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FATV YR 2 LVL 3
Experimental Research
Screenwriting Practical
Table Read: The Three Brothers New Chicago
Here is a table read of a script from a project from year one. Its titled, 'The Three Brothers of New Chicago' and we did a read through of the screenplay I wrote last year for my final major project. I did a table read with the main actor, Freddie Penrose, and a classmate Kelly Andrews, we managed to read through the whole script as its only a short film.
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This was done for a little experimentation research on screenwriting and acting. This became very beneficial to me and my peers as its good to get together and have a readthrough, even if its an old script.
In conclusion, it really does help to sit down and record a script read through, it benefits me as a director, and my crew.
Script
Audio recording of a talk through of my screenplay progress as of 24/04/23
Colchester Institute - Colchester Campus 3Artist Name
00:00 / 08:26
24/04/23
Today, I had got to a point with my script, where I wanted to do some practical experimentation with what was written so far. So I decided to conduct a talk through with a cast member and fellow crew, Freddie Penrose. The audio clip consists of me going scene by scene, shot by shot and trying to visualise how I want this film to look and play out, structure wise. This practice has helped me understand what I'm trying to create by speaking about it to someone else, and it will benefit the cast by helping him understand my creative process by understanding the writing process.
Upon reflection, I should've gone to a recording studio to cut out background noises and got the audio I did need, to be as crisp as possible. But still, the session was beneficial and went how it was planned to, and hopefully this gives everyone an idea what it is I'm trying to create.
Auditions and Talking through plans
25/04/23
Today, my fellow cast-mates and I, hired out some equipment and a room, and conducted auditions. We did this for our upcoming projects and knew we wanted to do some experimentation with the equipment at hand. Therefor, we got a canon c100, tripod and lighting pack. So we managed to use this kit and get some decent improvisational auditions for our projects. I felt very comfortable with the camera kit because I have used a canon c100 many times before. I know have a confident feeling in my skills with this camera and this kit, so I will be hiring it for when I'm ready for production. Once completing our improvisations, we decided to do something similar with my audio recording, we decided to talk through our projects to each other. I listened in on my classmates, Freddie Penrose and Charley Reid's synopsis and scene breakdowns as for both of their projects, Im a lead cast member. This turned out to be very beneficial and enabled me to see into their creative mindsets and see how I can help to make their projects possible. In conclusion, this experiential research has benefited me as I know I'm going to book this equipment, and I have an understanding on what is needed from me as a team member in my peers' upcoming projects as I'm crew and cast for both.
Experimental Research (scene 3)
Today, I was set to film scenes 2-4 in my house with the leading cast member, my friend Alex Larner. It was just us two, so I was directing and also operating the camera, this wasn't as hard as expected and turned out in our favour. For the scenes I needed a few close ups and then some shots of what needed to look like a murder scene. So, in order to get the look of a dead body, I stuffed clothes with pillows and rolled up towels, to create what is essentially a dummy. I then got the main to be positioned hunched over the fake body and to make it look like he was attacking it. With close ups and having the body only filling up one third of the screen, in the rule of thirds, I believe it came out really well.
For a certain shot I had envisioned in a story board, was the camera getting covered in blood drops from the hammer, this was so I could get a somewhat POV shot. I tried this out by putting a glass screen over the lens and covering my hand in fake blood to then drip it onto the lens. The shots came out really good as seen in the photo above of me editing it. It took me a few attempts to get right, for instance, I originally covered a toothbrush int the blood to see if I could get a spraying effect but the blood was too thick to be able to do that. So dipping my hand and letting it fall was the only option left, luckily it turned out exactly how I imagined. The shots similar that gave me inspiration consisted of the following.
(Studio Binder, 2023)
(Paur, 2021)
In conclusion, today went very well and I'm excited to get it put together in post and get those shots how I need them to look. Today has given me a lot of excitement to experiment in all new ways in production and try out new ways of filmmaking, I believe this is evident and will be evident in my final outcome. We managed to film everything in just under two hours. This worked well for me because I had work in the evening and couldn't get the time off, this ended up being irrelevant as we had more than enough time. I hope to continue with the experimental research with the clips today in post production.
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