5. pre production (updated wuth script)

PRE
PRODUCTION
SAM SCHOETTNERSam Schoettner

Cinematography
The cinematography is going to be relatively simply for this film.
My aim is to create a visual language that communicates that the character has changed and/or is undergoing change.
One way through which I will achieve this is by the use of wider and narrower lenses.
At the start of the film (before he gets “locked up”) I want to use narrower lenses so 24mm + I want most of the image to
be consumed by my protagonist and I don’t want to see all too much around him.
With this I want to achieve the look and feeling that he (quite literally) does not have a very broad horizon. Meaning
there are few things he cares for. We don’t see the world around him because he doesn’t see the world around himself.
This part of the film will mostly consist of medium shots. No establishing shots will be used. It doesn’t matter where he is
and we don’t need to know unnecessary detail.
This will directly contrast with the end of the film. Once he has escaped his “white prison” I want to use the widest
lenses available to me (this will most probably be the 18mm lens) and I will use a lot more full shots to show him in his
environment.
At this stage our character cares about his environment, he wants to see all the people trees and buildings around him
and he wants to be a part of it. Therefore we the audience also become a part of it.

A potential option for this would be to rent a lens out for a week
or so. This would allow me to get plenty of coverage using the
lens and it would allow me to get some more interesting interior
shots as well as the needed exterior shots.
This would allow me to get the stylised types of shots that I
want to create as well as allowing me to put forward exactly
what it is that I want to make.
It is just a matter of balancing costs and figuring out whether it
is a feasible option.
It would add a lot to the production and product so I think if it is
financially possible it would be worth the investment.

Another way that I want to realise this idea is by using quite calm and controlled camera work at the start of the film. The
camera doesn’t really change subject and for the most part stays focused on one specific thing (mostly Kurt the main
character).
This will again, only show us his world. We wont see anything beyond his frame. This is something he is comfortable
with and so the audience is forced into the same position and the framing more or less stays the exact same in each
shot. I want this to almost evoke some feeling of claustrophobia. I want to audience to feel a little like they are getting air
squeezed out of them, if the camera would just moved back a little and let them breathe.
Once he has again escaped, I want the camera to free up. I want it to move around the character more, showing the
audience things that the protagonist is experiencing and discovering. Again, showing off the world around him and the
people around him.

Finance
Though I may have already hammered this point into the ground already, it is worth mentioning.
I will be keeping track of finances throughout the course of production. It is extremely important that I do this as I do not want to
be in the position where I cannot pay the traveling costs of my actor or where I cannot finance food for the shooting days.
However one thing I have not gone into too much detail into is the things that I actually need to buy.
The first thing that I need to buy is of course materials for the set that I am panning to build. Fortunately I already have access to
quite a lot of building wood from previous building projects. This means I already have everything that I need to build the
‘skeleton’ of the set. What I really needed was the walls. Now since wood is quite expensive and I wasn’t planning on building a
permanent set of walls. I decided to use drywall/plasterboard.
I found some online (on Ebay) that was reactively fairly priced, £88 for 10 boards in the dimensions of 2400mm x 1200mm x
12.5mm.
I also needed something for the floor. Since I still have some spare under floor sound insulation from the previous project I am
considering just using plasterboard as the floor. However if that does not work I will buy some MDF boards (around £19 per
2440mm x 1220mm x 12mm board which would bring me to a total of £126.00 for the entirety of the set)

Finance
I also needed to purchase some red lights as I did not have any of those laying about (unfortunately).
Stylistically I wanted something that was simple and almost just looked like a button in a cockpit. However upon ordering one of
these buttons I realized that it was far, far too small. Once this had arrived I decided that though that button was too small, I
really liked the design and it would be easy to use while filming as I could just push the button to turn it on or off. So I decided to
go out and search for a similar button with a larger footprint.
Luckily I could find one that was much larger with a diameter of 6 CM, it would still be relatively small on the wall but I think it
will work quite well.
All together these two buttons cost £5.40
I already had some spare speakers that were broken which I took apart to get the speaker module and speaker itself which I
can then screw to and use on the wall.

Other than the set I have also allocated £100.00 to props and costume, however this will probably fall
more around £60.00.
One prop that I definitely wanted is a cassette tape player and some retro headphones.
After some searching on the internet I found a combination of headphones and a Walkman/cassette
player for around £17.00.
I will also need to purchase a few, 100 wood spoon packs (probably 2 or 3) for the final escape of my
character.
These all together will cost around £12.00-£18.00.
The only other things that I will need to purchase are white clothes (white t-shirt/ long sleeve shirt, white
joggings and white socks.
Which will come to about £20.00-£25.00.
This equates to a total of around £49.00-£60.00 for the props.

When it comes to actors I only have one expense which is the travel costs of my
main actor Dan.
Since he is driving in from Whitby I offered to pay for his fuel expenses as it will end
up costing about £100 for him to travel from Whitby to York and Back 10x. (Roughly
£13, per hundred miles)
However, I will not be directly paying for his acting nor will I be paying for the acting
of any of the other smaller characters.
Instead of paying them with money I have offered to take portraits and headshots
for them which they can then use for their portfolios free of charge.

Finance
Cost Of Production: estimated. £ actual. £ Income: estimated. £ actual. £
Financial
Outcome:
estimated. £ actual. £
-£ -£ -£ -£
Music: 25.00£ 3.98£ -£ -£
Props/ costume: 100.00£ -£ -£ -£
Lights: 120.00£ 116.98£ Guaranteed income: 108.00£ 90.00£
max_Actor: 100.00£ -£ Existing: 150.00£ 188.00£
Set: 120.00£ 97.68£ Editing jobs: 175.00£
Total spend: 465.00£ 218.64£ Total income: 433.00£ 278.00£ Money left: (32.00)£ 59.36£
This is a working document and it will change until the end of production with
prices changing and adjusting (income, expenditure etc.)

Equipment was and is also an important factor. As I mentioned previously in the document, I am most
probably going to rent a wide lens in order to achieve the look that I want to create. It will of course also
be useful to not only shoot in smaller spaces but to make certain spaces look larger to suit the story,
making the main character look smaller and more insignificant.
While the action of spending money is not going to make the product better. It will allow me to create a
product that is closer to what I wanted to make, therefore it will be better as it will be more reflective of
the thing that I had in my minds eye.
It will allow me to make the world that I have conjured up more real and it will really drive me to push
harder as I will have invested not only time and effort but my money and resources.

Time
I am not abhorrently concerned with time, I think I will quite comfortable be able to finish filming and
editing the project in time. The intermittent deadline for a draft edit, is a little stressful as I know I wont
have filmed my whole film by then, however I am not too worried about and I am for the most part going
to try and ignore it as it is an unnecessary factor of stress that I don’t need to concern myself with. Since
I am going to be editing in between shooting days anyway I am not worried about having something to
show anyway.
One factor that does make this easier is that I know my talent is available a lot so it will be easy for me to
get them to shoot and therefore it will be a much more relaxed experience than trying to squeeze shoots
in around their schedules.
Since I seem to be one of the two people who is going to be using the canon c100 it also mean that I
don’t need to be too worried about Kit being booked out, so long as I co-ordinate the bookings with the
other student. But even if it does happen to be booked out, I have access to my own kit and would be
able to just use that instead.
Overall I plan to spend 10 days filming one or two of those days being in Whitby and 2 of those days
being exterior location shoots in York, the rest of the time period will be allocated to filming on set.

Facilities and equipment
Equipment:
I will primarily be using the canon c100 to film the short film, this is because it has a lot of capabilities
that allow it to produce images of a higher quality than the DSLRs and the Mirrorless camera that I have.
One of those factors is the fact that the camera has a 4k sensor, while capturing 1080p footage. This
allows the camera to produce extremely sharp HD video.
Another factor is the larger sensor size. It means more light. Which mean less artificial brightening of the
image and therefore an overall cleaner and sharper image. It also allows the camera to capture a
shallower depth of field, which can make the footage look better.
The camera also has built in ND filters meaning I can reduce the amount of light that gets into the sensor
without changing the shutter speed or aperture. Again allowing me to create the desired look with less
compromise.
And one of the biggest factors is the flat C-Log and better dynamic range.
This can really allow me to craft and create the image in post pushing it further than I could have done
with poorer dynamic range and already pre-determined shadows. This will again allow me to create an
image that will look more pleasing and feel more professional.

Equipment:
Another big factor in any film is the movement of the camera. How it moves, should it move? What
meaning is created etc.
I will primarily be using two tools during this production. A tripod and a Steadicam.
I have used these two pieces of equipment a lot over the past two years and I feel quite comfortable with
both. Both pieces of equipment are complimentary, the Steadicam allows me to take the camera and
move it completely freely, while the tripod allows me to keep the camera perfectly in one spot.
Both of these will be absolutely essential in my film to showcase certain character traits and even
visually represent certain stages in the characters development.

Equipment:
Something that is very important in film is lighting. You need to make sure your shots are lit well. You
can’t always rely on natural light, nor can you always access natural light.
I will be using light reflectors for exterior shoots to ensure that characters are lit well without having too
much contrast in their faces, ensuring that they don’t loose detail in the appearance and faces.
When shooting interior shots I will be using soft boxes to craft the lighting exactly how I want it to look.
This will give me more creative control and it will allow me to make the scene more dynamic and for the
lighting to have meaning.
Especially in the interior shots of the white room I am going to block out all natural light as much as
possible and only use artificial lighting to light the scene.
This is for two reasons.
1. The room is supposed to be hidden away from the outside, so if the light resembles exterior light, it
would not make a lot of sense.
2. Since the room is entirely white, lighting will play an extremely large role in creating interest and
pushing the narrative forwards.

Equipment:
Audio may make up ½ if not 2/3 of a good film. Your video can look amazing, but poor audio will
absolutely ruin the film. However good audio can often elevate poor video (to a degree).
Since there is very little dialogue in my film, I will primarily be dubbing most of the sounds in post with
Foley recordings, recorded with a condenser microphone. However, the dialogue that I do need to record
on set Will be recorded using a shotgun microphone (rode ntg2) and a external sound recorder (Tascam
DR-60DMKII)
I will also be using a lower quality microphone that is on camera, this will allow me to get two sources of
audio, meaning I can have high quality audio and reference audio, as well as potentially being able to
switch between the two sources to get a certain effect or to show the difference between the real world
and the characters world.

Music
Something that is vastly important and essential to a good film (at least to me) is good music.
For me music can quite easily make a film look and feel professional and just as easily make a film feel cheap and well
student like.
So one of the things I worried about greatly is getting access to good music, soundtracks and SFX.
I already have access to a large library of SFX from my FMP last year, so I only needed to worry about Music and scores.
I knew that I wanted a song that was commonly known and had some nostalgia attached to it during the intro sequence.
That is why I turned to Karaoke-Version to see if I could access to their custom cover music.
After sending a few e-mails to explain what it is that I was making and what it would produce (in terms of revenue) I was
given explicit permission to use the music under a certain set of guidelines (which my film completely abides by)
For the music that would not be used for the intro and (or) outro, I simply will use Artlist. This is a commercial music
licensing website which I have already got access to after purchasing it for client work.
There is hundreds of songs on there with lots of different options and tools to find the right song for a specific scene.
I will use this music for scenes such as the Shadow dance or as subtle background music to build tension or show
emotion.

Editing
I think editing is easily the most overlooked part of most student films and I have always spent a (unhealthily) long time
editing, I think for my FMP last year I spent the better part of 2 and half weeks editing a 2:20 piece of film.
But this is because it is so easy for films to fall apart in the editing room.
My favourite quote about filmmaking is from one of the greatest editors of all time Walter Murch, in a documentary about
editing he said:
"When you cut a shot off, you've also cut off the thinking about that shot.” - Walter Murch
In other words, if you want to have an emotional impact on audience with a shot, where someone finds out their parent
has died for example, you can’t cut to the reaction for 14 frames and then cut to something else. Emotion takes time,
and the longer we hold a shot, the longer the audience has to think about what is happening and absorbing the frame,
making them think in more detail about what emotion and meaning is capture within the frame.
Another massively important factor for me is aesthetic and auditory quality. Though I don’t think you should ‘Fix it in post’
but I know for a fact that you can almost fix everything in post, so if there is something that needs fixing. FIX IT. Don’t
just ignore it and hope no one will notice, people will notice.
There is a reason why actors always want to befriend the editor, because they know, the editor can make or break their
performance.
I plan to edit in between shooting days, and out of the 6 weeks that I have left of production (since I don’t start filming
until week two of production) I have allocated about 2 weeks overall to filming and every non-shooting is allocated to
editing.

Editing
I want me editing run-down to roughly be as follows:
-Editing the dailies while shooting so that I have a rough scenes cut together
(each scene will be in a different project file, this will make it easier to manage)
-Having an extremely high concept draft edit done by the end of shooting
-Going over the draft edit and checking I have the best shots for each scene, shifting things around etc.
-Editing of sound and sound FX
-Fixing the edit so that it runs smoothly and harmoniously with the sound effects
-Any After Effects work that may be necessary.
-Colour Grading
I think this will allow for the fasted and smoothest work flow possible, as usually colour grades and AE video files are the most
taxing on an editing machine, so leaving those till last (Where possible) will allow for a much, much smoother editing process.
One factor that is important to consider is that I will be using different versions of premier pro at college and at home, so I will
need to download for example Davinici resolve 15 to the mac at college (since it’s a free software) this will allow me to not
having to constantly have to re-edit the same stuff, furthermore it will allow me to use the same project files.
Or I edit for example the dailies at college, and sound and colour at home (since it will be quitter and I can darken my room to
get more accurate colours.

My First Message and inquiry about the music
Their Response with information
request about the project.

My response with what the project is about and what songs I would like to use for the film.
Their response, agreement
and terms of use. Related to
my project and the music.

Cast and shooting dates
As I mentioned in my problem solving cast and crew would be one of the biggest problems facing
production. Simply because I can tell them to be somewhere at a certain time, I can plan and schedule
everything, but at the end of the day, I have to rely on them to turn up.
However, after having talked to my actors I have spoken to them, and arranged to meet them before the
shoots so that we can figure out the shooting dates in person.
I also will need to print out all and any scripts or story boards appropriate for all of the actors so that they
know both visually and in the writing material what is being filmed.
I have already started sending out draft versions of the script to get the cast comfortable with the story
and so they can get an idea of what it is that I am planning on making.
In terms of availability I have already checked that the key members of my production are available for
the shooting period.
My Main actor is only unavailable for 5 days, 2 of which are during the first week of production (where I
wont be shooting anyway)
This is fantastic as it means I will have a lot more freedom when it comes to filming and shooting dates.

Exterior sunset/sunrise shots to finish the
film

Just after he has escaped
his cell. The alleyway he
falls into.

The style I am going for with the white room is a grungy yet clinical room. That has
traces of Sci-Fi and a prison cell.
I want it to feel small and simple. The whole idea is that it is plain and bland. The
only interest that can be brought to the room is the character himself. Anything of
stimulation has to come from within the person inside the room.
It will have a single, small bed. It will have white pillows and bedding. There will be
no toilet or shower facilities.
It is going to be a very visually bland set but that is the whole objective, I want the
set to transform a little bit throughout the course of the production, such as the floor
being worn-out as the character walks too and from the little door/hatch, and the
bed/bedding becoming dirt and worn out.

Interior Colour scheme White room (sterile whites
monochromatic)
(Red is the only non sterile colour. Red light that
announces food, conversation, etc. stimulation.)

Locations
Aside from the white room itself I wanted the locations to be quite close together, however I did not want the locations to
look too similar nor did I want them to look like ‘York’ . I wanted to find locations that could belong more or less in any
city.
Another reason I needed all the locations to look as though they could belong to any city is because I will film some
scenes in York and some scenes in Whitby, let me elaborate.
This is because also really wanted to have a shot at the end of the film where the character is sat somewhere, where
and he can overlook a city. Since there was no-where like that in York, I decided to look at Whitby (where my main actor
is currently living).
There (using google maps) I found the perfect spot, looking up at the city from a harbour pier.
The reason I really wanted a location & shot like this is because I wanted a shot where the character looks at a large
city, and he is excited because he sees so much potential for exploration, and within the city there are so many people
that he could meet and talk too.

Where the set
will
be built (terrible

(potentially location
for the intro
sequence, far
away from the
other intro
sequence
locations)

Locations that are very close together

These following streets are all going to act more or less in the same way. They are
all Locations that will be used during the intro sequence of the film.
These will be used as the character walks straight towards the camera (which is
constantly tracking backwards) as we match cut through the different locations.
These locations all have the pros that they do not particularly look like a specific
city, rather just that could be in any city.

Locations that are further away

This location is near the
railway station.
Pros-
Relatively compact in terms
of space. No sense of size or
scale, great to use for
intercutting between the two
cities.
Quite secluded not a lot of
people.
Cons-
Right next to the train
station so audio might be an
issue.
Far away from the other
shooting locations so it could
be difficult for actors to get to
the shoots.

This location is next to
Nunnery Lane car park.
Pros-
Relatively compact in
terms of space. No
sense of size or scale,
great to use for
intercutting between
the two cities.
Quite secluded not a lot
of people.
Cons-
Right next to the train
station so audio might
be an issue.
Far away from the other
shooting locations so it
could be difficult for actors
to get to the shoots.

Out Door colour scheme intro sequence (Muted browns and yellows

This is the alleyway in which Kurt is both abducted
and wakes up in after he escapes.
It is nice and narrow causing the claustrophobic
feeling.
Pros-
Pretty Much spot on for what I need.
It is in York, easy to access.
Cons-
Its near the center of town, very busy lots of people.
Relatively Recognizable and therefore it will be more
difficult to have seamless transitions between the two
cities.

Out Door Colour Schemes alleyway (Blue Hour & Grungy)

Exterior final scene (overlooking city)

The character will be
sat in this position
overlooking the city
(Whitby) as the final
shots of the film play
out.
Pros-
Location is close to
me and to actor.
Has good views for
what I want.
Has the potential
for a colour full
sunset.
Even if it’s a bright
sunset camera will
be able to deal with
Dynamic range.
A little more
secluded less
chance of severe
wind noise.
Cons-
Near Water.

The character will be sat in
this position overlooking the
city (Whitby) as the final shots
of the film play out.
Pros-
Location is close to me and
to actor.
Has the perfect views for
what I want.
Has the potential for a
colour full sunset.
Even if it’s a bright sunset
camera will be able to deal
with Dynamic range.
Cons-
Near Water.
Very exposed to weather
and wind.
Good chance of wind noise.
Potential Tourists.

Sunset
would here
During
April.
(out of
scene)
Good for dynamic will
allow me to capture to
colours and mood
without having to
worry about an
extremely bright
sunset with a dark
foreground.
(easier to colour
grade)
Sunlight coming this way

Out Door Colour Schemes Sunset peer (Golden hour & Hot Reds deep purples)

This is the café which will be used during the intro scene as an introduction to the
main character.
This venue will be used to showcase how antisocial the character is.
There will be people talking all around him while he sits alone on his laptop and

5. pre production (updated wuth script)

5. pre production (updated wuth script)

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