Bibliography

Research

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Evaluation

Cinematography

Shot angles and types

The cinematography in Cold Turkey is one of it’s best features. The use of multiple angles for each of the actions of its scenes helps demonstrate how the character are feeling. Because of the style of film the great use of close ups and extreme close ups on objects is a huge reason why this style of film works, especially for the montage in a style like Requiem For A Dream or an Edgar Wright film. For every shot in the montages it required a different angle constantly and it is done effectively, with the film having only a few peculiar angles. With the Alicia scene (0.00) there is a good use of high angles and low angles helps show the vulnerability and isolation of Matthew. This is something that is used in the rest of the film, as Matt comes off the drugs the camera uses more and more low angles. This can help show the change in mentality and show he’s getting stronger and becoming less in pain and a reduction in the negative affects of the drugs. The scene where Benji and Matt talk (4:00) only really consists of two shots in the conversation, both medium  close ups, there are room for a few close ups, especially to help show the emotion from Matt, an example could have been a close up of Matt when Benji places the drugs onto the table (4:13). This sort of thing would be very useful in getting the audience to further understand the character and his emotions. Few shots in the film are close ups of Matt’s face, this can distance the audience from character and makes it harder for them to read the acting of the character and their facial movements. The shots are all static shots with no movement, this could be boring for an audience, the use of a handheld camera, for example, could help show the mentality of the character as it could signify a lack of stability whereas the static shots could have the opposite effect. The shot of Matt eating the sandwich (1:17) from a wide shot does seem quite strange as it seems the sort of shot that doesn’t exactly fit with the rest of the film. This shot could completely take the audience away from the film if they noticed it. Overall I think the camera angles were one great part of this film, the choices and positions of them were excellent and apart from one or two shots it had a high quality look to it and many of the shots helped put across a meaning to the audience. 

Shot Quality

The majority of the shots are of a very high quality, no large exposure or focus issues, which is a large benefit to this film. With what is happening in each shot clearly shown with very little, if any noise. There is one shot that has some clear white balance issues (1:43), it’s so obvious because the whole scene is in one spot of a room and quite a lot of the walls are white, so it’s clear that majority are correctly white balanced but one. The skin tone of Matthew seems far more red than the previous shot and the whole shot appears more orange, especially with the previous shot being a medium close up it makes it even more obvious. The shots in the bedroom with Alicia’s things (0:35) is a scene where some of the shots appear slightly unexposed, like the wide shot at the end, although it does work, continuity wise, it still seems overly dark which could be because of a mistake by the camera operator. However despite this it does work with the scene and helps add to the bleakness of the story and scene. The drinking scene (1:31), apart from the one white balance shot that is perfectly exposed and white balanced, and as I’ve said that because of the white wall it accentuates this and shows that it has been done perfectly because if not it would become very obvious. Despite the one shot I don’t believe there is any other major issue with either the exposure or white balance which demonstrates the quality of the skill of the cinematographer, the only way I think the small issues could be improved is by spending longer each shot and reviewing it instantly to make sure each and everyone is perfect. This film has, overall though, got over the hurdle quite a lot of short films succumb to which is having a few noisy, poorly exposed or incorrect white balanced shots, and so I would say this film can’t be overly criticised for the standard of the shots.

Composition

The composition is very good with the main character being in the middle for the majority of the shots and in one of the correct thirds for the dialogue scenes. The object that is being interacted with is always in a good position in shot and clearly visible for an audience. The shot of the writing of the list (1:01) is perfectly composed in my opinion, the writing covers the whole shot and is clear for the audience to read, none of the writing goes out of shot which makes it look like a very good shot for me. The rack focus (4:40) from Matt to the drugs could be composed better, I believe, as Matt is slightly behind the drugs, whereas if Matt was slightly more to the left, in the left side third, I think the shot would look slightly better. This has been done in the shot where the phone rings (2:11), Matt is sat to one side in the right third and the phone in the left third, they don’t overlap in the shot which I think looks better. Saying that however, The more middle position of the drugs in the shot helps show their significance, especially once met has got up and left the shot. But mostly the composure looks of a high quality and looks realistic for the audience and so isn’t a big or noticeable issue in this film.

Lighting

Lighting is an something in the film that isn’t really used overly creatively, this is because it is mainly lit by natural lighting through the windows. Because the film doesn’t really use overly stylised cinematography it means that this works well. There are a few dark scenes, the garage scene (5:17) and bedroom scene (0:36), which needed lighting to film, this is done however, again not in a stylised way but instead in a way that looks natural, it is expertly done and there isn’t an obvious light in any of the shots. It is also used in such a way that the shots link well as none are brighter than the other in any other of the shots in the scenes, this makes it look much better and believable, as does all continuity. The lack of lighting may make Cold Turkeys lighting inferior to that of other films which use lighting in a more meaningful way. Some of the shots as well look slightly flat, especially the conversation scene (4:00), this is because the wall behind the characters is a very similar colour to the actors, this probably would’ve looked better if the actors were lit without solely natural light. Because of the style of film the lighting style does work with it being majority sunlight although I feel the use of some lights in scenes could be helpful at creating more depth in the shots and potentially creating more meaning without taking away from the natural look. The lighting in my opinion is one part I think could be improved and although there are parts that are well lit and do help create an aesthetic for the scenes I do believe it is a weaker part of the cinematography for this film.

Colour Grading

The colour was a more stylised part of the films cinematography, it had a low saturation and composure which did help show the tone of the film to the audience. It is especially good, I think, in the opening scene where the colouring is subtle and looks good for the audience. One important part of the colouring is to make sure the shots link in a scene and in this first scene it does this perfectly (0:00). If the film replicated this quality throughout I think it would really increase the overall quality and look of the film. However there are some scenes which do have some colouring issues, I would say the scene where the phone rings (2:03) is one that could have been colour graded better, in the medium close up (2:19) of his reaction the colouring seems overly obvious and doesn’t perfectly link with the previous shot and to me makes it clear that they had been filmed at separate times. I think the best part of the films colour grading is the ability that each of the scenes manage to keep a similar colour grade to them between each of the shots, keeping the continuity consistent. However some of the scenes do have the problem that the colour grade seems overly exaggerated and stylised, taking away from the believability of the scenes. This is a problem as I think it is very obvious for the audience and may have an affect on their judgement of the overall film. But lots of the scenes are well graded and not over done so, but I would still say it is one of the worst aspects of the film as it is important for the narrative and helping to resonate emotion from the audience but hasn’t been done perfectly, which does have a large impact on the overall quality of the film.

Overall the cinematography is good, especially what was done on set, the shots were great and fit together well, keeping consistent with the style of the film. So for me everything done using the camera was close to perfect. The main issue with the cinematography is what has been done in post production, the colouring, where there are the most stand out issues of any other aspects of cinematography. But overall I would say the cinematography is very good, but with a lot of room for improvement for the colouring and some more creativity with the lighting.

Sound Design

Dialogue

The technical aspects of the dialogue are far from perfect, some are covered up well by the use of background noise but the biggest issue is the lack of consistency in the sound and the volume levels. Because, the microphone changed distances between shots and angles each audio clip for the dialogue consists of a varying amount of disturbance and white noise. I think very noticeable where it happens, fortunately the majority has few scenes with conversation in it but when there is, there are the mistakes. The biggest scene with it is the conversation between Benji and Matt (4:00) where there voices sound very different, Benjis has more bass whereas Matts seems to have to much more treble in his voice and it isn’t because of the actors voice. There are some sections where it doesn’t sound so obvious in the conversation, the biggest I would say is when Benji gets up to leave and says “you shouldn’t waste your time…” (4:33), his voice here sounds completely different to the shot before, in this shot he sounds much closer to the microphone and I believe the audience will be able to detect this difference. The scene with benji is talking outside (3:40) is another one where the voice quality alters greatly, Matts voice sounds much more isolated rather than Benji’s where the sound of traffic is much clearer (4:33), this will because the microphone was further away from the Benji and pointing outside. This sort of issue is one that demonstrates the importance of the microphones positioning and why it needs to be set up well. The dialogue sound quality would need work on in the future if I were to make a film again, I would need to research more into it and work out what would make the sound quality the best it can be. The ability to isolate sounds would also be important as if I only want the voice of a character I need to  be able to work out how to do this and eliminate more backround noise.

Sound effects

The sound effects in this mostly appear to be synchronised with any actions in the scene. This does make the film appear more realistic. Although there are a few issues, for example when Matt is cleaning the table (2:51) the sound doesn’t appear to fully be how it would sound as there are sections where it sounds like he’s wiping hard but isn’t in the video. These aren’t the most notable issues in a film but can make a large difference to someone’s judgement and believability of the film if they do spot it. I don’t feel there is much creativity with the sound effects, and the large majority are only from what was recorded on set. When Matt is wiping the mirror (2:48) there could be more of a typical wiping sound as apposed to the the quiet knocking of the mirror against the wall as Matt pushes against it. I feel this would make the sound in general much more vibrant and interesting. The primary use of the sounds in the actual shot and what was on set does make it feel more real and not cartoonish which could happen if the sound took more of a risk and make the sound effects more prevalent for the audience, so that is one effective aspect of the choice of the type of sound effects that were to be used.  The sound levels often go up and down, the cooking (1:11) and water (1:30) scenes are quite loud, louder than most of the other scenes, this makes the volume seem inconsistent throughout the film, this could be seen negatively. However because of the style of montage this does help the smash cut style of editing and helps show a comparison from one shot to the next. I feel there could be more sounds where there aren’t any for some of the actions, for example when he bites into the sandwich (1:16), that sound could be more pronounced whereas now it doesn’t seem to fit with the rest of that montage which uses much louder sounds. One of the most effective uses of the sound effects is the knocking on the door (3:23), and to where we, the audience, hear it as if we were in Matts place (3:26). This is the sort of use of sound effect I think really works in terms of showing the audience what is going on through the use of sound, it also shows some creativity in the change of sound of the knock. Overall the sound effects do have some technical faults but I feel they serve there purpose and stay true true to the genre and tone of the story, so I think it one of the good aspects of the sound editing in this film.

Background

There is background sound in all of the scenes here, my issue with it is that it changes volume for every scene, for example the scene where Matt is putting Alicia’s stuff into the boxes (0:37) the sound of the clock and room is much more obvious than in the scene where he is drinking (1:31). I think that scene with the sound of the clocks works well because of that background sound, if this sort of thing had been used in all the shots I think it would have made the scenes more interesting and realistic for the audience as few rooms are ever silent. The scene with the drinking does use room tones so it isn’t silent but a better soundscape is something that I think is vital to further the quality of the background sound of the scene. This could have been the sound of a car going past or something that helps add layers to the sound of the scene, with the audio. In the Benji conversation scene there is a loud sound of a siren (3:56), this effect is useful as it has filled a gap in the conversation and has helped show what sort of neighbourhood the house is, as police are normally associated with more deprived areas, and these are areas which often have a high rate of drug abuse. This is the only scene though that makes the most of using this sort of background noise to help describe the location, as I’ve said more of this would engage the audience and help them imagine where Matt is. Some of the scenes have a bit of disturbance from the microphone, this is very obvious and causes a lot of damage to the quality of the overall sound of the shot. This definitely is evident in the writing scenes (1:01) where the pen is pretty much the only sound apart from quite a few microphone issues where it sounds like the mic has been hit or bumped. In that same scene there is a sound of a dish or plate in the background (2:30) of the shot and seeing as he is supposed to be alone in the house this doesn’t make sense. It was too quiet to hear on set but it can be heard in the film. These sort of mistakes do harm a film’s quality as it can disprove the story just like it does there. The background scenes I believe are good, quality wise, but overall I think it is quite basic and I don’t think there is enough of it,so there really isn’t much depth in a lot of these scenes.

Music

There isn’t much music in this, apart from the one scene. I think this is suitable, especially for the style of film, with it trying to present a persons life to the audience in a realistic way and trying to have more of an observational feel to it rather than an overly symbolic film, the lack of music over most of the scenes helps this as the audience instead can hear everything in the scenes, the action, walking and atmospheric sounds. This makes it appear far more like the audience is watching this characters life rather than being involved and connected with him. However when the music does come on at the end (4:38) this does rather get rid of this feeling for the audience and perhaps doesn’t seem consistent with the rest of the film. The music in the film does help, I think, demonstrate the emotions of Matt to the audience and may further create an emotional response from them. There is room for more of this in the film, music is a powerful tool in movies that can not only create mood/emotion but make scenes more memorable and even change the entire meaning of the scene. If this film did use some music in some of the other scenes it could achieve this emotional response from the audience and help add more meaning to the scenes. The choice of music is very good, it fits well with the tone of the film and the use of the piano makes the music seem more emotional and subtle. The use of the key change when he picks up the drugs (4:55) definitely emphasises the impact of it, before that point the music sounds much happier and optimistic but after the key change the tune sounds very different and the more minor tones create a much sense as if there is something wrong, hence sadness or restlessness. That was been used perfectly here and could have a powerful affect. The music does have quite a low tempo which can help create a negative feeling, but each measure is filled with notes which also makes it feel quite fast and allows the montage of the consumption of the drugs cut on beat. The use of the music in this film is probably the best use of sound in this film. The track choice and timing of it fit perfectly with the tone of the film and although music is only used once in the film, that one is used well and is very effective in furthering the message and narrative on to the audience.

Editing

Pacing

The pacing is very obvious in this film due to the extremely high tempo in which it is cut together. This montage style is very useful in helping to put across a lot of information to the audience in a quick time. This was useful as the scene could show an action being taken in less than 5 seconds, the cooking scene (1:10) for instance does this very well. This scene shows a whole sandwich being made in 3 seconds, and seeing as the film is overly long for the project this editing style is necessary so that the whole story can be told to the audience in the brief length of the film. The pacing is somewhat inconsistent however, the difference in pacing between is noticeable. I feel it would have worked better if all the shots for the list were in the same montage style, they are the same style for the eating and drinking scene but the other 2 are different. The ignoring the phone scene isn’t really a montage at all and instead uses quite a long take with the rack focus (2:12). This completely slows down the pacing of the film, especially when the next scene is another montage (2:47). The non montage scenes seems, to me, to use a more standard editing tempo with each shot lasting around 5 seconds, which is pretty average. I cant say that the pacing of the edit is used overly to put across an emotion or feeling but it is a good use of setting the rhythm of the film. The shots of when he eats (1:18) and drinks (1:36) are much longer shots, I think these do show time passing slowly for him, which could show his boredom and demonstrate one struggle of coming off drugs. The best use of shot length in my opinion is where Matt is staring at the drugs and eventually picks them up (4:39), this shot lingers on the drugs after he gets up which creates tension for the audience as they hope he doesn’t pick them up, but if he did leave them the shot would most likely cut away after he got up but it doesn’t instead it keeps rolling until after he’s picked them up. So this shot is effective in creating emotion for the audience. I would say these shot lengths are useful to the narrative but I think few others do to this effect. This film doesn’t fully utilise the affect that adjusting pacing of the scenes can do, although it does use a variety of shot lengths which does keep the scenes interesting I think it could be better if some more emotion was created by the editing as I feel cutting for rhythm and advancing the story are used very well and it would just benefit from a bit more emotion.

Shot Choice

The shot choices in this film are one part where I think it has been over done. From the beginning scene where Alicia is ranting (0:00), this consists of 5 angles of the scene, this is good for the demonstrating the rhythm and emotion of the scene but the shot types are slightly random and some don’t really serve much of a purpose. The choice of low angle can be useful and then cutting to a high angle after would be better to help show a comparison but is didn’t do that and I feel it missed a potential trick there. In that same scene though I think it has a good shot in it, his close up once Alicia has left (0:30), this is a great choice for the edit as it clearly shows the audience his reaction to the situation that is occurring. This, large amount of angles and shot types, is something I think happens throughout the film, where shots are there but don’t add anything to the story or film, like when it uses two angles to record Matt drinking his water (1:33), this probably didn’t require multiple angles and just the one would have sufficed. With the dialogue seen between Benji and Matt the edit is simple, mostly just being shot, reverse shot (4:00), this is typical for drama films which is a benefit however I feel the repetition of this is something that could be boring and if the edit included more of a variety of angles and shot types it may keep the audience more engaged.  The choices of shots in the montages are one of the best parts of the edit, often being being close ups which I think is important as it remains constant throughout. Overall I think the shot choices for the majority are very good and I think mostly serve a purpose well, the ability the film has to keep the shot of a similar style throughout is one of the big merits of this edit.

Continuity

I would say because I kept an eye out for it on set, the continuity is very good I think in this film. Because the amount of jump cuts and montages there is some room for changes in continuity, for example the costume or character positioning. So for those reasons I’d say that the majority of scenes have excellent continuity. It’s the scenes that don’t use jump cuts that have the issues, the big one being the Alicia rant scene (0:00), there are quite a lot, Alicia’s hand position changes between a few shots and Alicia’s general place of where she is stood alters between shots (0:12). It is slightly smoothed out but it is something that is still visible for an audience. If this scene had been blocked correctly and when Alicia said things it was always at the same position in the scene, it would have been far easier to get the continuity between the angles correct. I’d say that is the scene that suffers most with continuity issues but there are other small issues like the bag of drugs being placed flat (4:14) then standing up in the next shot they’re in (4:39), another example would be the hair change during the scene where Benji arrives (3:17). These are only small mistakes tho that only a really observant audience member would notice and even then I wouldn’t say they aren’t mistakes that overly affect the quality of the film. There are shots with good continuity, the shot change from when Benji enters the house and then goes into the lounge (3:55) and I would say the drinking scene as a whole doesn’t have any continuity issues with it. So I would say that the continuity isn’t an issue at all in this film, only similar issues that may also appear in a professional film.

Scene to scene

The links between scenes are mostly done by the use of the list, think this structures well as it keeps cutting back to it. This separates out each scene clearly and makes it easy for the audience to follow. The scenes are mostly all separated out by the use of these breaks, for the first two scenes it uses the title to cut between the two scenes, the only two scenes to use a jump cut to separate them out are the cut between the emptying of Alicia’s drawer and the list writing scene (0:55), which I think is a smooth transition and works well as the audience still understand the time line of the story. The other scene where there is just a cut to change the scene is between the final two scenes where Matt leaves his house and goes to take the drugs (5:06). I feel this also works well for the audience as it still helps show the time difference and that he has changed location. The only issue I see is that Matt exits from the same side he enters, this would have worked and looked better is it had been more continuous if he had continued walking in the same direction as he left his house. This was something I hadn’t thought of on set and should have as these minor errors can have a large impact on the film but fortunately it shouldn’t confuse the audience here.

Direction

Performances

The other two characters that I directed were directed poorly. For Alicia, Kammie, I didn’t box her as she ranted in the opening scene. This would have made it look much better as continuity would have been improved and there would have been an easier edit. The acting of Kammie was quite good, this may have been because we used her body and voice, and only included her face in one shot and just relied on her voice acting. This did work very as her voice did sound very well acted. Benji, Cameron didn’t act so well, this was because he had a much harder job as the camera was constantly on on his face so he had to get the lines, acting and any movement perfect. He did’t do this well, I think was because I had given him too much information of what do and he got confused. This may make him overly think and do the wrong thing at the wrong time or just forget to do something. To improve this I would need to know more bout how to communicate with actors and describe what I want from them.

Directing Crew

When directing the crew I had to use a different method to the conventional one as I was acting as the main character. So to get the shots correct I would use Cameron as a double of me, position him in shot as I want me to be, and we’d then position the camera how I want it, I would then go into the shot as the actor and asked the cinematographer whether it was how I wanted and whether they thought it was nicely composed. For some shots where I didn’t have a double I would show Kammie my storyboard and allow her to get the shot the closest she could, I would then ask to see the shot on the screen, and as the camera was a canon 60D the screen was moveable so I could see it with the camera staying in the same place. For the sound we didn’t have this level of organisation as we lacked crew so for when there was one person for both camera and audio we’d set up the camera and then make sure the levels were correct for audio and press record on both. For the audio technician I would often leave them to set it up and record without my intervention, which is a risk and has clearly had some negative impacts as their are some clear sound issues. The reason I had to leave him was I was always busy trying to set up the camera or act. I now know I would need to spend time making sure that is perfect to make it better overall.

Concept coming across

My original idea for the film was to try and give a better representation of drug addicts to the audience than other media has. I also wanted to make him appear more of a victim rather than a criminal which is how many are treated currently. I feel with the use of the scene of Benji I have accomplished this. I showed him as uncomfortable around him and unhappy that he is there, I also tried to show him trying to resist the pull of the drugs and how it he does genuinely try to resist. This was done well with the use of  the rack focus of the drugs (4:40), where it exaggerates the resistance he’s putting up. This really helps improve his look of innocence and makes him more understandable for the audience. So I think this is was a success as it did work and it does put across the same concept there as it originally. There were some concept issues, like I wanted to make it more real however I did have him in a nice, large house which isn’t following the concept of having the main character in poverty.

 

Did things run on time and planning

The planning is something the film could have more of, the storyboards did prove useful and I was glad I did so many of them and included all the information it did, which was probably more than a storyboard should contain. The lack of an AV script has made the editing of the sound harder as I hadn’t planned the sound so had to create it from scratch. Planning as a whole would have made my production much quicker and made it easier for me to edit. I made a schedule for my film which I tried to stick to, however there were a few days where the crew would be unavailable so I would have to change when I would film but I would try and do it as close as I could to the original date to film so I could stay on track. This did really help and I feel I would stay close to the schedule for the first few weeks however I did get forced behind by having to reshoot scenes. I think re shooting was inevitable but I probably should have included more time dedicated to reshooting.

 

Production Values

Props

The props in this film are important as pretty much all the scenes have him using or doing something. However as most are realistic things that normal people would do it isn’t very difficult to obtain and use. The cooking scene uses everything a normal person would use so it looks realistic and exactly how it would be in real life. The water scene is one where the glass has a bit more meaning, with the use of a pint glass, a relatively large sized glass, this would suggest to the audience that he is trying to drink a very large amount, this is what the scene is trying to say so the use of the glass is important, if the glass had been of a smaller size it wouldn’t of had the same effect of helped show the characters intentions as well. The items Matt picked up from Alicia (0:38) don’t really help show much of the character of Alicia apart from her being a pretty average stereo typical girl. This is the same for the watch (0:48), I don’t see much of it’s use that demonstrates the character and who they are. This could be something that could be improved, for example have an item that helps describe the character and let the audience understand her more. The drugs appear somewhat real (4:14) and I believe an audience would be able to identify them as such. They could be more real looking, a lighter powder with a more unique texture, but I feel it is good enough to get away with and most importantly they do represent the drugs well. The drug equipment (5:25) is definitely realistic, the syringes are real and the needle helps add the effect to the audience that they aren’t just props and massively increase the realism. Similarly with the fact the syringe clearly has a liquid in (5:29), similar to that of the colour of heroin. These are important a if the audience noticed it I feel it would take away from the seriousness of the scene if they remembered it was fake. The spoon and matches are equipment that wouldn’t be the first thing someone would think of if to do with the consumption of heroin but there inclusion does, again, increase the realism that they are real drugs. Overall in this film I would say the props are used very well to make it look real and serious but I do think some more could be used to help show the audience more information about the characters.

Location

The location does seem slightly unbelievable to me and doesn’t. This is supposed to be the film following the life of a young heroin addict, and he is clearly in quite a large, nice house and not shown to be in a poor area. I think if the house had looked cheaper, lower quality in a less affluent area, it would make the story seem more plausible as very few young people would own a house like that and even less who had a serious drug addiction. This is a large negative for me and completely shapes the film into one following a rich young person who doesn’t have that bad of a problem with the drugs. But the whole purpose of the film was to show a realistic representation of the lives of addicts and originally that was going to be a poorer character.

Costumes

The costumes change between a black Adidas top, a red Adidas top and a dressing gown, for the main character. The Adidas tops are a style that could be associated with that of a poorer population which is ideal for the character, they are also common within younger people. This is exactly the style perfectly fitted for the character and does appear real. The red top however is very bright and because the rest of the tone and colouring is bleaker and not vibrant, this has meant the red top stands out a lot and means I have had  to alter this in post production. I picked this red top out of a mistake as between shooting days I changed from the black to the red, thinking we had used the red previously. The black version of the top fits with the colour scheme much better than the red and helps make the scene appear much more depressing. The dressing gown has an effect of showing that the character is struggling with the effects physically and is trying to be comfortable. The costume of Benji is an important part of the character as he is wearing a tracksuit, which is something that is often shown in the media as being worn by more impoverished people and can help demonstrate the sort of character he is, which is a dodgy drug dealer. I do think this was used but could have been done further more to exaggerate the character and his role in the film. The character of Alicia wears normal clothing with the jeans as well, this very much increases how the character is shown as a normal person, neither shown as rich or poor or eccentric in any way. This is perfect for the characters description and background as it is supposed to be similar to that of a normal person. So despite the red top which fails due to it’s bright colour I would say the costumes are useful in helping the audience understand the characters and what sort of people they are.

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Presentation

I have posted the film on Vimeo as i feel this is a great network to share the film and to have it reach the type of audience I am going for. Because Vimeo limits the kind of videos that can be uploaded, and because Vimeo is seen as a more prestigious site than YouTube, it attracts a different sort of audience. So even though YouTube has more reach than Vimeo, each of your Vimeo viewers is more likely to engage more deeply with your content. Vimeo viewers are more receptive to slower and more thoughtful content. The expectations are different. Commenters tend to be more constructive, mature, and insightful. You can replace a video without losing stats, which would be help if I need to change a part or improve it.

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This is how I have uploaded it. I have used the tags “Student film, Short film, Film, Drama, British Film, Social realism, Drug Addiction, Addiction” these are tags which I think do summarise the film well and also are tags many people would search for, especially “Short film” and “Drama”. I have added a small synopsis as I think it one that would attract an audience if they read it, also because it’s short I think it could also make it quicker and easier for the audience to understand my story. I added that it is mature and why because this may help attract an older audience and also I don’t want the film to get into any trouble for not disclosing that information. I selected that anyone can watch it as I am trying to raise this films exposure as high as possible.

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These are 4 random descriptions from other short films, 3 out of 4 are short and quick, so that is why I will be going for the short style of a description rather than a large, long, detailed description.

I did change the thumbnail to one that may be more appealing to a potential audience.

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I think this shot is one of my best lit and coloured shots in the film, so this would further make an audience want to watch it if they believe that the quality of the film is very high.

 

 

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Unlike with Vimeo I could only choose between 3 thumbnails, so I had to choose the best. I chose the one that best demonstrated the film and it’s tone. Whereas the other two showed Benji in quite bright lighting which I don’t think correctly demonstrates the film. So i chose the darker image with the main character in it. This is one of the negatives of Youtube in comparison to Vimeo. Hosting and embedding on YouTube practically guarantee the highest amount of views. YouTube has the best sharing rate and best embedding rate (probably because people are already familiar to the user experience). Additionally: YouTube auto populates embeds links in twitter, Facebook, gmail, and heaps of other social sites.

I have set up a profile for my film on Film Freeway, this was because it has lot’s of connections with film festivals and makes it quick for me to send it too them. The variety of film festivals is something that has also attracted me to it as my film is a short, student, no budget film so there will be some festivals mine wont be able to enter and Film Freeway will help me find the ones my film i appropriate for. Total number of YouTube monthly viewers worldwide 149 million and a total number of YouTube daily viewers worldwide, 63 million. And more than one billion hours of videos watched daily. 300 Hours of Video Uploaded to YouTube per minute. So these are the reason I decided to upload my film to Youtube as there are a massive amount of users, using it everyday so hopefully I will gain quite a lot of views from it.

I chose these tags as I feel they are most relevant to my film and are also popular enough to attract other potential viewers. These are relevant to my film so if someone was looking up the tags they would find my film and potentially find my film more appealing if it’s similar to what they were looking for. I added tags for the genre, the topic in the film and the location as I think this will maximise this films reach.

My films Profile:

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This has helped me work out my film and what sort of film it is and what sort of genre it is. It will also help the people who run the film festivals work out the film and whether it is what they want. The brief synopsis of my film was something I tried to make short so they will know quickly what my film is about and whether they’re interested.

 

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The first film festival I will be sending my film to is to First Time Filmmaker Sessions. The Lift-Off Sessions is a monthly online showcase, dedicated to screening the monthly collection of globally submitted indie shorts and features. With the aim to send each programme out to as wide of an audience as possible. The reason this festival is so different from many others is due to our data on declining audience figures for indie film. We decided to extend our resources to cater for an all-encompassing and welcoming platform where everyone can see the type of work and varying elements from as many projects as possible. This festival is for amateur filmmakers who haven’t much experience with any other major project, I believe my film falls under this category as I, and the rest of my production crew haven’t made a film of this magnitude before. All submissions are screened online, via Vimeo, which my film is posted on, and the public then vote for their favourite. They then go to semi finals and finals with the winner getting perks and benefits that could help their career, for example a free Career Road-Mapping session with the Lift-Off Co-Founders, via Skype and an official selection for a live screening at Los Angeles Lift-Off Film Festival. These are good for a new film maker like me as they would be useful to get my name out there and help me gain more exposure to the film industry, which I think would be a great reward. This film festival is free which is a benefit and something that further attracts me to it.

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This film festival is one that is very open to people, for students and under 20 minutes and they’re the only rules. It asked for a bit more information, which I filled out and sent off. There isn’t much reward, however it I feel it is still a great way to put this film out there to reach many people, and with this one the majority of the audience will be other student film makers.

“Films must be:

Made by students studying at a UK institution
Max: 20 minutes.
File sizes should be kept under 5GB.

Aside from that – anything goes!”

So this is another film festival that doesn’t have many rules and requirements. So it makes it easy for me to me to be able to send it to them and fit into one of their individual categories and genres.

 

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Short films, many student entrees which is ideal for my film. Anyone around the world can enter and it’s free. Again, not really massive prizes but I am not really expecting much from a short student film, and that isn’t the point for me when sending this film to these film festivals. The rules are The films must have been made after January 1, 2016, all genres are accepted, 20 minutes maximum. Which my film fits under for all those rules. It states the films are sent in MOV – H264. Some additional elements will be asked. Which is something I am able to do. So overall these rules fit perfectly for my film and so my film is suitable for this festival.

 

 

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I sent this to multiple film dedicated Facebook groups, for example Filmmakers Forum, Short films and South Yorkshire Filmmakers. These were groups where I’d already advertised my film so potentially already knew of it’s production. These groups have many active members so should encourage some to visit and watch my film. I have asked for feedback to further encourage contribution from others

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Research Portfolio

Films for inspiration:

Other directors have shot scenes or shots similar to mine. This will be useful information as it will provide me with ideas and other influences into how I am going to film my own shots. I can imitate it if I feel that is the most visually pleasing and a more easily completed shot.  I can alter it if I think of an easier way to film it or make it more appropriate for my film.

To do this I will need to watch some films which have a similar topic to mine, this will help provide me with shots for similar events.  For example I need to explore how to film an individual taking heroin. If I can research how other films have achieved this, and if it is practically possible for me to produce, I would be able to replicate it in my own film.

Flight (2012):

  • 15 minutes- Heroin injection scene

This form of illustrating the character injecting the drugs is similar to other examples, however this one demonstrates a medium shot before her reaction as a post to a close up of the needle. This could be a better way for me as, due to the cameras distance from the needle. This means I wouldn’t have to get an overly realistic needle prop and work out how to simulate injecting heroin. This, again, cuts to a reaction shot of her after injecting herself. It is a similar shot to Skins, she is slightly looking up and is clearly feeling good.  My interpretation is how people react to the drug and translates into how I could direct my actor accordingly.

  • 1:44 hours- leaves alcohol on fridge but comes back for it

“Suspense in film is based around the anticipation of an upcoming event, and how the story unfolds in the attempt to get there. As you decide where to place your reveal, allow your cuts to build without becoming too hasty” Davis (2015).  He also discusses that if you are in the process of revealing an important plot element, allow the shot to linger before cutting away. This is exactly what is done in this scene.  Normally if the character was going to place the bottle on the fridge and leave it, would have cut away from the bottle after he put it down.  But, without the cut, it implies there’s still more information to be taken from the shot and does effectively create some tension with the audience as the viewers are waiting for the cut.

When he then grabs the bottle after a few seconds it then demonstrates that there was still more to happen in shot. This is something I had the idea of using in my own film, when Matthew is contemplating leaving his house. The audience should be hoping that he doesn’t, and with the action of him putting down the keys it creates a false sense of hope, but when its followed by the lingering shot it suddenly creates some tension.

  • 3:30 minutes- Camera movement

This camera movement I feel is an effective metaphor for the change in the characters mentality. It shot starts off with a medium close up of him, the table and cocaine, the camera angle is straight and in front of his face. However as he snorts the powder the camera goes moves towards his face, which could be to show more of the emotions from his face, it then moves upwards into a high, dutch angle shot.

This could be demonstrating the change from his being steady and in control, to becoming inebriated. The use of the angle is for dramatic effect and helps portray unease, disorientation,  intoxication or madness (Bruce, 2008 pp 9-10). This is something I most certainly will attempt to use as it is useful in showing something is ‘off’ with a character.

Skins (2007-2013):

  • S1 Ep 8 Heroin scene

CU of needle going into arm followed by a cut another CU of her reaction to the drug. This is one simple way I could show Matthew administering the drugs and his reaction to it. In this example the girl is shown in a state of bliss, this is something I could try and replicate in my own film. Also she is in focus and her face is covering the majority of the frame with the back round being heavily out of focus, this is effective as it could be symbolising her current mentality of only caring about the drug, oblivious to anything else around her.

  • S3 Ep8- Scene on mushrooms (Cinematography for when on substance)

 

The editor has added affects to this scene to show how the character of Effy is feeling under the influence of the substance. With the echoing of the shot being useful in showing she is experience small hallucinations and is clearly being affected by the mushrooms. The camera also has the other characters often looking and communicating with it, meaning it is a POV shot. This would further the ability for my audience to be able to understand Matthews perspective if I am showing them what he is seeing.

  • S1 Ep4- Chris’s Party scene

 

This scene uses a fish eye lens. This lens is an ultra wide-angle lens that produces strong visual distortion intended to create a wide hemispherical image. The distortion is, again, used to show how Chris is seeing things and emphasises the strong visuals he is seeing.

He is centre frame all the way through which clearly focuses on him as the subject and we, the audience, are presented with his experience. This is something I could potentially use, it is effective in showing how much the drug is affecting him and could be replicated. However this style does have a panoramic style, showing a large amount of the surrounding area, and my character is probably going to be alone when he goes through the  symptoms of the drug which may mean this shot type doesn’t have the same effect.

Kings speech (2010):

This use of lead room creates a sense of loneliness, solitariness and isn’t conventional in most films. The lead room is to the right, but there is absolutely nothing toward the right demanding attention. This could symbolize a sense of hopelessness or abandonment, he is alone in the frame with nothing else to interact with or anywhere to go. Also with the wide shot and him being so small in it could signify how unimportant he appears and although his problems are substantial to him, overall they are insignificant to the world.

Trainspotting (1996):

 

Shot 1, 2 and 3 here are all ways I could show the actual drug being made and administered. I need to research how users prepare the drug and with Trainspotting I have some insight.

Shot 4 is a good example of how I could film Matthew when he is on the drugs. The shot shows his face but allows space also for his arm and legs to be exposed. In this shot they don’t really move which is important as it illustrates his tranquillity, his distance from whats going on around him and lack of care to his surrounding or doing anything. All are filmed with a similar low saturation, which could help symbolise the bleakness and dirtiness of a life when addicted to heroin.

In my own film I have a shot that involves my character looking into a mirror and washing his face.  In this version, the character of Renton is looking the from the mirror to the camera, this isn’t the conventional way mirror shots are filmed, alternatively the character would look back at themselves through it.

The method in Trainspotting is very stylized and could be being applied so that we are observing Renton as he sees himself, illustrating that we are seeing things from his perspective. It may also be that we can see all features and emotions on his face more clearly than if we only saw half of his face similar to most films.

After Life (2019):

 

This shot is one sole pedestal and tilt down. As it’s a medium shot we cannot fully watch the needle or it entering his body.  This could be how I film mine as I feel it would prove too challenging to achieve as a close up or visible as I am not, in reality, going to inject my actor.

The camera goes down at the same time as the characters movement, it has his face in at the beginning, but then goes down after his reaction and follows his hand and needle as it collapses onto the ground. This is effective as, without cutting it shows the reaction and result of the drug and symbolises the character’s death only showing his hand. It also is not to difficult for the actor which is helpful.

Seeing these other scenes are crucial for my film as there are some shots I do not have the expertise to film or do so in best way possible. These shots can help demonstrate how other directors have performed this before me and give me inspiration into how I can accomplish this myself if I want to do it an alternative way.

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This is the mirror shot that I mentioned earlier in the Trainspotting analysis. This is the more conventional way of filming someone looking into a mirror, this provides the audience a feeling of observing someone else rather than a feeling that they are looking in the mirror themselves. This approach, in After Life, is the way I will most likely film my shot as it doesn’t overly attract the audiences attention, which is what the Trainspotting method might achieve.

Some of these ideas will be used in my own film.  I will film Matthew taking the drugs in the same style as Flight and After Life, as for these I won’t need to use a close up of the needle going into the skin, which is something that may be too advanced for my production.

The colours often used in these scenes are quite dark, and use low key lighting. This is something I will try and emulate as I feel in these other scenes it was effective in putting across a message of solitude and sadness. Similarly there are some camera movements I am wanting to copy, for example the one from Flight, this movement I think puts a lot of meaning into the shot, and if I can successfully use the camera in this way, I feel it will improve the overall quality of my film. The other aspects I discussed and thought could work for my film will be implemented in the planning for my film and if possible and I feel they would work should be in my film if it makes the film better.

Gasping (2014)

This film is one I had planned on taking inspiration from before starting research or and any sort of production as I admired the cinematic style and wanted to replicate it if I could. The theme of this is also about addiction which further meant I’d be able to use it to get my message across.   I felt this film achieved this successfully.

I have planned on having a scene similar to this where my character is bored on a sofa waiting for the day to pass.   I feel these shots could work for me, and I could improve the look of my film, especially as I was planning on just using fade to blacks to signify time passing,  whereas this film does not and alternatively changes camera angle, using a straight cut. They are all static shots which, I feel, help demonstrate the boredom and lack of movement from the character, further pushing the emotions of the character towards the audience.

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This POV shots is something I wanted to include, showing the characters hands shaking.  I wanted to incorporate it in my proof of concept but couldn’t figure out how to achieve this as I couldn’t get the camera positioned in the correct location and be comfortable for the actor. I have tried again, this is my result.

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I feel this works.  This was done by using a 24mm lens and I feel works in the same way as the shot from Gasping. The angle also makes the shots appear similar to that of a POV shot which is the look I am trying to reproduce, and I can then also have his hands shaking effectively.

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This long take of the character exercising and his phone playing a voicemail is useful as originally the phone is in focus and the character out of focus.  The message is playing but then it does a rack focus onto the character so we can see his reaction to it. This allows the character to be able to be performing an action whilst the shot also shows where the voice is coming from, then consequently his emotion and reaction to it.

Get out (2018)

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This opening is something I want to try in my film.  These first shots can be used very well also the audio can be used to help show information about the character before we even see them. For example in my film I had planned on showing close-ups of items in his kitchen.  For example lawyers letters and illicit drug equipment, and also have some informative dialogue in the background in the form of a phone’s voicemail.

Technical Research

  • Editing

The reason I need to spend a while on researching editing is because I feel the editing of Raw needs to be to a very high quality. This is because the editing will be used in this film to put across meaning, especially in trying to demonstrate the progression of time in the film.

I also need a concise understanding of the different aspects of editing as I believe that I can improve the storytelling of my film and allow the audience an easier understanding of the story. To do this I will need to read books on editing and determine elements that will be most relevant to me. I will also need to learn affects I may need for my film.

For example, the echo effect used in Skins I have researched, I will need to establish how I would add this into my film in post production. In order to achieve this I can watch relevant YouTube video tutorials or explore information online.   I can then perform some experiments so I learn how I am going to do this when it comes to producing my real film, speeding up the process.

The books on editing I am intending to study to will be written by professional editors as they will have first hand experiences on the subject and are able to  explain certain aspects of editing I might need to acquire. Other books could be ones that are dedicated to describing individual techniques of editing that I could incorporate.

-Echo effect

To get the skins editing effect from the scene where they take magic mushrooms I watched”My Top 10 Favorite Video Effects in Adobe Premiere Pro CC! (Editing Tutorial – How To)” by Justin Odisho. This stated that using the Echo effect on premiere pro would have this effect that I described in my research. Here is my experiment on it.

I tried several different adjustments of the echo time delay. I found that this worked the most effectively, it wasn’t too big and distracting however also it was also sufficiently visible to the audience and helps demonstrate the intended the effect of the drug. After adding the echo effect I found that it brightened the shot, after I darkened it to 50% it fit with the original shot with its brightness and I had some success.

-Colouring

I am intending for my film to be quite desaturated in color. Lots of greys and dimmer colors. This is because I want to put across a feeling of bleakness and emotionally drained. I feel if the film has a lot of bold, pure colors the film will seem overly bright and have a more positive to what I am trying to set.

Danielle Feinberg, director of photography at Pixar says “Lighting and color are part of the backbone of emotion.” This shows that colour, or lack of it, in my example will be crucial for the audience in interpreting the scenes in my film. I have taken inspiration from lots of, often, gritty dramas like I, Daniel Blake and Requiem For a Dream. These are similar sorts of tones I would like included in my scenes.

To practice and experiment with this I took a scene from The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014), as I know that it’s an extremely colorful film and I am wanting to try and change that and make it have a similar look to my own film.

I experimented considerably with the coloring of the original clip. I first reduced the saturation which worked well, it dimmed the brightness of the colours.  However in my opinion, it still was not the ideal colour I was attempting to achieve.  It still felt a bit warm so I used the temperature slider and adjusted it a little.   I could not move it too much before I felt the image looked too unnatural.

I then tampered with the tonal sliders, mainly using the contrast.  I found by reducing the contrast my image looked preferable to me, in terms of similarity to my own film.

The house where Raw is being filmed has strong yellow lighting so in post production I may need to alter this in order to get the result I require.    Yellow often represents freshness, happiness, positivity and optimism according to Bourne, J (2011). In contrast to duller tones which often represent the opposite. This experiment has been helpful for me as it has allowed me to determine how I am intending the film to be presented and I now have a greater awareness of my capabilities with colour grading and I have a better understanding of how to accomplish this.

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I applied the same colouring I used o the grand Budapest Hotel to a shot from my proof of concept. This worked well, however I did think that the contrast was too low so I raised it slightly and was happier with the result, which was what I was striving for. I will probably reproduce these same settings for my final film if the lighting in the shot remains the same.

– Pacing

Murch (2001) states that the different pacing of the cuts can vastly determine how a film is perceived.  Fast cutting is defined as a film with 20 to 60 cuts per minute or more, this style of cutting can convey a feeling of high energy, intensity and exhilaration. When the shots are only 1 or 2 seconds long, the audience would not gain all the information inside those shots, but overall its probably the tempo that is driving the audiences feeling.

Films rarely have a single tempo throughout but change due to the emotions that are occurring within a scene.  Whereas a lightly edited scene would have the opposite effect and could be used to place emphasis on observing what is going on in the shot. An edited film that takes pacing into account can become a psychological experience.  This is because the audience see the story unfold in a way that is impossible in real life.  Editing allows the audience to jump instantly into any perspective, which would be impossible if the shots are done without any cutting.

This is the reason my films Acts will all 3 have different tempos.  Act one will be much slower to demonstrate the feeling that Matthew is having a low day and wanting to get through the day.  In contrast to the Final Act where when he leaves the house and walks the streets this will have much quicker cuts. This proves that I need to understand how editing can impact on an audience and how they interpret a scene.

-Shot choices

Keast (2015) places emphasis on editors when they choose shots for a scene. He believes its vital for the editor to understand the story and emotions of the character and scenes. The choice of shots can completely change the mood and message of a scene so its crucial for the editor to fully understand the scene and what the editor/director wants to be achieved. With myself being writer, director and editor I have an advantage as I fully understand the tone and meaning I am trying to convey.

A close up is one of the most powerful resources an editor would possess.  It  is a great shot for allowing an audience to emotionally connect with a character. It allows them to see all features and feelings on the characters face, as well as creating a personal connection.  It can also help an audience feel a character’s isolation, if the filmmaker was trying to achieve that effect. It does only focus on the characters face, cutting off anything else in the scene, including their body, meaning nothing else can really be happening at that point in time or cannot really perform an action. Close ups on things other than faces are also incredibly useful when trying to show off some information in a scene or demonstrate its significance.

The medium shot is a general, all-purpose shot. They are used for dialogue sequences, and they allow the viewer to observe the character’s movements and gestures. The body language is important to conveying emotion, and the medium shot remains close enough to capture that emotion from the body language as well as the face.

Another shot type is a long shot, this shows the subject from top to bottom, though not necessarily filling the frame. The character becomes more of a focus than an Extreme Long Shot, which is similar to a long shot but is further away, highlighting the scenery.  This can be used be used as an establishing shot and to establish the single character’s position in the frame and his relationship to his surroundings. Again, it makes it very difficult to understand how the character is feeling, apart from the body language, due to the distance meaning the editor would probably have to cut closer after a while.

I will attempt to use a range of shot types as I believe repetitive ones will get boring for the audience, especially during the first Act. I will attempt to use them in a symbolic way metaphorically for the character or his emotions and feelings. I will potentially need to experiment with some more unorthodox shots, as the character is undergoing some mental issues that needs to be demonstrated effectively. However I am wanting a relatively realistic cinematic style, so I will need to retain a balance.

-Transitions

Joining two shots together the use of a straight cut is often applied where the first image is instantly replaced by the next.  It can be used if the filmmaker wants to convey a particular mood, switch to another point of view, change up the narrative.

These are the most commonly used as audiences are familiar with them and if projected properly, with correct continuity, won’t draw attention to themselves or won’t be jarring to the audience.

This process can also be effective in setting a rhythm as they are described as invisible cuts. A dissolve is a cut where one shot fades into the next, this is mainly used to signify a brief passing of time.  They also have a surreal or romantic, these are the softest and smoothest transitional effects.

Fades are also common transitions used by editors, especially before or after a sequence. Fade-ins almost always start on black and dissolve into a shot, whereas fade outs do the opposite. A match cut can be defined as a cut between shots that have a similarity in its graphics and visuals. This is described in depth in Editing and Montage in International Film and Video by Morales Morante.

In my own film I doubt I will not have an opportunity to use a variety of transitions as my film is not really that style. However fades will be used a lot as the first half demonstrates the bored character trying to make it through the film and fades will be useful for me to use to demonstrate this message to the audience.

All these aspects of my film will be important in learning about how to edit my film appropriately and in the best most communicative way. Without the knowledge of all the aspects and how to use them effectively, I feel will drastically worsen the quality of my film.

It could also put across the wrong message to the audience if I were to cut at the wrong time, use the wrong transition or use the wrong shot. This further demonstrates the importance of perfecting the editing for Raw. Learning how to colour grade and using the correct colours at each part is something I lack experience of, so I need to learn how I am going to achieve this appropriately and in a meaningful way for my film. This is why the experiment is useful, I have learned so much, and have a greater knowledge of how to do it in a similar way.

 

  • Cinematography

8 Tripod Tricks for Filmmakers

This video has some good ideas for me, especially if I dont have some of the equipment necessary like a gimble. One of these which I will use is a way they filmed feet:

This could then be flipped in post to make it appear that someone is walking. This was one shot I wasn’t sure how to film but after seeing this I think this is one method I will be using. Here is my experiment of it.

This works well, maybe if I used a warp stabiliser it will make it more smooth and with some more practice I think I will get the shot looking much cleaner and smoother. This, if I can get correct will be something I will definitely be trying to keep in the film for when he’s walking outside.

Another one I will try from this video is a shot I had seen in Requiem for a dream.

It was a shot I wanted to achieve after seeing this,  as I feel it has a disorienting feeling for the audience as well as helping demonstrate to the audience how the character is feeling at that point. I am intending to include this shot after the character has done drugs as it will help show the effects of the drug.

R.F.A.D shot

This is how this shot was achieved in the film but in reality I will struggle to set this up and probably wont be the best use of my time to research and attempt it. After watching the 8 tripod tricks video they explained a simpler way.

This way has a very similar look to it and could work for my film. Here is my attempt at this effect.

Clip 1 was with a go pro attached to the chest of the actor. This had a much lower angle than the other shots, the movement worked well and it was quite smooth and stable. This  second one was with the go pro attached to the monopod and this then held by the actor. It was slightly shaky and had a disturbance which enlarged his head, looking back at it though, this is an effect that will help show the character when he is under the influence an if I have a scene of him on the drugs I will attempt this shot as I think it is accurate in showing the effects to the audience.

Audio

I need to work out how to make some dialog sound like its on the phone. To do this I’ll try and find out via youtube tutorials. I found this:

I then recorded my audio, and mixed this how the video described. This didn’t work, I felt it had such a high impact that I feel the audio became hard to understand. I tried other effects for the male voice.   I felt that the voicemail effect worked better at making it sound correct and understandable. For the female voice I attempted the same effect but it sounded too high pitch for me so was unusable.  I tried the receiver effect and it worked much better, this is the results:

I feel this worked very well and has the correct sound I’m going for. I think I will redo this for my actual production as I am not sure the acting quality is to high standard I want.

  • Lighting

Lighting is an important part of cinematography and something I hope to incorporate into my film in both a symbolic way but I also want it to be realistic.

Video explanations of lighting techniques I’v researched will also be useful in giving me a more visual understanding of what to do when lighting a scene. After undertaking this research I will be able to experiment with lighting and determine what works for me and my scenes for when I am actually going to film. I will just need some lights and a camera and test out different variations on settings of the lighting and camera and establish what I will use and what I feel I cannot.

Preferably I will mainly have low key lighting, however I have very limited knowledge and experience with lighting so it is important for me to have a more comprehensive knowledge on the subject in order to have the shots I want and the desired effect of them.

I thought I the first thing I needed to know what the sorts of lighting there was. I found that according to Brown (2011) soft light is more of a term that describes the size of a light source rather than a placement itself. Soft light comes from a large source, either a light fixture or diffusion sheet. The light produced will have soft shadows – or if soft enough, no shadows at all. Hard light creates sharp and harsh shadows. You will get hard light from the sun, when it’s bright, or a lighting source. However whether a light is soft or hard will be determined by the size of the source.

The YouTube video Basic Lighting Techniques by Film Riot discusses a whole lot of lighting techniques. As I am filming often in a dark area it will be useful to learn some techniques to make my shots look better.

  • The use of a key light in being the primary light in a scene. It will be the most intense and direct light source of the scene.
  • The fill light, I learn, is also important as it can be used to fill in the shadows and get the light ratio I am wanting. Another light source or reflector can be used to do this.

After getting a grasp of these basics I watched another of his videos, How To: Basic Cinematography Tips! This video demonstrated techniques he had discussed in the previous video. It showed me how to use the area in the scene to help light shots, for example shining the light at a wall or roof. This is something I may have to do in a room as small as the one I will be filming some of it in. It also mentions lighting spill and the effect that can have on my shots. Especially as some of my film is based at night, learning about how I can film a scene, with good lighting without the use of a natural light source is important for me.

I researched lots of techniques I could employ in my own film using books by Box, H (2010) and B, Brown (2011) and found some techniques I could use on my own film.

  • A sidelight is a light that comes from the side parallel to the actor. A sidelight is ideal for creating a dramatic mood and revealing texture.
  • A practical light is an actual working light within the scene itself. This can be a household lamp, a TV, candles, etc.
  •  A bounce light, commonly just called a bounce, is a light that has been reflected. There are dedicated tools such as a silk or a foam board to do this, but a bounce light can also come from the wall or the ceiling, I have can easily use a reflector with both a metallic and a matte surface and will create the softest bounce light. The silver reflective material can create a hard light and often provide bounce light at 3/4 of the intensity back.
  • An image with low key lighting is predominantly dark and filled with more shadows than light. There is little or no fill light. Low key focuses on the use of shadows as a character, rather than the subjects in the light itself.

With my film a lot at night I felt I needed to learn more about shooting in low light. I found out from a site, Izzyvideo what I should do in order to get the shot I want in the darkness.

It instructs me to add light, this has to be done in a natural, indirect way as otherwise the audience will be able to clearly work out the light and where it’s pointing, this could be by using a reflector or bouncing it. It also states that the aperture should be lowest possible, this means the most amount of light will be taken into the shot, which allows me to move the ISO down, reducing the noise.  Normally when shooting video, the  shutter speed is around 1/60th of a second. However, if shooting video in low light, it the shutter speed might need to change to 1/30th of a second. This means the shutter is open twice as long, which doubles the amount of light that gets into the video camera.

This makes a big impact on the brightness of the video image. The potential downside of reducing the shutter speed is that there could be more motion blur. That can be an issue, but using a shutter speed of 1/30th of a second works okay for normal human motion. The exposure should be at 0, or as close as possible, give or take 2. These ideas have been cross checked with other sources, Aputure and Film Riot again.

  • Fake drugs

With drugs intending to be shown in Raw, and them being illegal I’ll need to find legal, cheap alternatives that I can use instead. To do this I will need to find out what heroin looks like and its texture to make it have the most realistic appearance. I can then research what professionals in the industry use and see if I could do that. I will experiment with a few substances that I have researched, or any other version I can think of. I will then compare it with the images of heroin I have researched.

Eric Cheripka says “Heroin is the hardest drug to fake onscreen, mostly because the devil is in the details.” He also discusses that the drug ‘kit’ that users carry often includes either matches or a candle, and something that can be used as a tourniquet to make your veins easier to access, elastic, bungee cords, belts are all good options. Another very important detail to note is the spoon to cook in. One way I could show him taking the drugs is by the use of retractable needles that take water up in the middle of an inner tube, so that it looks like the substance is disappearing into someone’s arm.  Slosek believes that Heroin and Cocaine look like very similar in powder form. Tucker (2013) states that there are a few ways it has been recreated in film, milk powder and Inositol, or sugar and baking soda instead, which works better if its cooked as it grows thicker, similar to that of heroin. Gelatin or bouillon could also be used.

I tried with 2 different powders,cornflour and plain flower, i got this idea from multiple sources. The article by Roy, E (2016) and reading quotes from prop experts Gillian Albinski and Mychael Bates. Who both say they use a selection of white powders, baby powder, cornstarch and powdered lactose are all examples of what they used.

Heroin-stock-e1496233418933.jpg

  1. This is Heroin

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2. This was plain flour. This has a similar look (whiter in real life), it slightly clumped together at some parts, which heroin does. However it can easily stop looking so powdery and appears more of a solid if pressed against.

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3. This was cornflour. This became a very thin powder which made it hard to contain and control. This meant it was very light which could be an issue as we’re filming the scene where he takes drugs outside so there is a chance of wind.

From these experiments I can see that the plain flour seems better in both similarity in appearance and texture. It also seems easier to use on set. However in comparison from the plain flour to the heroin powder there seems to be more of an individual powder look, similar to a sugar, to further improve it I will mix the flour with some casting sugar.

On subject in film:

Obviously one of the most important aspects of this film will be the realism of the addict to real life abusers of the drug. This will be determined by the mise-en-scene, actors, props and other aspects.

To portray this story in effective enough detail and realism I will need to research addicts and their lifestyle. This could be through addicts’ stories that I can research.  These will help as I will be able to see their experiences and how they feel, I can then try and use this in my films screenplay and attempt to replicate these experiences  and feelings of the addicts, which will make it far more realistic than if I guessed and assumed how addicts felt.

Articles and stories that are about addicts will be the best way I can find out these stories and improve my film and, mainly, the storyline.

1068936_heroin-users-entering-treatment-15

This is useful as I am trying to make this as true to the realities of addiction, information like the fact that 40% inject the drug and 36% smoke/inhale it will probably mean I’ll use one of these methods for administration in my film. The gender ratio will also mean I’ll try and use a malefactor as this is the group, proportionally, who are most addicted. This states most people take the drug daily, this can be used again as could reference it or use it to show the level of his addiction.

Heroin Addiction Causes, Signs, & Symptoms

Options behavioural health system

While researchers have yet to pinpoint a single root cause for heroin addiction, it is thought to be the result of several factors working together that lead to the development of addiction. Some of the most common causes for heroin addiction may include:

Genetic: While genetics will not cause you to start using heroin, once you have started using the drug, your genes may cause you to become addicted. Individuals who have a family member, especially a first-degree relative, with addiction disorders are more prone to develop an addiction themselves.

Brain Chemistry: Repeated drug use changes the way in which your brain feels pleasure and may also cause physical changes to nerve cells in the brain. These nerve cells use neurons to communicate, and when an individual is addicted to a substance such as heroin it disrupts communication in the brain.  This causes an individual to use more of the drug to make up for the lack of neurotransmitters.

Environmental: Environmental factors such as family beliefs, peer group attitudes, and friends that encourage drug use all play a role in an individual’s choice to begin using drugs. For example, individuals who grew up in home environments where drug abuse was accepted as a means to deal with negative emotions are more desensitized to the use of drugs. They may learn that drug abuse is a proper way of handling negative life events.

Psychological: Individuals who are struggling with untreated or undiagnosed mental illnesses may attempt to self-medicate the symptoms of their illness with alcohol or recreational drugs.

– Why is heroin killing so many people?

This BBC article discusses a day in the life of a woman addicted to heroin, how people mainly take the drug, statistics on the epidemic for deaths, the drugs and effects, the UK’s political views on the drug and more facts and opinions surrounded the drug. This will be incredibly useful to me as the personal story from the woman describes how she feels on it, why she does it and how she appears when she is under the influence of the drug. All of this I can incorporate in my own film as the closer to the reality of addiction the film is the more successful and higher quality I believe it would be.

This article explains the price of heroin, with it stating 0.2g of it is £10. This is information I could add in when he goes to purchase more. This information would make the film better for people who may have experience in the drug.  It explains the appearance of heroin, this is a vital part of the film as I will need to show heroin and if it doesn’t look identical to the real thing it will take the audience away from the film and might confuse the audience if the drug clearly isn’t heroin. “Her face is hollow, gaunt – the effects of years of addiction. She describes how she ended up here. She faced violence and, struggling to cope, she turned to alcohol, heroin, and then the final despair.” There are many quotes like this, these are descriptive of her appearance and I could try and replicate this into my own film, as I am planning to use make up, these descriptions will be useful for the make up artist in adding to make the actor having an appearance similar to that of an addict. “The place that Lisa calls home for tonight is a mess – the laminate flooring pulled up like scattered jigsaw pieces, plates with uneaten food left on the table…But in the middle of all this, there are signs of normality. A pet dog wanders, looking for attention, and heart-shaped family photos stare out from the mantelpiece.” More descriptions which will be incredibly useful for doing the muse-en-scene. As, again, I am really trying to make it as realistic as possible, from every element as well as showing the bleak and depressing atmosphere many addicts are living in. One of the other parts of the story I’ll need high quality description for is the consumption of the drug, “In complete silence she unwraps the foil, reveals the brown powder, and gets the syringe ready. Next the injection – she’s breathing heavily as the heroin courses through her veins.” This is a brief explanation but one I will be able to use, knowing how the addict takes it and their immediate reaction is something that will definitely be in my film and I feel to do it in the most raw way will increase the audiences reaction of shock and seriousness, which is the tone and message I’m trying to achieve in the film.

A large amount of the rest of the article discusses the facts and statistics of the macro effects of heroin like the financial cost on the government or where the drugs are coming from. Overall this article is useful as it does discuss the effects and feeling of the individual addict so I can use much of this knowledge in production and experiment with some, especially make up and props.

 

  • Addicts of Heroin

I will need to have knowledge of the physical and mental symptoms of addiction as these are vital elements of my film’s story as it’s the characters struggle. I need to show how hard and painful it is for him. The audience need to be able to see he is an addict, so I will  use make up and acting to demonstrate this effectively.  To achieve this I can read scientific books and websites that explain it more clearly.  This will give me reliable information that I can use to make my film and acting more realistic for the audience, therefore making the storytelling easier.  I won’t need to tell them that he is an addict, they will be able to see.

Similarly I will need to know about the withdrawal symptoms and how they affect a person physically and mentally. This will be one of the most important parts as I’m really trying to demonstrate the difficulty of quitting once someone is addicted, and how easy to is to relapse because of this.

To show some symptoms of addiction I will need to use make-up and some fake effects. I will research to establish what real addicts appearances are like, and also how other film makers have achieved this look.  This will then inform me what sort of make up techniques I will have to incorporate in my own film. The effects I will need may be fake vomit if I decide that the character is going to be sick in shot. To find these things out I can look online or in books into how prop masters have achieved this in the past.

According to Priory, drugabuse.com and FRANK:

Common behaviors for addicts include:

  • Frequently being absent from work or college/university
  • Wearing long-sleeved shirts even in warm weather (which may be an attempt to hide marks from intravenous injections of heroin)
  • Lying, secrecy or otherwise acting deceptively regarding activities and whereabouts
  • Loss of interest in activities or events that were previously important

Physical symptoms of heroin addiction:

  • Significant unintentional weight loss
  • Exhaustion and lethargy
  • Watery eyes and runny nose
  • Persistent flu-like symptoms
  • Itchiness
  • Sleep problems

Mental symptoms of heroin addiction:

  • Feelings of shame, guilt and depression
  • Hopelessness and despair
  • Impaired ability to concentrate or focus
  • Poor judgement
  • Confusion and disorientation
  • Drastic mood swings

Symptoms of Heroin withdrawal

  • Powerful cravings for heroin
  • Vomiting and diarrhea
  • Other flu-like symptoms
  • Abdominal cramping
  • Pain in muscles and bones
  • Insomnia
  • Anxiety and depression
  • Agitation and irritability
  • Paranoia

Heroin is abused for the immediate pleasurable feelings it can elicit, including:

  • A surge of enjoyable feelings called the “rush.”
  • A warm, calm feeling.
  • A heavy, slowed feeling in the arms and legs.
  • An increased sense of well-being and confidence.
  • A feeling of drowsiness

Heroin:

  •  The color of street heroin in the UK ranges from brownish white to brown.

  • It is commonly smoked. Users heat the heroin on a surface like tin foil and then inhale the smoke.

  • Injecting it is often used. Heroin can be dissolved in water and then injected.

  • Heroin can be snorted.

Appearance of addicts (The recovery village and Delphi Health group)

  • Track marks
  • Constant sniffling
  • A runny nose
  • Pale skin
  • Sudden weight loss
  • Burn marks on the mouth or fingers
  • Puffiness or sunken in eyes
  • Nosebleeds
  • Wearing sunglasses a lot
  • Declining hygiene
  • No concern for their personal appearance

 

 

 

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