24 Hour Film Challenge

In the third week of our introduction to filmmaking, we were given a practical task to complete over a day. Our class was divided into three groups of four and each given a genre; Western, Musical, Sci-fi or Rom-com. Our group was given the western genre, and we quickly got to work on finding suitable locations, props and narrative structure. The pre-production planning process was the most lengthy, mainly because we were shooting and editing in camera so there was no need to set aside any time to edit. Although this did mean that our shot lists and storyboards had to be very detailed and thought out, ensuring we made no mistakes with the wrong shot at the wrong time, as this would mess up the tape. That problem can be a very tricky one to fix, we came to learn. We figured out our narrative and location then went ahead with the risk assessments. In detail we outlined the potential risks we would be facing on location, to ensure no one would get hurt and that there would be no damage to the equipment. The main thing in our risk assessment being the use of replica guns in public. We rang up Teesside police and asked to be put through to cleveland police to inform them of our whereabouts. This reduced any risk of a member of the public ringing the police over the concern of a bunch of cowboys on seaton crew beach shooting each other. The woman from the press office of Cleveland police politely told us between 6-7 would be fine to go ahead with our shoot, and we wouldn't have to worry about hassle from the police. 

The image below is an image of our establishing shots, which took place in the modern timeline of our narrative. The shot shows our director and camera-op setting up the shot, and white balancing our camera with the correct exposure. We used a simple but effective technique in the rule of thirds, placing our subject in the bottom right hand corner of the frame and leaving a lot of space around the left and upper halves of the shot. The effect this had was that the character in the frame came across as trapped. Both behind the black fence which the shot went through, and inside the room surrounded by dead space.

This image is of myself, fully in costume ready to play the part of the Western sheriff before we headed off to our location. The costume itself is rather effective, costing a grand total of £1! I already owned the white shirt and leather gloves, the prop cupboard at University had a random cowboy hat, and my flatmate created this superb wanted posted with a sharpie pen, some teabags and a lighter. The neck scarf, sheriff badge and gun were all part of a kids western toy set from the pound-shop. It's interesting to see what you can come up with on a small budget when you ask yourself the question what have I already got that I can use? And what can I create, or ask others to create if it is out of my abilities? As a Film student it's essential that you keep an open mind to what you can create or obtain, especially on how to save money which can be spent on other areas of your film. In this case it was transport. We all chipped in a few quid each to get to the beach for a few hours and back in a fellow students car. Running favours is a big part of being a student, I have found thus far. Even more so attending a small and intimate University with a lot of common faces. It's nice to know people are willing to help you out in time of need, and that favour will most certainly be returned if it is ever needed.

This final image is a shot of our actor and camera-op at work on location. This was a test shot, to ensure the character was suitably positioned in the frame. This test was also to find the right lighting by adjusting the exposure. This was a major issue with our film, and quite a large focus. This was because of the time we were filming out on location at the beach. It was around 7 o'clock, the time when the lighting significantly changes and becomes dark before you can even notice. This meant that we had to keep on top of our exposure settings. This shot had significant depth of field which added to the essence of our film. The large wide open landscapes are a common convention of the Western genre. We did our best in terms of mise-en-scene to create a Western atmosphere. We even borrowed a few cacti and shot them at a low angle! In the background of this shot there was a large steelworks that we managed to capture in a large depth of field. Although we knew that it was a steelworks as we live locally, within the context of the film it could have been a large Texan plantation or brewery. The more of a mood you create through subtleties such as our props, the more stuff like the steelworks is left to the interpretation of the audience, who will now most likely see it as an element of a Western location.