MAJOR PROJECT: COLLABORATION

After the challenges of Pre production last term with writing and re-writing the script over and over again, the next challenge awaiting is the actual production. The difficult thing is to know where to start. There are certain elements I have had to think about as primary producer of the project.

First of all is a script breakdown which had to be done to cover all the aspects of the production I need to think about and source prior to shooting. This includes costumes, props, location, crew, cast, production design.

In the pre production phase I had already set out looking for locations, as well as putting together shortlists of actors for the roles I would be casting. However the script has been changing organically throughout the past couple of months and this has meant going from 5 to 3 on-screen cast members.

COLLABORATORS

CAST

To get to grips with casting the first thing to do was to research the role in films and television. Firstly to get an insight I watched the Hollywood Reporter's roundtable with 5 industry casting directors. Juliet Taylor acclaimed casting director on Taxi Driver, The Exorcist and Schindler's List, Ellen Lewis (Goodfellas, Forrest Gump and The Departed), Patricia DiCerto (many of Woody Allen's recent films), Laura Rosenthal (Chicago and Carol), Jennifer Euston (Known for her television work on Orange is the new black and Girls).

They talk of balancing the right and the left side of the brain, meaning their creative and practical sides. They have to work within budgets even if that means casting someone over the other due to certain parameters restricting them. They talk of the documentary 'Casting By' (Tom Donahue) which sheds a spotlight on the world of casting in films and how people haven't necessarily recognised the people who work in the casting profession.

As shown by the trailer above casting directors don't get anywhere near enough credit, despite people like Marion Dougherty discovering talent such as Dustin Hoffman, Glenn Close and Robert De Niro.

Casting Director as a title was not really recognised until Dougherty's later career. I have not done the role justice on Backbone however it is a role I could have used for help, as this was a particular struggle on Backbone.

COMPOSER 

I was quite lucky to find a composer via an email from UCA about a young composer looking for projects to work on. I researched his work and was really interested in what I saw. I contacted him and we were able to meet to discuss the project in depth along with a rough draft of the film. 

Unfortunately he ended up being overly busy at work and so couldn't put as much attention as I would have liked into the production. So as a result I would consider the music to be one of the weakest aspects of the film overall. 

However the whole experience of working with a composer was eye opening. What I learned was that he wanted to find out in depth the themes and feeling of the story. His question actually made me think a lot deeper into my film and I would say it helped me when I arrived on set. 

We came up with one word for the story: HUMANITY

SOUND RECORDIST AND MIXER

After careful consideration and the experience of working on Plamen Dimitrov's film with a freelance sound recordist, I decided that I would go down the same path and spend a considerable amount of my budget on his services. 

http://www.mjssound.co.uk/

Matt was a huge professional help and as a result the film sound so much better than it would have done with someone inexperienced doing the role. 

Matt on sound - Backbone

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY

Michael Hoad (2016 graduate) was a huge help on my production, without him we may well have needed plenty more extra shooting days. His ability with the camera pulling focus himself was exceptional. He has really given that film an edge with some really striking imagery working together. Not only was his camera work brilliant, but he is very professional, organised and very practical finding ever more ingenious ways for me to see the shot via the monitor, as well as shielding me from rain. 

An absolute pleasure to work with. His suggestion when we did test shoots back in early March was that we use primarily a 50mm lens which gives Backbone its great detail and quality on the final product. 

Without a good DoP a director can struggle, so having Mike there made my job working with the actors much more achievable.   

MAJOR PROJECT: THE STORY

Throughout the pre-production and now leading up to production I have been working on the story trying to make it effective and relatable.

I have watched many varying different short films for inspiration from drama to comedy I have tried to cover many different areas to figure out where my film will land and what the feeling will be.

One of the earliest short films I watched was 'Borrowed Time' (2015).

Borrowed Time from Borrowed Time on Vimeo.

This film was very powerful in its storytelling. It portrays an ageing man returning to the scene of the worst moment in his life. It is a very sad film with high drama and tension at points, but also moments of contemplation. There were definitely moments I could pick from this that I could relate to the story I want to tell when I come to production.

Another short film I watched more recently is 'SATURDAY' (2016), which depicts the day of the Hillsborough disaster in 1989 when 96 Liverpool football fans lost their lives during a football match. The story focuses on a young boy back in Liverpool playing football with his friends only to come home to discover the horror of loss as his older brother is one of those 96. This again evokes emotions, however this time on a much more relatable real level, as the event in question really did happen.

SATURDAY from jessica levick on Vimeo.

As a loyal Liverpool supporter I myself found this incredibly moving. So this is where the relation  of the film can effect the viewer more. So having watched this I knew that my film had to be in some way relatable to audiences. This is why I decided ultimately to remove the key moment of my original script where someone dies having been run over by the large force of the lorry. The story of a man facing a terminal illness as well as two stowaways in the back of his lorry seems more real and relatable.

SETTING THE TONE

As well as watching short films I felt it was appropriate to watch feature films as well to get a sense of tone and feeling that I could potentially portray in my film Backbone (working title). 

A major influence for me on the story is 'Locke' (2013). The 90 minute film is set almost entirely in a car as the titular character drives along the motorway talking to various people as his life collapses around him. There are many things to relate to my character in that he is a traveller on the road, he does most of his talking with people on the phone rather than face to face. This means that my actor will have to be very strong in his performance as we will be with him throughout most of the film. 

Screen-cap from 'Locke' (2013)

The above picture is largely the only thing we see throughout the film. The tone of my film will aim to be similar in many ways to this. However the goal is not to copy this film, my character Rick is very different and will be faced with a different challenge in the back of his lorry. 

Often the story of a film can be strong, but the tone and feeling created doesn't necessarily work or vice versa. I watched 'Jackie' (2017) recently which is a film that creates a feeling and tone through its music and visuals that is dreamlike, contemplative and grief stricken. The story focusses on Jackie Kennedy shortly after the assassination of her husband the president JFK. 

This clip from the film takes place upon the Kennedy's arrival into Texas. The score by Mica Levi combined with the sound design creates a sense of melancholia as well as impending tragedy as we focus primarily on Jackie ignoring the President. As the first lady you get the feeling that this is her world when in crowds like this, JFK greets the masses whilst she stands in the wings watching the action. This feeling is replicated throughout the film even after the assassination, she remains in a state of shock and in a way in a dream away from the reality surrounding her. Often the sound will cut away completely leaving just the score and her performance to convey the emotion.

This is the power of what the tone a feel can used in the right way. So my goal is to take inspiration from this and the other examples above and replicate them to an extent to further my films story and character ark.

MAJOR PROJECT: PRACTICAL PRODUCING

A lot of what I have had to do throughout the couple of months leading up to production has been on the practical side. I have had to take up the role of main producer with my two co-producers doing all they can to help whilst also working on their own projects. My producer Plamen has taken on the role as more of a story development assistant, even taking on a script editing role to help give me another set of eyes on the story. The other producer Lawrence has taken on a more practical producer role helping with casting for my voice characters. He has already got me in touch with the 'Quirky Kidz' acting agency.

My role has been to source props and costumes. However the most tasking part of this part has been the acquiring of a lorry for my character's to act in and around, essentially a main location in itself. The way I have gone about this is by trying to get my location set in stone and then trying to find lorry hire companies in and around this to make it convenient.

Working as a producer proved to be my biggest challenge of the project, as this is the role that I have found myself to be least suited to. Using the website ‘lynda.com’ I was able to come to an understanding of what my role as producer is. By the time I did this research I already found that I was undertaking the producer role, as the producer is involved from start to finish of the project well before and after the director has done their work. The roles of a producer include: 

• Starting the project
• Shepherding the script creation
• Getting funding  

Original budget for Backbone

• Managing pre-production, production and post-production

Call sheet for Day 1 on Backbone

• supervising marketing/distribution
• Ensuring the film is successful

This is how it is listed on lynda.com and I discovered throughout that these were and still are my roles as producer. Being producer was a role that didn’t suit me completely as an example of the difficulties I had with this role was my main actor pulling out a week before production. If I had done this role more effectively I would have had my cast confirmed well in advance having time to meet them and go over the important elements of the story. 

Although myself and my two co-producers are called as such this is not always the case. There is the producer, executive producer, associate producer and line producer all have varying different roles depending on the film they working on. In television the executive producer is generally the show-runner and therefore the highest on the credits list, however on a film it is different.

On my film Backbone I seem to be an all round producer encompassing all of these different types. For example the line producer generally works on aspects of the production like the budget, however as demonstrated above I have done that as well as develop the story, buy props, and cast the majority of the film.

Despite all the different aspects of this difficult job I have enjoyed my attempt at doing this, however it is not a role I will actively seek to do in the future.

MAJOR PROJECT: DRAMA CONVENTIONS

KEY WORD: CONFLICT 




As my film Backbone will be firmly rooted in the drama genre it is vital to research the conventions of the drama to understand it and make an effective film within the genre. In the book 'Directing: film techniques and aesthetics' Michael Rabiger veteran director of 35 films talks of conflict and how this is a key term in drama films. There are certain different forms of conflict which he lists below.

• Person versus person (external conflict) 

Throughout 12 Angry Men (1957) dir. Sidney Lumet the 12 jurors are in conflict with each other about whether a young man is guilty of murder or not.

• Person versus environment or social institution (external conflict)

An excellent example of this is in 127 hours (2011) dir. Danny Boyle. True story of Aron Ralston who got trapped in a canyon for 127 hours, faces a dilemma about his own survival.

James Franco in 127 hours (2011)

• Person versus a task they are compelled to undertake (internal and external conflict)

In Martin Scorceses' latest film 'Silence' (2017) two Portuguese priests go on a mission to Japan to free a Christian man who tried to spread God's word in Japan. However the Japanese do not accept this foreign religion as the two priests will discover in a fight to keep their faith and survive.  

• Person versus themselves, as in someone with conflicting traits or beliefs (internal conflict)

An example of this kind of conflict is in 'In Bruges' (2008) dir. Martin Mcdonagh. Colin Farrell's character kneels in a park and puts a gun to his head as he feels that he can't live on in the knowledge he killed a young boy by mistake.

My main character experiences these conflicts above to certain degrees. He has a decision to make that could have ramifications if something goes wrong. He is also facing potential terminal illness. 

Although primarily a drama the story also has its elements of suspense/thriller as the fear of the unknown takes over for both the lorry driver Rick and the two brothers inside the lorry who don't know what to expect on the other side.