Sonia's Television Blog

While doing this unit Mike really wants us to focus on our creativity and camera movements. I love this and decided to really follow it, i wanted to use a steady cam, track and dolley, stabilizer etc. I have never really used these before in my productions because they take up time and space, but since i had used them in this production my overall project looks flawless with these amazing experimental shots. They are not all perfect i could have made them better here and there but i am still proud i went out and used these shots! I wanted to expand my knowledge and filming skills to the max in this project, i decided to take the chance and use the most equipment i could and put it to the test! I challenged myself but if i didn't i would have never used any of these ever. Even though it was difficult due to the ground not being steady i still managed to get some great shots, i also tried to zoom in with the dolley and zoom out with the camera but that was VERY difficult. I did n...

While coming up with my proposal i really wanted to discover more about John Clare. John was born in 1793 and was a very famous poet, he was born as the son of a farm labourer and did not have much money. Many individuals state that Clare is 'the greatest labouring class poet that England has ever produced' since he came from a very poor background. While reading up on his background it was very hard, he had a troubled childhood and was also sent to an asylum where he had written most of his poems. I chose the Trespass poem due to me really having a strong connection to it. I feel as John Clare felt a lot of loneliness and pain during the time that this poem was written. The sonnet has rhyming couplets and seems less angry even though it is in-fact very sad. Clare really felt despair and pain while this poem was written. Clare was born into a middle class family and felt as he wanted to express these feelings within his other poems. I couldn't really find any informati...

Preperation Today was the shooting of my 'Trespass' Fiction Adaptation project and i was happy with the overall day. We started by preparing my actor Vanessa with her hair and makeup, i wanted to make sure that she had a beautiful look set out for the shoot, this took around an hour. While doing the makeup i ran through the shot-list with Vanessa and the whole idea of the shoot since she was rushed into the shoot due to my first actor dropping out! She fell in love with the project and couldn't wait to start, Victoria was also a great addition she helped with the makeup and helped on set. After we were done with the makeup we drove over to the Maidstone Ancient Aylesford bridge which was out first location, we spent around 2 hours here shooting all the cover shots i needed for the entire project. Vanessa looked great and the sun gave us some great exposure and shadows. I was really happy with the way that the Canon 7D filmed, i usually use the Panasonic or Sony...

This morning while getting ready for shooting my main actor emailed me that she is unwell and is unable to film today! I had to think quick on my feet as i already had all the locations sorted and makeup artist organised, i reached out to my 2 other actors i used in my previous project and thankfully one of them was more than happy to help! I usually don't want to use the same actors but in this situation it was urgent. Kent film office gave me permission to film at these locations only for today so i really had to make sure i had another actor on hand to help me. I'm happy that she agreed as she is also a fantastic actor and a lovely person! This is Vanessa Burns and i have used her previously in my 'Fight Club' re-make. I think she will make a fantastic main character for my Fiction Adaptation. She had studied acting in London and lives in paddock wood which is very close to Maidstone. My original actor was from London so i would have to pay for her ticket where a...

To help us prepare for our shoots and overall project Mike thought that it would be a good idea to create a 'Moodboard' i think this is brilliant. It will give everyone a good idea of the colours and style we are all going for. This moodboard is made up of images and screenshots i have fallen in love with while researching for my project. 

While preparing for my shooting days which are very soon i needed to prepare a rough draft of a script. Due to my project being different my script is harder to write, since my whole project is more about the visual perspective there is absolutely no talking in my scenes. I have set out to have the entire short movie narrated, i want to shoot effective visuals of my main character and express the story through her expressions and most importantly her movements. I started to think of how to write the script which i will change accordingly to the edit, while writing it i made sure that it was all V.O (Voice-over) and wrote out outlines of what i want the character to think in her mind. It's very hard to explain through text, i just want the audience to understand her pain/story through her narration. This script will help me as i prepare for the shoot it will also help me decide how i am going to create such a art piece. It will all work alongside my camera movement tests. I believe...

I have started creating a shot list to help me remember exactly what i want to film and to also give my actor a sense of creativity that i want to portray, since my entire short film is based on shots and creativity mostly experimental i really want to make sure i capture beautiful moments and shots. It was absolutely necessary for me to create this shot list, it will make my life much easier when i come to film on the day - i want to make sure i do not forget anything. I have created 2 lots of the shot list that included all 3 scenes, i have also downloaded a few pictures of certain shots that i want to include in my short movie so i could really create something extraordinary, i need to really focus on key lighting and movement of the camera. Mike had said to me that a montage is what i want to go for and if i focus on creating that i will achieve my goal with this project.

While talking to Mike we had discussed that my project shouldn't be scripted, it should really come from the heart of someone who has experienced 'Anxiety' and 'Panic Attacks' after i film and shoot my clips i want to re-watch them and get the actor to narrate what she is feeling from heart. I want the audience to understand the pain a person goes through while having this issue, it's not just 'Being Dramatic' it's an actually  problem that almost everyone doesn't understand. Mike also wanted to make sure that i don't drift away from the poem too much, i need to also stay focused on the poem and what it is trying to say. My character feels lovely, even though she overcomes it she goes back on her words and feels lonely again, just like the poem towards the end. John Clare must have felt pain writing that poem, he must know the feeling of being alone and strangers frowning upon him; that is exactly what my character is going to feel. I want t...

I have finally received my permission's for filming at the Ancient Bridge and also Spot Lane park. Both have been confirmed by Kent Film Office as well as my Actor Natalie. I have also reached out to one of my friends who is a makeup artist and she is willing to work with me and the actor to create a detailed look for her to fit the scenes perfectly! Me and Natalie have been communicating none stop over email to make sure that we both understand each-other very well and know exactly what we want to achieve, she has been great so far! I have also received my Risk Assessment back from Laura that is signed and ready to go, i will be picking up my Equipment tomorrow and i'm planning on shooting this upcoming Sunday. All i need to find now is someone who will just assist me with the shoot.

I already had a basic idea in my mind to film somewhere where i can see a wonderful sunset, the landscape is also very important to me during this project. I want to show off this stunning landscape to show the loneliness that my character is feeling. The first location i have chosen is The Ancient Aylesford Bridge  i really have a vision set here where my character stand on the bridge and i catch very cinematic shots of the sunset and the lovely architecture. I also started my search for actors, i would like to have a Female with dark long hair. I really want to focus on small details in this project and show my creativity and editing talent. I have had a few actors already apply for my project and i've been going through each one to seek the best one. I have also reached out to my local makeup artist to see if she is free to assist me on my shooting day and she also agreed! So far my locations don't need permission and my participants are very easy to liaise with and ...

For the past week we were set a task to create a short movie that describes one of our chosen moods. I chose 'JOY' i think it was a great mood and could emphasise a lot! I was trying to experiment more with handheld footage rather than using any rigs because that's what i will be doing in my own fiction adaptation movie. Handheld clips really make the movie look realistic and the audience feels like they are with the characters. I also used the dolley/tracker to also experiment with those kind of shots but i did not like them as much. I also used a fig rig but once again it's not something i personally like to use! I tried to learn how to complete a zoom in and zoom out shot but the room being too much and didn't have much of nice atmosphere it did not look pleasant. Since i was a little late on this project i did not have all the equipment on hand but i still tried to use everything i could to make this project look great.  While filming i think using the whi...

After choosing my poem 'Trespass' i started to think what kind of a story line i could make out of it. I have been really inspired by one filmmaker on Youtube who creates 'Social Anxiety' and 'Depression' movies. As i said before i really want to express my feelings in this project and i want to connect with my audience very closely. This girl is an absolute genius, i am so inspired by her! All of her videos touch my heart and the colour grading and camera movements just make it even better. I really would like to follow in her foot steps and create something that will feel exactly the same, i want to work hard on this project. What i like about her videos is that she narrates through-out them so she connect with her audience, i was thinking of doing the same. When she narrates i feel like she is directly speaking to me and connecting with me which is exactly what i want. While picking the poem 'Trespass' i instantly thought of loneliness and sadn...

When having the fiction adaptation briefing i was instantly hooked, i love being creative and this course lets me do this. I am here to create amazing product that will hopefully let me express being a film-maker. When Mike started to introduce the whole project i was very excited, i never worked with poems or sonnets only read them and imagined what i could create out of them. I really would love to adapt a sonnet/poem into a visual production. This unit will help me develop my filmmaking skills by allowing me to adapt someone else's work and letting me try new techniques. I really want to work harder on my editing skills as that is what i am really passionate about, i love to edit because it gives me the freedom to do anything. With editing i can create whatever i have in mind, hopefully by choosing a great poem i can really focus on creating something hear warming and edit it the way i have always wanted to edit a project.  We have been given a list of poems to choose f...

While learning about all the camera movements i started to invest some time to think about what movements would work great with my own adaptation. I think high angels and wide shots will be the ones i use the most! When having a camera movement it can really change the way you think of people, when we watched a video about all the camera movements i learnt a lot of how to portray a character. Mike gave us all a sheet with all the possible camera movements you can use while filming, all of these are very experimental and very helpful. While moving the camera you also have to make sure you have the correct camera zoom/width. What i really found interesting is when you zoom in with the camera and zoom out with the lens, it gives off such a cool effect and camera movement you instantly think how the hell did that happen? I have always wondered how filmmakers create that kind of effect where the character gets closer to the camera but the background gets smaller. Mike also wanted us t...