Task 2 – Campaign Film

TASK :

To create a two-minute film for a campaign (societal/communal movement) that is applicable in the UAE (United Arab Emirates).

 

PRE-PRODUCTION

Once again, I got to work with people I haven’t with before during this year, which was motivating. Each person in the class has one area of strength compared to the rest and as projects are tackled one after the other, our special skills gradually become more refined.

The team and I sat inside our favourite place to be: The Film Lab. Here, we had a brainstorming session, sharing our ideas and thoughts about what campaign we should choose and promote awareness for. I had pitched my idea in relation to mental health, inspired by an old Facebook post (a version of it below) that had been viral at its time:

Immediately, the team was on board with the idea of using this post concept for a campaign film on mental health. We then set out to pick out ones from the post’s list which would be applicable in UAE culture the most and altered them accordingly. We included: Self-consciousness with appearance, work stress, high expectations from parents and domestic violence.

HOWEVER, when the pitching day came along, the team’s entire world was turned upside down… it literally felt like that because we had to rethink our entire concept. What’s worse is that we completely exhausted ourselves with stress regarding actors and locations since after the pitch we were ready to start production. So when we had to rethink our idea, we apologised to the actors and didn’t collect the equipment. Instead, we sat once again in the film lab and brainstormed… talk about Déjà vu.

But being creative people, an idea sparked in our heads.

We decided to star one character and their life during four different days. We would show the exact same schedule and shots of waking up to eating breakfast to traveling to uni to working and so on, but as every day would go by, the character’s health and motivation would change and reduce. The people around her would be negatively impacting her mental state, whether it is her parents arguing continuously, classmates ignoring her or gaining unwanted attention from strangers.

And with a version 2 of our idea intact, we set out once again to find the actors, locations and rent the equipment accordingly.

Equipment used: 1 BlackMagic Pocket Cinema Camera, 1 Canon Lens, 1 Tripod, 1 ZOOM Microphone, 1 GlideCam (we tried using a GoPro but we couldn’t get the proper body harness we were hoping for)

 

PRODUCTION

Production went reasonably well! We finished everything in our planned three days without any issues. The only constraint we had to work around was that the actress had to leave for a bus before 5:30 PM to her home.

We filmed the scenes outside block 16 and inside the food court on Day 1, the classroom and tram scenes on Day 2 and all the house scenes on Day 3. Our production had quite a few extras but the lack of dialogues balanced out how hectic it was to film the scenes. Each shot had to be done four times, with a change of clothes each time. It seemed to be hectic but the actor was enthusiastic during all three days of production, which the entire team is so thankful for.

We did not actually face any problems during production, only time constraints where we then had to hurry with completing shots.

 

POST-PRODUCTION

I wasn’t the editor for this project so I do not have a full account of the ups and downs, BUT I did make some changes after the class screening session.

The Professor had given us some pointers that we could adjust before submitting our work before the deadline later that day. These points included stabilization of the footage and the audio levels. We divided the two tasks amongst two group members. I did the audio correction, boosting the decibels of all the audio effects and dialogues a little bit since when the video was screened with the projector, the audio levels were completely off, lower than desirable.

Hopefully, in the end, my audio knowledge pays off and the levels are corrected (although in actuality, I still think it’s low :))

 

FINAL VIDEO:

Baby Driver, Opening Scene Recreated – 

 

 

Task 4 – Scene Recreation

TASK :

To recreate a one minute and thirty-second scene from a film to the closest as possible in terms of actors and acting style, set design and props, sound, and camera movements, angles and shot types, and editing.

 

PRE-PRODUCTION

This was a big project; something the entire class were about to face which would make us realise what pressure is. Even our Professor kept reminding us about it, which helped I guess 🙂

After having a shuffle of teams from the previous project, and having the knowledge and brief of the assignment in our minds, my team and I went to the Film Lab to discuss ideas. Nothing says ‘film class’ like watching movies, specifically short scenes, all day long over and over again, while looking at the costumes one run and the lighting in the other. Of course, within the first day of planning, we couldn’t settle on a solid idea but we gathered a list.

The next day, coming back to the mammoth of a task that is scene recreation, we went through the list again and started being more critical about how practical it would be for students to pull off every detail. We were left with the dinner scene from La La Land (2016), the Pokemon scene from Paper Towns (2015) and two scenes from Baby Driver (2017) which was the opening and the planning scene.

While each team member had their own preference for each scene, we tried to weigh out the pros and cons for each (a kind of SWOT analysis) and leave the list to a remaining two or three options. The planning scene in Baby Driver was something I had suggested in class as an example for choosing. It brilliantly combines a small number of dialogues and sounds, with just enough camera movement to make it interesting. Plus, all the action is in-sync with a music track. Although, in the end, because of the location requirements (a warehouse with industrial machinery) we cut it off our list.

After much contemplation and arguments, our list was (in this order of priority):

1. The opening scene – Baby Driver
2. Pokemon scene – Paper Towns (backup)
3. Dinner and argument scene – La La Land (backup, if everything fails)

Now, as much as me and another team member were passionate about Baby Driver as a film and how interesting the scene would be if we actually pull it off… We didn’t realise the challenges we would end up facing to pull it off.

 

Equipment used: 1 ZOOM microphone, 1 BlackMagic Pocket Cinema Camera, 1 Canon Lens, 1 Tripod (and the sad reality that we could have used the GlideCam but we had not learnt about how to use it in class… )

 

PRODUCTION

This phase had started great and it ended great but the middle… not so much.

Our first day of shoot ended up being a test shoot with various setbacks. It was a domino effect with the actor, playing Jon Hamm’s character in the movie “Buddy”, ditching us, the sun rising and the weather being the usual Dubai weather which led to all of our footage is completely burnt, and to make matter worse, our actress couldn’t make it for the next day so we had to recast all the character roles, except Baby who was being played by our director.

As long as that sentence was above, our stress went on until we wrapped our production phase completely. Since it was on the brink of winter starting, days were short and the window of golden hour time wasn’t enough for us to execute 30 shots in a lower number of days. We had multiple shooting days, more than we hoped, with multiple cars since the same car wouldn’t be available for all the days. We ended up using four cars for a one-minute and thirty-second clip… FOUR CARS.

It was hectic and tiring and in many cases a waste for us reaching the location, only for it to get too dark or only shoot one or two shots.

But we had fun, and it was probably the most fun I have had on any project this year (this is my reflection all the way in April 2019. Oh, the many things I would tell my 2018 November-self doing this project…). As we gradually ticked off each shot on our storyboard and shot list, we called a wrap at the end of each day with relief that we were one step closer towards finishing the project.

 

POST-PRODUCTION

The day had finally arrived when I had all the footage on my computer, ready to be compiled into a small duration of a minute and thirty-seconds. Being the editor, I sat in the comfort of my home and spent endless days and nights trying to make everything work.

And everything did.

My most dreaded fear during production was that we would overlook filming a shot, assuming that we had done it, and when I would come towards editing, that shot would be missing. THANKFULLY, all the shots were in place and they were more perfect than I had expected.

Other than placing 30 shots and editing it exactly to frame of the original clip, the only other thing I had to focus on was the colour grading and correction. Even though we would not be assessed on that aspect since we hadn’t learned of it in class, I used it to give life to the clips and in most cases make the red of the car stand out, since all the cars we used were more of a maroon shade of colour than red. Moreover, since we had limited time to check settings like the white balance and the ISO, I adjusted the colour to closely look as similar as possible, so that when someone is watching the video, it wouldn’t be distracting.

One editing aspect I really enjoyed was the sound design and mixing. Having knowledge of sound editing beforehand, I recreated the entire audio track of the video to match as closely to the real clip as possible. I did not use any sounds from the real clip. I changed the decibel levels and the pan from left to right, with multiple layers of audio on top of other audio.

An interesting element in the video is that at 0:27 (see below), there is a black coat that passes in front of the camera making it appear as if it is a wipe transition. In the original clip, it is from someone walking in front of the camera but since we did not shoot the scene like that, I had to do some post-production magic to replicate it. Using a stock photo of a man wearing a coat, I scaled it so it would fit the entire screen vertically then used keyframes to move it from one end of the screen to the other, altering the speed to match the speed of the original clip. It was a little tedious since I had no clue about how to do it in DaVinci but the end result looked extremely believable!

 

 

FINAL VIDEO:

Baby Driver, Opening Scene Recreated – 

 

 

Task 1 – Two-Shot

TASK :

To film two varying shots of maximum ten-seconds in length to be edited into a sequence in class.

 

PRE-PRODUCTION

This was one of the first projects the class received. Being someone who has always worked individually on media projects, I was looking forward to this assignment without any concerns.

Although we weren’t expected to prepare any pre-production documents for this task, I did have a one-on-one session with my mind palace to come up with an interesting concept. I have always been a fan of the ‘new and unique’ and I did not want to submit something ‘expected’ or ‘predictable’, coming from a student in year 1 of film.

The previous mini-task, ‘Task 0’, had been filming a 20-second clip on your mobile device of anything. Even for that task, I wanted to present something intriguing to watch and eye-catching. It led me to shoot an extreme close-up, still shot of my sister’s pink Croc on the stairs, her putting it on her foot then walking towards the front yard. Throughout the entire video, the only object in focus is the pink Croc and when it is out of the close-up frame, the entire video is out of focus.

So, personally, I needed to come up with a concept for this task and not just film two different videos. I kept this close in my mind because we would have to edit these clips together in class, and the inner experimenter in me started to arise.

Being an avid fan of films and TV shows, I started looking at videos online, scribbling ideas on sheets of paper and scrunching them into balls that would be thrown into a trash bin when I got too ambitious or impractical… or just boring!

In the end, like a sign from above, I settled on doing two shots inspired the idea of ‘The Upside Down’ from ‘Stranger Things’ on Netflix. It would allow me to experiment with editing as well as showcase some interesting filming techniques. I eve used my phone to film some test shots inside my house, carrying out the specific camera movements needed to achieve the look of the concept.

Equipment used: Fujifilm FinePix Camera, Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017) – Task 0

 

PRODUCTION

This assignment was the first opportunity where the class had to rent out equipment from the IT office. It was exciting and concerning since we would have to take extra care of the sophisticated equipment, otherwise, we would have to bear the consequences. Nevertheless, I was excited to film my concept!

But life does not always go as one plans it and I faced problems with my SD card. The Black Magic Pocket Cinema Camera requires a certain SD card specification to record and read data. I had bought mine online and the price was close to the market standard. Although, I faced the perils of online shopping and it was a faulty card. Funny enough, it works on other cameras (on my Fujifilm) and other devices perfectly, but not on the Black Magic cameras. The whole thing remains mysterious until today… The specifications listed for the product are probably not correct, I DON’T KNOW!

Other than that, production ran smoothly. Even though there were quite a few takes for each shot, the process was quick to finish.

 

POST-PRODUCTION

Even though the official post-production phase of this assignment was to be held in class, I did my own trial version of the concept at home using the software, CyberLink PowerDirector (software that has been with me from year 9, the first year I took media studies).

To my relief, the clip blended quite well and looked great! The best part was that it looked realistic, and the transition from the ‘real world’ to the ‘upside down’ worked brilliantly. I couldn’t wait to show my class and the Professor my concept.

 

FINAL VIDEO:

This is the edited version, with both the separate videos put together – 

 

Task 0 – 20-second clip shot using a mobile device

Task 1 – Advertisement

TASK :

To create a thirty-second advertisement for a product, service or place.

 

PRE-PRODUCTION

The project began with assigning our teams. I finally got to work with three people that I did not get the opportunity to work with for the rest of the projects and I was looking forward to it. Although at first, we had a differentiation in our ideas for an advertisement, in the end, we settled on the concept of doing an advertisement for our course. It would be completely vintage, in the form of a 1960s film, then transition gradually to a modern cinematic look. Going home after the day of discussion, we were all satisfied.

However, when hearing the initial ideas from other teams, I felt unsatisfied all of a sudden with our film concept. It seemed to bland, to express openly, and I voiced my opinion to the team who all understood the point and wanted to really make this advertisement great.

Sitting in Professor Daniela’s class one day during an intermission after watching the Weekly screening, I started to look at slogans for various companies and brands. As I felt like my research was going nowhere, I came across KFC’s classic slogan of “It’s finger lickin’ good”. I found the idea amusing if we could actually depict people licking their fingers and-

“Why not actually make it for McDonald’s and put ‘It’s finger lickin’ good too’ at the end?”

Before class started I rushed to my team and pitched the idea. At first, a couple of them didn’t quite understand it but as I explained it further they got the concept and were immediately on board. As we refined our idea and made it much more surprising or perhaps entertaining to watch, keeping both KFC, McDonald’s and rivalry advertising in mind, we were ready to pitch for the first time it in front of our module Professor, a nerve-wracking but exciting experience.

 

Equipment used: 1 BlackMagic Pocket Cinema Camera, 1 Canon Lens, 1 Tripod, 2 ARRI Redhead Light and light stands

 

PRODUCTION

After collecting our equipment, we were looking forward to finishing of the production phase of our project. We had booked a room in block 19 in advance, gathered all the actors and appointed an assembly point: the film lab in block 16.

Since all acting were our classmates, casted for helping each other out and getting extra credits, they realised the possible hassles a team can go through during production. They were extremely cooperative, and in the end, they were getting a chance of eating free food!

As two members set up the lights, the other two helped the actors feel comfortable and get a little more acquainted with our concept and what they have to do without giving too much to the twist away. That was saved for screening day.

Each actor had to carry out a series of actions: Eat a sandwich wrap and fries, drink a fizzy drink, lick their fingers and whistle to ‘Don’t worry be happy’ by Bobby McFerrin.

We filmed each actor in one sitting so that we would not have continuity problems with their clothes, shot angles and light and shadows.

There were times when we were stressed about the lighting, there were moments when the backdrop didn’t seem to work and there were instances where the actors found it challenging to carry out of the actions. Nevertheless, there were a lot of laughs and tons of fun during production for this advertisement. While the actors enjoyed eating free food, the crew members had a great time filming.

It couldn’t have gone more smoothly.

 

 

POST-PRODUCTION

I was the editor for the project and since I have the editing software, DaVinci Resolve, at home, I stayed in the comfort of my house and edited the project.

Firstly, I made a rough cut and sent out a test video to the team to gain their feedback and opinions. I stayed in close contact with each of them, especially with the director, to make sure that I deliver a final product that the whole team is proud of and that it is what the director envisioned.

Although everything was going well and I was on the right track, in-sync with everyone’s visions, I worked closely on the colour to bring out the ‘red’ of the background and the brightness associated with the brands we were incorporating into the advertisement. Moreover, I scaled all the shots to make sure that all the subjects aligned in the centre.

Towards the end of the advertisement, there is a ‘text erasing’ sequence which consumed most of my time on this project and in this phase of production.

I used another editing software, Sony Vegas Pro, to create the animation since I felt more comfortable with it (having prior knowledge of it) and I did not want to waste time learning how to achieve the same result or even better in DaVinci Resolve.

It was a quiet post-production phase as I stayed in my bedroom for hours on end, clicking away on my computer and making everything satisfy the perfectionist inside me.

 

FINAL VIDEO:

McDonald’s vs. KFC – A Rivalry Advertisement – 

 

Task 3 – Documentary

TASK :

To create two 1 minute documentaries revolving with any chosen topic. Each one should have one of the team members as the subject. Moreover, one documentary should use a clip-on mic while the other uses a boom mic.

 

PRE-PRODUCTION

Having the same team members as the previous assignment, we immediately went into brainstorming ideas for topics the documentary should be about. Picking out two members from our team helped to narrow down the possibilities related to something that makes the member stand out. In the end, Joshua Balan was chosen to star in a fitness documentary while I was chosen to star in a music one, both of which are one of our strong and passionate points.

The assigned scriptwriters wrote the scripts for each documentary then the storyboards were drawn up. While these production documents were being sorted out, we also organised the location permits for where we wanted to film. Also, we decided the shooting days and times for each, keeping in mind o the weather and the sunlight outdoors to avoid over-exposed footage that could cause us to reshoot the scenes again.

Equipment used: 1 ZOOM microphone, 2 BlackMagic Pocket Cinema Cameras, 2 Canon Lens, 1 Tripod, 1 TASCAM transmitter and receiver, 1 Slider, 1 KINO LED Light

 

PRODUCTION

MUSIC: This documentary went fairly smoothly although one technical issue caused us to have a reshoot. The documentary opens with a time lapse of the team setting up the lights and camera but once we started filming the interview, I forgot to turn off the time lapse setting. Moreover, we had to then book the classroom once again and successfully finish shooting the entire interview in a short duration of time. Personally, I liked the second room better and feel as though it looks better on camera and in the final video.

FITNESS: We had some issues with the team leader, the director, for this particular docuemntary since a lot of time was wasted and tasks were not done according to the standard that was required. In the end, the rest of the team members jointly took over and pulled off creating a decent looking fitness docuemntary. To add on, we had some issues with the Slider as we couldn’t assemble it properly. Eventually, we did the shots either handheld or on a tripod.

 

POST-PRODUCTION

Two members were assigned as being editors for the documentaries. There was initially a disagreement between the actual editor for the fitness documentary but Joshua took the job over since he wanted to learn how to edit and the final cut looked surprisingly great. As a team, we were satisfied with our entire performance throughout the project, even though some problems did arise. We managed to pull through and produce two quality works.

In post-production, we did not face any other significant problems other than having a lot of extra b-roll footage that we sadly couldn’t incorporate into the final documentaries.

 

FINAL VIDEO:

‘Survival of The Fittest’ – Fitness Documentary – 

 

‘The Sound of Music’ – Music Documentary –

Task 2 – Lighting

TASK :

To display our use of lighting equipment and using it to light a scene. Also, to compare a naturally lit scene with an artificial lit one.

 

PRE-PRODUCTION

This was the first group project our class had been assigned. I was looking forward to working in a team

The team collaborated and discussed a concept to film for the lighting project. We had various ideas for the scene but ultimately decided on picking two characters playing a game of chess.

The team created the required pre-production documents, including the storyboard of how the angles, shot type and movement would be of the camera. We booked the required equipment for the project then collected on the day we scheduled for shooting. Moreover, we had booked a classroom at the university for a couple of hours for shooting the scene.

Equipment used: 2 KINO LED Lights, 1 BlackMagic Pocket Cinema Camera, 1 Canon Lens, 1 Tripod

 

PRODUCTION

The team set up the equipment in a matter of half an hour then we did a couple of test shots for both versions of the scene. This also helped the actors practice their acts and dialogues so that the actual takes would go smoothly.

We did face a slight issue of having smooth camera movement since to add a more narrative look, we wanted the chess board to be revealed after the two characters are seen sitting at a table. For that dolly out movement, we had to do it free-hand since we did not have the equipment like a GlideCam or a Slider, and neither did we learn about them in class yet. In the end, we improvised a way to make the camera movement as smooth as possible. Since I was the camera operator, I was seated on a table and I placed my hands while holding the camera, on top of a team members arm that was stretched out. This acted as support for my shaky hold and we both moved in-sync backwards so that we could get a decent visually-appealing shot.

 

POST-PRODUCTION

This assignment was the first instance where we had to work as a team to edit. After filming we used the facilities in the film lab. We first archived the footage and renamed the takes, then we put the shots together, first editing the naturally lit scene then the artificially lit scene.

For the shots with the dolly-backwards movement, we had to stabilise it since it would be too distracting to watch the clip otherwise.

 

FINAL VIDEO:

‘Realistic’ Lighting – 

 

‘Artificial Lighting’ – 

— C A T E G O R I E S —

Pick a module code OR an area of interest on the left-hand side to sort posts according to my projects or film analysis!

• Movie-Mix: Films I watched and analysed in my free time, for the fun of it
• FLM 1100 – Screen Storytelling & FLM 1200 – Screen Aesthetics: Films part of my Film degree module
• Practical projects (FLM 1300 & FLM 1301): Projects done as part of my practical work modules