Final Year Project – Indiegogo/Budget

We have been incredibly lucky with our funding and have raised even more then what we asked for! With 7 days left we are sitting at £1,158. Our estimated budget we made was around £838, which we then rounded up to £900 for contingency. However we rounded up even further to £1,000 so that we could compensate our leading actors and submit to more festivals after the film is complete.

For the film our producer (Charlotte) made a Monzo account for all purchases for the film. However because of the date we launched the Indiegogo, we do not receive the money raised until mid March, which is after we film (4th-7th), with a lot of that money going towards costumes, props and make-up for the shoot.

So, because of this, we have created an expenses sheet to keep track of who has paid what and to make sure that everybody gets reimbursed for all purchases they have made for the project.

Charlotte is looking into travel costs at the moment, and we are hoping to get an invoice for “man with a van” which means we can pay for it once the indiegogo money becomes available, as that is a big chunk of our budget.

Final Year Project – Campaign Launch

Our campaign officially launched the 27th of January, and our Indiegogo has raised £650 so far! Our team are very excited about how well it is going.

Our Facebook and Instagram have also recieved some great acknowledgment, and are still getting more followers and like with ever day that passes.

Charlotte (producer) has made a detailed schedule with what we will be posting each day, in order for our followers to learn more, and gain more interest in the film.

Indiegogo

Facebook

Instagram

 

Final Year Project – Crowdfunding

Our crowd funding campaign is almost ready. We plan to launch the campaign, and our social media (Facebook and Instagram), on Monday 27th. We have teaser trailer and a campaign video to launch with the Indiegogo, to show them the kind of film we are making, and so they know how their money will be spent.

Teaser Trailer:

 

Our campaign video is still currently being edited together. The video involves myself (Director),  Charlotte (Producer), Gemma (DOP), and Sam (Editor) talking to the camera and describing our roles in the film. We have also taken crew portraits to put on the Indiegogo page.

Final Year Project – “Piece By Piece”

There has been substantial development in this project over the christmas break. First and foremost in the story and script. Leo and I spent a lot of time going over the story and characters, really thinking about the story we wanted to tell, and what was good from what we had, and what still needed work. We believe that story feels more concrete now, and works much better then what we had before.

DRAFT: Piece by Piece – FINAL DRAFT

Second imporant development is we have a definite title to this project, and that is Piece by Piece. We believe this title works very well considering the nature of the story, Joanna learning about Lena, and about what really happened in her car accident, and throughout the script she starts to piece all the facts together. It also works on a metaphorical level as the ending of this story is the start of Lena putting her life back together – piece by piece.

Our filming dates are still to be confirmed as we are waiting to here back from our main location, where we will be filming all the hospital scenes. Our window of filming oppertunity is the first 2 weeks of May, preferably before the 10th, as that is when we will no longer have the option to use the Alexa camera.

We are currently in the middle of casting for the project, auditions were held today, and we are still waiting on several self-tapes from some applicants. From what we have seen so far, we are leaning towards sticking with Sophie, who played Lena in our test shoot, as she is a very good actress and is very fitting for the part. However we do need to recast for Joanna, as well as cast for the other nurse Alex and the Police Officer.

Our budget has increased and is sitting at around £900. It is possible, depending on what happens with location, that the cost may increase. We plan to launch our Indiegogo page on the 27th of January, after we have made our campain video (to be filmed on the 22nd Jan). As well as a campaign video, we also have a teaser trailer that we plan to put on the indiegogo page, as well as our facebook page and our instagram account.

Final Year Project – Test Shoot

Our test shoot is officialy complete. I am happy with the finished result, however I now realize some things I want to change for the actual shoot.

1) The script is in need of a rewrite, some lines of dialogue don’t feel quite right, and their are parts were it doesn’t flow too well.

2) Although they are short scenes I would like to think about different, more creative, shots that we can incorporate. This applies to the whole film, not just the scenes we shot for the test shoot.

3) I’m thinking of recasting. I definitely want to recast for Joanna, purely because I want an older looking actress, and the actress we have now is a bit too young. I need to discuss this with Charlotte but I am also thinking about recasting Lena. The actress we have is very talented, but it almost feels like she doesn’t quite fit the part.

 

Stills from the Test Shoot:

 

Edit Stills:

Final Year Project – Preparing for Film Presentation

MOST CURRENT DRAFT: Untitled Grad Film – Draft 6

WORKING TITLE:   ‘I See You’

Our film presentation is well under way, and since the presentation were moved to the 5th December, we are actually ahead of schedule. Attached below are various documents that will be discussed during the pitch e.g. estimated budget.

PAPERWORK:

Grad Film – Estimated Budget – Sheet1

Grad Film Budget Notes

Post Production Schedule – Sheet1

Synopsis      —–  What I’m saying at the pitch regarding story.

Charlotte and I are still making a full production schedule, but nothing is final until we know if the project has been green-lit and also when we are able to film, because to our knowledge no project can film at the same time so Paul (module leader) has a say on when we can film.

At the moment we are researching how to fund for the film, this is mainly looking at past graduation films and their Indiegogo pages, and the teasers and campaign videos to promote the films. The plan so far is to make a teaser out of scene 1 and 2 that we shot for the test shoot, and show scene 7 as a scene clip. We are also planning how we want to make the campaign video, and show a behind-the-scenes video so people can get a sense of how much work is being put into the project.

NEWS: We now have a sound designer for the final shoot, Rhona Taylor, a graduate from the course. Which means we have completely filled all of our head of department roles!

Final Year Project – Test Shoot

Our test shoot ran very smoothly, and we were incredibly lucky with weather (two scenes were set outside).

The first day (7th Nov) we shoot scene 1 and 2, which is our protagonist Lena lying on the ground, badly injured, right after the car crash, and her being rushed into the ER on a gurney.

Scene 2 was shot in a studio in the screen academy, and working quite effectively. We still need to see what an audience would think of it (class opinions at the film presentation) to see if it is believably as a hospital setting. These two shots were the most difficult set ups for the entire test shoot, because we wanted to see a birds eye view of Lena lying on the gurney (which was a dolly) we ended up needing two dollys, one with the camera, and one with the actress (see pictures below).

One of the other things we were unsure about was how effective the SFX make-up would be, but it turned out really well in camera. Emma (production designer, make-up artist) has been practising regularly to familiarise herself with the make-up and scarring that we want, and is still working on how much time is needed before its completed.

Scene 1 was later in the day because we needed it to be dark outside. So we went out to the location around 4:30pm. There were two shots for this scene, both were very quick, but a lot to do in terms technical aspects. We had to surround the actress with sugar glass, all the while assuring her safety, and have her lying on the ground. We placed a blanket underneath her body because the ground was very cold, as was the temperature after the sun went down that day, so getting these shots quickly and effectively was very important. During the take we had the gaffer (Klaudia) moving with a portable light, covered in blue gels, to act as the arriving ambulance.

BTS

BTS

 

Still 1

Still 2

 

Day 2 was quicker then we anticipated, and we ended up wrapping about an hour early. We filmed scene 7, where Joanna and Lena first start to bond on the rooftop of the hospital. We filmed on the rooftop of the merchiston building.

 

Both shooting day were very successful and I’m very excited to see it all put together in post production, and ready to show at the film presentation!

Final Year Project – Sugar Glass

For scene 1 (post car crash) we are in need of glass. The idea for this scene is one shot – possibly two – a medium close-up of the actresses face, her lying on the ground (back to the ground, looking up towards the sky). The idea is to see the glass scattered around her. So for safety issues we are using sugar glass (often used for baking) which is far safer and less string then real glass.

After looking over prices and websites for places that sell sugar glass we came to the conclusion that making it would be cheaper. So we found a recipe online:

• 3½ cups (790 grams) white, granulated sugar
• 2 cups (475 milliliters) water
• 1 cup (240 milliliters) light corn syrup
• ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar

On the 25th October we had a production design meeting and practised making the sugar glass. The main problem we had was that we had to let it boil until it got to a certain heat, but by that point the sugar had caramelised and turned brown. We did a couple of tests but the same thing kept happening, so we researched how to avoid it. Most things we found said to use blue food colouring. Which we are going to test next week.

Final Year Project – Test Shoot

CURRENT DRAFT: Untitled Grad Film – Draft 5

For the test shoot we have decided to film 3 scenes from the script:

• Scene 1 – Post car crash
• Scene 2 – Lena being rushed into the ER
• Scene 8 – Rooftop

We chose scene 1 because there are a lot of things we need to test for this particular scene. It may only be one shot (at the moment) but there’s a lot more to it. Firstly, this is a medium close-up of Lena lying on the ground directly after the car crash, so the make-up is going to be very severe. Secondly its being filmed at night, so we need to test how to light it well – and how the make-up looks in the light – and test the “ambulance lights” which will start to reflect on Lena’s face as the “ambulance” gets closer, which will be made obvious with lighting and sound design. Thirdly, there will be sugar glass involved, since its post crash there will be a certain amount of glass around her, and so we need to see if that works well in the shot and if it looks realistic.

We chose scene 2 because, again, there is a lot to be tested, except this time the testing is more on the technical side. There are two shots planned for this scene, a medium close-up of Lena on the gurney (rolling) and the reverse shot which would be her POV of her looking up at the ceiling and the doctors and nurses above her. We are filming this in a studio for the test shoot, and if we are happy with how it looks then we will most likely film it in a studio for the actual shoot next year. In order to do this shot we need to attach the Alexa onto a dolly that will also be attached to a gurney. At the moment we do not have a gurney and are thinking of something else we could use that we could dress as a gurney, which may mean using two dollys. This is why we need to test it.

We chose scene 8 because this scene, although quite short, reflects the total embodiment of the film. It shows the two characters having a conversation, a conversation which is gradually bringing them closer as friends. The conversation they have talks about the crash, and hints towards Lena’s suicide attempt. It also tells you quite a bit about the characters.

Another reason for shooting scene 1 and 2 is so we can make a short teaser that we can use on our indigogo page when we start applying for funding, and we can also use it for our social media to promote the film e.g. Facebook and Instagram. 

Final Year Project – Location Scouting

Locations for Film:

EXT. Street

INT. Hospital

EXT. Hospital

EXT. Rooftop

Studio

Locations for Test Shoot:

Studio

EXT. Street

EXT. Rooftop

 

Location scouting has been very positive so far. We have a location set for the rooftop scene, and all the interior hospital scenes, as well as a studio space for scene 2. We still need to figure out our EXT. Street location, but for the test shoot we are hoping to do it somewhere around the screen academy, since we’ll be filming there that day anyway.

The rooftop scene will be filmed on the roof of the merchiston building, we are currently in contact with maintenance for the building to get permission to film part of the test shoot there. If all goes well and we like the look of the test shoot then we will try and get the location again for the shoot early next year.

Rooftop Location – Merchiston Campus 

 

We have also been to see a hospital location, which is actually at the sighthill Napier campus. They have a “fake hospital” which is there for the medical and nursing students. Because its part of Napier, permission has been quite easy to access, considering we are also a Napier course.

We are still in discussion about logistics, considering certain scenes that may be difficult – or impossible – to film e.g. scene 4 (current draft) Lena is supposed to be sitting on the window sill with her legs dangling out the window, but the windows at sighthill only open slightly and are attached by chains (see photo below). So it may be that we would have to change the location of that particular scene, or change the action in the scene.

Hospital Location – Sighthill Campus