UNIT 2
Lighting Setups
Striking
For some of the groups in the Noir Project, realism was not the main priority for the scene, and instead they wanted a more stylised, striking look akin to the Noir films of the 50's. This was achieved by having a very small number of studio lights on, but on very brightly to create contrast.
Both groups wanting a stylised look were keen with the shutters design, to give the illusion of outside light shining through blinds on the window. This effect was achieved simply by placing a real set of blinds in front of a great studio light, allowing the light to naturally shine through in stripes.
Whilst this technique was effective, it wasn't as striking as I would've liked, as the light shining through the shutters would naturally light the rest of the set up, dampening the shutter effect.
Natural
For the other groups involved in Noir, a more natural, less stylised look was required. This style of lighting gave the set a more realistic feel, looking more like a real location and less like a film scene.
A more realistic looking scene was achieved with having multiple lights on a quite dim setting.
One of the groups were keen on having the shot lit by only desk lights, which was shot with 2 lamps at different heights and angles as well as the studio lights on at a very low percentage to fill any areas the lamps wouldn't light up.
Lighting Requests
Before the sets for the Noir Project were even completed, I had a small discussion with each of the groups about what they wanted the scene to look like.
I gave myself a few questions to ask the groups, such as if they wanted either a more striking looking scene or realistic scene.
Each group seemed to have a good idea of what they wanted the scenes to look like, allowing me to get a quite clear idea of how each scene will look.
Slider settings for Natural Lighting
Project Evaluation
Unfortunately, despite the initial discussions with the groups being useful, I found the overall project rather un-engaging and disappointing. This was because the groups were able to sort out their own lighting without my involvement needed.
After I gathered all their suggestions on how they wanted their scenes to look, I then tested the lighting setup to see how well I could achieve each shot. After that, nothing else really happened from my perspective. The groups managed to achieve the lighting they wanted without my help, which honestly made the whole project feel rather pointless.
Filming Project Pictures
ED2 Filming Project
ED2 were tasked with re-filming scenes from The Truman Show using a shortened script of the film, and I was appointed as Assistant Director for Production. This meant that I would work with the Director to achieve their vision, this could be through explaining possible camera angles, talking to the actors and helping the overall Production stay smooth and professional.
The experience as an Assistant Director was a new one that I enjoyed quite a lot. This is because a lot of the pressure is handed to the Head Director, leaving the Assistant Director with a much less stressful job, whilst still an important one for the production.
Filming took 1 week to complete over multiple locations including The Theatre, The Toilets, A College Classroom, The Hill behind the Media Block, outside The Nurses Office and in People's Park.
Aside from the experience of being an Assistant Director being a new one, I learnt nothing really about filmmaking or how to direct.
Someone's Can
Heavily inspired by the TENET Poster, this design was created very quickly in PowerPoint, using images and shapes layered ontop each other to create the effect.
The Poster despicts 2 RC Batmobiles, driving in opposite directions, with the Pringles Can in the middle, attached to both their roof's like how it's shown being transported in the film. The 2 Batmobiles facing in opposite directions elludes to their ability to travel backwards and forwards through time. The colour scheme also hints to the time travel aspects of the film, with Red and Blue being used to show forwards and backwards time in the film.
The 2 Batmobiles are actually using the same image, hinting that it's actually the exact same vehicle from different points in time.
The image of the Batmobile was taken as a Focus Test for the Level 2 FMP,
A Commendble yet Terribly Conceived Heist for an Expensive Spoon and the image of the Pringles Can was a behind the scenes picture of the new logo being put on. Both images then simply had their backgrounds removed using an online editor. The Text used was given the font "Arya" which is a free alternative to the font used in the TENET poster.
Original Batmobile Photo
Car Park Scene Breakdown
Before filming the scene at the Car Park, I was struggling to visualise how to film it and keep the continuity accurate. To help figure out how the scene would play out, I played out the full scene shot by shot with models in my bedroom. This turned out to be a valuable resource to look back on during filming, as it ended up becoming the shot list on the day as-well as storyboard for what each shot would look like.
Before even getting as far as mapping out the scene, I had to figure out the route of the Driver and the 2 RC Cars. This was quickly drawn out on a piece of A4 paper using felt tips and highlighters.
This drawing ended up being pretty much exactly how the final scene would play out, including the un-filmed scene of both RC Cars driving alongside the Driver. The only part of the drawing that was changed in the final scene is the routes of the Forward and the Inverted Cars routes, which were swapped around. This change is visible with a small arrow in between both routes as they enter the car park.
Behind the Scenes pictures
Whilst the script only required a regular Pringles Can, I was very keen to not use the current Pringles design and logo and instead use to older design from the 2010's. This is simply because I prefer the old design more than the current one.
My original plan was to use an old Pringles Can with the old design, but I was unable to find one so I had to create my own one. This was achieved by first buying a regular Pringles Can, printing out the old logo in multiple sizes, then cutting it out with a scalpel and gluing it on-top the new design.
The effect ended up working surprisingly well, with the Can looking relatively unaltered.
Issues Faced
Cast Unavailable
On the day of filming, the day before half term, I was hoping to include more students studying acting and performance, however the day was completely booked out and no-one was available for a sufficient amount of time. This left me to either hold production till after half term, or to cut some roles. The scene featuring the Property Owner and the Buyer was originally meant to include 2 bodyguards, which served no real purpose so were easy to remove from the scene.
A more tricky role was the Property Owner, who now wasn't cast. On the spot whilst filming Alfie's scenes, I decided to give him a 2nd role as the Property Buyer. This dual casting is part of what lead to the final ending, in which members of Pringles go back through their own timeline to ensure every Pringles Can is on it's correct path to it's customer.
Car Scene Unfilmable
Just before the Driver makes it to the Car Park to send-off the Pringles Can, there was meant to be an additional scene of the Remote Control Cars. The scene would play from the Drivers perspective and then, out the side window, we would see the RC Car driving alongside him on the pavement. He would then overtake the Car only to then catchup to another RC Car, the Inverted version, driving full speed backwards with the Pringles Can on it's roof.
After the Car Park scene, we would then follow the Inverted RC Car travelling down the path, now travelling full speed forwards. The camera would now stay close to the RC Car, as we see the Driver going past, now backwards.
The reason this shot was never filmed is because I wasn't able to find a way to drive my Suzuki, have a camera filming through the window and having the RC driving down the pavement all in one shot. It's a shame as I was very keen on keeping this shot despite it's complexity, as it introduces both RC Cars before the Car Park scene in a nice foreboding way.
Premiere Pro
Despite editing the Film almost entirely on CapCut, Premiere Pro still managed to cause problems during post-production. This was caused whilst creating the Audio commentary, in which the footage in the timeline became completely unresponsive. I then tried to save the project and exit, but is was unable to save in any folder I tried. Eventually, I figured out it was because the folder was out of storage space, but a warning would've helped.
Lackluster Ending.
Once the 1st day of filming was complete, I had a look at the footage and was overall quite unhappy with what the film was turning out to be. The footage looked rather unimpressive, made no logical sense with one actor playing 2 different roles, and overall felt very much like a 1st draft, which it was, with things just happening for the sake of it without any rhyme or reason. In order to try an rectify what the film was turning into, an idea formed of making the ending completely insane. The idea was to turn the entire film into a big TENET reference, with the Pringles moving backwards through time. The image of 2 RC Cars meeting up with the Pringles Can, one moving backwards and one moving forwards, was one I liked very much. This made me think of trying to wrap up and connect the film in the most convoluted and ridiculous way possible, so much so that the audience has no choice but to just laugh.