Unit 13: Extended Project in Creative Media Production - Pre-Production

DISCLAIMER: I confirm that the attached portfolio is all my own work and does not include any work completed by anyone other than myself.

Before leaving the second term of college, my teacher, Kelly, spoke to my class about what we would be doing in our final term at college, which is of course short films. She told us to start having a think over the holidays and make a decision on what we would each like to make our own short films about. I had been thinking since the beginning of the year about what I'd would like to base my film on, but I had been struggling for creativity and couldn't connect with any of the ideas I was coming up with, as well as being unsure of how I would execute an idea successfully due to the ongoing pandemic. I did try to push those worries and concerns aside and start thinking about a, potential, short film idea that I felt was important to tell and something I'm interested to journey through. Just before leaving college, Kelly gave everyone a booklet to help us plan out ideas for our short films, as well as to help inspire an idea. The booklet included many tasks to help us succeed in finding an idea.

Monday 29th March - Sunday 11th April 2021 (Half-Term)

Throughout the half-term, I thought a lot about what I would like to make my end of year short film about. As I thought about a few ideas (didn't have many as I struggled to think of what to create), I kept taking into consideration what was going on at the moment with coronavirus and how I would be able to create a film in a safe environment (taking into account all of the laws and safety restrictions put in place by the government). This was something that played on my mind constantly, which resulted in me struggling and not being able to focus on a certain idea or be able to think of more ideas. It was really tough to come up with anything, in the beginning, as I had been thinking about my short film since the beginning of the year, but I was still unsure of what I would create and how I would develop it successfully. As I like to base my films around the characters and learn about their stories and background (usually with quite a lot of dialogue), I also had to remember I wouldn't be able to create a film with many characters in the film, or be able to use many people outside of college (at this moment in time), due to the pandemic. This caused more blocks and made it even tougher to think about any ideas.

Although I struggled to come up with any ideas or stories, I knew, from the beginning, I wanted to make an uplifting, coming-of-age film that also included great representation for women, particularly of a younger demographic. I have always strived for female representation, both on and off screen, and for my final project, it wasn't going to be any different. Now knowing what I wanted to do, I now needed to come up with an idea and story that I believed in, connected with and would be something important and interesting to me, as well as how it could possibly resonate with an audience. 

I was able to come up with a few initial ideas, thinking about the themes of family, friendship and mental health, however, none of them really stuck with me and I didn't find any creativity or enjoyment once I tried to develop and build up the stories more. After being unable to think of anymore ideas, I then decided to go back to some of my favourite coming-of-age films for research and inspiration. There were quite a few films, and even TV shows, I watched to get a sense of what a coming-of-age story should entail and how the filmmakers successfully presented these stories on-screen, such as:

• 'The Edge of Seventeen' (2016)
• 'The Breakfast Club' (1985)
• 'Stranger Things' (2016- )
• 'Eighth Grade' (2018)
• 'Pretty in Pink' (1986)
• 'Sex Education' (2019- )
• 'My Mad Fat Diary' (2013-2015)
• 'The Perks of Being a Wallflower' (2012)
• 'I Am Not Okay With This' (2020)
• 'The Way Way Back' (2013)
• 'Me and Earl and the Dying Girl' (2015)
• 'Submarine' (2010)
• And many more

All of these films include complex and quirky characters, whether they are the protagonist or a supporting role, who tackle the hardships of friendships/relationships, mental health and growing up. Many of the characters in these particular films and shows, I have listed above, deal with tough lives either at home or at school, with some characters struggling with both. A lot of these characters also try to grasp their own identity and try to understand who they are personally, as well as trying to understand how they can fit into society. Though these films and shows really helped me understand the structure and elements consisted in a coming-of-age film, there were two main films I constantly went back to for inspiration, which are 'Lady Bird' (2017), written and directed by Greta Gerwig, and 'Booksmart' (2019), directed by Olivia Wilde.

'Lady Bird' and 'Booksmart' are two of my favourite films that both take place in the final year, or day, of school before the characters split off and move onto university and the start of their adult lives. I love both of these films for different reasons, with 'Lady Bird', I love the complexity of Lady Bird/Christine (Saoirse Ronan). She is an outsider who wants to fit in and, due to that wanting of fitting in, she jeopardises her relationships with the people she is close to and doesn't realise it once she starts growing up a bit more and realises her behaviour towards those she loves is wrong. She is a wild, whacky, quirky, confident, ambitious and, even sometimes, ignorant character, and although she seems to have a thick exterior, she is very sensitive and caring deep down. The first time I watched 'Lady Bird', it was one of the first times I could see parts of myself within a character on-screen, as many films before 'Lady Bird' didn't necessarily show complex women, especially teenage girls, which I was unable to connect with. As for the film 'Booksmart', it was the first time I saw a true friendship, similar to my own, between two teenage girls, Molly (Beanie Feldstein) and Amy (Kaitlyn Dever), on-screen. The film presents a realistic friendship between teenage girls in present times, showing that not all girls talk about boys, clothes, makeup and social media, but actually many young women have mature discussions about their futures (helping others and becoming successful), working hard to get good grades, equality and even politics. The film also shows the highs and lows of their friendship, as they both trust and respect one other they don't want to let each other down as they try and find the biggest party in the town. However, secrets are spilled and the cracks start to show, as the trust they once had is breaking. The film presents their friendship more like a relationship, showing the complexities of their bond and highlighting the love they have for one another, as well as showing their wild sides come out and exploring their adventures and fun together.

After watching all of these films, and looking back on 'Lady Bird' and 'Booksmart' the most, I then started to come up with an idea for my short film. As it is my final year at college, and this is my final project, I wanted it to be more personal to me, something that I could be proud of, before leaving home and going to university. The idea that I kept coming back to was my friendship with my best friend, Eve. It may not sound like much making a fictional film about mine and my friends' friendship, but for me it was something I connected with instantly and felt it was important to discuss friendships between teenage girls. 

Me and Eve first met in primary school whilst we were both living in Dubai, and as soon as we were put in the same class together, we instantly became best friends and spent all of our time together. We both went through a lot when we went to secondary school, but the best thing was we were always there for one another and tried not to let each other down. Of course, in every friendship there's always ups and downs, but we always got through the bad times and made so many happy and joyous memories together. We were really like sisters. That was until we both moved away from each other. In our final year of secondary school, both of our families were moving back to England, but the bad part was we were both moving to the opposite ends of the country. We always thought we would constantly keep in touch and be closer than ever, but as soon as we both went to college, it immediately changed. My first year back home was one of the toughest years of my life and that was because I didn't have my best friend by my side, but now that I'm in a good place with great people, everything's a little bit better and I always look back on the memories me and Eve made very fondly. So, whilst I was watching films like 'Lady Bird' and 'Booksmart', I knew all too well what would happen to those characters friendships after the film ended would completely change. However, the beauty of those films is that you don't see what happens next once they've moved on from each other, and that's when I got the idea to make the film purely based on two teenage girls' friendship with one another just before they are separated from each other.

I was still unsure of what the exact story would be, just knowing it would be based around two best friends spending their final time together before one of them, or the both of them, move away from each other. Now that I knew what a coming-of-age film includes in its narrative, I now needed to look into the actual structure of the narrative of a coming-of-age film/story. The narrative structure is not too different from any other average narrative, or three-act, structure:

• Exposition - Introduced to the protagonist(s), they are youthful, immature and naive, this is also known as the childhood stage.
• Conflict - Protagonist(s) encounters and experiences a challenge or a problem.
• Struggle - Protagonist(s) struggles to overcome the challenge.
• Turning Point - Protagonist(s) must make a really tough decision concerning their problem and challenges, due to the outcome of their decision, such as loss of innocence, realising that adult life is much tougher and complex than they expected or discovering that what they believed as a child is false.
• Initiation - Protagonist(s) of a coming-of-age story will experience an opening that will bridge their childhood and adulthood, such as joining a club or group, completing a challenge, overcoming an obstacle, conquering their fear(s), celebrating their birthday or an accomplishment or being accepted by a group of people.
• Conclusion - Protagonist(s) shows that they have changed, also known as the adulthood stage.

Now with this narrative structure in mind, this would help me, as a guide, once I start my story outline for my short film. This would also help me figure out how my story would get from A to B, as I now knew what I wanted my story to be about. With the help of writing my essay last month, speaking about 'Women in Film' (this is the link to my essay: https://harriettothefuture.blogspot.com/2021/02/specialist-study-in-creative-media.html), where I discovered the works and careers of two inspiring filmmakers, Agnès Varda (1928-2019) and Chantal Akerman (1950-2015). I was inspired to hear their stories and was even more impressed with each of their most recognised and successful films. Varda's 'Cléo de 5 à 7' (1962) (which translated means 'Cleo from 5 to 7'), is a real-time film that follows the protagonist throughout less than 2 hours of her day. The film is critically-acclaimed and presents the protagonist as a complex female character. As for Akerman's film 'Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles' (1975) (which translated means 'Jeanne Dielman, 23 Commerce Quay, 1080 Brussels'), is a film that shows three days in the life of the protagonist. It is quite similar to Varda's film, also featuring an unlikely complex female character, and discusses matters and themes that were taboo for the time. These films inspired me to bring complex female characters to my film and also to set the film only in one day (only within a few hours), almost being like a real-time film like 'Clèo from 5 to 7', as well as being similar to the likes of 'Booksmart', 'The Breakfast Club', 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off' (1986), and 'Dazed and Confused' (1993).

Now my film is going to be about two teenage girls, who are best friends, spending their last day, or few hours, together before one of them moves away. The film will see them making every second count, treating their last day as if it were any other day that they spend together. They both reminisce on happy, funny and embarrassing memories from the past, becoming nostalgic on the life they have built and shared together. However, they don't acknowledge that they won't be together anymore until the end of the film, now coming to the realisation that they'll be apart and they don't know what will happen to their friendship. It's something they both fear, but don't highlight until the end of the day as they don't want to ruin the mood and want to spend as much time together and have fun before one of them moves away. Now, with this idea in mind, I needed to create the outline for the story to help me write the script. 

Tuesday 13th - Sunday 18th April 2021

Throughout this week, I worked on the outline of my short film story to help me write the script later on. Originally, I wanted to finish my outline quite quickly so I could make a start on the script and then work on my pitch, proposal and treatment. However, I had a tough time coming up with the plot and journey the characters would go on throughout the film, as well as presenting the themes of friendship realistically and successfully. I also found it difficult to start creating and developing a story as I wanted it to be perfect, and any idea that popped into my head or I noted down didn't feel right. To help get some inspiration for the film, I had a look on Pinterest and started to pin anything that I felt could be relevant and included to the film. Pinterest board link: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/HarrietP27/changes-short-film/

This helped me to also figure out what time period I wanted to set the film, which I decided would be the early 2000s, the year 2002 to be specific. I didn't want to set the film in our modern period of time, due to what's happening in the world with the pandemic, as well as the difference between teenagers now and before the 2010s. Technology is very advanced now and is a huge part of everyone's lives, especially teenagers. Everyone lives are online now, with a variety of social media platforms to pick from and constantly taking photos and videos to share with many, as well as being able to get in touch with a person in a matter of seconds, via messaging or calling. I felt it was important to show a simpler time before phones came into play, as I felt two best friends spending time together, in the present, would consist of taking pictures with Snapchat filters and creating dance videos on TikTok, which I didn't want the film to be about. I also thought it was important to set it in a time before mobile phones became a prevalent part of people's lives as it would be tougher for the two best friends to constantly stay in touch with one another, thus causing them to fear the future of their friendship. I did think about setting it in the '80s at first, as that is one of my favourite decades, mainly because of the pop culture that was released in that time, however I did start to think about how I would be able to execute the time period successfully and I found it very difficult to do that. Although I was up for a challenge, in the end I decided on the early 2000s.

My research for England in the early 2000s was also really difficult to do, as there wasn't a lot I could find online speaking about the 2000s. Whenever I did try to research the early 2000s, the main results that would appear were the makeup and fashion trends of the time, which were awful and wasn't exactly what I had in mind for the film, whether it was historically accurate or not. However, the other results that would appear was films and music of the time. I then relied only on pop culture of the early 2000s, as my research, as I felt it was quite important to get some of it across throughout the story and the film as pop culture is important to a younger demographic as it allows them to identify who they are, as well as shaping them into the person they want to become. 

I mainly looked at coming-of-age films and shows, made by British filmmakers and are set in the UK, whether they were made before or after 2002, set before or after 2002, or aesthetically look like they are set before or after 2002. 

After I had done my research, and decided on the time period the film would be set in, I then needed to start thinking about the main characters of the film. I researched names from the '80s to help me find names for the best friends, as the film is set in 2002 and they would be teenagers meaning they would have been born in the '80s. The two names that stuck with me were Katie and Gemma, as I thought they were nice sounding names and didn't sound similar to one another. Once I got the names of the two best friends, I was then able to start constructing and developing their characters, as well as thinking about their friendship and what the two of them will represent in the film. 

When thinking about the character, Katie, I thought of her as a very relaxed and confident person with a tough exterior. Although she carefree and tries not to let anything get to her, deep down she is a very sensitive person. Katie doesn't like to show anyone her weaknesses, not even her own best friend, Gemma. This means she is hiding her true feelings of worry and fear towards Gemma moving away.

As for the character, Gemma, she is a sensitive and mature person and she isn't afraid to show that. She had to grow up much quicker after her parents divorced, and now that she is moving far away from Katie, it makes things much tougher for her. Gemma also has the same thoughts and fears about moving away and what will happen to their friendship once they are apart.

Now that I had their character descriptions in detail, I was then able to figure out the conflicts between the two of them, as well as their dynamics with one another.

Once I thought about my characters in much more depth, I was then able to get started on my outline for the script. It did almost take a week to write, as I said before, I did find it quite difficult to gain any ideas that I liked and connected with, as well as what I thought was fitting for the story. However, I was able to get a story that I felt was important and personal to me, as well as a good guide to help me through writing the script.

Script Outline

After finishing the outline, I then started to think about other elements to include in the film, mainly the music that would help create the atmosphere in certain scenes, whether it would be something quite upsetting or uplifting. Two songs were a big influence on the film, which are:

'Changes' by David Bowie

'Coming of Age' by Foster the People

These are two of my favourite songs that speak about what it's like to be young and think, or question, the adult world and how adults view younger people. I love the lyrics and messages highlighted in each song, as well as the music that accompanies those lyrics to help create a certain atmosphere for a listener. I also made the decision of naming the film after Bowie's song 'Changes' as I felt it was very fitting with the plot of the film, not only are the main characters changing as they grow up, but their whole lives are changing as they won't be together once Gemma moves away.

I find music one of the most important aspects of a film, and as this is my final project at college and a very personal story to me, I wanted to explore finding new and, possibly, original music that was only intended and used within my film. The only person I knew who writes and performs music is, funnily enough, my friend Eve (who this film is based on). I messaged her as soon as I had her in mind and, luckily, she replied quite quickly and said she would love to do music for the film. I was so pleased that she agreed as she is a very talented person, and as she is an aspiring singer, I thought this was a great opportunity to showcase more of her talent. I was also happy she agreed to do the music as it made the project even more personal, as it is a story inspired by our own friendship and the music will present a small part of our friendship to audiences. I also told Eve once I've finished the script, I would speak to her more about the style of music I would like included in the film (for certain scenes), as well as send her the script for her to read through and help her to get some ideas for the music. Here's a link to an original song of Eve's: https://soundcloud.com/user-860185425/only-to-lose

Saturday 17th - Tuesday 20th April 2021

After finishing my outline, I then started to work on my pitch, proposal and treatment, as they all had to be in by Wednesday 21st April. Luckily, as I had just done my outline for the film, I was able to easily incorporate all of this into my treatment.

Treatment

Once I finished my treatment, I then worked on my pitch. I was very happy with what I created and made sure to include all the information needed to successfully pitch my short film idea to my teacher, Kelly. Now I was mainly nervous to speak in front of everyone about my idea as we hadn't done a pitch throughout the year, due to the pandemic, and I find it hard to speak in front of people in general. 

Pitch

After I finished the pitch, I then created my proposal for the film. I wasn't happy with my presentation and information included in the proposal, but I didn't have much time to make any changes or improvements. So, hopefully, the proposal had all the information needed and that Kelly would approve of it.

Proposal

Wednesday 21st April 2021

On this day, I presented my pitch in front of my teacher, Kelly, and a few of my peers. I felt it didn't go very well as I tried to go off script in the beginning, trying to explain the story to Kelly as briefly as possible, and I ended up fumbling over my own words. However, Kelly understood what I was trying to say and was following along to the information presented on the board. I also felt, because of my words, I wasn't as concise with the information and, again, kept fumbling over everything I was saying. Although, I knew I had made a lot of mistakes and let my nerves get the better of me, Kelly really liked my idea and understood everything I was striving for with the film. So, at least there was something I felt I had achieved and felt quite proud of.

After presenting my pitch, I then went home and decided that I would make a large, physical mood board to help inspire me whilst writing my screenplay. I found many images online of anything and everything I felt would help me throughout my writing process, including many aspects needed to make a successful film, such as:

• Films that have inspired me (many of the coming-of-age films I have discussed previously)
• Music
• Cinematography inspiration
• Colour schemes/palettes
• Costume
• Hair and makeup
• Quotes

Thursday 22nd - Tuesday 27th April 2021

Throughout this week, I worked on the first draft of the screenplay for 'Changes'. I first started to think about how I was going to keep the short film to around 10-15 minutes long, or the length of of my Christmas film I made at the end of the previous year called 'Holly, Jolly Christmas', which was 18 minutes long. So, because I wanted to keep the short film at a certain length, I started to think about ways in which I can shorten down dialogue, as I tend to write lengthy lines for characters, and keep the pace in conversations quick and snappy. 

The only film that I could think of that had quick fire dialogue, that was also quite entertaining, was the opening scene in the film 'The Social Network' (2010). The writer of 'The Social Network', Aaron Sorkin, is probably the most compelling screenwriter of our time and writes dialogue almost like a song. It has a certain rhythm and flows smoothly between the two characters in the scene. It isn't a film that I particularly enjoy, but the opening scene is really good to look at when it comes to exploring ways in which you can write a quick-fire conversation.

'The Social Network'

*WARNING - This video contains strong language*

After watching the opening scene from 'The Social Network', I decided to watch a short film that mainly consists of and builds the story up through dialogue. The short film is called 'Night Shifts' (2020) and is a debut short film written and directed by Finn Wolfhard ('Stranger Things' (2016- ), 'It' (2017) & 'Ghostbusters: Afterlife' (2021)). It is 4 minutes long, yet audiences will be able to learn about the main characters in a lot of depth and connect with them, which is what I find brilliant about this film. With the help of Wolfhard's film, I was able to see how I can create short dialogues that are still packed with information about the protagonists and allow audiences to connect and relate to them.

'Night Shifts' - Short Film

After watching these scenes/films, I was able to make a start on the script. At first it was tough as, again, I just wanted the story to be relatable and understood universally, and as this has been the most personal project I have made, yet, I wanted it to be perfect. I did, originally, want to finish this before returning to college the following week, however, because of writing blocks, it took me a few days longer to finally finish it and feel, somewhat, pleased with the script. I think the toughest parts to write, which I always find tough, is trying to write realistic conversations between characters. I always worry that they don't sound natural or convincing to an audience, especially if it's between two teenage girls. Another worry I had with the conversations between Katie and Gemma was how to cut from one conversation to the next, without it sounding or looking quite strange if, for example, they were just talking about their secondary school crushes and then cutting into an emotional conversation. So, I thought I would put a, sort of, cutaway shot in between each conversation of Katie and Gemma doing something fun or a normal activity they would do together (for example, reading magazines, dancing or eating sweets). These scenes helped a lot as it still kept it entertaining, only involving little dialogue and visuals. Other than my worries and concerns whilst writing, and even after finishing, the script, I was now mainly worried about what my teacher, Kelly, was going to think of it once she read it the following day. When it comes to scriptwriting, one of the most important people I want to impress is Kelly, and every time I hand a script into her it still is nerve-wrecking and I just really want her to like it.

'Changes' - Screenplay (First Draft)

*This first, and final, draft the script has been modified slightly, in terms of fixing grammatical errors*

Wednesday 28th April 2021

When I came into college in the morning, I was really nervous about Kelly reading my script as I didn't know how she was going to react to it or what her thoughts and feelings on the story would be. Thought, when she came to the classroom, she read it immediately, and quite quickly and told me she thought it was great and to cast actors for the film and get started on my pre-production work. I was really happy that she liked it and it made me feel quite proud of my work, as well as excited about working on the film. So, I continued working on the character breakdown and soon finished it.

Character Breakdown

After finishing the character breakdown, as I now needed to start casting (at the moment, only Katie and Gemma), I then created a casting call. A casting call allows actors to learn a bit more about the film, as well as the potential character they could play or are considering to audition for. As soon as I finished the document, I then sent it onto the group chat, on Microsoft Teams, that has all of the actors and film students. At this point, I didn't have any actors in mind for the roles of Katie and Gemma and I also was unsure of actors who were already cast in other people's films. So, this gave me a chance to see which actors were free and interested in being part of my film, and also gave me an opportunity to work with actors I hadn't worked with, or possibly hadn't even met, before.

Casting Call

As soon as I put the casting call on Teams, I got a message from one of the Year One actors, Tamara Mills, who was interested in auditioning for the role of Katie. I had worked with Tamara before on my Christmas film, 'Holly, Jolly Christmas', and thought she was very talented and professional, so it was great that she took an interest in my film and got in touch with me very quickly. After seeing Tamara's, I then created a casting notice. This was to place on the large pinboard outside of the dance studios where the actors had been working and rehearsing for their end of year plays. I created a casting notice in case any actors took an interest in the film and didn't see the documents I had sent on Teams, as the Teams group chat was full of many of the other film students character breakdowns and casting calls, which will make the actors lose interest as there are so many films to look through.

Casting Notice

After I finished making the casting notice and placed it on the pinboard, I then went back to the classroom and had a few pre-production meetings. This was my chance to be able to ask members of my class if they would be interested in helping me with my film, as well as being able to work on any of their films. I was asked by Amiliyah if I could be the script supervisor on her film 'Solving with Holmes' and I was also asked by Tom if I could be the script supervisor on his film 'With a Little Help from My Friends'. I was more than happy to help them out in that particular job role on their films. 

I then had my own meeting and asked Amiliyah, Tom and Kai if they could help me out on my film, which they all agreed would be fine. At this point, I still didn't know when I would be filming, as I hadn't cast any of my actors yet, and neither had Amiliyah and Kai (as they were both in the same position as me). So, once we cast all of our actors, we would then be able to work on our schedules and see who would be able to work on each other's films, in case there were any scheduling conflicts as each of us would probably be filming at the same time. 

Now that I had a crew, and sent out the casting documents to the Teams group chat, I was feeling much better about the project and was becoming very excited about it.

Thursday 29th April 2021

In the morning, I remembered Tamara's message the day before, showing her interest in auditioning for the role of Katie, and I also saw that she was the only person who got in touch with me about the film. So, I decided to make an audition script for the following week, this included all the information needed for the audition, such as the date and time, background on how the character(s) should be feeling in the scene and information about the audition. I included two different scenes for the actors to audition with, for their preferred character, one being a comedic scene and the other being a dramatic scene as I wanted to see the actor's range and differentiate their acting styles. 

Audition Script

Once I finished the audition script, I then sent it over to Tamara. After I sent the audition script to Tamara, I decided to get in touch with a few of the Year Two actors to see if they were interested in auditioning for the film. I sent them over the audition script, as well as the character breakdown and casting call, in case they didn't see the document on the Teams chat (as there were now loads of documents from all of the film students on there). I got in touch with:

• Sophie Ashcroft - Got back in touch with me and said she was unable to be part of the project, due to other projects she was part of.
• Sadie Paterson - Interested in the role of Gemma.
• Chelsea Saunders - Interested in the role of Katie.
• Kate Whittaker - Interested in the role of Katie.

I was happy that I at least had four auditions for the following week, and I knew it was going to be tough to find anyone else who was interested in the film as most of the actors were part of other people's projects.

After sending the audition script, and the appropriate attachments, to each actor, I then started to work on a script breakdown. I found this a lot easier and helpful to create, rather than a shooting script, as I was able to quickly see everything that needed to be included in each scene such as characters/actors, props, costume, etc. This was also really helpful when I created my scene breakdown afterwards. 

Script Breakdown

Scene Breakdown

After doing the script and scene breakdowns, I then wrote out my scheduling cards. These are very important as it helps all of the film students know when everyone is filming, as well as the actors who are part of their film, what equipment they need to use, and where they'll be filming.

Scheduling Cards

After finishing the scheduling cards, I was able to work around some of the issues I had before, including:

• A location for the field at the end of the film - Found a place called The Six Fields in Hartburn.
• Who was going to draw the picture for the end of the film - My mum's friend, Julie Stayman is a very talented artist who was able to help out.
• Who to cast as Jackie, Gemma's mother - My auntie, Katie Greer, said she would love to do it. She has always wanted to do acting and this was a really great opportunity for her to showcase her acting abilities.
• Who to cast as the younger versions of Katie and Gemma, also, at the end of the film - My little cousin, Libby Greer, and her best friend, Evie Reynolds, were able to be part of the film.

Although I was holding auditions the following week, and now had Jackie and the younger versions of Katie and Gemma cast, I still needed to find actors to play the two movers. However, other than worrying about those roles, I felt like my project was coming together and I was looking forward to it more than before. 

Tuesday 4th May 2021

In the morning, I got a message from one of the Year Two actors, Dion Brady, saying she was interested in auditioning for the film, the following day, and she also said she was interested in the role of Katie. I sent her all the documents she needed to fulfil her audition (attaching the casting call, character breakdown and audition script for her to read through). 

After I messaged Dion back, I then worked on the costume, hair and makeup breakdown sheets. Originally, I found it quite tough to create these breakdown sheets as the early 2000s had a distinctive fashion style that I didn't necessarily like and felt wouldn't fit with the film. However, looking back on my mood board and research, I saw that the film 'Lady Bird' is also set in the early 2000s (2002) and the fashion choices for the characters in the film, particularly the character Lady Bird/Christine, are really quirky and interesting and different for the time period it is set in. So, with Greta Gerwig's film in mind, I was able to think back to the style choices she made for her characters and adapted them to my own, as well as thinking about fashion that will have been suitable and appropriate for the early 2000s.

Hair & Makeup Breakdown

Costume Breakdown

After creating the different breakdown sheets, I then created an audition form and audition feedback sheet to fill in during and after each audition, the following day. I created an audition form to be able to understand when the actors would be free to film, which would help me figure out how to plan my shooting schedule alongside everyone else's schedules, as well as getting their contact details. 

Audition Form

Audition Feedback Sheet

Wednesday 5th May 2021

In the afternoon, I held the auditions, for my short film, at 01:00 pm, with the help of Amiliyah (Casting Assistant). I thought the auditions went really well, all the actors were very patient and professional and did their absolute best. As they were auditioning using the script I sent, the scenes given being conversations, I read out the lines for the other role as they auditioned. I probably should have let Amiliyah read the lines to the actors instead of doing it myself as it was harder for me to be able to see their acting abilities. However, the auditions were great and the actors who took an interest in the project seemed really enthusiastic during their auditions. 

• Dion Brady (auditioning for Katie) - Dion's audition was great. Luckily, she didn't rely on her script too much, making sure to not read from the page constantly and make eye contact. However, I thought she would have suited the role of Gemma rather than Katie, as her portrayal of Katie was quite joyful rather than laid-back.
• Tamara Mills (auditioning for Katie) - Tamara's audition also went really well, she was very prepared. She was very natural when it came to the portrayal of Katie, however I thought her dramatic style of acting was a bit better than her comedic acting. Tamara was able to show both Katie's sensitive and tough exterior really well, which, again, made it feel very natural. I did also think that she may be better suited in the role of Gemma.
• Sadie Paterson (auditioning for Gemma) - Sadie was the only person who auditioned for Gemma. I thought she was well suited for the role, although I thought she started going off into the role of Katie more as the attitude she brought across, as Gemma, was strong and rough rather than gentle and soft. She also relied on her script a lot, which I felt sometimes took her out of character, but she quickly got back into the role and, as she got more confident, she made more eye contact and stayed in character.
• Chelsea Saunders (auditioning for Katie) - Chelsea's audition was also good, however I did think she suited the role of Gemma rather than Katie. I could also tell she was very nervous as she barely made eye contact and relied on her script too much, constantly looking down at the page. I did also think her dramatic acting style was much better than her comedic acting.
• Kate Whittaker (auditioning for Katie) - Kate's audition was absolutely perfect and everything I saw in the character Katie. She was very natural and was able to show both her dramatic and comedic acting styles successfully. Throughout the audition, she always stayed in character, even reacting to Gemma's lines as I read them to her. She had the right attitude for the character and I just thought there were no faults in her audition. She's such a great actor and she is perfect for the role of Katie.

After the auditions were finished, I deliberated with Amiliyah about the auditions and we both decided that Kate would play Katie and Sadie would play Gemma. I thought they would be great in the roles and would work really well together, as I wasn't going to be having a chemistry test, I just assumed they were pretty good friends, in reality, and would be able to give that impression on screen as well. This was my main thought and concern when casting as the friendship needs to be realistic and believable, or else an audience won't be able to connect to them and understand how painful Gemma's move will be for the two friends.

Now that I had decided which actors I would like to be in the short film, I was now worried about when I would be able to film the short film. As me and Amiliyah came back into the classroom, Kai had sorted his shooting schedule and took a lot of the free dates and had sorted them out with his actors immediately. So, I now didn't know how I would be able to work around his schedule, as Sadie is one of the main characters in his film, and I would probably need to use some of the equipment he was going to be using. This was my may concern, but, in the meantime, I would continue with my pre-production work, cast Sadie and Kate and then figure out the schedule in the next week.

Thursday 6th May 2021

In the morning, I messaged Kate and Sadie that they had both successfully achieved the roles they auditioned for, which they were both delighted with. After reaching out to the actors, I then created a group chat, on Teams, with the cast and crew and sent over the first, and final, draft of the script for everyone to read through, as well as for the actors to start learning their lines.

After I created the group chat, I then got to work on more pre-production work for the rest of the day, where I was able to get a lot done. I first worked on the design and props breakdown/list. This was very simple to do, as I had created the script breakdown and could easily see all the props needed for each scene of the film

Design Breakdown

After working on the design breakdown, I then created a location breakdown list.

Location Breakdown

After working on the location breakdown sheet, I then created a shot list for the film. I should have created this alongside Amiliyah, as she is the Cinematographer. However, I thought it would be better if I created the shot list and she could then check it and also look through the script again, possibly note down her own ideas for shots she would like to get. I also knew there wasn't going to be a ton of shots in the film, as it is mainly made up of conversations between the characters, although the montage scenes would need quite a few shots. I didn't note down the different shots to get for the montage, exactly, as I didn't know what shots we would be getting until we started filming. I thought it would be better to think about shots for the montage in the moment we are filming them, getting ideas on the spot and making it all feel a bit more spontaneous and another day for these characters to have as much fun before they separate.

Shot List

Now that I had most of my work done, at this point, I was still worried about scheduling and would need to figure out the dates I could film when I went back into college the following week.

Sunday 9th May 2021

On this day, I helped Tom on his first shoot day as the Script Supervisor. My job, that day, was pretty simple and painless as all the actors knew their lines and were consistent in each and every scene. There were no continuity problems and when we did scenes that contained quite a few camera setups, the actors, again, were very consistent with their performances, doing the exact same thing in the next take or setup, or taking in the comments and direction Tom was telling them to do for their next take or shot. When we filmed the first scene of the day, where the four friends are walking along and having a conversation, we were in a large, open field which was a really great place to set the scene. However, because it was a nice day and we were filming on the weekend, there were many people walking in the location. So, I made sure to tell Tom when we were ready to film again, trying not to get anyone else in the shot or take as many people were wearing modern clothing, and Tom's film is set in the '70s. Although, this wasn't a huge issue and we were able to get through the scene pretty quickly. 

We later filmed the last scene of the day, which was set in an alleyway. Again, there were no issues throughout filming as all the actors were prepared and knew all of their lines. Our main problem was trying to not get anything modern in the scene as the alleyway was behind some houses and there were many modern looking cars about. We also had to look out for anyone passing through the alleyway, as we didn't want anyone else in the shot we were currently filming. It did become quite difficult to film as it started to rain a lot, which you couldn't see on camera, although you could see the ground becoming wet from the rain. Luckily, we'd filmed all the wide shots with all of the actors in before the floor became visibly damp. It was a really great shoot day and I was excited to see how the rest of Tom's filming would go, as well as what his film would look like as it looked amazing and I was so happy to be a part of it.

Monday 10th May 2021

So, this day was a bit of a nightmare. I decided I was going to make a start on scheduling the shoot days for the film, but before I did that, I made the decision that the two moving people, at the beginning of the film, would be cut out. I felt there was no point of them being there, and I also felt that when Katie walks into the house and sees how empty it is, it should be a personal moment for her where she is taking the surroundings in and feels a sense of isolation as her best friend is leaving.

I then created a shoot schedule and started filling in the call sheets, checking what times we would be filming throughout each shoot day. Originally, I planned three shoot days that would be filmed over the weekend, from Friday 21st to Sunday 23rd May, with each taking, almost, the whole day to film (I extended the times for each shoot day in case we went overtime). However, these dates weren't suitable for everyone, as Kate was busy on one of the days and Katie was busy on another. So, I needed to go back to the drawing board when I went into college the following day. 

This, again, worried me as the shooting schedule seemed to be getting fuller each time, I looked at it, as people were changing their shoot dates around and were taking all of the free time slots. So, I was unsure when I would be able to film any of the film, as well as working around my actors' schedules. 

Tuesday 11th May 2021

When I went into college in the morning, my teacher, Kelly, was able to help me with the shooting schedule for the film, as I was unsure of how to get around everyone else's schedules. As Kelly had experience creating shoot schedules working on projects in the film and TV industry, she was able to quickly sort it out:

• Shoot Day 1 - Saturday 22nd May 2021
• Shoot Day 2 - Sunday 23rd May 2021
• Shoot Day 3 - Monday 24th May 2021
• Shoot Day 4 - Wednesday 26th May 2021

We also decided that only me and Amiliyah would be the crew for all shoot days, as there were some scheduling conflicts with Tom and Kai. Although, for the final shoot day (on Wednesday 26th May), Tom and Kai would be helping out as it's going to be a big shoot day, filming all the outdoor scenes for the film. So, once we got all the shoot days sorted out, and I made sure that those dates and times were fine for the actors, I then went home and created shoot schedules and call sheets.

Shoot Schedules

Call Sheets

*These have been updated closer to the time of filming*

After finishing all the shoot schedules and call sheets, I then sent the shoot schedules to the 'Changes' group chat, now finalising the shoot days for the film. I then sent all the actors, individually, costume, hair and makeup breakdowns associated with their characters. I sent the actors the hair and makeup breakdowns as I decided against having the makeup students doing everyone's makeup as there would only be at least two or three actors in a scene together, and I also wanted the makeup to look natural rather than defined (not using HD makeup). 

Wednesday 12th May 2021

When I went into college in the morning, I worked on the last of my pre-production work, including:

• Casting sheet
• Release forms - worked on release forms for the parents of the actors who are under 16-years-old, which are Libby and Evie
• Cast and crew contacts (this document is in my pre-production folder; I'm not uploading it onto my blog as there is confidential contact information)
• Risk assessment

Casting Sheet

Risk Assessment

Once I had created the last of the pre-production paperwork I needed before filming, I then had a look through my design breakdown and noted down everything I needed to order online, as well as buy from the shops later on. I ordered:

• Badges - For Katie's denim jacket and her bag
• Pack of 'UNO' cards
• Scrapbook
• Stickers - To put on the cover of the scrapbook

And later on, when I went to the shops I got:

• Sweets - For Katie and Gemma during a few of their conversation scenes
• Fizzy drinks - Glass Coca-Cola bottles

At home, I already had:

• Sharpie pen
• Cellotape
• 'Ziggy Stardust' CD
• Vinyl record or single - Decided to use my 'Grease' vinyl
• David Bowie poster
• Magazines - Vintage David Bowie magazines
• Teddy bear

I now also had the drawing, of young Katie and Gemma, drawn by my mum's friend, Julie, which is absolutely perfect and makes up the entire ending of the film. I also needed to try and find some sketch drawings online to print out, as there is a scene in the film where Gemma shows Katie her drawings, trying to convince her to go to art college as she is very artistic and talented. Rather than having blank sheets of paper, I thought it would be best to find some pictures of drawings online. 

Saturday 15th May 2021

On this day, I had a pre-production meeting with my friend, Eve, (over Zoom) who is writing and performing the songs for the film. It was a really good meeting, she was very enthusiastic and excited about working on the project, as she loves to make music and to create music for a film was really interesting, for the both of us. I couldn't wait to see what she'd come up with, as well as her cover of 'Changes' as it is one of my favourite songs and a big inspiration for the film. 

After my pre-production meeting with Eve, all the props I ordered had arrived. The only prop I needed to sort out was the look of Gemma's scrapbook. Although it wouldn't be in the scene for very long, I thought it was important to show part of Gemma's personality. 

Sunday 16th May 2021

In the morning, I messaged Kate and Sadie when they were both free to be able to have a read-through the script. I knew that it was getting close to film and it was probably quite late to only be doing a read-through, with the actors now, but I also thought this would help me to see their performances and give suggestions on what is good and how to improve their characterisations. They both said they would be free, the following day, at 12:00 pm. I then printed out physical copies of the script for each of them to take with me for the read-through. I think it's better to have a physical copy of a script rather than just read off of a device, as well as allowing them to possibly make any notes. I also made sure to put all the scene numbers, where necessary, as I forgot to add them into the first draft of the script. 

After messaging Kate and Sadie, I then went online to find drawings of anything I felt the character, Katie, would have possibly drawn. I also printed out a lot of pictures to show that Katie is an incredible artist, and it gives the audience a glimpse into how passionate she is about her art. However, I felt I should probably find some pictures that aren't an anonymous person's work (as there were signatures from the artists in the corners of every picture). I then thought about asking one of my friends, Zahra, if she would be able to send some of her artwork for me to print out. Luckily, she allowed me to use some of her artwork in my film and I'm so happy she did because her art is amazing, and, again, it makes the film a little bit more personal to me as Zahra is one of my best friends and to have a little piece of her in the film really highlighted how important friendship means to me.

Monday 17th May 2021

In the afternoon, I had a read-through with Kate and Sadie and it went really well. We read through a few of the scenes, mainly the lengthy scenes, as Kate and Sadie had been reading through the script with one another and wanted me to see if the pacing of the scene was good, as it is a very quick-fire, back and forth conversation. So, after the read-through, I was really looking forward to working with Kate and Sadie as I really liked their performances and they were both excited and enthusiastic to make the film, which put me at a lot of ease. I also said about trying to fit in another read-through, closer to our first shoot day, so we all were on the same page and knew how to block different scenes and also remember the new improvements we made recently. 

Tuesday 18th May 2021

On this day, I helped Amiliyah on her first shoot day of her film as the Script Supervisor. It was a lot of fun as the first scene we filmed was the tense opening scene where a couple, on a walk, find a girl dead on the floor and suspect it is foul play. This scene didn't contain any dialogue which was simple and the acting was consistent each and every take. I would say the only continuity error we may have had, at first, was with the actor playing the dead girl, Brooke, as it started to get really bright and as she was lying down, even with her eyes close, the sun was directly hitting her in the eyes, causing her to constantly keep sitting up and trying to move out of the direction of the sun. However, this wasn't a huge concern as Amiliyah then changed the scene to all be shot in one take, following the couple on their walk and then seeing them discover the dead body, rather than having multiple setups. So, this was a lot easier for Brooke to be able to keep still and have her stay in the exact same position as before.

After filming the opening scene, we then moved onto the crime scene investigation scene. This was a bit more difficult to keep the continuity consistent in each scene as there were multiple props in the scene, and as it was windy, some of the props kept blowing away and I had to try and put them back in the exact same place as they were before. Other than the wind being a problem, with sound and props, it was a really great shoot day and we were able to finish filming on time. I would say that we had a few problems with some of the actors, making sure to tell Amiliyah to stop a scene whenever I heard any of them messing around, chatting with one another or laughing (this even happened when some of the actors were in a scene and were visibly in shot). Although there was some unprofessional behaviour, Amiliyah was able to keep the production going and making sure the actors were doing their jobs and not messing on.

Wednesday 19th May 2021

In the morning, I messaged Kate and Sadie when they were both free to have another read-through and discussion about the film. They said they would be able to do a read-through the following day at 12:00 pm. As this was closer to our first shoot day, this was also a pre-production meeting to speak about any issues or concerns the actors would like to ask me about, whether that be about transport, shoot times or any suggestions about how they should approach a scene and how they should perform in certain scenes. 

After messaging Kate and Sadie, I then asked my teacher, Kelly, if she had any child scheduling reports, as i would be filming with Libby and Evie, who are under the age of 16, on Sunday 23rd May. I wasn't able to find any in the pre-production filing cabinet we have at college, but, luckily, Kelly had some saved on her hard drive and was able to print one out for me. 

After sorting everything out that I needed to, I then went and helped Amiliyah on the second shoot day of her film. We did have a small hitch before we started filming as we were going to use out main studio, as we had a small set built in there that we were going to use for the main detective's office. Unfortunately, there was a scheduling issue and one of the Year One film students had already booked the studio and had already decorated the set. So, instead, we went to the other studio we have which was actually a better set to work with as it already had a desk in the room for the detective to use. 

After the small dilemma, we quickly setup the location to look like an office and then moved onto filming. All the scenes were pretty simple to film, as both actors were very prepared and knew all of their lines. They also were very consistent with their acting throughout every scene and take we did, which meant there were no continuity issues. 

Thursday 20th May 2021

In the afternoon, I had another read-through with Kate and Sadie. This was very similar to out read-through, however we read through the whole script this time as we had much more time than the last read-through. They were both, again, really great and showed their best acting abilities. Both of their dramatic and comedic acting abilities were so great and absolutely perfect in the way they each played their characters. I was now really looking forward to filming alongside them.

After the read-through with Kate and Sadie, I then had a quick pre-production meeting with Amiliyah. We spoke about what would happen after filming finished on her shoot day, the following day, as I would be taking some of the equipment home with me, ready for the first and second shoot day. We also discussed what the production company name would be, as I had been unsure about what to call it for some time and we finally settled on 'Pinhead Productions' (which is a nod to Marty McFly's band in one of my favourite films 'Back to the Future' (1985)). I also made sure she was still alright to be the Cinematographer on all shoot days, just in case of any last-minute scheduling conflicts, and, thankfully, she was fine to do the cinematography on the film. I have always relied on Amiliyah to help me out and she has always done an amazing job on all the previous projects we have worked on together, and as both of our goals is for more equality in the film industry and to have an equal female and male gaze within the industry, it's really important that we both take on important leading roles on a film set.

Friday 21st May 2021

In the morning, I helped Amiliyah on her third shoot day where I was both a Script Supervisor and Lighting Technician. We filmed two interrogation scenes, the first one we filmed used the dolly and main lighting in the studio. This scene had no continuity problems as the actors were prepared and knew all of their lines. They were very professional and created very emotional and tense performances. I also helped Amiliyah and Sam setup the scene, as the interrogation room is meant to be dark, we had a black felt wall to place behind the actors. However, because we only had one black wall, we had to then move it around to the other side when we filmed the scene again with the actors on the other side of the table. It was pretty quick to do and we needed to make sure we placed it safely so that it didn't fall and hurt anyone. 

We then filmed the last scene of the day, which was the intense final scene of the film where we find out who murdered the girl found at the Tees Barrage. For this scene, the room needed to be completely dark and only have the actors lit. So, I had the job of holding the spotlight onto the actors, following the camera along on the dolly track and making sure the actors were visible on camera. This scene was similar to the scene we had just filmed, as it only included the performances of the actors and I didn't need to worry about spotting continuity errors. 

After filming ended, I then took some of the equipment Amiliyah had used, as well as equipment that was in the studio, that I needed to take home with me for my first shoot day the following day. I made sure I had collected everything, such as:

• A Sony camera - Already has a microphone attached to it
• Steadicam - This was a new piece of equipment we had and Amiliyah had recently used it on a few people's films, so she had familiarised herself with it. Originally, we wanted to use the fig-rig but some of the Year Ones needed to use it for their films, even though I had already put it on my scheduling cards, but it didn't matter and, luckily, we had the steadicam to rely on.
• Tripod
• Batteries and charger - I charged them as soon as I got home, we had three in total and that would help us throughout the next two days of filming.

Sadly, I couldn't find the light reflector. I'm sure one of the Year One students had been using it but hadn't brought it back into college. I wasn't very happy about this as my film only relied on natural lighting, and to help the exposure of lighting on the actors and in the scene, I needed to light reflector to help position the lighting within the scene. However, I now had to make-do without it and hope that the lighting was good and consistent throughout all the shoot days. After I got all the equipment I needed, Amiliyah and her film crew then helped me take it down to the car to take home with me. 

As soon as I got home, I started to gather all of the props I needed and took them to the location we would be filming at the following day. The location we were filming at was my auntie's house, and she had moved out of it a few months ago and allowed me to use it for the film. As I got to the house, I took all the props upstairs to the bedroom we would be filming in. I decided we'd use the main bedroom as it is the largest and would be easy to move around in with all the equipment, especially during filming different scenes in the room. I then setup all the boxes around the room, I had quite a few to be able to make the room not look completely empty as I felt that would, visually, look quite boring and cause audiences to lose interest. 

After taking the props around to the house and setting up all the boxes, I then went home and sent the call sheet for the following day, on the group chat. I was both excited and nervous about filming. I knew I was well-organised and made sure everyone was able to get to location on time and made sure they all had transport to be able to get over. I was mainly worried that I would become stressed throughout filming, as this has happened a lot on previous projects and has caused me to forget everything and not be able to work around problems I faced during filming. Although, I knew I had a professional and amazing cast and crew working alongside me who would be able to help me out, every step of the way. So, this kept my mind at ease and I made sure that I relaxed and thought out the plan of action for the following day.