HorrorCon Project

HorrorCon Project

The project’s objective was to create a short horror film for HorrorCon on 19th May. 

Pre-Production

Client phone call  outcomes

During the phone call we discussed the following:

• Who the client was and what he did for a living.
• What the short film is for. (HorrorCon 19th May)
• Our groups basic story plot for a horror short story.
• The length the short film needed to be. (5-10 minutes)
• A £100 budget available to make the film.
• A deadline of 19th May 2018.

After the phone call with Ben, we decided as a group to hand out jobs to each of the crew members. Once we had our own job roles we created an online checklist which all the crew could access, this meant that we could see deadlines and all make sure we were on top of the pre-production process.

I had the role of producer which gave me the ability to use my leadership and project management skills. I made sure everyone was keeping to their deadlines and making sure things were going to plan such as casting was completed at least a week before we were due to drive to Whitby. I also stepped into roles throughout the project but in the pre-production stage I helped make an equipment checklist to ensure we had everything we needed to film. Being able to adapt to different roles helped push the pre-production along as it took some weight off of the other crew members shoulders.

Production

At Whitby I did an equipment check to make sure we had everything we needed. As I made the checklist it only made sense to be the one to do it. The equipment we took to Whitby was:

• Sony F 100 camera
• Zoom H6 audio recorder and microphone
• Clapper board
• Tripod
• Ronin Gimbal system
• DSLR (60D)
• Shoulder mount

Working with actors meant that we had to use them as much as possible to get as many shots. This is when my communication skills came in to tell them what we wanted and how to deliver it without being pushy, we didn’t want the actors to feel pressured or unhappy about acting in front of the camera, so it was important to make sure we gave them space as well.

Due to the fact we had 3 days to film, timekeeping was essential to ensure that we completed the filming in time. With the director Hannah, I helped keep on top of the amount of time we would spend on a scene and ensure we had enough time to have breaks etc.

For the first scene we shot, I used my practical skills as a camera operator to film. Thinking about composition rules, and how to use the functions of a camera I was able to film good shots. When people were tired and wanted to swap jobs, I first on hand to offer to do the job, I also did audio and logging. Being flexible with my job role allowed me to have more of an understanding about what was happening on set and allowed me to change things and improve things I didn’t like. Not only this but being an effective participant within a group helped push the production along.

The final skill I contributed to the project was problem solving, one night that we were filming, we left it late to film everyone was too tired, and we had to film the next night at a different location. This meant that the next day we would have to film the same scene in the day time. But the time of day was night. So, to solve this problem, I had the idea with the director to blackout all the windows in the room we were using to give the illusion that it was dark. This allowed us carry on filming and not worry about the scene not being finished.

Post Production

In the post production part of the project, I appointed myself in charge over seeing the edit and making sure we were on target of our deadline. Knowing that this was a real production video and copyright laws I decide to try and find music and people to produce the music. As the producer I outreached bands and asked to use their music, this lead me to talk to mangers and producers.

Evaluation

Although the time we had to film everything was short, I feel like our teamwork as a whole pulled us through and allowed us to finish on time. Often there were times where we were filming for 12 hours with short breaks however people we on hand to step in to cover them.

Due to other projects surrounding this one, the script was completed late which pushed us back. This meant that some of the pre production documents like call sheets weren’t completed till we got to Whitby, this held us back a little. If I was to do this project again I would have started the script earlier and made other group members contribute to speed the script writing process up, instead of leaving it one person to do it and put them under pressure. This wouldn’t then have created the domino effect and left us behind.

Sometimes there were small arguments on set about people not contributing to, however there were no jobs to contribute to. In the pre production stage the call sheet should have avoided this problem and if we had one it wouldn’t have caused friction between members of the group.

When working for a client it is important to communicate as much as possible to one another to ensure they are up to date with the progress of the project. In this case we didn’t have as much communication as we’d have liked. If I was to start the project again I would have given the client weekly emails about the progress we had made just so that he knew that the budget was being spent wisely and that the project was going to be finished on time. When you keep the client out the loop it is hard for you to get feedback which is helpful when you want to know what they are looking for.

In the post production stage, it is easy to let things slip. When we came back from Whitby  the editing was held back. Pushing the deadline even tighter which put us in a worse position due to the fact we needed to find music and add foley to the edit. If I was to do this project again, I would have got members of the crew to start syncing and piecing together the audio and visuals together as well as a rough edit of every scene to tweak when we got back to College. This was the original plan but it did not happen due to the amount of filming we did on location.

Some members of the crew had much more intensive job roles than others, often this meant that they would stand around and not contribute as much which was possibly part of the problem with people getting exhausted. As the producer it should have been my job reinforce a swap of jobs to push people out of their comfort zones to try something different.

In post, we realised that some of the takes weren’t logged properly, this was due to the role of logger and the clapper board was split between to people, this meant that there was a lot of miscommunication happening between the two people. If I was to do this project again and direct, I would have given both jobs to the same person in order to cut out the middle man. This would then mean that the logger would know exactly what he clapped. In a larger scaled shoot, the jobs would have to be split to save time, but in this case it would have saved confusion and allowed us to save more time in post matching clips together.

Overall, as a group we worked hard to finish the filming and editing on time. We used our timekeeping skills to achieve this as well as our determination to finish the project. Our communication and friendliness helped keep the actors on their toes and they also played a big part in helping us finish the project with the amount of time they dedicated to filming with us. Each of the crew members took on their job roles with seriousness and professionalism at a standard which you would expect to see in a professional film crew. We all put a lot of time into this project and I believe it payed off.