PROBLEMS
Throughout the production of the film opening, there were
several problems that occurred over the course of the production. Many of these
problems were as a result of poor pre-planning, but a number were also
extraneous, unfortunately. The crew took various actions and made compromises
when faced with these hurdles, providing experience for the future and
knowledge on what to do if the same problem happened next time.
For example, the day of the shoot was picked for a number of
reasons: to adhere to the actors’ schedules, for the bright sunny weather that
would allow effective filming and the fact that it was a Tuesday in the middle
of half term meant that not many people made the journey into the woods to find
the park, instead preferring to stay at home. This meant for the early hours of
the day, there was hardly anyone at the park, leaving the set virtually clear,
which was the ideal situation, as the plan was to film Sadie and Vinnie (the
actors) without accidentally filming members of the public. However, due to a prior
printer malfunction, there were no available have any legal forms on hand for
the public to sign if they were especially concerned about their child(ren)
being filmed or featuring in the background of the opening. This seemed like a
major concern before the day, however, though there were precautions put in
place to avoid filming the other children, no one approached the crew to
criticise over the course of the day. Due to unforeseen traffic and the fact
that the actors’ mother was pregnant, the cast were later than expected on the
day; they did not arrive until midday, whereas the crew arrived at nine
o’clock, which meant that there was less daylight and time to film and the park
was gradually filling up with members of the general public. As a result, some
of the shots were rushed as the liberty to be able to film time-effectively was
quickly lost, and some of the preliminary test runs of the script were not
filmed correctly due to human error. Luckily, the shots in question were not
needed for the final product and the rest of the filming occurred without
problems regarding the camera.
The tripod that was provided by the sixth form was,
unfortunately, very short and only reached an approximate height of 60cm, so
most of the shots it could have used it for would have been low-angle shots.
Low-angle shots are only used in the family film genre to establish POV or a
villainous character, and close-ups, mid-shots and establishing shots were
needed, so the tripod was not used often for this reason, and the fact that the
uneven ground made it hard to balance the legs without constant attention.
Instead, the compromise was to use more handheld and POV shots, giving the film
a sort of subtle ‘home movie’ feel to it without ruining the element of
professionalism and allowing the cast to be involved in the filming as well.
The next problem encountered was using the play equipment as
a set whilst actively trying to avoid getting the children who were not a part
of the cast in the shot or prevent them from playing on the equipment whilst
particular shots were being filmed, such as the scene where the characters are
on the swing. Though it was mostly inevitable that outside children would be
filmed by accident, there were various attempts to wait until the area was
clear before trying to film. This was a mistake, as it meant that a significant
amount time was lost and the other children were, inadvertently, hindering the
production. To solve this, the actors and the crew calmly asked the children if
they were willing to let us ‘play’ with certain areas of the equipment for a
while, and in most cases the children agreed, though this could be as a result
of interpreting the crew as authority figures.
The costumes, a blue and a red cape with some home-made
attachable buttons, were a little too long for the actors at times (they
tripped but did not fall over) and the buttons would occasionally fall off if
not secured correctly. This meant that the actors had to lift the capes when
moving between shots, which apparently was ‘fine’. The length of the capes was
considered and though there were mentions of shortening the capes, in the ends
the decision was to leave the costumes as they were, as the current style
allowed dramatic shots with the cape billowing behind the actors as they ran or
jumped. The buttons were from this point on secured by the crew, as the pins
could have spiked the actors and it was quicker this way.
Though a Health and Safety document had been prepared, the
crew did retain minor injuries whilst on set. One member of the crew injured
herself on the set by climbing with only her knees, giving her extensive
bruising in the pursuit of a good angle and later the same member was hit and
hurt by a misuse of props, though they claim that they are ‘okay’ and that ‘there
was no harm done’.
During post production, it was discovered that the voiceover
from the original script, in which the main characters, Amelia and Henry,
played by Sadie Thwaites and Vinnie Thwaites respectively, narrate and introduce
themselves. This, matched with visuals of them running around playing, didn’t
quite fit and made the overall opening feel stereotypical and somewhat clichéd,
so a new script was drafted and written. At first, due to a recommendation
regarding accents, there was an attempt to ask a contact in America if she
would be willing to record the new narration and send the results to the crew.
She agreed, but no audio recording was sent through. Whether this was as a
result of other commitments, time issues or problems sending the file
internationally was not made clear. As a solution a compromise was made: a
member of the crew volunteered to record the voice-over instead. The new script
was written so that instead of the character Amelia recounting the recent past,
she was recounting her childhood from the point of view of her older self. As
such, the actress playing Sadie as a visual character couldn’t do the voice
over as well, as a result of her young age and voice, so we used the crew
member’s older voice to signify the change in age from the young Amelia to the
older Amelia.
In terms of editing in post-production, the limited quantity
of shots that was available at first meant that the film couldn’t be completed
as fast as hoped, causing some schedule difficulties. The shots were re-filmed,
specifically transitional and establishing shots, though a lot of these issues
were helped by the context provided by the rewritten narration.
GOOD POINTS
There were many aspects of our film that were executed well.
We went to great lengths to ensure that our film followed the conventions of
the genre: we had suitable child actors as the main characters, the setting was
a children’s play park and the dialogue, including the voice-over, was written
to be realistic and relevant. The music that was used for the opening was
royalty free to avoid unnecessary legal complications and was appropriate for
the genre. The premise of the film, and the hypothetical plot outlined in the
Pitch, were received well and made good use of the narrative structure
archetypal for the family film genre, and the opening as a whole established
the characters’ personalities and presences effectively whilst also giving
hints through enigma towards the content of the plot. There are numerous shots throughout
the opening that fit well together, and the different angles and techniques
used creates a subtle variety that enriches the opening and illustrates an
extended knowledge and application. The composition of the opening was
difficult at first due to a lack of certain shots, however re-shoots and a
change in script regarding the voice-over completed the overall feel so that
the opening seemed to made skilfully and with regards to many, if not all,
aspects.
BAD POINTS
However, there were features of the opening that could have
been improved. The majority of the shooting for the opening took place on one
day as a result of timings and the limited time available, which meant that
some establishing and transitional shots were missed, causing problems in
post-production when the editing began. This meant that another day was spent
filming at the set, however the actors could not be there, so primarily
establishing and atmospheric shots were acquired. Some of these shots, due to
further issues with tripods and lack of staff, were too shaky to use and gave
the opening an unwanted amateurish quality. The establishment of the narrative
within the opening is left somewhat vague and to the imagination, which
arguably is a formation of enigma, but could leave the young audience confused.
The costumes were not to a specialised standard as there was a lack of both
available funding and time, so the result was two cloaks with
handmade-badge-buttons, that gave the appearance of a costume change but mostly
brought notice to the simplicity and unoriginality of the designs. It could be
argued that the simple designs were as a result of the children’s imagination
of their designs, but the primary focus of the film is imaginations, so the basic
cloaks almost juxtapose with this concept. There were some elements of
verisimilitude that were broken two as a result of the way that the characters’
‘transformation’ into their hero forms was handled, in that the 360o
shot was exceptionally difficult with the presence of other children not
associated with the production running around in the background, ruining the
continuity in places and making interfering noise.
Comments
Post a Comment