Commision - Schedule

Schedule

Filming:
Monday 10th September - Week 1 Back to Basics Course
Monday 17th - Week 2 Back to Basics Course
MOnday 24th - Week 3 Back to Basics Course
Monday 1st October - Week 4 Back to Basics Course 
Monday 8th October - Week 5 Back to Basics Course
Monday 15th October - Week 6 Back to Basics Course


Sunday 28th October - Event Day to be filmed for cut away's

Friday 2nd November - Interview with Annabelle 

Saturday 3rd November begin editing

Thursday 8th Rough Cut Ready to Submit

Comission - E Commerce

Existing Advertising

I have been looking at Confection Perfection existing advertising, and overall I think it needs a little boost, especially from the media side of things. I am going to look into more detail about E Commerce and how it effects businesses.

The video I am producing is for their new look website:

Video production has seen a boom in the last decade. Many feared in was decreasing due to the credit crunch, and the cost of television advertising, but now companies and small businesses are seeing the undeniable success video marketing has had through social media and the internet. 

Quite simply, with a relatively small production value video, you can reach millions of viewers worldwide, without paying for a platform, it’s free. Anyone in the world can upload a video to Youtube, and post it on any social network site or paste it into countless emails without paying a penny. The most intelligent aspect is that your customers actually do all the hard work, taking the phrase “word of mouth” to a whole new level, especially with the ease of E-Commerce.

I am also hoping that they begin to promote it on their existing facebook page. Whilst having a little look through I noticed these videos: 

They also have their own section on a fod video blog site, with numerous "how to videos". I had to do some digging to find these, and the owner Annabelle never mentioned them to me, so it woud be interesting to see who made them and how confection perfection got involved, as I would like to do a similar thing on my film. They can be seen at http://www.videojug.com/film/how-to-make-marzipan-candy

Major Project - Finding Actors

Talent

One of my main roles for pre-production, is to source the actors for our piece. I'd had a bit of interest from friends and a few on Star Now, nothing I was really getting excited about, especially because of the hours we are filming and the age needed. 

I have so far contacted:

Star Now

Mandy Ellen Performing Arts

Prima School

University of Kent Drama and Theatre

Valley Park

Invicta

Maidstone Grammar School for Boys and Girls

Rose Bruford College of Performing Arts

Hilton Hall Dance Academy

Initial Interest:

CHRIS RANALDI - 22 Maidstone - theatre

Very interested with extensive theatre experience, but works full time 9-5

SAM QUESTED - 22 Maidstone - Physical Theatre Course Winchester

Very interested with extensive theatre experience, but works full time 9-5, some experience in film. 

The Composer - A film by Dave Cassar from Dave Cassar on Vimeo.

Over the weekend there was quite an influx of applicants, on Star Now. I have short listened these people as potential for auditions, but I will check with Lauren before I confirm:

SAMANTHA RICKARDS - 22 from Southhampton - Model, actor, dancer

I am very interested in this project and wish to be considered for the role of Poppy. I am a confident and versatile actress with a passion for the film industry. I am very reliable and put 100% into everything I do. I always try and put a little of my own personality into each character I play. I also have very good improvisation skills and a good sense of comic timing. My email address is: samantha.rickards@googlemail.com Thank you for your time Regards Samantha Rickards

William Townsend - 19 from Kent - Actor

Hi, my names William Townsend I have experience in filming and acting in theatre and physical theatre. I love the idea of this piece and would like to hear more about it! I am updating the photos on my profile - they are a bit old. I am 19 but feel confident in performing as a 20 year old. I live just outside of Maidstone. Message me or email me on w-townsend@hotmail.co.uk

CONNOR PAGANINI - 18 from Kent - Actor

I would love to play this part in the film. My name is Connor Paganini I am 18 years old and since I was very young I have been interested in acting and performing. I have learnt to take risks with the characters I portray, and to get under the skin of that person. Acting is my life now, there is nothing else I enjoy doing more. I have an identical twin who is also an actor http://www.starnow.co.uk/jamespaganini1

JAMES HEATLIE - 35 - Kent - Model, Actor, Musician

A versatile Actor, Performer and Presenter, equally at ease on both the stage and in front of the camera. Enthusiastic, dedicated and professional in my approach to each project; qualities extended to my work as both a Personal Trainer and Massage Therapist. An equal love of the arts, sports and the outdoors provides me with both balance and pleasure in my work and free time. I also sing and front a rock band with gigs around the south east.

Hello There, The project sounds like it has the potential to be a very beautiful and artistic piece and from your initial description I would like to be involved. I am an actor with excellent movement ability and rhythm. I have no issue with the subject content or requirements for the project as it sounds like they meet the demands of the piece. I am based in Kent within easy reach of Maidstone. Thank you for your consideration. Kind regards, James

Jasmine H - 24 from London 

'm a professional model and actress . I've worked in modelling and acting for few years . Also work as a promotion ,grid and ring girl for some biggest companies I'm an outgoinng individual and have been luckey enough to all over the world with modelling, acting and various TV shows. I'm interested in paid advertising modelling work,acting TV shows, promo ,Film & Music . I am available to worldwide if required. Full CV available on request.

hello I am very interested in this ad ,i have attached my profile hope to hear from you soon regards jazmin-hamm@live.co.uk mobile number:07944188757 https://www.facebook.com/jazminactress.model imdb:jazmine hammoudeh



RICARDO FREITAS - 29 LONDON - Actor

My passion is for Character acting, especially characters that can strike a chord with an audience. I see Movies and television as one of the most sincere forms of self expression, In my work I maintain the motto of “ telling a lie in order to tell the truth ” If an audience member can identify or relate to my character in any way wether it be somber or uplifting, that true moment of emotion is what I aim for in every one of my performances.

I am a passionate and driven actor, always looking for new opportunities to expand my skills and showreel, I was intrigued by your opportunity to work on your project and I look forward to hearing from you. Ricardo Freitas

LAURA SVINKUNAITE - 22 KENT - UNITED KINGDOM

" I think that you should to meet with me and just see what i can do in reality. Thank you."
I think the language barrier may be an issue, but do to lack of female interest, we may audition her

Commision - Week 2

WEEK 2

Tonight I am going to film the second week of the Back To Basics Course.
After the first week, it became clear that I couldn't script the filming as it very much depends on how the tutors and students progress and interact on the night. 


I do however need to keep in mind;

- Plenty of wides and establishing shots of the tutor teaching, in order to help develop the piece
- CU to cut away to, with beautiful pull focuses to show off the cakes.
- Leave the tripod at home, there simply isn't enough room, hand held or fig fig.
- Adjust the white balance according to fluorescent lights, DSLR's generate banding easily and can't always been seen on the LCD screen.

I must also collect consent forms from the students so that the film can be posted on the client's website.

Commission Update

Week 1

Last night was my first day of shooting the Beginners Cake Course, and I loved it!

I used this week to get a rough idea of the set up and who I would be focusing on for the film. Everyone was really nice, and no one seemed phased by the camera. I got some great shoots, though I am slightly worried about the focusing on my camera, as of next week I think I am going to use the Cannon. Soon I will be getting together a script of how I want the finished piece to look. I also need to film the shop and cakes, and may attended their trade fair. I am going to start writing up my report this week, and do it as I go along, as I feel this will save time and stress on the lead up to hand in day. 

My report will be under these headline:

1. Getting comissioned

2. working for a live client

3. The Brief

4. Promotional videos, what are, why are they so popular, benefits/cons, why this is benefitting my career,

5. scripting

6. shooting

7. editing

8. final piece

9. Product feedback, screenings, live on website

10. overall experience, what I learnt, what went well, what went wrong, how will I use this in the future?

Inspiration:

I have never watched so many baking programmes in my life! There are two that are really sticking out for me at the moment, as being truely pieces of art, Little Paris Kitchen, and Lorianne's Easy Baking

There are also some beautiful videos on Vimeo that I am using for inspiration, and I really would like to use the text on screen seen in all of the baking programmes I have been watching lately. They have become very stylish and fashionable. 

beet cake from tiger in a jar on Vimeo.

Major Project - Searching for talent

Weds 12th Sept

So today I'm in our little production office I'm focusing on finding our talent.

We are looking for a strong Male and Female lead, who are comfortable with the subject matter and working together in semi-nude scenes. 

Poppy is a silent drama, and therefore the actors need to give very strong performances through facial expression and movement. It would be desirable if they had some experience in dance.

So far I have contacted Jess Coote, who I have worked well with in the past and Dom Sherwood.

Dom looks like a very good choice, and seemed very confident when he approached Lauren Woodfall at Unsigned Live, to ask to be considered for future work. This is his page on star now:

I have also contacted The Hazlitt Youth Theatre, and put my own advert out on Star Now.  We are hoping to hold auditions the first week of October, so I'll keep this updated. 

Major Project - Scripting

Things have really started to move a long in a week!
Lauren has been working hard on booking locations and commissioning the right artist for the music. She has managed to find a very talented local lad, and he is perfect! I really want to use one of his existing songs for one of our episodes, but I'll let Lauren explain more about that...


I have been focusing on researching the subject, and watching plenty of material to get in the right frame of mind. The Sigur Ros videos have been extremely high on my play list, and I am looking forward to finally getting round to watching The Artist, to understand more about directing actors for silent movies.



If anyone has seen UP, they will know that the Ellie and Carl montage, is the most heartbreaking and sweetest form of true love ever shown in cinema, (over the top? Watch it!). And it's all told through music and images, no dialogue. So I really believe music and images, can move people, far greater than words, that is what I hope to achieve.

 

 I have contact two potential actresses for the main role of Poppy, both have the right look and experience, but nothing is confirmed as of yet. Once I hear from them, I will look to start thinking about auditions. As far as the male role goes, I'm finding it hard to think about who exactly I want to play the role, I know a few male actors, but they are all into theatre production, which really is not the style we want. I'm going to post something on Star now and other websites, but my instinct is to go with someone with less acting experience, for a more raw and real feeling, but it is very important they have the look I want.

I have begun, very roughly scripting the three episodes, by listing the different scenes I am visualising in my head, and the order they should go in. I have begun to think about how the story should flow, and even the pace of editing as the drama builds. I have mapped out episode 1 and 2, I just need to flesh it out a bit more, a discuss some ideas with Lauren, but I am happy with these so far. The third episode, I want to take more time with, as it is going to be intense, and hard to watch, but I don't want it to become laughable, I need to find the right balance, and get some more inspirtation, but I have the ideas in my head.

We have come up with some deadlines of our own, which is great. We hope to have a good sense of our actors and locations by 25th Sept, and all of our paper work, script, booking and confirmations finilised by 5th October.

The way things are going at the moment I feel this is a realistic goal. I'm looking forward to catching up with Lauren tomorrow and discussing more of our ideas, and hopefully watching Requiem for a Dream...... eeeek!
 

Commission - Confection Perfection

Promotional Video

I approached Confection Perfection during the summer, and after I got the go ahead from Simon, I confirmed with Annabelle the creative manager.
The shop makes outstanding cakes for all occasions in a huge professional kitchen at the rear, that has a large window for customers to watch the master baker Rob at work.
Upstairs they have multiple teaching rooms, where they run courses for the absolute beginner, to bakers who want to run their own business from home. The shop stocks everything from sugar icing to wedding cake books, and with a very professional look and finish, the company is well on it's way to becoming a maidstone favorite!
My brief is to make a promotional video for their new look website, that will incorporate the progress of some students on the 6 week beginner cake baking course, as well as beautiful montages of the cakes on offer, the stock available, trade fair and possibly some time lapse in the kitchen.

Cake baking and decorating has been in vogue for a number of years now, and seems to be going no where fast. People just can't seem to get enough of cupcakes and vintage decoration, from home tea parties to watching the great british bake off, me included. I am hoping to use ideas from my two favorite cake programmes, including the style of interviews and graphics:



Today I went to meet Annabelle for the first time, she was incredibly sweet, and is looking forward to working with me on the project. I will be going back there tonight to film the first lesson of the course, but I couldn't resist taking a few pictures of the cakes already on display .....

Major Project - Ideas and Inspiration

.

Poppy

(The title of our film will be used as a metaphor for Heroin and our female lead's name)

It looks like we are well on our way to getting this project off the ground, we have firmly assigned roles and started thinking about webdesign and platforms for our piece.

This project so far has really ignited my passion for art house and world cinema again.  I have revisted two films that had a very powerful effect on me a few years ago, and have taken elements and ideas that I want to incorporate into our piece....

THE CITY OF GOD

I first viewed this film in 2007 as part of my Film Studies A Level, and it has stayed with me ever since. I decided to watch it again the other night, through the eyes of a Broadcast Media student, and it simply blew me away, again.

City of God, 2002, directed by Fernando Meirelles, is a powerful drama, set in the Favellas of Rio, Brazil. The story is based on real events, occurring between the 1960's and 1980's, when gangland crime started a brutal turf war between two drug dealers. 

The film employs a number of visual techniques to help tell the story, with use of colour temperature to show the change in mood and descend into hell, as well as clever use of split screen, to show simultaneous events unfolding. Both elements I would like to use in our film. There are also incredible moments the director has created with use of simple, but extremely effective, lighting and editing, to show powerfully violent scenes. The use of on screen text, also helps the story unfold well, with a a clever narration from "Rocket" as he guides us through the events.

There is a scene half way through, involving two very young children (Please watch the film, I don't want to spoil it), that I find extremely uncomfortable watching. It fascinates me, that something so powerful can be conveyed through film,  and I have often thought this about other pieces of cinema that have stirred strong emotions from me. It's not really a morbid fascination, just one of appreciation, and I would like to develop these skills in my story telling, to create this among the viewers of our piece. I'm not saying that we need to be quite as graphic, but it is these uncomfortable and thought provoking moments in cinema, that really etch a film on to my skin. 

CANDY - quite possibly the most harrowing and desperate film I have ever watched. 

Candy, Australia 2002, the debut film by director Neil Armfield, is an Australian drama, focusing on love and addiction, staring Heath Ledger, Abbie Cornish and Geoffrey Rush.  

Dan and Candy, are utterly addicted to each other and heroin. The two are intertwined and cannot exist without the other. The story follows them on the inevitable crash to earth and cruelly guides them all the way to hell. 

Addiction has always fascinated me. The emotions, pain and helplessness that addicts go through is so raw and extremely powerful, especially on screen. It is very rare, unless you are a close family member of friend, to truly understand the spectrum of addiction, with most people the attitude is "they only have themselves to blame".  However, to really see it, is a very scary thing. 

 To have no control over repeatedly using something, that is destroying your life in every possible way, and to lose everything, but still have the need to use, is one of the most harrowing things a human can go through or watch, no matter the drug ( Heroin, gambling, alcohol, sex, food, self harm etc) . I also feel that when it is displayed on screen, and told truthfully and effectively, it also creates a unique feeling among viewers, one that stays with them far longer than any gory scene. 

This story really isn't one for the faint hearted, and will leave you feeling numb, but in a way inspired.     

I want to use some of the narrative techniques in our piece, especially the use of recurring imagery to reinforce what got them to where they are in the first place. I also like the idea of a soft, poetic narration, which I may script in the later stages.  I thought the use of over head shots were very effective and I know Lauren is keen to try those out too.

I am now planning to watch Requiem for a dream, which I have heard is "scarier than any horror film you will ever see", not sure I will have the stomach for this one, I'm just hoping it has a good story like Candy as well as graphic drug use. 

In the meantime, I'm going to start writing out some more ideas, and play with the structure of our three episodes,  Air, Water and Fire 

Major Project - The Beginning

Major Project.

I have decided to collaborate with Lauren Woodfall, to produce  online drama series, which shows three stages of a relationship fuelled by Heroin:  Air, Water, Fire.
It a silent drama, told through atmospheric music and sound, relying totally on the actors physical performance and chrography to tell our story. We want to experiement with the use of metaphors and juxtopostion, to create tension and deeper levels of meaning.

Working Title : "Poppy"

My roles are:

Pre Production - Script,  Extensive Research of Subject, Casting and Development

Production - Story Content/ Over seeing the shoot, Directing, writing the website content.

Post Production - Visual Editor

My Jobs So Far....

1. To research the use of heroin, its effects, risks and how this has been shown in previous art forms to date. I will be watching these films for inspiration and help with the style we are using. 

Candy

Trainspotting

The Artist

Tyrannosaur

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

Leaving Las Vegas
Russel Brand - Addiction to Recovery
Requiem for a Dream
Irreversible
Enter the Void
Another Day in Paradise
The Acid House

2. Start writing the script, developing more in terms of pictures and actions. I really want to build high emotion, tension and make it uncomfortable for the audience at times. I want to shock them and stir feelings among watches. 

3. Begin looking at talent, actors that are comfortable working together, semi naked and with the subject matter. It is important we can get an exceptional performance from them, with the facial expressions etc, as there is no dialogue. It would be a bonus if they were good with choreography, as we want to tell the story as though it were a dance to some degree. 

Inspiration / Research :