In my pursuit of learning as much as possible as I can about the art of being a film producer, I have been checking out some interviews online with film producers that have worked with major companies, on mainstream movies. One in particular I felt was especially useful in summing up exactly what a producer's job is, was this interview with Tim Bevan. In it, Tim states that the producer's job is to essentially provide the tools needed for the film's director to do their job; "Ultimately, films are a director’s medium. They have control. It is my job or Eric (Fellner’s) to create the right environment for them to do the best job they can."
This is particularly important to consider when it comes to re-evaluating my own importance as a producer, When working as a team, it is sometimes easy to rely on others, which sometimes leads to slacking- expecting other members to make up the workload. When it comes to my job as a producer however, I have to be spot on with what I do, and always at work to provide the assets necessary for all the other members of the team to do their own respective jobs- otherwise nothing gets done.
I also found this interview with Philippa Boyens, the co-producer of such films as The Hobbit and District 9. In it, she is asked about what kind of challenges she faced as a producer for The Hobbit as opposed to when she acted as a producer for The Lord of The Rings, and whether or not The Hobbit was a more challenging film to produce for. The issues of the producer's job in adapting the writer's screenplay, and how hard the job is are also brought up.
Something I learned from this interview with Phillipa is once again- how important the producer's job is, and how they play a major role in convincing actors to become contributors for the project, as well as having to keep improving and delivering new assets with each film that is made. The importance of working closely with the Director is also stressed- something that I will take into careful consideration during the production of Inoculum.
Thursday, 10 December 2015
Wednesday, 2 December 2015
Pre-Production Unit- Investigating Drama Screenwriters, and the importance of a great quality script.
One major problem I have come across during the scripting process, is that some of my more dramatic moments do not come across as realistic. I have characters delivering monologues which express their emotions, but don't really "tell" the viewer anything new. This creates the impression that my characters are overly dramatic, sometimes to the point that their dialogue becomes quite cheesy and unbelievable.
In response to this grievance, I decided that it would be worth my time investigating some of the more successful drama films of all time, and see how the screenwriters of those films tackled the more delicate scenarios with their characters.
Some questions I wanted to answer through doing this was;
In response to this grievance, I decided that it would be worth my time investigating some of the more successful drama films of all time, and see how the screenwriters of those films tackled the more delicate scenarios with their characters.
Some questions I wanted to answer through doing this was;
- How dramatic should characters be when conveying emotion?
- What kind of language should characters use during such situations?
I hoped from this I would learn to make my characters less "cheesy" when speaking in a dramatic way, and also make them more believable as characters.
I decided to begin my investigation by performing a Google search for "the most successful drama films of all time", and one of the first results was "The Shawshank Redemption." I felt that this would be a fantastic starting point for me to find some screenwriters that I could take some form of inspiration from.
I found that the screenwriter for Shawshank redemption was Frank Darabont, a Hungarian screenplay writer, and with this knowledge, I decided to scour youtube to try and find out if there were any interviews which would give me a deeper insight into his mindset when writing a screenplay, and more importantly, if I could find any information about how to script realistic character dialogue.
I came across this interview, which although doesn't really contain the kind of information I was looking for, it does contain some very useful information on the importance of having a good quality script in order to entice contributors into wanting to take part in the film project.
In the interview, Morgan Freeman explains that he didn't even know which character he was being considered for in the Shawshank Redemption, but because the script was such great quality, he didn't care, and wanted to just be involved in some way.
This is something I feel I should take on board during my process of acting as a producer. I think one thing I should take away from this small investigation is that I should ensure my script is great quality before I begin to look for contributors to my film.
I have learnt that sometimes it is the quality of the script that is the deal-breaker for cast applicants as to whether or not they will ultimately want to be involved. Therefore it would probably be best for me in the future to make sure that I have completed the final draft of the script before beginning to search for cast members.
I found that the screenwriter for Shawshank redemption was Frank Darabont, a Hungarian screenplay writer, and with this knowledge, I decided to scour youtube to try and find out if there were any interviews which would give me a deeper insight into his mindset when writing a screenplay, and more importantly, if I could find any information about how to script realistic character dialogue.
I came across this interview, which although doesn't really contain the kind of information I was looking for, it does contain some very useful information on the importance of having a good quality script in order to entice contributors into wanting to take part in the film project.
In the interview, Morgan Freeman explains that he didn't even know which character he was being considered for in the Shawshank Redemption, but because the script was such great quality, he didn't care, and wanted to just be involved in some way.
This is something I feel I should take on board during my process of acting as a producer. I think one thing I should take away from this small investigation is that I should ensure my script is great quality before I begin to look for contributors to my film.
I have learnt that sometimes it is the quality of the script that is the deal-breaker for cast applicants as to whether or not they will ultimately want to be involved. Therefore it would probably be best for me in the future to make sure that I have completed the final draft of the script before beginning to search for cast members.
Friday, 27 November 2015
PreProduction Unit- Research- Do I Script Shots?
Something I have been investigating a lot recently is the scripting of shots in scripts. I have previously been told that it is not my responsibility to think of particular shots when I am acting as a screenplay writer, and I agree with this statement as it is down to the Director/ Cinematographer (in the case of this project- Charlie) to come up with the kind of shots they think would be best for the film.
However, during my script investigation, where I would look for the scripts of famous movies online, I discovered that there were some scripts where the writers had actually chosen to write about the shots that were being used. For example, the extract here is from the script for the 2004 version of "Dawn of the Dead", written by James Gunn;
Source.
In this segment, James Gunn has decided to script the showing of the Skull X-Ray through the use of a close-up. One can assume that the xray is originally viewed extremely close, making it difficult to know what it is, and the camera pulling back is what reveals it. This therefore makes the kind of shot used an important thing to script, so that the director knows what is happening.
I also came across this website which explains under what circumstances a screenwriter should script a shot.
From this I have learned that scripting shots should only be used when the viewer's attention is being put on something that might not be particularly obvious when using another kind of shot. For example, in my own second draft for "Inoculum", there is a scene where Douglas is sat reading a news article about how birds have been dying in Kent, some dropping from the sky half rotten.
In the scene, I wanted the viewer to see the headline, and I felt that this would be best to be shown through the use of a close-up.
However, during my script investigation, where I would look for the scripts of famous movies online, I discovered that there were some scripts where the writers had actually chosen to write about the shots that were being used. For example, the extract here is from the script for the 2004 version of "Dawn of the Dead", written by James Gunn;
In this segment, James Gunn has decided to script the showing of the Skull X-Ray through the use of a close-up. One can assume that the xray is originally viewed extremely close, making it difficult to know what it is, and the camera pulling back is what reveals it. This therefore makes the kind of shot used an important thing to script, so that the director knows what is happening.
I also came across this website which explains under what circumstances a screenwriter should script a shot.
From this I have learned that scripting shots should only be used when the viewer's attention is being put on something that might not be particularly obvious when using another kind of shot. For example, in my own second draft for "Inoculum", there is a scene where Douglas is sat reading a news article about how birds have been dying in Kent, some dropping from the sky half rotten.
Tuesday, 24 November 2015
PreProduction Unit- Final "Moments"Sheet
In response to me changing my story slightly to make it more understandable, here is the final version of the "moments" sheet which I will be using when creating the final script to remember what happens and in what order.
PreProduction Unit- Visiting Discovery Park Recce
Today I visited the Discovery Park complex in Sandwich which we intend to use as the laboratory location in our film. Finding the place was actual very simple due to my phone having a reliable GPS system, but something I noticed was that the facility was around an hours walk from the train station in Sandwich. For someone like me, this isn't a problem, as I regularly jog and power-walk, but I have to understand from a production and travel point of view that any actors we want to use that arrive at the Sandwich train station will probably not be okay with walking for an hour, and as such will either want a taxi, or one of our production crew to pick them up in a car if possible.
I met with Renata, the public liaison at the Discovery Park, who spent a good hour or so showing me around the facilities. I was very impressed with the overall layout of the laboratory, and I definitely feel that the place suits the kind of atmosphere and layout we want for our film.
The building I was shown around is known as Building 500, and is usually rented out to scientists for perform experiments in, and certain parts are rented out as office space. Renata told me that all the areas shown in the photos above would be available for us to shoot in, should we choose to do so.
A few things I made sure to note while checking the place out are;
I met with Renata, the public liaison at the Discovery Park, who spent a good hour or so showing me around the facilities. I was very impressed with the overall layout of the laboratory, and I definitely feel that the place suits the kind of atmosphere and layout we want for our film.
A few things I made sure to note while checking the place out are;
- There are parking spaces
- There are power outlets available for camera charging
- Some areas look quite bare, and will be in need of some "dressing up".
- In some areas (such as the corridor and forye' areas) there is a lot of echo, which I believe would be very noticeable in recordings. We can either avoid using these particular areas, or see about investigating ways we can reduce the echo in the editing process.
The moment of truth came, and I asked Renata how much the facility would cost for us to use.
She mentioned that major films are usually charged around £1000 for a full days shoot, and £500 for a half day shoot.
Since we are students though, she advised that we just pay what we can.
All in all, I am really excited to be using this facility in our film, however, I have one reservation, This location will barely appear in our film, and as such I need to figure out whether or not it's appearance will be worth the money.
Saturday, 21 November 2015
PreProduction Unit- Location Updates- Doctors Surgery
I have recently been continuing my search for suitable locations for Inoculum. So far, we have confirmed Charlie's house as a location for the Reed family home, Mote Park in Maidstone for the final park scene, and also Production Room 2 at the Maidstone Television Studios, which we intend to use as a backup location if we cannot find somewhere to use as a doctors office.
Speaking of the doctor's office location, I have had made some excellent progress when it comes to finding a legitimate surgery that we can film in- which will save us money on props to "dress up" Production Room 2, and will also add a sense of authenticity to the overall film.
During a conversation with one of the actors that applied for the position of Dr. Hughes, Kevin Stones- we began to discuss potential locations that we would be filming at, and he informed me that he could potentially have several of his own contacts that he could put us in touch with to help us find suitable locations. Kevin suggested that he help us find a Doctor's Surgery and a Laboratory location. This was especially useful to us, as these were the two main locations I was having trouble acquiring, mostly because laboratories are extremely difficult to ascertain the rights to film at due to health and safety reasons, and doctor's surgeries are often difficult to film at due to patient confidentiality, and the fact that doctor's surgeries are almost always in use, and are therefore very difficult to film in, because there are always people around.
Kevin put me in touch with a contact called Dr. Nick, who works at a doctor's practice called "The Whitehouse Surgery" in Cheriton, Folkstone. I spoke with Nick over the phone, and he informed me that he was more than willing to allow us to use a room in his surgery for our filming, as long as the filming took place over a weekend. This is mostly due to the fact that Saturday and Sunday are times where the practice is least busy, and as such we will be allowed to film freely.
He also informed me that there were parking spaces at the surgery, so we would not have to pay extra for parking in a private car park on production day. He told me that he would send photographs of the interior of the surgery via email, and that we could speak more about actual film dates and times when I had visited the area for a recce.
As you can see from the above photograph, I searched for the surgery using Google Maps, and I was very impressed with the exterior. It has a very old-school vibe in terms of being a doctor's surgery, but I can only guess what the inside looks like at this point in time.
Other projects developments include me working on some concept art for the "OmegaPharm" logo.
Myself and Charlie have agreed that our original plan of creating a book for our preproduction package would severely limit our time for creating assets for the book at this point in time, and as such, we have decided that it would be best for us to instead use the assets we have gathered so far and investigate other ways we can submit our package.
At the moment, I believe submitting our ideas in a plain white "OmegaPharm" branded folder with our character profiles, location profiles, script and other assets inside would make for a very official looking package.
UPDATE 24/11/2015:
I have just received an email containing the photographs of the surgeries interior that I discussed earlier in this blog post. Here they are;
As you can see from the above photos, this location is instantly recognisable as a doctors surgery/consultancy room. This to me is a major benefit, as one of my main concerns about the doctor's surgery location was that viewer's wouldn't recognise the location as being a doctor's surgery, and instead would think it was just some kind of office.
The examination bed, all the files and the lighting make it clear that this is a medical room of some sort, and as such, I think this would be a perfect location for the doctor's surgery scene.
One concern I do have is the size of the room. Doctor's surgeries tend to be relatively small (as the nature of doctor's visits usually only include one or two people in the room), and as such, there may not be enough room for Charlie and the rest of the crew to manoeuvre cameras around such a tight space.
My next step will be to visit the location and perform a recce.
Speaking of the doctor's office location, I have had made some excellent progress when it comes to finding a legitimate surgery that we can film in- which will save us money on props to "dress up" Production Room 2, and will also add a sense of authenticity to the overall film.
During a conversation with one of the actors that applied for the position of Dr. Hughes, Kevin Stones- we began to discuss potential locations that we would be filming at, and he informed me that he could potentially have several of his own contacts that he could put us in touch with to help us find suitable locations. Kevin suggested that he help us find a Doctor's Surgery and a Laboratory location. This was especially useful to us, as these were the two main locations I was having trouble acquiring, mostly because laboratories are extremely difficult to ascertain the rights to film at due to health and safety reasons, and doctor's surgeries are often difficult to film at due to patient confidentiality, and the fact that doctor's surgeries are almost always in use, and are therefore very difficult to film in, because there are always people around.
Kevin put me in touch with a contact called Dr. Nick, who works at a doctor's practice called "The Whitehouse Surgery" in Cheriton, Folkstone. I spoke with Nick over the phone, and he informed me that he was more than willing to allow us to use a room in his surgery for our filming, as long as the filming took place over a weekend. This is mostly due to the fact that Saturday and Sunday are times where the practice is least busy, and as such we will be allowed to film freely.
He also informed me that there were parking spaces at the surgery, so we would not have to pay extra for parking in a private car park on production day. He told me that he would send photographs of the interior of the surgery via email, and that we could speak more about actual film dates and times when I had visited the area for a recce.
Other projects developments include me working on some concept art for the "OmegaPharm" logo.
Myself and Charlie have agreed that our original plan of creating a book for our preproduction package would severely limit our time for creating assets for the book at this point in time, and as such, we have decided that it would be best for us to instead use the assets we have gathered so far and investigate other ways we can submit our package.
At the moment, I believe submitting our ideas in a plain white "OmegaPharm" branded folder with our character profiles, location profiles, script and other assets inside would make for a very official looking package.
UPDATE 24/11/2015:
I have just received an email containing the photographs of the surgeries interior that I discussed earlier in this blog post. Here they are;
The examination bed, all the files and the lighting make it clear that this is a medical room of some sort, and as such, I think this would be a perfect location for the doctor's surgery scene.
One concern I do have is the size of the room. Doctor's surgeries tend to be relatively small (as the nature of doctor's visits usually only include one or two people in the room), and as such, there may not be enough room for Charlie and the rest of the crew to manoeuvre cameras around such a tight space.
My next step will be to visit the location and perform a recce.
Pre-Production Unit- Character Synopsis Sheets
In response to the feedback I received from my first draft submission of Inoculum, I have decided to create "character synopsis sheets", documents that will add more depth to the characters in my story. The aim of this is that when scripting these characters actions and dialogue in the future, I will be able to refer to the character synopsis sheets and think about whether or not the situation I am scripting is relevant to the character I have developed.
Is it realistic that my character would say this/ act in this way?
During my researching stage to find out how other writers go about creating their own characters, I came across this website, which provides a "Character Chart"
However, I feel that this chart is a little too in depth, and has categories for some aspects of my character that I feel is irrelevant, such as where my character eats for lunch, or what his/her morning routine is. I have instead decided to create a more simplified version, describing the characters name, occupation, history and personality traits (including a notes section) which I intend to also distribute to out cast so that they can get a better feel for their character that they will be playing.
I believe these character synopsis sheets could use some refining before I am fully happy with them, but I feel that there is a lot more workable information in these sheets than the little notes I have been writing here and there in the past. Creating documents like this is a really big help, and as I mentioned, these are something I can distribute to other people in the cast so they better understand their character- something I wouldn't want to do with a bunch of little sketches and notes on rough paper.
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