Location Recces for Depict

Production Schedule (depict)

Prop and Costume list

Prop list

. a boom mic

. Chocolate Milk

.  laptop

. various desk equipment (e.g. papers and folders)

. clacker board 

. sound bag and wires 

Costume list

. luminous jacket (sound guy)

. orange hat (sound guy)

. purple suit (Callum)

. normal clothing (seb and sam.k)

. gloves (sam.k)

Budget sheet (why we didn't need one)

For this project we didn't need a budgeting sheet. This was mainly because we didn't spend any money on anything. This was as a result of being able to hire all the equipment we needed from the college skills department, and also all the costumes where previously owned.

Depict - First submission feedback

Assignment

Initial Idea post

We decided as a group to make a mockumentary in a similar style to that of ‘The Office’ a funny and comedic take on the more serious documentary of spending time on a fictitious film set where we take to a few members of the cast and crew. we talk about there daily lives and struggles of working with people they may not get on with.    

Storyboard for our short film Mockumentary

*side note- all lighting that will be used throughout the film will be natural lighting from the locations we're filming. This allows for the shots to seem natural, and also keeps the whole presence  of a low budget film, which is what we want for our comedic mockumentary*

Shot List for Mockumenary

   

Release Forms

   

My Depict Short Film

Evaluation of my performance in my DEPICT Short Film 'Mockumentary'

During the making of our Depict short film ‘Mockumentary’ I feel we did many things well and that the process was a success. The first idea we had was to make our film different to the rest, as this would make it stand out from others. We wanted to try to document the difficulties someone could have when making a film even in a small scale production like ours. we wanted to show the amount of takes it can take to get the perfect shot, we also wanted to show a series of interviews with the stars and crew to emphasise how stressful a filming environment can be, and also show how some jobs are easier than others. Even though this was just our first idea, I knew it would be different to the other films and this was a good thing. I feel we all had an important part in this planning process as we all shared and developed ideas together (Me, Seb and Callum). I feel my performance in this process was good as I came up with a lot of the ideas that made it into our final film. Although I couldn’t have done it without my group to help develop and improve my ideas and ultimately make them better.

The next thing we had to do was pre-production paper work, we all took different rolls in this and spread the work load between the three of us. I took on the role of the shot list and the story board. I feel I did both these pieces of work to a high standard as I spent multiple hours on each one and put my maximum effort into them. I tried to implement as much information and detail in the story board as possible. I think I created detailed sketches and made it easy to understand with the annotations and writing that I paired with it. In my opinion I think I could have spent a little bit more time on the shot list, making sure the camera angle section had more detail as well as the sound section. Although the sound throughout our film was so similar it was difficult to add more detail.

The final product we made was to a high standard in my opinion. I feel I had a good role in the filming process and when I was in the film myself as Sami ‘soundi’ Montoya. In the film I played the sound guy, for this role I had to add a comedic edge to the character, which included wearing a costume that was far too over exaggerated for our production level. I feel I did well in playing this role as I performed to a high standard throughout the film and created a good amount of comedy. When I wasn’t on camera I had an important role in the filming process, and also I was the literal sound man for some of the scenes, using the boom mic. I think I did good when it came to filming, which often involved setting up shots and filming. I also think the sound quality was good, and that I did a good job of keeping the mic out of shot (not including the scene where I drop the mic on Sam’s head on purpose).

The editing process was also good, and we all had important roles when it came to it. In my opinion I think I could have improved this process if I was more involved in the editing, instead of giving Seb ideas and letting him carry them out. Although I didn’t actually physically edit the film, I did have an important role in giving Seb the ideas and overall played a large part in the final outcome of our film.

In conclusion I think our product was a success and that we created a film that had good comedic value, with solid cinematography to pair with it.

Depict Short Film Analysis (Living)

LIVING from Ben Mankin on Vimeo.

Living 

I liked this short film simply because it was different. With slight hints of humour are shown at the beginning when the doctor says he's busy, when in actuality he is just feeding his fish. That's not the only reason I like it, the fact that throughout the whole movie, there is always a sense of tension and that something is about to happen because of the brilliant use of audio. Eventually we see what happens when the man pulls the wallpaper off, and the movie ends. Basically I enjoyed this movie because of its originality and brilliant use of audio.

Depict Short Film Analysis (Death In Space)

Death In Space 

I chose this short film to analyse because it is something different as the whole thing was created as an animation, although it’s an animation the key features on any film are still present.  The whole film is focused around the different ways that it is possible to die in space. Throughout the movie we see a range of camera angles, although in this movie we see a lack of camera movement but some are present in the form of zooms. Most angles in this film are chosen with the focus of making what’s relevant in the scene. This means that the camera angles are mainly mid shots and long shots.

The editing throughout the film is very fast paced, this along with the fact that the narrative is focusing on a different way to die means that whoever watches is constantly entertained. This is another reason why I think this is a special film.

The sound in the film is only in the form of diegetic sound effects, emphasising different ways the characters die. The sound effects allow for a sense of comedic value to be shown, with very silly and unrealistic noises being used for various creatures and items.

The continuity throughout the film isn’t relevant because of the use of different clips from different times. The whole film is bright and full of colour, which ironic considering the focus of the movie is showing different ways that someone could die, which is a very negative subject. The fact that the film also has hints of humour and characters that look like they belong in a children’s show means that its furthered that the film isn’t taking itself very seriously even though it has such a sensitive subject. This is my favourite thing about his movie, the fact that the narrative is based around such a negative subject, but film doesn’t come across as negative in any way.

Depict Short Film Analysis (Candy Crime)

Candy crime

I think this short film was great for many reasons, but the thing that stands out to me the most when watching it is how each shot is filmed with the camera pans smoothly across the screen. This is mot obvious in the first two scenes of the film, not only does this make the shots more interesting to see for the viewer, but it makes the shots flow and is visually fantastic to watch. The other thing that grabbed my interest about this film was the decision to make it black and white, this makes the film stand out from others because it is visually different. But most of all, the story to this film is what makes it better than the rest. The humour and simplicity of the narrative is what makes it good. The simple and perfectly shot narrative, mixed with the a brilliant soundtrack is what makes this short film above the rest.