Echoes of Silence - Rehearsals

Following up on my recent post on the subject of directing actors, in this post I will be discussing how I intend to apply those techniques by working with real actors. Over the past few weeks I have been shooting some minor sequences with the main actor of the film, who plays the character of Julian. Over that time we have developed a healthy and prosperous working relationship. We run ideas by each other frequently, and we look to reach a mutual conclusion regarding the characters goals, motivations and feelings at a particular point. In the back of my mind during the shooting and planning of these scenes, I was aware that we were coming toward an important scene between Julian and his daughter, Grace. I have already cast Grace through an actress that I had previously worked with. We recently met up and had a brief chat regarding the plans for the film, where I also brought up the prospect of rehearsals. I knew early on that I was going to hold rehearsals for the particular scene where the two characters meet for a few reasons. Reason one being that this is an incredibly integral scene in the film. We learn more of what each character is really about, what they stand for, and their relationship with each other. Another reason being that the location in which we plan this shoot is somewhere we won’t be able to continuously return to or have a lot of time to execute the scene. We maybe have two shoot days at the most, permitting we get access to the location. From these two reasons I decided the best way forward for everyone would be to have rehearsal sessions in advance. I tend to stay away from rehearsals, as my past approach has been to give the actors enough vague information and ideas for them to form the scene on the day. I decided against that this time around, I believe with good reason. I see this as an opportunity to allow the actors greater freedom and to understand more about their own process, through being open with each other and through practice. This is equally important for my own learning as a director, to see the acting process I have been studying put into practice. I have frequently acknowledged in the past that directing actors is not one of my strong points as a director. I do not intend to shy away from this and justify my failure by building on my strengths. From this exercise and my future commitment into the process of directing actors, I aim to build upon my weaknesses. 

I am currently working out the structure of the rehearsals. I am doing so based on my research into Judith Westons techniques, but I’m keeping an open mind into any other potential techniques which surface. I am thoroughly intent on using the works of Sanford Meisner, an American theatre practitioner. The techniques used and pioneered by Meisner are still extremely relevant today, and continue to influence actors and acting coaches around the world today. One of the techniques I aim to incorporate into the rehearsal is the repetition technique. There are many goals of this exercise, and at the same time there are a lot of results you can get from it. On a simple level without getting into the many variations of the repetition technique, it is put in place to draw out an instinctive performance from an actor. It ensures that the actor has no time and place to think about line readings or how they are going to react, thus forcing actors to act on their intuition as human beings. Below are two examples of the Meisner repetition exercise which I looked at in particular. Both of these are fantastic examples of actors who are completely engaged and immersed within each other through the technique. This is from a series called '3 minute Meisner Mondays'. These videos gave me a solid platform in which I could base my own techniques and build upon them as I saw fit in my own rehearsal sessions. 

The thing I have to keep in mind is that like these videos, I have to offer variation and I have to keep the actors engaged with each other, which is essentially the entire point of the exercise. I also have to find a way of relating the Meisner technique to my own rehearsals, and in the future, performances. The reasoning behind wanting to use these techniques within my rehearsal sessions is to rectify my past wrongs. Those included not having the actors fully engaged with each other, by getting them outside of their internalisations. Ironically if two actors are facing each other, if they are not engaged with each other they can retreat inside of themselves. That is a main issue a director can face when directing actors, and its something that the above videos partially address. Something which really struck me as profound wisdom during these videos was the phrase 'we will believe the behaviour before we believe the words'. From this a lightning bolt struck me. I was able to boil down what I wanted my rehearsal process to be about in a singular sentence - 'we have to get good at reading behaviour'. It is an actors job to create behaviour, but also to read it. From this idea I had the foundations of what I was going to be exploring and building upon. Within the context of the narrative this is especially significant. The rehearsals will occur between the actor and actress who play the roles of father and daughter. For this to work the audience need to feel a familiarity between the characters. This doesn't have to be a happy and welcoming familiarity, or a cold and distant one, it just means that you understand by their behaviour that the characters have a deep understanding of each other.

Trick of the Dark - Casting Process

Trick of the Dark is going through a tricky casting process, pardon the pun. The issue like always when casting amateur local actors is availability. This has been one of the overbearing issues on our course right from the beginning. There are some genuinely talented local actors, but they don't make money from that, meaning they're often holding down other jobs that restrict their acting schedules. As of next year, this will be less of a problem for the course as CCAD bring in their acting and theatre course. 

To get back on track and to bring the focus back to Trick of the Dark, as the co-producer attached to the project part of my job is to focus on casting. There are 3 primary cast members, with two supporting roles. The primary cast is our priority so we got to work on that as soon as the project was green-lit. However we are still struggling and I am finding it increasingly difficult to bring actors in on the project. We confirmed one of the primary cast members very early on, someone who we have frequently worked with and know can deliver. Once that was set in stone we had two primary cast member roles to fill. 

Myself and the director had a discussion in which we bounced recommendations off one another. I suggested a particular actor who we had worked with in the past, based off of their willingness to work and their availability. The director disagreed by saying that they didn't fit the role. That is fair enough in my eyes, and it is a justifiable reason. However as producer I'm approaching this project with a lot of caution because I believe it is fragile, and I don't want to see it fall on its face without a plan B. For now I'm pushing the denied cast members into a 'maybe' pool - a one we might have to revisit if problems arise further down the road. 

There was one name that stuck with the director after I did some research into amateur actors working within the north east. Seeing as we already have a network of connections within the Hartlepool area, and we have already scoured the talent websites for anyone we don't already know, I figured I'd take another approach. This approach was based around the fact that a lot of actors we work with don't even class themselves as actors, they just enjoy doing it. A lot of them are family friends or someone who comes forward in the local audition advertisements etc. So I decided to look a little into what our competitors (e.g. local universities. Sunderland, Newcastle, Teeside) were doing and who they were casting. I came across an actor and an actress, both of which were needed to fill the roles we had left. I ran this by the director then got onto contacting them. 

Despite by findings and the lengthy exchange which occurred following these messages with the actor, we did not go ahead with casting this guy called Liam Angus. He acts in a lot of films for Sunderland University which I found out during my research on the likes of Youtube and Vimeo. As I was digging around I found he had been part of some of their award winning films. However as I was contacting him another actor who had been in some prior CCAD productions and was favoured, came forward to the director and expressed interest. The director let me know and through establishing communication we decided to cast the CCAD actor rather than Liam Angus. I found this to be a shame but ultimately it is not my decision. I did my job and ultimately I have another actor for the 'maybe' pool that may one day be our saving grace. 

On top of this, instead of contacting the potential actress I found the director told me to hold off on this. He told me he had approached an actress he worked with before about the role which she accepted. Despite all of what may sound like good news I am being very cautious. At present I have a bad feeling about the casting decisions we have made, as we do not have a structured plan in place on when we are shooting and where, which is the primary flaw of the project so far. Without that in my experience the casting is the first thing to fall in the domino effect that comes from an unorganised project. I will monitor the situation in the coming weeks and months and we may find ourselves exploring the collective 'maybe' pool of actors. 

Prof Practice - GMTD Portfolio #1

'GMTD' stands for 'Get Me The Designer'. As part of my Professional Practice myself and a few other students of the course have embarked on a potential business venture with an external source of funding. The opportunity came around when one of us was approached by a group of people wanting to set up a production company which would be used to provide advertisements for themselves, their clients, and also as a form of digital marketing which can be effective across social media platforms. This all came around from the beginning of February. From this information we gathered a crew based on our job roles we have acquired and pursued at University level. This was massively beneficial as it enables us to pitch ourselves as an effective unit, rather than a group of individuals. The group of people who originally approached us about the idea heard of our interest and began to state their demands, and also requested we meet with them on a formal basis to discuss in greater detail the direction they wanted to take this company. In the initial stages they handed across their concepts for an advert promoting something called 'Get Me The Designer'. We were told that despite being given concepts to work with, we had complete creative control to be as flexible as we saw fit. From this we were able to tweak their concepts into something workable and sellable, whilst also creating a pitch for concepts of our own. This way we were adopting the wishes of the clients and also giving them evidence of our own creative capabilities. We began storyboarding and conceptualising our ideas in a professionally presentable format. We also began sorting out a main presentation which would highlight our job roles, core values, approximate costs and production structure. 

What followed was a meeting with two gentlemen who were representatives of their respective brand 'GMTD' the abbreviation of 'Get Me The Designer'. We met as a group and there we were able to put all of our ideas out into the open, as well as discussing the structure of the business to get everyone on the same page. This was our first experience of the professional world and we had to instantly set aside our experience as students. We discussed concepts for a while and the practicality that came along with them, providing evidence of our previous work as proof of ability. We came prepared enough to state our demands without being overbearing and coming across as wanting too much, nor too little. 

Following the meeting, we had extended discussions amongst ourselves about where we see this going. We were all very happy with how the meeting played out. Admittedly a few of us, including myself, were wary going into it. We wondered if this was for real, or if it was just a hyped up opportunity that would inevitably come to pass without any weight behind it. We had been proved wrong when we heard the plans of these individuals and where they see themselves, and more importantly to what standard they wish to hold themselves. If anything this outing was an experience for us - a chance to test the water with potential investors/clients. We discussed the possibilities of setting up a production company (which is what they want from us, to deal with the moving image process). We discussed which type of production company would be the best option for us, with the help of people who had experience in that area. I am not down as Producer in this company, so this is not something I am required to look into at present. However it is something we obviously have to discuss and come to some sort of conclusion over, which we will likely do soon. My official job title at present is Creative Director. Having experience as a Director in the field of narrative, the Creative Director job will give me greater opportunity to branch out into advertisement and fashion. 

The next meeting will take place at the same location of Guisborough Hall, this coming Sunday the 25th. For this next week we were all individually required to provide a portfolio of our work and of a CV. This coincides with my professional practice as I am now required to provide a CV for two things. I have created an up to date CV, and I will also be providing my most recent showreel, along with academic works such as my dissertation. Below is a link to my showreel, which showcases all of my past projects and outlines my visual language. 

Prof Practice - Film Poster

I have arrived at a subject which excites me greatly. The prospect of creating a professional film poster for my upcoming film ‘Echoes of Silence’. Over time I have come to appreciate film posters as an art form of their own. They are something which can catch your attention and pull you in if done well, or at worst push you away if done poorly. Therefore a film poster must play to the films strengths. If a film has an A-list Hollywood star, it will likely use them as a centrepiece. If a film is thematically driven, it might place far less emphasis on human subjects. The same goes with an ensemble cast film or a film with greater production design, a film poster will often sell the most redeemable aspect of that film. Film posters are also a great way to use eye catching visuals and compositions to promote a film. There are current trends within social media which see illustrators and graphic designers recreating iconic film posters or adding 80s style filters to them to great effect. These have become very popular and sought after on websites like RedBubble. One of the main trends is the minimalist poster design. Designers can take popular films and create a minimalist design based around a central aspect of the film. That can be a character, environment or prop. This also creates a very slick aesthetic as it gives the audience very little to look at, although its often enough to know what film it is or know what the film is about. I’m going to design a few conceptual ideas of what I’d like the minimalist poster of Echoes of Silence to look like, with the intention of getting it made by an illustrator. 

In todays modern climate the internet plays a crucial role in the creation of digital illustrations and it is very easy to get hold of a talented artist and commission them to create for you. The other week I was introduced to ‘fiverr’ - a website that offers all kinds of commissioned services from artists and creators all over the world. This was a step in the right direction of me finding someone who could create a professional and effective film poster. From the off I knew that I would struggle to create my own. I am not a very technically minded person and in the past I have struggled with photoshop, and that struggle is a time consuming one that at present I cannot afford. At the same time I would be designing the poster myself and this will be a good experience for me to see what I can create with the help of someone I can have no physical contact with. I’m aware that these kinds of situations may present themselves in the industry today, with the prominence of freelance editors and concept artists. It will be interesting to see how I can work with someone on the internet from concept to creation. The prices on fiverr for the services of creating a poster are very reasonable. A basic payment of around £7-£10 will get you a minimalist design with no revisions in generic quality. Paying a bit more at around £25 will get you more detail and an average of 3 revisions. The premium is usually around £40 which gets you unlimited revisions and a high quality detailed image. For now the middle option seems the most reasonable and I think it will be a greater exercise for myself to work within 3 revisions to get a final product ready through communication, rather than relying on unlimited revisions. 

Here are a few examples of minimalist poster design; 

I decided to do my own design for a minimalist poster. Based on the above examples its clear that they use recognisable aspects of the film. For my own poster I had a few ideas in mind regarding the cinematic set pieces within the film. For example the bonfire scene, the beach scene with the casket, and the neon-lit set. I had an idea to make a few concept designs that would be very brief (as I'm not very good at drawing) to potentially send off to an illustrator who could improve my designs into a digital format. 

The next conceptual design idea I had in regards to the film poster was a combination of character placement/double exposure. I'm a big fan of posters that establish a hierarchy amongst characters or explore some sort of inner life of those characters through facial expression and composition. With Echoes of Silence, Julian and Grace are two of the main physical characters of the film. Julian is in mourning and reaches out to Grace who seems to have moved on from the life changing event that both of them met. Through the poster I wanted to explore this relationship by capturing a solemn nature in the eyes and the face of each of the characters. This can also be enhanced greatly through composition and double exposure. For example Grace can be placed above Julian to imply that she is above him physically and emotionally.

Below are some examples of compositionally influential film posters. These posters closely relate to the way I want the characters to be placed above/around each other, but also in the way the eyelines extend out into the distance dramatically. I also really like the way the characters fade into one another. 

I'd ideally like to use double exposure to bring in the production design elements of the film which are orientated around the presence of nature. In combination with careful attention to the composition of the characters, I think this will be a very aesthetically pleasing and thematically effective image to use as part of the film poster. Below are some examples of double exposure within film posters, from 'Enemy' and 'Nocturnal Animals'. The first example is particularly interesting because it relates to what I aim to achieve in merging the themes and imagery together with the character through double exposure. In this case its the cityscape and giant spider merging with Jake Gyllenhaal's character. 

I looked at the services that were on offer on fiverr for what I was hoping to achieve. As I previously stated the prices are broken down into categories, basic, standard and premium. This is an example of an artists work below, which is very similar to what I'm looking for. Fiverr allows you to see reviews left by users which evaluate the artists work, which is very helpful. This enables you to separate the professional high-standard artists who are trusted from the amateurs. The standard seems like a safe bet, as I previously discussed it would be nice to see what I could achieve with a deadline and a strict amount of revisions. 

Echoes of Silence - Shoot 2 and 3 - Scene 2

Over the course of a week on two separate days we shot two sides of the same scene, which is a scene in which Julian leaves work (the first scene). Yesterday we shot the stuff we needed on the metro transport system, and the week before that on the Tuesday we shot the part where Julian walks along the quayside after work. Both of these scenes are scripted and I felt it important to shoot them both as soon as possible so that we could continue shooting the film chronologically. The aim of the scenes narratively were not just to take Julian from place to place, but so that we could begin to see the world around them. As Julian is our vehicle through the world, it was equally important to establish that we were seeing the world through his eyes, with the use of POV shots. 

For the scene we shot on the quayside I had previously decided whilst storyboarding that this should be one shot. The shot would track Julian backwards as he leaves from work and absorbs the world around him - people passing, having conversations with their A.I. companions through their earpieces. In a sense I wanted to isolate Julian, but not in the traditional sense where everyone around him would be grouped up socialites, intact the complete opposite. I wanted to subtly establish a world where everyone is isolated within themselves, and they've retreated to a form of responsive technology. Julian is part of that world, though at this point we aren't aware. We see a man observing it all. 

The decision process behind how we were going to physically shoot the scene was quite an unorthodox one. We usually would go with steadicam or tracking dolly for this type of shot, however the current Black Magic camera we're using won't hold on the steadicam, and the tracking dolly isn't the most time effective piece of equipment. What we did have was a wheelchair that we acquired from the Production Design department. We tested it out around the corridors of the Uni and found it to be quite smooth. We took it along with the intention of shooting this one shot scene with it. Below is an image of the crew working that day, with our director of photography in the wheelchair with a monopod. 

The shoot went well as we weren't too concerned with time - we had as much as we needed that day, the only thing we had to be mindful of was the setting sun changing the texture of our shots. These kinds of things have the ability to ruin your entire shoot. We were very lucky that it was a cloudless blue sky. I found half way through the shoot that I wasn't getting what I wanted with the wheelchair. I could see that it was quite bumpy, and I could also see that the framing was way off. There was no compression which I had imagined. There was a ship in the background of shot that was perfectly in focus and dominating the right hand side of frame. I felt the need to get extra shots although I knew I only wanted one. This is a default position a director goes to when he is not confident. Coverage is a safety net that I rarely indulge in but in this instance I found it beneficial to shoot the scene from a few angles so that we had something to work with in the edit. I came away pleased with how the shoot went objectively, but something wasn't right with it for me. Even more so when I saw the shots in the edit. I decided that we might have to go back and reshoot. 

Yesterday on Monday the 19th we shot on the Tyne and Wear metro. We were shooting a sequence which directly follows the aforementioned sequence at the quayside. So far we have shot Julians lecture scene, followed by him walking out from work and down the quayside, then he gets onto a public transportation system. To abide by the policy of Tyne and Wear Nexus we were only able to use handheld cameras on board the train. We kept a minimalist crew with us to ensure that we were discreet and that we weren't bothering the public during the shoot. The shoot consisted of around 10 shots which were divided into three sections, as we were filming for three scenes throughout the film. The first being the first time we see Julian on the train. He scans the train with his eyes, in which we got POV shots to match. He sees individuals dotted around the train all talking into their earpieces. The next scene we shot required a quick costume change. It's a shot of Julian watching a young couple and smiling to himself which cuts to another POV shot of the couple laughing and smiling together. Lastly we needed one shot of Julian following his violent outbreak which required some makeup to be applied across his knuckles in the form of fake blood and eye shadow - to create bruised knuckles. 

With the time we had we managed to get everything we needed with excess. We shot everything from a few angles and it was interesting to shoot something which was entirely handheld and required no set-up. This shoot ultimately helped me decide what I was going to do with the footage from the quayside - the sequence I was left unsure about. With this shoot having gone ahead successfully, I've decided I'm going to cut the quayside sequence from the film completely. I came to the conclusion that both of these scenes are doing exactly the same thing. One of them moves the story on effectively by doing what I spoke about earlier, introducing the isolated world around Julian, but then the other simply mirrors that. With the same thing happening twice it makes complete sense to me to have to cut one to avoid this student-y style filmmaking which often results in a complete protection of every shot, or the willingness to make a 'long film' opposed to a quality film. I'm adopting the philosophy of; if it doesn't move the story forward, it serves no purpose. It's a waste of time.

Below is a series of BTS shots of our shoot on the Tyne and Wear metro;  

Prof Practice - MA Degree Research

Over the summer of 2017 I extensively pondered my future beyond graduating from CCAD with a BA (Hons) in Creative Film and Moving Image Production. I asked myself the usual questions; where do I see myself? Why? What strengths or weaknesses do I have that would permit me to succeed or fail in my chosen area? Unfortunately my time at CCAD has undoubtedly tainted my idea of what a degree should stand for. I have watched many a lazy individual graduate with a degree. One which they likely do not deserve. It is this which has driven down the value of a degree in wider society. Many young people see it as a form of security for a couple of years and do not strive for anything other than having the title of a degree. It’s this exact thinking that made me want to pursue a Masters degree. As the value of the degree has declined, the Masters degree has kept the prestigious status it always had. It’s a separation point I believe, between an employer taking a risk on employing you on the basis of a degree, or employing someone who has a Masters degree, knowing the MA student likely has more drive and discipline. This was the objective side of my brain thinking. I was methodically calculating the meanings behind our education system and how that may affect me getting a job later down the line. But I was also operating on a subjective basis. I love film studies, and I have since I began back in 2013. Therefore I’d love to carry on my studies, and push my academic knowledge and understanding further. 

I then began the process of looking at what MA degrees were on offer in the country. I knew I wanted to stay somewhat local, meaning the North of England. I had already looked at the likes of MET Film school in London years ago, and priced them at £28,000 per year. And then there’s rent. Basically impossible. Moving to London is never out of the question and is something I will likely do in the coming years, but as for studying there it was never a possibility. I looked at the MA degrees at York University and found that they were too specialist. One of the good things about the degree I’ve been doing at CCAD is that it covers every base, though sometimes very briefly, you leave with a broad knowledge and the ability to understand the different roles and positions of filmmaking. The emphasis of York was on a very specific area. For example the Sound MA degrees were split into three. Sound Operator, Sound Engineer and Sound (Post-Production). This was the same for the editing degrees, camera etc. Then I came across Newcastle Uni, which like CCAD, placed equal emphasis on combining academic and practical study. Newcastle is also part of Russell Group, one of nine institutions in the country to offer this type of prestigious degree. Once I had found Newcastle I put on halt all of the other options until I had visited the institution and spoke to a member of staff to confirm the legitimacy of the course. 

Next came the thing that required the most thought. Am I to do my Masters degree over one year? Or part time over two? After speaking to Alyson Agar, a lecturer of Visual Culture at CCAD, I was almost entirely convinced to do my course over two years. The benefit of this is that you have more time to complete your modules, and for me the more time I have the greater my work is and the more creative/analytical I can be. Masters degree are inherently intense processes I have found from people who have done them first hand, so the part time degree proved to be the best and more sensible option. It is the same price as one year, but payments are split in two. One year at Newcastle would be £7200. Over the two years its £3600 each year. Doing my degree part time would allow me greater flexibility to have a part time job on the side, like I currently do during my degree. It also allows me greater flexibility when looking for work experience opportunities. I would likely be timetabled in only one or two days a week, leaving me the rest of the week to work (to support myself financially) but also to complete my assignments.

On Wednesday the 7th of February I visited Newcastle University as part of their Post-Graduate opening day, to see what the course was all about. I had previously looked at the course online, but I then became aware that like most higher education institutions their syllabus changes frequently. To begin the day I explored the campus. Unlike CCAD which is a tiny institution, Newcastle has the feel of a real University Campus, with coffee shops and activities advertised around every corner. I met with the female programme leader and a second year part-time student of the course. The course itself is titled Film Theory and Practice MA. The brief chat I had with the current student and the programme leader was informative enough however I was noted about the official seminar which was to take place at 4PM, giving a complete overview of the course. I returned at four to be seated within a group of around ten people, all from academic backgrounds which was not surprising, but what was surprising was that the majority of them were from seemingly unrelated courses such as politics and english literature. The programme leader was there again to give a detailed outline of the course. There I found out that with my intention of studying part-time, I would have three compulsory modules within the first year. These modules would be made up of academic work for the most part, then in the second year the optional modules would kick in, allowing for more practical based study to kick in with emphasis on screenwriting and filmmaking. I enquired about the use of equipment or stores when it came to asking questions at the end. I was informed the Uni does in fact have its own equipment stores. 

I was extremely pleased with how the day went, and after learning more about the course and learning about the work experience and placement opportunities that were affiliated with the degree, my mind was almost made up. Over the coming months my focus will be on my Final Major Project and Professional practice modules. I will most likely work toward the application process as I am at least 90% sure that the Film Theory and Practice MA is the right step forward for me into my future as an aspiring filmmaker. 

Echoes of Silence - Shoot 1 - Scene 1

Yesterday we had our first official shoot for Echoes of Silence. For good measure, it's the opening scene of the film. Going into shooting this scene as a director I was faced with a few of the challenges I have previously been faced with when dealing with a scene of a large scope. We required around 20 extras, as well as the 5 crew members to be on shoot, all in one location. To bring this altogether we needed to exact the camera blocking we had practiced in the test shoot last week, and to improve the lighting based off the negative aspects of the same test shoot. Thankfully we went into this shoot having already understood the do's and dont's, thus perfecting what I will refer to as the 'nuts and bolts' of a scene; lighting it and organising the camera blocking. The challenging aspect of this shoot was very similar to that which I experienced whilst directing the party scene within ALICE. With a large amount of people in one place, you will inevitably be faced with a lot of questions. Questions you must ask yourself but also questions in real time, with people coming up to you and asking you for this and that, all relating to their job role. At this point it's something that you have to grasp. People aren't there to pester you they're there to do a job, so I've found it's all about maintaining composure in your own creative headspace and also dealing with the technical aspects and logistics of being on a real set with real people. Fortunately this wasn't as overwhelming as it would have been when everyone turned up and looked at me with the 'what now?' face, as I had already been in that position, as I previously stated in regards to ALICE. 

Some of the shots from the shoot; before and after colour correction:

We got to work, setting up between 2-4PM, which was the call for all extras to arrive. That two hour window was incredibly valuable as it allows us to map out the scene from start to finish, as well as setting up our first shot ready to go straight away once we have everyone there. Another thing we're doing differently with this film is having two camera units. This was the first shoot we were able to fully utilise the two unit system to full effect, essentially turning a six hour shoot into a three hour one. We were able to film the same shot from two different angles if we weren't breaking the line with the other camera, and aside from that we were able to set up one camera whilst the other was rolling ready to jump straight back in without changing lenses/tripods etc. This was one of the things that worked out really well in retrospect. The turnaround was swift and effective and allowed us to stay on track. 4PM came around and we had about 15-20 extras turn up to act as crowd fillers. The primary focus on having a large crowd there was to use a large quantity of people to block the camera as they passed it. I wanted the scene to have that end of lecture feel where loads of young people surge for the door, leaving the lecturer standing alone and unfazed by their disinterest. It's was also the perfect way for me to introduce that character, someone who is completely alienated in the world, with little to no human contact. These kinds of decisions you pre-plan and mull over as a director in every day life are the hardest things to hang onto in the hustle and bustle nature of a shoot. I find that I have to protect my creativity by taking just 10 or 20 seconds here and there to get in a head-space where I can make the right decisions for the film. If I was to say so, this might be the most important thing I've learned as a student filmmaker altogether. When I began, I would let the stress consume me. I would let the methodical nature of the shoot take over the creative part of my brain and I would end up with something that wasn't my vision at all. Over time I've learned you have to balance the two. I don't think you're ever going to get to the point as a director where you're able to completely phase out what's going on around you, but you do develop a filter where you're able to make the right decisions that will benefit the film. I got to a point later in the shoot after we had finished the shots with the extras (which went exactly as plan) where I found that what I was shooting just wasn't what I wanted. For months I had went on about wanting this shot that resembled the zoom shots of Kubricks 'Barry Lyndon', in which the camera would zoom out of a smaller detail to reveal the world around it, therefore telling a story in a single movement. It turns out that I overestimated the focal length of the zoom lens we had. 70-300mm was nowhere near enough to get what I wanted. Myself and the cinematographer went away from the shoot to find out what I would need is a 200-700mm, which cost between £2000-£3000. Simply isn't going to happen. Getting back to the point, which is sometimes compromises need to be made and it isn't the end of the world. We left the shoot around half 8 knowing we would have to come back for that shot. 

Despite all of the blocking plans we did and all of the thought behind what we were going to do and how to achieve it, we still came away short. This is no ones fault, and it's a shot we can go back and get at a later date. I did come away feeling more confident in myself ironically. Despite finishing the shoot with a shot left to get, I mulled over it and found that there are many a filmmaker who would have accepted the shot they didn't actually want, but figured it would be fine. I'm not willing to compromise so heavily, especially during this Final Major Project. The people I have learned from over my three years at CCAD have not been the successful people. I have learned from the people that have failed, and the people  who walk away from shots with a lazy 'that'll be fine attitude'. As brutal as it is there are a lot more lessons to be found in failure, either in yourself or in others. My job now is to go away and to find another way to get that zoom shot and to make it as effective as I had originally planned. At the moment I'm considering a track out from close distance. 

Here is a BTS video of the crew at work, mostly planning before the shoot and a little of me directing the actor within the scene.