An idea for folks to try out

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Alan
Posts: 15
Joined: Mon Jan 14, 2013 8:10 am

An idea for folks to try out

Post by Alan »

Wasn't sure where to put this, but it seemed as good a place as any...

We had a new starter at work late last year and it turned out he was a film maker (never heard of the IAC - although I have got him putting a film in this years BIAFF!).

Anyway between Christmas and New Year I went round his house and his actor matey turned up and we decisded to do a film making workshop. What we did was pick a scene from a film and re-shot it.

The purpose of this was to learn how to set up a scene, light it, get the camera angles, shot variety, prectice the acting and directing, camera moves, editing, gettingthe importance of sound...well, just about everything to do with film making really! We did add our own flavour to it a bit as well, including my poor attempt at an American accent that is heavily modified...

The scene we decised to re-shoot was from The Matrix; the one where Neo gets woken up by his computer. I have copied the link below so you can have a laugh at what we did. Perhaps this might be an idea for a new topic where people do scene re-shoots to practice their film making and learn from the pros. I believe this is something they do at film school too. Anyway, enough of me yapping on. Here it is:



For the gear geeks, like me, we used the following:

- Camlink tripod,
- Hauge slider
- Rode NG2 mic plus boom
- Just one table lamp bought on the day from Argos!
- Sony PNW-EX1 with matt box and focus puller
- Edited on Sony Vegas Pro 12
- Matrix colour grading

And that's it really. We did creat a sho list and story board to simily by taking photos off the screen of each shot from the scene in the film. Also videoed the scene on my phone to have quick play back 'on set'...ok in the kitchen - hehehe. Worked a treat and a lot was learnt in to process.

Hope it is of interest.

Alan
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TimStannard
Posts: 1225
Joined: Fri Feb 11, 2011 5:20 pm
Location: Surrey

Re: An idea for folks to try out

Post by TimStannard »

Fantastic job, Alan, and a great idea.
Out of interest, how long did it take you to shoot (I accept planning is on top of this)?
Tim
Proud to be an amateur film maker - I do it for the love of it
Alan
Posts: 15
Joined: Mon Jan 14, 2013 8:10 am

Re: An idea for folks to try out

Post by Alan »

Thanks for you kind comments.

Ok, well....

Planning...about 2 hours: watching the film, photographing each shot and putting them into a shot list with description etc.

Filming...about 3 hours: setting up, doing the envelope shots before the actor arrived, setting up each shot and practicing the camera move, doing a few takes of each shot. The last bit was hand held as folks were in a bit of a rush, but it kinda worked.

Editing ...from 22:30 to 01:30!! So three hours. That was for the first edit. Then probably three hours after that getting it right, working through Skype and You Tube with the other chappy.

So I guess about 11 hours altogether for that 1 min 37secs! Hehehe :D I bet that is not far off the normal film production rate for film. But it pays off. There are still a few things that could be tweaked, but you draw the line and impliment them into the next one...whenever that is!

I have to say it was the best thing I ever did. It is the closest I've ever got to producing something that has a proper film look to it.

Anyway, I would recommend it to anyone. Maybe we could have a new topic area for people to show off their film scene re-shoots. It's certainly a great way to learn and improve your film making capability.

Alan
john ingham
Posts: 221
Joined: Tue May 22, 2012 7:29 am
Location: Exmouth

Re: An idea for folks to try out

Post by john ingham »

great idea
Keep trying, for one day you will get it right
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TimStannard
Posts: 1225
Joined: Fri Feb 11, 2011 5:20 pm
Location: Surrey

Re: An idea for folks to try out

Post by TimStannard »

Alan wrote: So I guess about 11 hours altogether for that 1 min 37secs! Hehehe :D I bet that is not far off the normal film production rate for film. But it pays off.
You're kidding me! I thought that generally estimates are one day per page of script for shooting only - and I suspect this is a page of script.

Of course, once planned (if planned properly) this should be quicker as you already have the template for the shots and editing. However, I think that's a particularly good work rate.

We also have to bear in mind that if you were making a typical drama, you would most likely have other scenes at the same location which would be shot at the same time, so this would increase your productvity even further.
Tim
Proud to be an amateur film maker - I do it for the love of it
Alan
Posts: 15
Joined: Mon Jan 14, 2013 8:10 am

Re: An idea for folks to try out

Post by Alan »

Well I know that one page of a script equals one minute of film. So we did just a page and a half of script I guess. If a day's work is eight hours, then it seems like we were bob-on with 11 hours to produce that sequence.

You are right though, if you are shooting more and there are efficiencies to be made with planning to make it slicker.

We're planning on doing another workshop this weekend, weather permitting. Not sure what we are doing though!

Has anyone else had a go at doing this. It would be good for folks to post them and see how they turn out.

Alan
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