After years of saving and some birthday money I was able to buy my DSLR Canon camera: right in time for PRP! It’s amazing to be able to use a DSLR Camera and I was excited to use it - the down side to it being my new camera was I had no idea how to use it and what I soon found out was it wasn’t as easy as point a shoot! Now I had to learn all about the technical side of using a DSLR.
Learning my way around my DSLR was made easier by the book The Digital Filmmaking Handbook by Mark Brindle and The Video Camera Handbook by Nigel Taylor. Please CLICK the link to find out more about what these books taught me.
A tricky start with the Mic, when test recording (as many film makers advised me to do) I could hear a lot of static, after watching this youtube video linked the problem was solved and I was ready to go!
It had to be bought because... well... I'm a film maker now!?
In order to get them steady stills. Purchase via link.
I also needed a piece of equipment that would stabilise my shots as I know most of the directors I chose use long tracking shots and these are normally always steady. The trouble I had was the equipment that was going to get the perfectly stable shots cost £500+ so I had to settle for something with less of a price tag, that lay in the hands of a shoulder mount purchased from Amazon at £35. Of course, the performance of a £35 stabiliser wasn’t going to be equal of that of a professional £500+ one or the Hollywood film crews £10’000+ but I was going to give it my best shot - literally. Purchase via link.
THE EQUIPMENT
A summary of the equipment used. CLICK pictures for more details and links!
BACK TO THE QUESTION
Is it possible to create 3 short films in the style of 3 of the worlds best directors on a limited budget and resources using the same basic narrative structure for each?
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My (optimistic) prediction of the result - That it is possible to create 3 films in the style of 3 top directors on a limited budget. Now reality - I may find some styles more achievable than others OR I might find them all hard and non work… lets hope it isn’t the latter!
WRITING
The power of the three directors I chose have is that they can choose scripts they want to direct OR production companies see a script which they instantly see matching the directors style. I didn’t have this luxury, I had to choose a script that could work for all three directors. This proved to be very difficult. Look at it like trying to fit a size 6 (glass slipper) on a size 10, a size 1 and a size 4 foot. I started off with big story lines looking at issues but I would decide on story which may only fit one director and not work for the other two. Then I went to more mundane scenes, perhaps just two people talking at a bar or someone getting ready in the morning but then the set design would let me down, my all white modern bathroom would need completely retailing for Wes Anderson, and completely messed up and chipped and stained for Fincher - something I don’t think my landlord would be best pleased about. I decided to water the narrative down a little so that I had some creative freedom just as the directors would. I needed a script that would allow me to get around the set design issues. This meant creating a narrative structure rather than a script. I decided to give myself a few rules that each film would have to follow:
• Intro character before taking a drug.
• The character consuming a drug.
• An insight into the characters trip on this drug.
• A conclusion to the drug taking.
• At least one interaction with another character.
 Conor Ledger |  Conor Ledger |
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Casting Announced...
 Wes Anderson's Characters |  Fincher's Characters |  Hitchcock's Characters |
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CASTING
Blog Two
Next step - CASTING! For my Alfred Hitchcock film the actor had to look period. Of course an actor wasn’t going to get their haircut for my PRP so their hair had to adapt to the style. Fincher’s casting would align with his grungy look, although Fincher has of course used Brad Pitt (Fight Club) - arguably one of the best looking leading men, he tends to tone the glitz and glam out and shows us real people. Wes Anderson of course has an unusual style and his castings can sometimes fall in line with this, normally its just a small detail, their size, height, ethnicity, age ect.
I went through everyone in my year and falling into all these categories was Conor Ledger. He can slick his hair back and has quite a retro dress sense anyway so he would suit Hitchcock. His curly locks makes him a bit quirky and his curls could also have connotation of the curly jumbled brain of the character, just like a few of Andersons characters. His working class city upbringing and cockney accent along with his headshot made him fitting for Fincher’s grunge/urban style.
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WHO SAID ART WASN'T SCIENTIFIC
The Question: Is it possible to create 3 short films in the style of 3 of the worlds best directors on a limited budget and resources using the same basic narrative structure for each?
Getting to the question wasn’t as simple as that ^
I wanted to make a few short films that allowed me to play and live in the shoes of some of the greatest directors of our time. Directors that would take me completely out of the basics. That ended up being Alfred Hitchcock - An all time classic, Wes Anderson - A symmetrical crazy colour creator and David Fincher a darker, grungy style. Now a question such as ‘To find out which directorial approach I enjoy the most’ (which is similar to the first question I pitched to my supervisor) who of course was kindly passed back to me, wasn’t going to be sufficient enough. I had to dig deeper. Luckily, Chris my supervisor knew a project similar to what I was going for and sent it me for inspo.
This project was called ‘5 Truths by Katie Mitchell’ an installation from the National Theatre. Katie looked at 5 different theatre practitioners: Brecht, Artaud, Stanislavski, Grotowski and Peter Brook. Katie Mitchell followed similar premises as the project I wanted to follow. One aspect I liked in particular, was Katie used the same actress and the same script. After watching all 5 I realised that using the same actor and the same script was fundamental in comparing directors and making my three pieces cohesive. Its kind of like in a science project where you have to keep all the variables the same to make it a fair test. I realised that in the 5 different mini movies it was the narrative and atmosphere that changed. The atmosphere in Artaud was darker - a green colour, it made me feel uncomfortable but intrigued, it was in your face. This in comparison to the atmosphere of Brooks style, everything is slightly more sat back on, it pulls me in to question rather than push me away and question. The feelings and atmosphere created must have come through the practitioners style and approach which I find fascinating. I wanted this within mine, so I decided to use the same narrative and actor.
THE BEGINNINGS
Blog One
A few months ago it was just me and a blank piece of paper. My mind began pulling ideas from everywhere, scribbling, erasing and the occasional break... until I stripped everything back and asked myself - Do I want to Act, Direct or Write? I whittled this down quickly. The course I currently attend is an acting course, I've been marked and had the opportunity to learn from marks and feedback on my acting for almost three years. This was an opportunity to learn about another sector of the industry - in doing this I would also gain some knowledge of 'the other side of the table’, subsequently enriching my acting knowledge as well as my chosen role. Writing was something I was really keen on. I have recently won a competition for BBC Writers Room and then had some work put on for Take Back Theatre in Manchester and on the Radio for Bamalam Productions. I had writing that I could already develop, but I questioned if this was me taking the easy option. Of course my experience and knowledge of writing is very little, but at least I have some experience. The same can't be said for directing, which is a role I have always wanted to have a go at. So it was decided I was going to direct.
Now… which format? I decided to go with the format of recorded. This is for a number of reasons:
1. I knew hardly anything about operating a camera and wanted to learn so I was able to make my own work after graduation, work that and didn’t really require and rehearsal spaces or rental of theatre/space.
2. Understand the technical language used on set from the crew and directors so that I could understand if questioned or included in a conversation.
3. Enrich my own personal style as a creative in todays industry.
4. I could improve my skills, editing being one example, so that I can produce a better quality self tapes and could create my own work without having to pay someone to edit.
5. It is a format I could widely share more with professionals and friends and family.