Poster art for new short film i am working on.

Sim Client Eval

Evaluation

Firstly and overall I believe my product to be a success. The alumni brief was very vague and open to interpretation. So with this I had to take into consideration past corporate projects that I had produced what where similar in nature and then weighted up the pro’s and con’s of them projects.
I want to produce something that was funny; I was mildly successful in that aspect. As of this point I have shown around 20 people and some people think it is hilarious others think its just not. Divulging from this I need to look into to writing humor with a broader range to the audience. I know now that I have extremely different taste in humor to most people and need to write around that.
Given a bigger time scale, I would like to of made either a series of these videos or a bigger single production. The acting has let this product down slightly. Nick is a great actor but you can see from the production that I got him last minute, even when dressed up he doesn’t really fit the part. Also it was the first time he had to act without using dialogue, he found that quite difficult and I feel you can see this in the production.
The shoot was very successful in it self, Had a clear idea of what I want to shoot and the easy shot list to follow. Although we had some lighting issues from the sun causing some harsh shadowing. Everything was resolved quickly and realizing I need to hire out a bounce board more often. Also when recording the voice over I had a lot of trouble with microphone selection, in the future I need to research this more so that I produce the best audio results. A massive flaw I that I’m a director of photography and often leave the audio to last minute, as I am more focused on the visuals.
The edit I believe is the most successful aspect of the project over all. I got the grading and post-production effects really spot on. The ageing of the video really worked and is seamless if the production.  Post-production effects are one of my strongest abilities and I am glad that these effects came out how they did.
Overall the product is good but not without its flaws. In future I need to hire a independent audio recordist or focus more on microphone selection. Also holding more auditions to gain further talent for the films. 

If you move away from the traditional cinematography conventions of how to shoot a scene - can you still produce a sequence; which gives a riveting delivery and will ultimately be effective?

I am going to be looking at the conventions that are established within cinematography, using that understanding I will look to see if you can break convention and still have an effective sequence within the film.

I will be focusing on the shot selection and looking into more ‘creative’ style of shooting which wouldn’t necessarily follow the traditional conventions of cinematography. I will use classic and modern films as a means to following and establishing these conventions. Furthering this even more I will categorise these within their appropriate genre (e.g Horror, Action and Adventure, Comedy) and using that information try to establish what are genre specific cinematography conventions.

By understanding the conventions and rules that are already established I can logically look at ways of ‘breaking’ them and how to shoot a scene differently. This will progress and develop my shooting style, also giving me potential to create a unique cinematic effect. As I already have an understanding that these conventions have been developed and progressed over many years, I believe you can’t just shoot something ‘differently’ and it is effective. You have to have a logical thought progress to contribute too producing a scene that is effective.

As cinematography is the most visual story telling element of a film, I will also be looking at why certain sequences are effect in its delivery of the scene. Questioning this with an ‘actions vs shot’ mentality. Can scenes be effective with out having a certain shot element implanted into the scene.

 
I will further my research with some extensive research and development with my artefacts. I will be creating a series of short scenes to accompany all this research. Initially shooting a scene in what I see as the conventional way. I will then shoot it differently ‘breaking’ conventions. I will also produce these over a spectrum of different genres so that I have a wide scope of research and feedback. I will also host both physical and digital viewings for these scenes, getting the audiences to complete questionnaires and feedback. Hopefully as well getting opinions and feedback from industry professionals.

ALUMNI VIDEO FINAL VERSION TOM PYKETT

Final version - It is really effective and the grading and aging is brilliant.

ALUMNI VIDEO WITH NO SOUNDEFFECTS NO POST EFFECTS

This is a second draft with grade and voice over implemented.
I need more post - production work to make it look aged.

ALUMNI NO VOICE OVER

This is the rough cut of my alumni video! No voice over or grading.
It needs tightening up.

Alumni - Story Boards

Here are the story boards for me Alumni - dont forget your pledge video.

Alumni project - Character

Heres the Nick in costume for the my alumni film.
Nerd power

Alumni Project inspiration.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1259818256007769353

These are the main videos that inspired me for the 1950's Alumni project some in stlye some in there voice over work.

MakingOf - Interview - Gareth Edwards - Monsters - Gareth Edwards discusses 'Monsters'

MakingOf - Interview - Gareth Edwards - Monsters - Gareth Edwards discusses 'Monsters'

Great little video.
I had the pleasure of meeting Gareth at the Mayhem Horror film festival.
Not only did he take 10 minutes of his time to watch my short film Dead Rain.
He even hung around after to chat about VFX design such a great guy.

Is this the beginning of the end.

http://www.salon.com/2011/10/13/r_i_p_the_movie_camera_1888_2011/singleton/

I haven't even had the privilege to shoot anything on celluloid yet.

Alumni - Brainstorming

Here's a set of everything I stormed from my ideas / ideals / equipment / style.
I may have to amend and update this and ideas constantly flood in. 

Dead Flag Blues.

Heard this piece poetry a while ago.
I think over winter I will shoot a post apocalyptic short film back to this piece.
Hopefully it will be snowy.

Zombies Zombies Zombies

Dead Rain my first ever short film.
Looking dated now but still holds it own in the fact it was shot for £40 and pretty much no-one had any experience. Brilliant learning curve.

Research Project Mind Map

I'm focusing my research project into cinematography. Its the field of film i am most passionate about - something i continually progress and attempt to break new ground with.
The star'd nodes on the mind map are the things that stand out to me the most or the things i perform best at.
Still need to focus it down more.

Philip Bloom Interview

Had the pleasure of meeting Phil a few months back. Very down to earth and Very helpfull.

Life doesn't work out like it does in old films - Feature Film

Life doesn't work out like it does in old films or Life for short is a Feature film produced in Nottingham.
I was the Cinematographer, Producer, Props creator and 101 other roles on this film.
Directed by Simon Dymond for a shoe string budget of around £400
LIFE DOESN'T WORK OUT LIKE IT DOES IN OLD FILMS revolves around the life of Ray – a man obsessed with cinema who, through a series of incidents, is propelled into a chain of events that resemble the noir genre. He starts to adopt a persona that transforms his character. The only thing is that by doing this he starts probing into peoples lives and it takes a turn for the worse. Ray tries to play detective but life doesn't work out like it does in old films and he gets his fingers burnt.

I am currently at the master grading stages of this film - then it will begin festival runs and a searching for a distribution deal.

If want some more information on the film and few sneak peaks of footage. Follow the link below.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Life-Doesnt-Work-Out-Like-It-Does-In-Old-Films/113286685400818?sk=wall

Doppel - Short Film - 2011

Doppel is one of my latest short films and ultimately my biggest solo project. I focused all my energy into making this biggest spectacle i could. Doppel has gone onto win me two awards best short film at the 2011 confetti awards and best edited film at the 2011 confetti awards.

Doppel is currently about to begin its festival run. 

Film below