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PRODUCTION DIARY
WEEK 1
On week 1 of production for my final major project, I decided that I wanted to create a short film. I began to look at short scripts on the internet and started to think of ideas for a script. I also watched short films to get ideas for my own.
Doodlebug is a short film directed by Christopher Nolan. It is a psychological film about a paranoid man trying to squash a bug, that turns out to be himself.
The Gunfighter is a short film about a narrator in a western. It is a comedy, directed Eric Kissack and narrated by Nick Offerman.
Doodlebug is going to serve as an inspiration for my short film. I like the psychological aspects of the film and its non-linear storytelling style. These features make the film more interesting and less linear as it does not follow the conventional film style. The ending of my short film will also take inspiration from Doodlebug. Doodlebug has an open-ended ending, that makes the viewer interpret their own ideas about it. This makes the story more interesting as there is no defined ending. The music in Doodlebug is eerie and atmospheric.
I researched the conventions of a short film on my research page.
WEEK 2
In the second week of production, I began to storyboard my first ideas for the film. I researched escape rooms, as I wanted the script for my film to centre around a person that is trapped in a room and has to find a way to escape. I also began to research the type of shots I want to use when shooting my short film and gave examples of them in my research. I researched shots such as long takes, tracking shots, close up shots and handheld shots. I want my short film to have unconventional shots and to be shot in an interesting way. For the scenes where the character is escaping the room, I will use a series of tracking shots.
WEEK 3
In week 3, I began to plan out the shots I will use in the short film and scouted the location for shooting the film. The film will be shot in the A&D room as the look of the room suits the film and it is small enough to convey the trapped feeling the character in the film feels. I continued to write the script for my film in week 3.
WEEK 4
I re-wrote the script for my film. I abandoned the idea of the main character being an animator that was trapped in the room, and changed the main character into a criminal that is hiding in the room. I added more scenes and changed some scenes to my storyboard for the new script. I re-wrote a second draft of the script and used the new one for shooting. In the second draft I changed some of the dialogue that is spoken by the news reporter and changed some of the actions made by the character.
WEEK 5
In week 5 of production, we began to shoot the film. I filled out the actors contract and the shooting schedule. The filming was complete in two 1 hour and 30 minute sessions. The scenes where the character was in the room were shot in the A&D store room. The scenes where the character is walking were shot in the E block corridors. We did not need to record sound when filming the scenes, as I wanted the music and the background sound effects to make up the films sounds.
In week 5, I began to edit the film. Editing the film took around 3 days. I created one version of the film but was unhappy with the result. I restarted the edit and the second version became the final version.
After finishing editing the film, I evaluated the film using the evaluation guide.
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