Directions - Project Evaluation
Research, Planning and Casting
What worked?I found that putting a lot of my time and thought into the planning and research part of this project helped me massively in the long run. By getting straight onto my script and making any changes needed, it meant I had the base of the story and this led onto me being able to find the location needed. Once I had found my location of a house living room it then allowed me to create the lighting and camera chart, look at colour palettes and begin to get actors. I also created a shot list and storyboard, this allowed me on the shoot day to remain calm and have a planned action of what I needed to do and around what time. It really worked and allowed me to ensure I was fully prepared for the day, timings, cast, crew and the shots I needed were all organised and this really helped me remain calm and stick to the schedule, while also getting all the pre-planned shots I needed.
What didn't?
Unfortunately, the only part of this section that didn't run smoothly was the casting. I used Mandy.com to search for actors and post my production ad which including the cast I was looking to hire for my short production. Although using Mandy was really easy to use and I had a few applications for each role within a few days. I looked at audition tapes that were provided on the mandy website on each Actors profile and after taking the time to look through their profiles I selected three people that had applied for the roles of Elton, Sheila and Bernie. After liaising with the Actors, they were hired and all details had been confirmed, the actors had also accepted.
Unfortunately, 4 days before production both the actors for Bernie Taupin and Sheila Dwight pulled out, Sheila pulling out because she had an emergency dental appointment and Bernie due to receiving a paid job. This set me to completely panic and I was completely disheartened about the whole project but unfortunately in some cases this happens. Due to this happening, I contacted people from my university course and they agreed to take part.
Due to this happening it meant I didn't feel prepared and due to feeling disheartened as I've mentioned above my attitude towards the project changed because I was worried it was going to look bad without professional actors and that I wouldn't meet the brief.
Unfortunately, the only part of this section that didn't run smoothly was the casting. I used Mandy.com to search for actors and post my production ad which including the cast I was looking to hire for my short production. Although using Mandy was really easy to use and I had a few applications for each role within a few days. I looked at audition tapes that were provided on the mandy website on each Actors profile and after taking the time to look through their profiles I selected three people that had applied for the roles of Elton, Sheila and Bernie. After liaising with the Actors, they were hired and all details had been confirmed, the actors had also accepted.
Unfortunately, 4 days before production both the actors for Bernie Taupin and Sheila Dwight pulled out, Sheila pulling out because she had an emergency dental appointment and Bernie due to receiving a paid job. This set me to completely panic and I was completely disheartened about the whole project but unfortunately in some cases this happens. Due to this happening, I contacted people from my university course and they agreed to take part.
Due to this happening it meant I didn't feel prepared and due to feeling disheartened as I've mentioned above my attitude towards the project changed because I was worried it was going to look bad without professional actors and that I wouldn't meet the brief.
What did I learn?
I've learnt that researching other directors is so important, by researching and taking my time into looking into other peoples work, it really taught me the meaning and impact of being a director. As I've mentioned before in my blog that Gurinder Chada played a massive part in me understanding how important it is to set the scene and era of the 70's, you have to make it believable just like she does in her 70's based film 'Blinded by the light' also the use of colour pallet really help indicates the era and mood of the scene.
I've also learnt how important it is to ensure shot lists, storyboards, costume and set lists are in the planning of your production, without these my whole production day would have been unorganised and dysfunctional. It meant my production day ran smoothly and I was fully prepared.
It's also very important to keep in contact with your actors to ensure they're fully on-board with the project and are aware of when filming will take place and where; although, I feel I did this, my downfall was not preparing for them to drop out and then panicking.
I've learnt that researching other directors is so important, by researching and taking my time into looking into other peoples work, it really taught me the meaning and impact of being a director. As I've mentioned before in my blog that Gurinder Chada played a massive part in me understanding how important it is to set the scene and era of the 70's, you have to make it believable just like she does in her 70's based film 'Blinded by the light' also the use of colour pallet really help indicates the era and mood of the scene.
I've also learnt how important it is to ensure shot lists, storyboards, costume and set lists are in the planning of your production, without these my whole production day would have been unorganised and dysfunctional. It meant my production day ran smoothly and I was fully prepared.
It's also very important to keep in contact with your actors to ensure they're fully on-board with the project and are aware of when filming will take place and where; although, I feel I did this, my downfall was not preparing for them to drop out and then panicking.
What would I change?
As I've mentioned above I didn't prepare for my actors to drop out and this was a big lesson for me. From now on I will ensure I have a back up or have an idea of an understudy, this is so if someone was to drop out in the future, I know that I have other options and I'm fully prepared to have to seek cover. Especially as I allowed this to dampen my mood and worry which slowed down my eagerness to get things done and ready.
Overall
The Research, Planning and Casting was a big part of this project, without any of this, the production wouldn't have come together and wouldn't have been as organised or planned. Although, there was some difficulty throughout this section of the project with Casting, overall I'm happy with how smoothly run my production was and this is all down to the effort I put into the research and planning. It was so important for me in my first directing role to research other directors and witness the impact in film making their directing decisions and visions have. This is so I could gain inspiration and create my own directors thought process, it felt really rewarding to see my final piece come together and how I'd incorporated the inspiration I'd gained from other directors.
What worked?
The First day of production was to record the song using the recording studio which was nerve-wracking as I hadn't worked before on recording a complete song. Overall, I was happy with how the song came out. I started by recording the whole song, then overlaying the song at different parts and doing shorter takes. I feel this worked better because it gave me and the Actor the chance to record a part, listen back to it and keep working on it until we were happy with that part and sound. I feel this was a more a time efficient way of working because I ensured each part was up to scratch before moving onto the next part.
Time management also worked really well on this day, I'd arranged for the actors to come in at 1pm which allowed me and Tom who played Elton, three hours to record the song which was more then enough time. It also meant I had enough time to set up the lights, allow Tom to have his makeup done before the second lot of actors came to do their filming. It meant no one was waiting around as that was something I was worried about ensuring my actors didn't become cold or bored.
The second day overall ran completely smoothly and that was definitely down to as I have mentioned above my planning and pre-production. It really allowed me to focus on only the actors and their performance because the shots and coverage were already decided. I was really pleased with my DP George, he came straight into the job and we talked through what shots and the feel of the piece, he really quickly took on the instructions and was ready to go. This really helped me as it made me feel confident in what he was doing and allowed me to focus mainly on the actors and what directions I needed to give them to fulfill my vision for the piece.
It was definitely beneficial holding a meeting in the morning with both my crew and actors, on the call sheet I had allowed time to do this while people were getting their makeup done. I feel this really brought the crew and cast together, although some had never met, it gave everyone a boost and upped the morale ready for the day of shooting. I just made sure everyone was comfortable with what they were here to do and also if their were any questions about the script. I also then went through the blocking with the actors which they were all happy with. I'm glad I did this as it meant everyone was comfortable with each other and hopefully no actors were going to be nervous as this could have led on to actors forgetting lines, having bad takes and slowing down the production process.
I've learnt how important it is to get your actors to audition with the song they're going to sing, Tom is a theatre singer and I think you can hear that throughout the song we recorded together which isn't the fit for the song or Elton John's style. This meant my video and in the edit, the film seems less realistic.
I've learnt how important it is to ensure you arrange timings and factor in all the parts of the day, due to me not asking about how long the makeup would take it meant that the production was behind by 30 minutes, lucky it didn't affect me as I had allowed for extra time while shooting anyway just in case something had gone wrong or someone had turned up late. However, this has showed me how quickly something can run behind.
I have also learnt that the set is nearly as important as the actors audition tapes, you can have a set and have an actor but the difference in it actually being good makes such a difference. Although, I'd written down how the set was going to be and done a floor plan, I hadn't actually visualised it as one or done a test set.
The editing process was harder then expected and overall was a struggle, although as I've mentioned above I thought I had left myself with a lot of footage and coverage, I struggled with actually piecing it together. I do feel however the editing of the song and syncing it together was smooth and actually I feel was a beneficial thing for me to learn, especially as recording it in the studio and then playing it aloud on shoot day taught me valuable lessons.
Syncing the footage with the music and ensuring the lips of the actor were completely in sync with the song was easier then expected, when putting the shots together, I thought it worked nicely. Ensuring it was in sync while editing, I made sure I had the music of the actor singing aloud and lined it up with the soundtrack we'd previously recorded and it went well. I had also provided the actor with the soundtrack on the day it was recorded and asked him to practice as much as he could. This definitely helped as it meant on day 2 of production, he was singing the soundtrack exactly how he was the day before when we recorded the track, so in the editing process it dubbed in pretty nicely.
Apart from that, I definitely found a lot more negatives.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I feel disappointed with the work I have done, I have definitely learnt that you can feel prepared with paperwork and etc; however when it comes to production day it takes more then a shot list and storyboard to keep you prepared. In fact, the whole process has completely shown me that you need to look at what's happening in front of you on the day and not what your shot list says. If I'd of paid more attention to the actual production and acting as a Director, I would have noticed the continuity error of Eltons Mum not being in the background and so on.
Also, with casting, I've learnt it is so important to be prepared for the worst and not let it deter your mood but now this has happened, moving forward I will be aware of these issues and be more prepared then ever.
As I've mentioned above I didn't prepare for my actors to drop out and this was a big lesson for me. From now on I will ensure I have a back up or have an idea of an understudy, this is so if someone was to drop out in the future, I know that I have other options and I'm fully prepared to have to seek cover. Especially as I allowed this to dampen my mood and worry which slowed down my eagerness to get things done and ready.
Overall
The Research, Planning and Casting was a big part of this project, without any of this, the production wouldn't have come together and wouldn't have been as organised or planned. Although, there was some difficulty throughout this section of the project with Casting, overall I'm happy with how smoothly run my production was and this is all down to the effort I put into the research and planning. It was so important for me in my first directing role to research other directors and witness the impact in film making their directing decisions and visions have. This is so I could gain inspiration and create my own directors thought process, it felt really rewarding to see my final piece come together and how I'd incorporated the inspiration I'd gained from other directors.
Production Day
The First day of production was to record the song using the recording studio which was nerve-wracking as I hadn't worked before on recording a complete song. Overall, I was happy with how the song came out. I started by recording the whole song, then overlaying the song at different parts and doing shorter takes. I feel this worked better because it gave me and the Actor the chance to record a part, listen back to it and keep working on it until we were happy with that part and sound. I feel this was a more a time efficient way of working because I ensured each part was up to scratch before moving onto the next part.
Time management also worked really well on this day, I'd arranged for the actors to come in at 1pm which allowed me and Tom who played Elton, three hours to record the song which was more then enough time. It also meant I had enough time to set up the lights, allow Tom to have his makeup done before the second lot of actors came to do their filming. It meant no one was waiting around as that was something I was worried about ensuring my actors didn't become cold or bored.
The second day overall ran completely smoothly and that was definitely down to as I have mentioned above my planning and pre-production. It really allowed me to focus on only the actors and their performance because the shots and coverage were already decided. I was really pleased with my DP George, he came straight into the job and we talked through what shots and the feel of the piece, he really quickly took on the instructions and was ready to go. This really helped me as it made me feel confident in what he was doing and allowed me to focus mainly on the actors and what directions I needed to give them to fulfill my vision for the piece.
It was definitely beneficial holding a meeting in the morning with both my crew and actors, on the call sheet I had allowed time to do this while people were getting their makeup done. I feel this really brought the crew and cast together, although some had never met, it gave everyone a boost and upped the morale ready for the day of shooting. I just made sure everyone was comfortable with what they were here to do and also if their were any questions about the script. I also then went through the blocking with the actors which they were all happy with. I'm glad I did this as it meant everyone was comfortable with each other and hopefully no actors were going to be nervous as this could have led on to actors forgetting lines, having bad takes and slowing down the production process.
What didn't?
The sound of the track was not what I'd expected, I had the actor audition and send me a singing tape which was a musical song from Les Mis, the actor sounded very good and that's the reason I hired him; however, I didn't get the actor to record and send me him singing 'Your song'. I feel this was a big mistake as he didn't have the pitch or tone I was after, so when it came to recording the song, It wasn't how I'd imagine the song to be sung and in my opinion, didn't sound right for the part. This is a massive lesson learnt.
Although I feel the day ran smoothly, I didn't factor how long the make up artist would take to complete each person which meant the day over ran because the actors were not done in the allotted time, this meant we lost time shooting and some actors had to stand around and wait which made me worried they would become impatient, which could have affected their mood and acting. However, this was my fault as I did not discuss with the makeup artist and was unaware on average how long it would of possibly took.
I also didn't deliver on the set, I really had researched the importance of set and design, the impact it has and how important it is to help set the scene. I'd also prepared a prop and set list of things I needed to get and what I already had to set the 70's tone. I felt prepared but when it came to putting all the objects in the room with the piano, it just didn't have the same affect I thought it would. It didn't look 70's and looked very false. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough time to change it as we had moved all the furniture out of the room which took up a lot of our time before putting the set together.
Here are pictures of the set.
What did you learn?
The sound of the track was not what I'd expected, I had the actor audition and send me a singing tape which was a musical song from Les Mis, the actor sounded very good and that's the reason I hired him; however, I didn't get the actor to record and send me him singing 'Your song'. I feel this was a big mistake as he didn't have the pitch or tone I was after, so when it came to recording the song, It wasn't how I'd imagine the song to be sung and in my opinion, didn't sound right for the part. This is a massive lesson learnt.
Although I feel the day ran smoothly, I didn't factor how long the make up artist would take to complete each person which meant the day over ran because the actors were not done in the allotted time, this meant we lost time shooting and some actors had to stand around and wait which made me worried they would become impatient, which could have affected their mood and acting. However, this was my fault as I did not discuss with the makeup artist and was unaware on average how long it would of possibly took.
I also didn't deliver on the set, I really had researched the importance of set and design, the impact it has and how important it is to help set the scene. I'd also prepared a prop and set list of things I needed to get and what I already had to set the 70's tone. I felt prepared but when it came to putting all the objects in the room with the piano, it just didn't have the same affect I thought it would. It didn't look 70's and looked very false. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough time to change it as we had moved all the furniture out of the room which took up a lot of our time before putting the set together.
Here are pictures of the set.
What did you learn?
I've learnt how important it is to get your actors to audition with the song they're going to sing, Tom is a theatre singer and I think you can hear that throughout the song we recorded together which isn't the fit for the song or Elton John's style. This meant my video and in the edit, the film seems less realistic.
I've learnt how important it is to ensure you arrange timings and factor in all the parts of the day, due to me not asking about how long the makeup would take it meant that the production was behind by 30 minutes, lucky it didn't affect me as I had allowed for extra time while shooting anyway just in case something had gone wrong or someone had turned up late. However, this has showed me how quickly something can run behind.
I have also learnt that the set is nearly as important as the actors audition tapes, you can have a set and have an actor but the difference in it actually being good makes such a difference. Although, I'd written down how the set was going to be and done a floor plan, I hadn't actually visualised it as one or done a test set.
What would you change?
I would change the actor chosen to sing 'your song' as unfortunately as the director, I didn't feel he was the right fit for the singing part and that was down to me not auditioning him with the actual song. Which was a ridiculous error.
I would change the set, I would ensure that prior to the actual shoot day, I had set up the scene beforehand and arranged it all to ensure that it didn't come to the day of filming and be upset that it doesn't look how I wanted it too. If I had set it up prior to the shoot day, I would of been able to see what looked good and what didn't. I'd managed to get my hands on a lot of household objects from the 70's which the majority of which I used but due to setting the scene up in the morning and not prior, I probably didn't give myself enough time to set it up carefully.
Overall
The production came around and I found myself nervous, although I felt prepared there were a few things I was unhappy with and I feel that affected my performance on the day. I was extremely happy with how both my cast and crew performed on the second day and I feel they followed my direction well.
I would change the actor chosen to sing 'your song' as unfortunately as the director, I didn't feel he was the right fit for the singing part and that was down to me not auditioning him with the actual song. Which was a ridiculous error.
I would change the set, I would ensure that prior to the actual shoot day, I had set up the scene beforehand and arranged it all to ensure that it didn't come to the day of filming and be upset that it doesn't look how I wanted it too. If I had set it up prior to the shoot day, I would of been able to see what looked good and what didn't. I'd managed to get my hands on a lot of household objects from the 70's which the majority of which I used but due to setting the scene up in the morning and not prior, I probably didn't give myself enough time to set it up carefully.
Overall
The production came around and I found myself nervous, although I felt prepared there were a few things I was unhappy with and I feel that affected my performance on the day. I was extremely happy with how both my cast and crew performed on the second day and I feel they followed my direction well.
Editing
What worked?The editing process was harder then expected and overall was a struggle, although as I've mentioned above I thought I had left myself with a lot of footage and coverage, I struggled with actually piecing it together. I do feel however the editing of the song and syncing it together was smooth and actually I feel was a beneficial thing for me to learn, especially as recording it in the studio and then playing it aloud on shoot day taught me valuable lessons.
Syncing the footage with the music and ensuring the lips of the actor were completely in sync with the song was easier then expected, when putting the shots together, I thought it worked nicely. Ensuring it was in sync while editing, I made sure I had the music of the actor singing aloud and lined it up with the soundtrack we'd previously recorded and it went well. I had also provided the actor with the soundtrack on the day it was recorded and asked him to practice as much as he could. This definitely helped as it meant on day 2 of production, he was singing the soundtrack exactly how he was the day before when we recorded the track, so in the editing process it dubbed in pretty nicely.
Apart from that, I definitely found a lot more negatives.
What didn't?
Unfortunately, a lot went wrong. While editing I found a lot of footage didn't work together and there were many mistakes I had made on production day. For example, when you watch the scene, Elton gets up and moves to the piano with his mum staying in the background; however, in later shots further into the scene, you then can't see the mum in the background as she was not there while we filmed, which is a mistake on my part as a director. This means that it throws the scene of slightly and unfortunately is a noticeable mistake, I attempted to take a close up from a scene shot prior and zoom into the image for the scene to make sense. However, the image is distorted which brings the quality of the film down.
I had also in production got Bernie to walk into the shot and stand next to the piano to early, which meant I had only filmed certain shots up to that part due to Bernie needing to walk in. This meant that because i'd got the timing of the shot wrong, I had only limited shots of Elton singing the whole song with Bernie in the background. This was a big issue as it meant the edit felt really boring as with fewer shots it felt slow and lame. I tried to use cut away shots in between however this also felt wrong and looks bad. Overall, I've tempted to try and cut it the best I can, however with all the mistakes it hasn't turned out how I would of liked it too.
The sound also impacted the whole video and editing process, I was really trying to get the feel of the sound being quieter upstairs while Bernie is in the bathroom because in real life the music would be quieter; however in the edit it didn't seem to come across like that and instead the dip in the sound was completely noticeable also. I used the cross fade and exponential fade which didn't work.
Unfortunately, a lot went wrong. While editing I found a lot of footage didn't work together and there were many mistakes I had made on production day. For example, when you watch the scene, Elton gets up and moves to the piano with his mum staying in the background; however, in later shots further into the scene, you then can't see the mum in the background as she was not there while we filmed, which is a mistake on my part as a director. This means that it throws the scene of slightly and unfortunately is a noticeable mistake, I attempted to take a close up from a scene shot prior and zoom into the image for the scene to make sense. However, the image is distorted which brings the quality of the film down.
I had also in production got Bernie to walk into the shot and stand next to the piano to early, which meant I had only filmed certain shots up to that part due to Bernie needing to walk in. This meant that because i'd got the timing of the shot wrong, I had only limited shots of Elton singing the whole song with Bernie in the background. This was a big issue as it meant the edit felt really boring as with fewer shots it felt slow and lame. I tried to use cut away shots in between however this also felt wrong and looks bad. Overall, I've tempted to try and cut it the best I can, however with all the mistakes it hasn't turned out how I would of liked it too.
The sound also impacted the whole video and editing process, I was really trying to get the feel of the sound being quieter upstairs while Bernie is in the bathroom because in real life the music would be quieter; however in the edit it didn't seem to come across like that and instead the dip in the sound was completely noticeable also. I used the cross fade and exponential fade which didn't work.
What did you learn?
I've learnt a lot in regards to the editing process and how what happens in the production massively affects what then happens in the edit and although I felt prepared, silly mistakes in the production massively cost the final edit which is a big shame. For future projects it is so important that I focus the story and refer to the script because this is what's let me down on this occasion.
If I had of kept referring to my script on production day, I would of known that Bernie comes into the scene around 2 minutes later then the part of the song I had him come into shot at and because Elton is lip syncing to the song which is always featured in the shot, I was unable to edit around that. This has taught me that when working with a film or edit that has something heavily featured like lip syncing to a song, I really need to be prepared in picking and planning my shots, because if 1 shot goes wrong and you only have 1 take, you cannot edit around it because the mouth still needs to be in sync with the underlay of the soundtrack.
I've also learnt how important it is to ensure you have coverage and cutaways, I was lucky in some sense that I had piano close ups and cutaways of the set because this really helped me when I'd messed up with the Actor coming in to early to the song. This is something I will make sure I do in every production now, get as much coverage as I can and not feel I need to stick to my shot list.
I was happy with my shot list however I spent too much time trying to stick to it, that I didn't see the natural shots that were in front of me, I was worried and nervous on the day and I think this threw me off.
I've learnt a lot in regards to the editing process and how what happens in the production massively affects what then happens in the edit and although I felt prepared, silly mistakes in the production massively cost the final edit which is a big shame. For future projects it is so important that I focus the story and refer to the script because this is what's let me down on this occasion.
If I had of kept referring to my script on production day, I would of known that Bernie comes into the scene around 2 minutes later then the part of the song I had him come into shot at and because Elton is lip syncing to the song which is always featured in the shot, I was unable to edit around that. This has taught me that when working with a film or edit that has something heavily featured like lip syncing to a song, I really need to be prepared in picking and planning my shots, because if 1 shot goes wrong and you only have 1 take, you cannot edit around it because the mouth still needs to be in sync with the underlay of the soundtrack.
I've also learnt how important it is to ensure you have coverage and cutaways, I was lucky in some sense that I had piano close ups and cutaways of the set because this really helped me when I'd messed up with the Actor coming in to early to the song. This is something I will make sure I do in every production now, get as much coverage as I can and not feel I need to stick to my shot list.
I was happy with my shot list however I spent too much time trying to stick to it, that I didn't see the natural shots that were in front of me, I was worried and nervous on the day and I think this threw me off.
What would I change?
There is a lot I would change unfortunately on this occasion, I would want more coverage and I would change obviously the scene where Bernie comes into shot because that completely ruined the edit because I had less shots to work with.
There is also a shot in which I asked the DOP for a focus pull from Elton to Bernie and back however the shot goes out of focus completely instead and looks unprofessional, this has taught me to always make more time for extra takes and to always review what your DP is doing.
I would of also changed how long I spent trying to stick to my shot list as sometimes shots will just come naturally and more impromptu.
Overall
I really struggled with the editing of this project, editing is normally my favourite part however on this occasion I found it a lot more difficult with not enough coverage due to the mistake on my part as the director, it really made it difficult to piece the footage together. I also think its shown me how hard it is to edit an actor lip syncing to the music. The syncing part seemed to work as I mentioned above; however, to make sure you have enough coverage for each line takes more planning then I had done.
There is a lot I would change unfortunately on this occasion, I would want more coverage and I would change obviously the scene where Bernie comes into shot because that completely ruined the edit because I had less shots to work with.
There is also a shot in which I asked the DOP for a focus pull from Elton to Bernie and back however the shot goes out of focus completely instead and looks unprofessional, this has taught me to always make more time for extra takes and to always review what your DP is doing.
I would of also changed how long I spent trying to stick to my shot list as sometimes shots will just come naturally and more impromptu.
Overall
I really struggled with the editing of this project, editing is normally my favourite part however on this occasion I found it a lot more difficult with not enough coverage due to the mistake on my part as the director, it really made it difficult to piece the footage together. I also think its shown me how hard it is to edit an actor lip syncing to the music. The syncing part seemed to work as I mentioned above; however, to make sure you have enough coverage for each line takes more planning then I had done.
Overall, I feel disappointed with the work I have done, I have definitely learnt that you can feel prepared with paperwork and etc; however when it comes to production day it takes more then a shot list and storyboard to keep you prepared. In fact, the whole process has completely shown me that you need to look at what's happening in front of you on the day and not what your shot list says. If I'd of paid more attention to the actual production and acting as a Director, I would have noticed the continuity error of Eltons Mum not being in the background and so on.
Also, with casting, I've learnt it is so important to be prepared for the worst and not let it deter your mood but now this has happened, moving forward I will be aware of these issues and be more prepared then ever.
Final Video
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