DRAMA Filming - Day One

Filming - Day One

Today was our first day of filming and my job was to build the suit and the control panel as well as helping out later on in the day, and setting up the room to begin with.

 

SKILLS Gindleford Recce

Grindleford Recce

 Here are some of the pictures I took from the recce today in Grindleford;

 

 

 

SKILLS Group Meeting

Group Meeting

Today we had our first meeting as a group to discuss ideas, decide what to do about roles and ensure we were prepared and knew what we were doing for the recce in Grindleford.

We decided not to book out any equipment as I have a dslr for pictures and we mainly just wanted to explore the area and try to plan how the space could work for us.

We discussed the brief and Josh had the idea of the two characters being creative people; for example a writer and a poet who both leave the city and go to Grindleford for inspiration for their work - however as one of them is consumed in the area and their work, the other believes they are being followed by them. We then needed to come up with a pivotal point in the narrative - we called the writer person A and poet person B for the time being so we weren't confused; so A is the one who thinks they are being followed by B, but B is oblivious, and because A is so paranoid they end up following B around instead. We thought B could injure themselves and A see this but doesn't know whether to help as they think this person is stalking them.

For that part of the narrative we wanted to source a place in Grindleford that looked dangerous but we were able to film in realistically, such as a bridge or steep hillside etc.

We planned for our sequence shot to be through the trees with A following B, we would track them and possibly use a dolly.

For colour we thought B could be lit in a different way - possibly red so the audience pick up signals that they should be suspicious of that character and to show that A is worried about them and thinks they are some sort of a threat.

The POV would be mostly from A as they are the one following in the end.

DRAMA Ampitheatre Recce

Ampitheatre Recce

We went to the ampitheatre today above the train station for a recce to plan  out how we would use the location for our next shooting day. The plan is that Louis will visit here and this is where he is brought back to reality after playing in the playgrounds all day after running away he comes here and looks around him at the vast city and realises how small he is and how unrealistic he is being thinking he will go to space and that he needs to stop imagining and he will take off his suit.

DRAMA More Props

More Props

I ordered all the things we would need today from Ebay and Ellie confirmed that she was getting some of her cousin's toys to fill out the room. I also went shopping and bought some educational posters as I had planned to put the around the room and saw a telescope but didn't but it in the end as it wouldn't fit with the narrative.

DRAMA Treatment

Treatment

Working Title - Spaceboy

Spaceboy is an emotion-driven short film following the story of 7 year old Dylan who dreams of going to space.

Dylan is a young dreamer with a big imagination. He spends time in his room looking at the space posters that adorn his walls and playing with the spaceship his mother gave him. Just as boredom appears to set in, a strike of inspiration hits him and he rushes up to grab many arts and crafts supplies, including the bottle tops off the milk cartons (much to his mothers dismay) and a large cardboard box full of paper, card, tinfoil and everything else needed to be creative.

His room becomes cluttered as he excitedly creates his masterpiece, tongue stuck out in excited concentration. It is soon revealed that Dylan is creating a space suit for himself, which he puts on immediately and proudly stands admiring his finished creation.

He runs around the room playing make-believe and looks up out of his skylight at the darkening sky. He leaves the room in a burst of energy, knocking a drawing off his desk of himself and his "daddy the spaceman".

Dylan leaves the house unnoticed and makes his way to the local playground. His imagination runs wild as he spins on the roundabout, reaching the speed of light and climbs to the top of a structure to scout locations. He finishes his space training and heads up to the Sheffield amphitheatre that overlooks the city. As dusk approaches he plays on staring up into the darkening skies. After a while it seems that he has lost his energy as he sits down heavily on a bench. We see him look up towards the sky once more before the scene fades away.

4 days previously

Dylan is sat at the TV attentively watching the cartoon. His mother is at the sink washing dishes. A sudden flash of blue light breaks through the curtains catching Dylan's attention. He jumps up just as a loud knock raps of the door. Before his mother can react Dylan runs up to door and yanks it open to reveal a tall dark figure in a police outfit. He looks so small in comparison as he looks up to meet the policeman's eyes. Dylan's mother quickly tells her son to go upstairs and play. He obliges and looks back to see his mother's concerned face as she speaks to the police officer.

Dylan is sat in his room on his bed as his mother enters. Her face is slightly red and blotchy and it is obvious she has been crying. She walks over and sits beside Dylan softly explaining that Dylan's father isn't coming back home and that he is now 'with the stars' looking down on both of them. As she strokes his head and kisses his forehead, Dylan simply looks up at the stars outside and opens his eyes wide in awe.

The key themes within this short film are excitement, determination and love. We intend to portray this through the use of set design, camera work, sound and editing. There will be a warm colour grade to the shots, creating an uplifting and nostalgic feel. This will be complimented with the soft and space-like soundscape, which will be pleasant to listen to, reflecting the child-like quality to the film.

The character of Dylan will portray a flood of emotions through close up shots of his facial expressions. There will be focused determination as he sticks his tongue out whilst creating his spacesuit. There will be complete excitement as he rushes around the playground preparing for lift off. And there will also be confusion and sadness when he hears that his father won't be returning home again.

The pace of the film will build throughout, from the opening shots of Dylan making his suit, through to the space training simulations. This will be achieved through quick cuts and exciting sounds being played throughout. There will then be a dip in pace as Dylan realises that he will not be able to really go to space and see his father again. This will be shown through long shots, creating realism and allowing time for the viewer to take in the situation. The ending of the film should be both sad and uplifting, as Dylan learns of his father's absence, his naive and innocent mind begins to wonder into the world of imagination.

DRAMA Props

Props

I have posted a lot in the Facebook group recently concerning what props I needed to buy to ensure everyone knew what I was getting and to get other people's opinions on what we needed and how many of certain things I should order.


I knew I wanted to get the glow in the dark stars as they would play a big part in the final scenes when the mum is trying to explain what has happened to Dylan's father and she talks about the stars - it is because she will look up at the glow in the dark ones and then she has the idea from that.

I found a few things on Ebay that we could use but it all depends what route the story will take after the two minute piece - we has talked about Dylan going outside and going to a playground as well as him building a den that acts as a spaceship in his room so that's why I posted everything I found on the group to see what the other members thought would work. I felt like we could make the part when he has built the suit and he is playing in it really surreal as I originally thought all this part was in his head and it was his imagination, and a child's imagination knows no bounds hence why I thought it would be really other worldly. I had pictured that we would completely change all the colours of the sky etc when he is outside so it looked like he was on another planet because it was all in his head. 

I saw an inflatable rocket which I thought could be cute for him to run around and play in;

This was a duvet set and cushion if we needed to get them and if we were going to really emphasise the space theme in the bedroom;

DRAMA Tutorial

Tutorial

We had a short tutorial with Chris today to see how we were getting on with or pre-production and it seems we are ahead of some of the other groups and a lot more organised than we had expected to be. We showed him our storyboards and told him about meeting up with Louis and that all that needed to be done was to find the mum actress - although she wasn't needed until the final shooting day - and to get all the props sorted. Chris told us to thing a lot about lighting and to consider using tinfoil to blackout the skylight as the natural light coming through might pose a problem as the filming day goes on and the light changes. He also talked about making sure we let the excitement BUILD not just for it to be a sudden change as it would be more effective; this is what we intended to do anyway. I told Chris what props I intended to order and Ellie said she would speak to her cousin about using some toys, as well as asking Louis to bring some of his toys as well - this was more practical than for me to buy lots of new toys or look round charity shops.

We also had a response to the StarNow advert and think this actress would be perfect for the role;

DRAMA Meeting Louis

Meeting Louis

Today we had a meeting at Ellie, Beth and Kirean's house to look at the room we would be using and to meet Dylan. Before him and his mum got there, we had a short meeting to discuss what we needed to tell him and what his mum needed to know and then to organise our first shooting day; as well as going upstairs to look at Ellie's room which helped me plan out what I hoped the room would look like. I tried to visualise how the room would look without all Ellie's things in and with boys toys and posters in it. Seeing the size and shape of the room helped. When Louis and his mum arrived we all introduced ourselves and what our role in the film would be and then gave them both a copy of the script to read through and answered any questions they had about either the story or the actual filming days. Louis' mum was confused about how the story worked and Louis explained it himself before we got chance so he clearly understood the film and was excited about working with us as we were with him - he seemed bubbly and not shy and said he loved acting.

DRAMA Storyboards & Locations

Storyboards & Locations

Here are some examples of storyboards and shot lists as well as some set design and costume ideas; 

DRAMA Update - Actors

Update - Actors

Ellie posted in the Facebook group today that her cousin got back to her and that his friend - Louis would be willing to play the part and that he is very interested in drama and loves acting. She is in the process of arranging a meeting with Louis' mum so we can meet him see whether he is right for the part.

DRAMA Group Meeting - Actors

Group Meeting - Actors

Today we had a meeting about looking for a child actor to play Dylan and a female actress to play his mum. We thought of different ways to find actors and focused on Dylan's actor as we thought it would be harder to find a child. We started by getting a StarNow account and looking though boy actors around the Yorkshire area. We found that you have to pay for credits to talk to people and so decided to put up an advert and include that we were looking for a female too. We found this difficult as there were so many options and specifics and then at the end of it we found we had to have someone with a CRB check and that the advert would be reviewed as it was for a child under 16.

Our next idea was to look for drama schools around Sheffield. We found three and rang them but all went straight to an automated voice mail as the only phone number provided was to do with having your child join the school. We tried a few times for each one but didn't get anywhere, and Ellie said she would email them later on. We discussed any family members or friends that we could ask to play the part and Ellie said she would ask her cousin if any of his friends acted.

DRAMA Props

Props

I have been researching some different ideas for props over the past couple of days and doing some research into films that could influence me. We discussed how we intend the room to look (we are going to use Ellie's room as it is on the top floor and has a sky light) and that we need to make a university house look like a family home, and to make a teenage girls bedroom look like a young boys. We want the the room to have some suggestions that Dylan likes space in his room, but not that he is obsessed with it - he likes other things such as football, dragons and drawing. Beth found some old national geographic magazines that she ripped pages out of that we can stick up on the walls that have pictures of planets and the solar system. 

I suggested that we get some glow in the dark stars that you can stick on the ceiling - this is something that a lot of children have in their rooms whether they are into space or not and would be great to use them in some way in some of the shots. We also talked about other posters to fill the walls because obviously we can't change the colour scheme in the room, and so I intend to get other posters such as times tables and other educational posters that a parent has put up in a room. We need a lot of toys just to fill the space and so Ellie  is going to ask her cousin for some and I want to look in charity shops for some things to put around. We are considering getting a new duvet cover too unless we can borrow somebody's. 

The other thing I need to get materials for is to build the 'spacesuit' so I want to get tinfoil and I have a cardboard box to use, and then we are going to collect different types of bottle tops to stick on, and we need glue and other craft supplies. We also need to do some drawings that a child might have done to stick around the room.

One last thing is a large sheet and a torch as we could include a den, I think it would look visually pleasing along with the glow in the dark stars contrasted with the shadows the torch would create.