P4 b) Use of Pre-Production material

Pre-Production Material

To prepare for my shoot I have produced a script, storyboard, equipment list and schedule in order to transferred my concept into reality. 

Script:

When on set I took a copy of my script in order to refer back to and also keep on schedule. Throughout the production process my script helped to remind me and help my actors to understand why they were doing what I had planned, this helped them put more effort into their performance and gave everyone more perspective. Whenever I questioned a shot on the shot list I referred to the script so to remind myself of the idea behind the shot and how it played into the whole concept. This gave me the ability to change my shots/add additional shots to further improve the quality of the film both in terms of cinematography and the story telling aspects.

Shot List: 
After writing a script that outlined the overall plot of the production in order to be successful on the day of the shoot I wrote an in depth shot list that recorded all the shots I intended to shoot, in a chronological order. I did this to reduce the time spent on set having to decide what shot I wanted allowing me to focus more on the quality of the shot.

Storyboard:

A film storyboard is  a large comic of the film or some section of the film produced beforehand to help film directors, cinematographers and clients visualize the scenes and find potential problems before they occur. Storyboards also help to save time. My storyboard has also included arrows and instructions that indicate movement of either the camera and the actors. During shooting I referred to my storyboard to improve my directing and cinematography but also showed the actors to develop their understanding of the shots.  During the drawing process I also removed and changed ideas that were from the script as visually they did not adhere to the theme of the video.

I have tried to stick with my original script and storyboard as closely as possible during production, however this sometimes lead to issues when filming, meaning slight adjustments had to be made to the shot list.

Here are some examples of how I adhered to the storyboard and Script

When on set I used a printed copy of the storyboard to match the framing of the shot that I had visualised when drawing the storyboard, this helped me to realise a more accurate copy of my concept.

Filming for VFX:

When I was on set I had to ensure that when I took a shot it was suitable for the Visual Effect I was planning to implement, during my recce I established where my camera would be and where it would be pointing. Due to the nature of some effects it was important for me to note down the time (to find out the position of the sun, which effects lighting), the height of the camera from the ground and the focal length of the lens I was using so to recreate the FOV of the camera, these factors would then allow me to accurately recreate the scene in 3DSMax and add in the 3D objects.

When filming on the green screen I ensured that the background and subject was well lit so to produce higher quality footage.

Equipment/Props List:

Equipment and props list helped me to ensure I had not forgotten any vital equipment and props that would be key to filming any specific scene. When on set I used this pre-production material to monitor my equipment and include it in the scene when it was required.

Schedule:

Planning ahead of the shoot date is vital to success on set, the schedule helped me to keep actors and myself organised and complete the shoot within the set timescale and ensure that I had the correct props and equipment at the set time. Having a schedule also gave me objectives to achieve and motivated me to complete the tasks.