Treatment
This projects involves the creation of a showreel that should be around 3-4 minutes in length. We’re working with clients who are the Performing Arts students’, who we met on January 6th 2016, to create a showreel for them based on the content they want to perform.
We will be using a multi-camera set up so we can capture the performance from multiple angles and with these different angles, we can put together the showreel in editing and have a wider variety of shots.
Research
General Showreel Research:
What goes into an actor’s showreel?
An Actor’s showreel is a short video that contains videos showing short examples of an actor’s work they have done.
Target Audience of this Showreel:
A showreel is used to show the work an actor/actress has done. This showreel is then used to promote the actor/actress by being shown to casting directors or directors.
The Length of the Showreel:
This showreel isn’t going be too very long, it will be no more than 4 minutes and will contain around 5 short clips.
Crew
Caitlin and I are the directors for the showreel project for Chloe, but we will both also take the role as camera operator at different times. As this is a multi-camera production, we need two other camera operators, but due to other groups doing their filming, we don’t have a permanent crew for our filming sessions; the crew we will be chosen depending on who is free from filming/editing for their own showreel each time we arrange a filming session.
We have asked Josh Pye to help as a camera operator on certain days.
Crew for the First Filming Session – Week 3 – 19/01/2016
Erin Gaukrodger – Camera Operator (camera placed on the right)
Caitlin Durham – Camera Operator (camera placed in the middle), Co. Director
Maddy Lawrenson – Camera Operator (camera placed on the left)
Joshua Sumner – Co. Director
Crew for the Second Filming Session – Week 4 – 27/01/2016
Joshua Sumner – Camera Operator (camera placed on the left), Co. Director
Maddy Lawrenson – Camera Operator (camera placed in the middle)
Josh Pye – Camera Operator (camera placed on the right)
Caitlin Durham – Camera Operator (camera placed on the right – Took over the camera on the right-hand side part way through), Co. Director.
Equipment List
This section shows the equipment that has been booked out in order to film the showreel project.
Equipment used for the filming session done on: 19/01/2016
- x3 DSLR Cameras
- x3 Tripods
- x1 Boom Pole
- x1 Rode Shotgun Microphone
- x3 Memory Cards
Equipment used for the filming session done on: 27/01/2016
- x3 DSLR Cameras
- x3 Tripods
- x1 Rode Shotgun Microphone
- x3 Memory Cards
Schedule
Here is our filming schedule for the showreel project. This schedule shows the 6-weeks we’re given to film and edit the showreel.
Filming sessions:
First filming session – Tuesday, 12th January 2016 (initial filming date) – filming postponed to Tuesday, 19th January
Second filming session – Thursday, 21st January 2016 (initial filming date) – filming postponed to 26th January, 2016 – postponed again and moved to 27th January, 2016 – Filming went ahead on Wednesday, 27th January 2016.
Scenes:
- Earthquakes of London – Filmed on 19/01/2016
- Social Realism Scene – Filmed on 27/01/2016
Booking Requests
This section consists of the emails I have sent in order to book out equipment in advance for our filming sessions so we’re guaranteed filming equipment.
This is the first email I sent to book out equipment for filming. I sent this email on Monday, 19th January 2016 in advance for our first filming session on Tuesday.
This is the second email I have sent to Chris and Dan to book out equipment for the second filming session, which is Thusday, 21st January.
I have emailed Chris and Dan again to move our equipment booking to Tuesday, 26th January instead of Thursday, 21st January.
Locations
First scene – Filmed in between the Sports Hall Building and the Refectory
Second scene – Filmed in one of the dance studios
Editing Plan
Since the project has been split into 4 weeks of filming and 2 weeks of editing, we have decided to make full use of the time we have to film, while also using spare time to make test edits of the current footage we have. Doing this will allow more time to get the scenes perfect from the filming side of things, while also getting a basic idea of how the showreel will look at the end.
Since a multi-camera set up was used to film the scenes, it will be hard to pin point the exact time of each scene shot from each camera. To make this easier, I am going to be using a multi-camera edit so all the scenes would play at the same time once they have been synced up when a clap is heard from all three.
Due to choosing two different videos from two different takes of the same scene, I encountered an issue that could have potentially caused problems with how my edit could potentially end up. Since the two videos were from different takes, certain points in the acting were different, while the dialogue was exactly the same. After pin-pointing when some scenes had moments that were sort of similar in each of the video I was able to put the scene together this way. I also needed to remove certain sections of dialogue and also slow the speed down very slightly due to some of the dialogue not syncing up with when the actors spoke.
Client Communication
Actress/Client name – Chloe Cain
This section shows the communication to Chloe throughout the project (these messages were sent from Caitlin to Chloe). I am using these messages that Caitlin received from Chloe via Facebook and texting to show the communication since I didn’t get any responses to the messages I sent to Chloe to get information.
This section shows the communication to Chloe throughout the project done by me. I haven’t received any responses to my messages to Chloe.
Wednesday, 13th January 2016
I texted Chloe to ask her if she could let either myself or Caitlin know of any other ideas she might have for scenes for her showreel. I accidentally deleted this text message, however.
Wednesday, 20th January 2016
I texted Chloe in the evening at 18:24pm to ask if she was still available to film on Thursday morning at 12pm, so we could organise when our crew could get into college by so we could start filming when we had planned.
While I don’t have evidence of sending the first text to Chloe, on both occasions of attempting to contact Chloe via text, I have received no replies.
Wednesday, 27th January 2016
Today I contacted Chloe via text to ask her whether or not she has any ideas for the fourth and fifth scenes for the showreel. This was because, since by this point in the project, we’re in our last week where we can film, so I wanted to get some ideas prior to filming those scenes so some planning could be done in advance. I am currently waiting for a reply.
Production Blog
I have made a blog page that records the contributions I did in terms of assisting other groups with their filming, as well as recording whenever I do something in terms of my own production.
To see the blog for project, click here. (Production Blog has been completed as of January 12th, 2016).
My Contributions Towards Other People’s Filming
In addition to filming scenes for the showreel for my client Chloe, I also helped out other production teams, mainly working as a camera operator for the different productions.
Adam Ahmed & George Foy’s Production
On January 13th, 2016, I assisted Adam and George’s production by being one of the camera operators who helped film a scene for the showreel for their client, Melissa.
Maddy Lawrenson & Natalie Biggs’s Production
I first helped out with Maddy and Natalie’s production on January 13th, 2016, where I helped film the first scene of their client’s showreel up in the photography studio.
I helped Maddy and Natalie again on Wednesday, 27th January 2016 where she filmed another scene for her showreel in one of the dance studios since when we were filming for our client, the cameras were already set up.
Jack Seville’s Production
I helped Jack with his production on Wednesday, 13th January 2016 where I was one of the camera operators that helped film a scene down in the Cafe, near the Atrium for his client.
Josh Pye’s Production
I helped Josh Pye with his production on Wednesday, 20th January 2016. I was one of the camera operators along with Caitlin Durham and Gracie Vincent and helped film 4 scenes for the showreel Josh was filming for.
Shona Paton & Gracie Vincent’s Production
The first time I helped Shona and Gracie with their production of their showreel was on Wednesday, 27th January 2016. I helped them out by working as one of the camera operators who captured a long-shot of the actor(s) that were in the scenes that they shot.
Peer Assessment
After Jack watched my edit for the showreel, the only issues he could see were only small and could be solved easily. The first issue was the audio. The audio was much louder on the left than it was on the right.
The second issue he found was there wasn’t any background music present in the video. This issue can be easily solved since I haven’t chosen the music yet, so once I do, this issue will be resolved.
Making these changes to my edit:
Fixing the audio error:
The audio now plays through both sides of the headphones when the video is played, as opposed to just the left-hand side.
Adding background music:
Since the scenes for this showreel are about social realism, I decided to choose music tracks with more suspense as the background music for this reason as they would emphasise the scenes’ due to them being more dramatic.
Joshua Sumner 