmmakers; Lenny and Rodney to make a nature tutorial because the members of the gang keep getting themselves killed in the harsh environment, in very stupid ways.

The BrainSmashers™; Has control of the west outlands, at war with Untitled Gang over in the east sector. The BrainSmashers™  come across Lenny and Rodney and discover the deal between them and The Untitled Gang. They force Lenny and Rodney to create a PSA film for them as well. Lenny and Rodney create the PSA, and they are inadvertently bogus. Leading to the end of the both factions.

Shot types

The Script is not 100% accurate as we left a lot of it up to improvisation 

The Final Production

Evaluation

How did planning help in the production stage?

Planning helped when doing the production as it allowed for us to know what we were doing and when with the shot list and script. The scrip allowed us to easily know our lines and also the nature of the shot and what is happening in each but this only really helped the actors. The camera people used the shot list to know what shots were being used at each point and what technical elements to focus on. The script helped us with the dialogue but there was still a lot of room for improvisation to give a more natural feel to the dialogue which helped with the ideas we were trying to represent with our trailer. The storyboard helped us to visually see the shot that we were going to use which helped us to pick the correct shooting angle and location. When we created the shot list we used a rough outline of the different shots that we wanted but left a lot of it up for working out when we got to the location and decided how we wanted the shots to look.

What was your individual contribution to planning, production and post-production?

Throughout the planning of the trailer the whole group worked together to ensure an efficient plan was created so that we knew exactly what we were doing. With the help of Matthew, I wrote the script to the trailer including directions for actors and the timings of the non-diegetic audio which helped not only with filming but also assisted in the editing of the trailer. We all worked together to create the storyboard of the trailer which helped us to visually see what the specific shots would look like. During the production stage my role was the assistant to the main character in the trailer which meant that I was not very heavily involved with the filming of the trailer as is was very often in shot which meant that my role was to mainly stick to the script and shot list to make the trailer look effectively. In the shots that I was not in I helped with the composition of the shots to ensure that everything looked good.  In post-production I helped by giving advice when editing by putting forwards ideas of the ordering of shots and I also made the ending card of the trailer.

How have you made effective use of the technical elements?

Mise-En-Scene: Costume – For the costume we tried to make the characters look as post-apocalyptic as possible with what we had. We tried to make each character to look as fitting with the theme as possible. We also made sure that our location fit with the theme so we picked an abandoned work yard / warehouse building as it had a very run down and apocalyptic feel to it, with the location came natural low-key lighting which helped to set the scene and create the idea of the post-apocalyptic theme

Sound: Sound was heavily used for us as we made a film trailer which conventionally features some non-diegetic soundtrack so we used 3 songs for the background music which worked well with the theme. On top of the soundtrack we also used a small amount of dialogue which helped to introduce the characters and also helped to build the trailer’s meaning. We used a sound bridge between two scenes to link them together, this builds attention.

Camerawork: The camerawork was the main focal point of the trailer as it is what people see in the trailer. We used a large range of shot types to ensure that the trailer was easily watchable and gave the impression that we wanted. We used a range of close up, mid shots and long shots to effectively create the representations of the characters and settings that we wanted. We made sure that we used a tripod for the vast majority of our shots to ensure that we got a steady film without the amateur shaky look. For the shots where we wanted to achieve an effective tilt or pan we used a handheld steadicam handle for the camera so that it remained stable and did not shake.

Editing: Editing was a large part of our trailer as it needed to flow well and keep the audience watching. We made sure that the trailer shots were arranged in a way where the story was established effectively. We also used editing to insert the diegetic gunshots noises which made the trailer look more realistic. At the start we also used CGI and 3D motion tracking to create a matte background which made the scene look more post-apocalyptic. The editing also allowed us to insert the mid-title screens which helped us to fit with the conventions of film trailers.

What skills do you need to improve upon before you begin your A2 production work?

Before I start my A2 media production work I need to improve on my editing skills as the majority of the editing was done by Jordan as he had all of the footage on his computer and had access to Adobe Premier Pro at home which made editing more convenient for him. I would also like to improve my understanding of composition of shots so that in my A2 coursework I can create effective shots that portray what I am aiming for.