Monday 16 November 2015

Reviewing and re-planning a bad shoot

The good news about a bad, unproductive shoot is that you can learn a lot from it, and be much better prepared the next time you're on a shoot! The same applies to films incidentally: a bad film will have you mentally working out what the filmmakers should have done!

I set out some pointers in this post, which you can use to help you with this review.

Your task is to discuss and agree on a list of things you will improve on before your next shoot - what didn't you do; what would have made this shoot more productive? Preparation is generally a key failing; a substantial amount of marks for coursework Research and Planning are linked to this for a reason! Formally storyboarding, scripting (screenplay) and preparing call sheets (shot lists) are all coursework requirements.

This is not an invitation to start finger-pointing; if you start that your review will be every bit as unproductive as the shoot itself!

For this discussion to work, you need to adhere to the principle of one voice at a time, and should consider appointing someone to lead and guide the conversation, including selecting who is speaking and deciding when to move on to another point.

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Once you've all agreed on a clear, specific list of points which you can then each blog on, begin the process of re-planning - you will have a second opportunity at this on Wednesday 25th, periods 1+2.

Think clearly about the specific roles involved, and ensure that for each segment/location these have been specifically assigned. It is useful practice for you to share and rotate these. Consider how these roles might best combine: should the camera operators passively await instruction from a director for instance?

The workload must be fairly shared.

The footage from the original shoot is saved; we can discuss whether or not to edit this.

IF you manage to get this completed before I'm back then start working on further coursework research: each of you looking at multiple genre film openings; preparing vodcasts on locations, cast/characters, costume, props + mise-en-scene generally; genre signifiers and intertextuality; the idea + narrative; titles; soundtrack.