#on-set production

[marafilmblog]

Sound Recording

Lav Mic techniques:

I learned a lot this semester from my first experiences of using lav mics and figuring out how and where to place them for optimal comfort and sound quality.

My experiences this semester have been placing mics in and behind ties, the collars of shirts, in jumpers and scarves and more...

Each time has been a different challenge and I’ve learned things do to differently next time on each set. I’ve always carried tape with me when sound recording and it has come in very handy.

I have found that even though I believe I have secured the mic properly, there may still be a lot of noise from the actors costume and movement and even jewellery.

I have also looked online for some extra hints and tips for fastening lav mics. I took notes on some of my favourites:

‘Button Hole Rig’: This is done by attaching a button to the capsule of the lav and placing it through a buttonhole then taping the wire to the interior of the shirt. This means you are able to disguise the mic while getting clear, crisp sound with no clothing noises as the capsule is exposed. This is a technique which will work better on interior shoots.

‘Paperclip Spacer’: Using a paperclip to create an air pocket around the capsule of the mic. This can reduce clothing and movement noises by creating a guard and pocket of space between the mic and costume. This is a cheaper alternative to products already sold and works well with jackets, heavier shirts and jumpers.

I also found this video educational:

[filmsrus]

CLASS WITH TIM COURTNEY

This week in on-set production, we had BAFTA winner Tim Courtney, a director from Inverness, come in and give us a lecture and do a blocking exercise with us.

We watched his BAFTA winning short, My Loneliness is Killing Me, which we talked about how he made. He met with the actors beforehand and got to know them on a personal level, finding things they had in common before the shoot. He spoke of the minimal soundtrack in it, that he likes to see and hear the spaces - the background noises and the breathing of the characters for example, to help the audience connect.

He annotates scripts by actioning a lot of the heavier dialogue to note dow what the character is thinking and feeling when saying the line, which I have been doing for Closing Night and it has definitely helped a lot to move things forward on set.

Scripts are constantly being amended after every HOD meeting where someone expresses a concern about the script regarding their department. Scripts should have 'Amend #' at the bottom.

HIS TIME IN TV

Courtney directed a few episodes of Hollyoaks. He said that soaps are a great training ground for directors as it forces you to think on your feet and use creative ways to solve problems efficiently, as well as teaching you to work in teams of crew and even cast who you may have never even met before.

He would first read the scripts then meet the team, ask questions and give suggestions knowing that they may not be taken as he is only jumping onto the project and does not have as much control as if it was his. It is the producers' project - not his. He has to be fully prepared to explain his plans to the DOP as only a few days later shooting begins so any special equipment has to be requested from the producers immediately. He would only get around an hour to meet only the main cast beforehand and would have only around 20 minutes to set up, block and shoot a scene. You had to get creative to have as little set ups as possible, keeping the shotlist simple. Soaps are very talkative with minimal action to churn them out as quickly as possible so getting the eyeline right is about the most important thing, rather than elaborate set ups.

He spoke of how all of this helped in his own projects as he went from shooting 30 pages in one day on Hollyoaks to around 6 a day in shorts. I definitely understand where he is coming from as during our rehearsals for Closing Night, we had only 2 hours to set up, block and shoot what we have set aside 6 hours for for the actual shoot, which makes me feel a lot more confident for our time management on set.

Andrew spoke of how in order to get onto a higher end TV production, you must have a certain number of hours of work logged in TV. I think I will definitely try to get onto Rivercity or something like that when I'm back from Germany as it sounds like great experience.

SCRIPT SUPERVISORS

Tim spoke of his newfound appreciation in script supervisors as he never had one on MLIKM, but said that on Hollyoaks his right hand was his 1AD and his second was his script supervisor. He described the role of a script supervisor really well, it made me realise that I didn't have a full understanding of it beforehand.

He recommended a book to us that expands on all of this more: Directors Tell The Story by Bethany Rooney and Mary Lou Belli.

A script supervisor is a second pair of eyes for the director - directing can be a pretty lonesome job but this is the person you can ask questions and ask for suggestions and bounce off of. They will know best if you have enough coverage, if there's a possibility for a better take. They may notice things you don't.

IN PREP:

you can ask your scripty 'how did you read that?' they will also have questions prepared and will take notes on your answers

This is especially handy on soaps when theres 15 interlinking storylines that have to be kept on top of.

ON-SET:

The scripty will annotate the script, drawing lines to represent what part of the script each slate covers, labelling that line with the slate and take number, and noting down a simple shot description such as 'wide'. They will also circle the slate/take that the director likes the most, and may also note down what one they think is best too.

They will also be taking continuity notes. For example, if a character crosses their arms in a script, they will note which arm goes above with a little doodle even and make sure that it stays consistent. This of course creates some devise between actors and the 'continuity police' as actors are told that their amazing performance is not usable because they stepped forward at the wrong beat or something. Especially when you're on a soap and don't know your actors.

IN POST:

They are the middleman between the director and editor. This is especially important in soaps where you only have 3 days for the edit, meaning the editor doesn't have time to watch all the rushes and will just go off the notes for the best takes. On soaps or reality TV shows like Love Island, the edit basically begins on-set, with precise note-taking.

Andrew said that he has had editors on set edit the footage as they film to get a rough idea of what you're missing and what is working - eliminate any surprise and ensure there is no continuity issues.

FLOORPLANS

Tim showed us one of his floorplans and talked us through the blocking stage.

He started with this position but it makes the characters quite closed in as the camera is pointing at the radiator and the desk, not the big open space.

He then condensed it to two more interesting shots and gave the D's character a more interesting movement. The DP wanted to keep the wide to capture D's face at his second point by the sofa, instead they compromised and Tim got D to turn around to the camera by the desk when delivering his lines. As D is not the main character, Tim argued that he doesn't need that close up on just him by the sofas.

Tim spoke of the difference between TV and Film DOPs. The former want to get the job done, the latter want to achieve a cinematic look. Of course this is not a rule but is the norm.

Tim told us to always have a call sheet on us as director to know everyones name. Andrew also told us to print off the actors' names and characters names, laminate them, and stick them to the camera so the DOP can refer to actors by their name when asking for things to do with blocking.

BLOCKING EXERCISE

We did a blocking exercise which I directed. It was pretty nerve wracking to do so infront of Tim as I obviously wanted to give a good impression but he revealed a lot of gaps in our learning and understanding of a film production which I had to adapt to on the spot. I'm not sure how much of the year I can speak on behalf of, but it appears as though almost all of us were under the impression that the blocking is up to the director but the shotlist is up to the DOP. This however is not true. A director should have at least a rough shotlist for the DOP for their first meeting - it is all up to the director. I'm not sure how so many of us were under this wrong impression for the last two years but I have since, as director, taken the shotlist that Ben, our DOP, for Closing Night, started to make and refined it and added to it, as before I thought that that would be me overstepping my role.

As we started running out of time, Tim swooped in and managed to condense the 3 shots I had planned into 1 through blocking. It was really impressive and interesting to see. It was a great exercise for that reason - it makes you realise how much you can capture with minimal set ups. I have already started trying to apply this where appropriate to the film I'm directing and the one i'm DOP on.

This was definitely one of the best classes we had. Big thanks to Andrew for organising that for Tim for giving us his time.

[hinamie]

realizing how much i like drawing him a million years too late :<

[ariaste]

Me: [sees everyone talking about how Assad Zaman was "literally" coming up with RPF about himself and Eric Bogosian in an interview]

Me: ah, fandom's doing its little "interpret an innocent comment in Some Kind Of Way" thing again, let's go find the video and do our own critical thinking about what was actually said here--

Assad: What would happen if I said-- [words that cannot be interpreted as anything but RPF fanfic]

Me:

Me: ok fandom gets a pass on this one actually

[sofiaruelle]

Commission for the lovely @flowerandthesongstress of our fave triad, Sam, Abigail and Sebastian basking in the afterglow of a very productive band practice.

The Companion piece

[puppetmaster13u]

Prompt 334

So. Danny has discovered he might erm, might be technically a necromancer. At least as far as magic is concerned. Like even if it’s just via resurrecting himself the magic side of things (god, he’s more scientist- sided dangit) count it as such. 

Which means that half the time someone tries to summon a necromancing-esque being, he’s the one who gets tugged if he’s even a centimeter within range. It was annoying enough in high school, it’s no less annoying in this world they’ve all moved to. 

On the bright side, thanks to also being half dead himself, the summonings and other rituals can’t actually drag him somewhere. It just causes him to feel like someone was crushing a lung or two, which honestly nothing new. (Gosh were those days of vigilante work really that violent? Huh, guess they were)

What he wasn’t expecting was for a tiny child, a living child, to track him down despite him not existing legally or anything similar in this world, to revive their previous local child vigilante. Which like, hey, first of all, he has a few questions? Just a couple and yeah sure, he’ll shake on it- can he have your name first there kid…? 

Tim, on the other hand, is getting a little concerned when he realizes a lot of the questions the probable-fae keeps asking are in line with the stuff CPS asks. (Unknown to him, that is exactly where Danny is getting several of his questions about this scrawny vigilante kid. Erm. He might have to take the kid, for like, his own safety- hey Frostbite he needs your help he has some questions-) 

[curatorofthisdigitalmorass]

ALIEN: ROMULUS (2024) - Production Design by Naaman Marshall

[midydoof]

Me and @the-obnoxious-sibling have been having a lot of fun with the new vivre cards this whole week.

Bonus actual home life drawing:

[justafriend-ql]

reminder to all gifmakers that your work is always a unique, valuable contribution to the community. even if someone has already giffed that scene. even if you're not 100% happy with the coloring. even if it doesn't get many notes because sometimes people only look at the 'top' posts in the tags (which are usually just the first posts on the scene after an episode drops).

frankly, the culture of expecting gifs to be made within 15 minutes of an episode airing and only reblogging posts made within that timeframe is stressful and unsustainable for creators, and it prevents people from discovering and appreciating the wonderful diversity and abundance of work that can be found here.

follow your favorite gifmakers, reblog generously, and have some compassion for people that devote their time to making beautiful things <3

[chimaeraonwards]

no ai generated content will ever compare to the absolutely cartoonishly evil plot to cut down trees to prevent workers from striking to get livable wage.

[denastudio]

I was always obsessed with the pearlescent pink poker chips in Marie Antoinette (2006)

[marafilmblog]

Sound Recording

Kit List:

This is a simple sound kit list I like to send to producers or book for my own crew.

Sound Devices MixPre 3 – Recorder and Mixer

MKH50 Shotgun Mic

Sennheiser Portable Wireless Radio Mic x2

URSA Radio Mic Waist Transmitter Belt x2

Boom Pole - Large

[filmsrus]

CREATIVE EXERCISE 2

Feeling: nostalgia

Sophie and I decided to make a short following a mum cleaning up after her 7 year old's birthday party while the kids play in another room. We wanted to capture the emotion a parent feels as their child ages - the fear of time slipping away - that they'll blink their eyes and soon their child will be leaving for uni - the urge to cherish every moment - for time to slow down. We talked about how this might be the mum's memory of the cleanup - a moment she remembers because its when she first had the massive realisation that her daughter is getting older.

We shot this on a Lumix GH5 II with a pair of tights over a 18-35mm zoom lens. We cut a hole in the middle of the tights which creates a haziness around the edges, whilst focusing nicely on the centre of the frame. There are certain takes where due to the lighting and aperture, the tights are more visible, we tried to make the effect as consistent as possible but we were on a time crunch so there is definitely room for improvement. However, I think the tights did us a huge favour - the soft focus is dreamy and feels nostalgic. It feels like a warm memory.

The sun was on the other side of our house and there was a lot of cloud cover which meant that the view from our window was just white. I think this however worked in our favour as the blown out background makes sense for this feeling of nostalgia - its like a memory where you can't quite remember what the weather was like that day.

I made a floor plan and we dressed the set together, Sophie mostly shot it as I had to act and then I edited it and figured out how to make the free sound of children playing muffled, as though its coming from a different room by playing with the EQ.

For lighting, because we don't have any professional lights, we used natural daylight and two warm lamps. One overhead and one pointing at the wall with the chalkboard as that part of the kitchen was in shadow, which created some shadows which were mostly annoying but also made for some interesting shots - such as my shadow on the chalkboard.

Below is our colour palette. We wanted to make things warm, bright and colourful.

For the production design, me and Sophie ventured out to the big sainsburys with a shopping list. We wanted to get all the essentials - balloons, paper plates and cups, napkins, and of course a cake, which we chose to be chocolate to make it as messy as possible. We got a few birthday cards too and I wrapped some cardboard boxes in gift wrap. I drew little kid drawings to put on the wall and Sophie cleaned our kitchen chalkboard and wrote Classic Mum Things on it - things like 'Lily Football Wednesday at 6' or 'buy OJ'. We had to make things look messy - we smeared chocolate everywhere, left soggy and half bitten sweets on the table, spilt dilutant juice on the table and knocked cups over. I even dipped my fingers in the chocolate icing to leave chocolate fingerprints on the cups (which was awful). We also found any childish looking bracelets or teddies or toys that we had around the flat and to make things look more lived in, we put fridge magnets on the fridge and plants in the kitchen.

Below is a photo of our kitchen before we got started

[csuitebitches]

Crafting a Personality and Capitalising on it

How do we craft a personality that is socially charming yet true to our roots?

How do we mingle and meet new people without feeling awkward or shy about it?

How do we not lose ourselves while following all these blah blah etiquette rules?

Welcome to part 2 of my Chic Girl Mentality series. 🤍

Today, we will focus on crafting a personality that is still you but better.

First, let’s talk about people in social settings. You’ll meet people who are confident, secure and socially charming. You’ll meet quiet people who may be equally socially charming or just very shy and conscious. You’ll meet the braggers and the doe-eyed followers. There’s a lot of different types of people in the world and knowing how to gracefully navigate most of them is nothing but a learned art.

People, regardless of their bank balance, are insecure of what they do not have yet. This can be looks, money, experience, lifestyle, and so on. How do we capitalise on this without exploiting or manipulating anyone?

By knowing how to tell a story.

That doesn’t mean that you need to become a public speaker or politician, it just means that you need to be able to craft intriguing stories about yourself, using your own life and experiences, to “sell” an interesting version of you socially. We’re all interesting people but only a few of us know how to say that we’re interesting without saying that we’re interesting.

Experience 

People, even those with money, will always be more attracted to those who have experiences, especially, unique ones. Whether it’s travelling to exotic locations or trying new culinary destinations, or wearing unknown designers, knowing obscure artists or writers, or being at the top of your industry… experience is the most important thing to cultivate first.  You already have experience. If you went to school, high school, college, joined clubs, your first job, any travelling, etc - these are all experiences.

Make a list of 5 of the most interesting experiences you think you have.

Hobbies and interests 

Have a couple of lowkey hobbies that you feel enthusiastic about. Whether it’s doing some charity work on Sundays, or cooking, or pottery, whatever it is, keeping a hobby is healthy. 

There should be something to you that an acquaintance can remark about: “CSB? Oh yes, I’ve heard that she’s a great dancer.” 

Vulnerabilities 

Certain vulnerabilities must never, ever be shared. It will 100% be used either as gossip or blackmail. 

However, coming across as someone with no weaknesses is rather untrustworthy- it makes the other person feel that you’re clearly hiding something. 

Make a list of vulnerabilities that are small and you don’t mind sharing. These should be vulnerabilities that will never ruin your reputation in any form but can be used as a form of bonding with empathy. 

And make a list of hard core vulnerabilities you know you should never share with anyone. Keep it memorised rather than written down. 

Experience + Hobbies or Interests + Safe Vulnerabilities = Personality

Storytelling 

Now that you have some experience, hobbies, interests, and your “safe” vulnerabilities sorted even if it’s limited - what will make it stand out is the art of storytelling. Some storytellers can make even the most mundane experiences sound magical - it’s all in the words and delivery. There’s a reason why every Holy Book is a story, packed with lessons and morals - it’s impactful, easy to remember and recall and relatable. Craft your experiences into stories. Use those 5 experiences that you noted down and start writing them down as stories.

Take up an online storytelling class or watch videos. Start honing this skill by writing and reading good literature. 

Refine your 5 experiences further. Run it through chatGPT, say them out loud and most importantly- start testing them out on people. See what makes them chuckle and what doesn’t; what makes them empathise and what doesn’t.

A famous comedian whose name I can’t remember does the same thing. He creates his set. He goes to a small pub and tries it out on the audience there. And the first set is always the first. The audience may not laugh at his jokes, they might boo him or sometimes, he might get a laugh out of them. But every time, he goes home and refines his set further. Once his set is fully refined, and he accomplishes his goal of the audience peeling with laughter at every joke, that’s when he goes on national TV / on tour etc etc.

The most important thing is to craft your stories of your experiences in a way that it delivers the value you want the person to remember about you.

For instance, if I want to be seen as creative and innovative, I won’t tell the person in front of me, “oh, I’m soo innovative and creative!”

Rather I will weave that into a story. “When I was 24, at my first job in the advertising space, we were losing clients left and right. And one weekend, I was on a trek on the mountains - it’s one of my hobbies - this idea hit me, and I suddenly knew exactly how to get our clients back. My team was hesitant about my idea, and we got a lot of pushback, but we went ahead. The night before my launch I was so nervous, I got hardly sleep. And you won’t believe it, but the idea worked! The response was fantastic.”

Let the other person come to the conclusion of you being innovative and creative. Human beings love to deduce things and jump to conclusions and provided you set the context the right way, you should be able to project the version of you that is the best part of you.

Vocabulary 

A sign of a good education- even if you don’t have it - is a diverse vocabulary. I’ve always had a little more respect and awe for those who are articulate, can speak smoothly and speak confidently. I’ve noticed that my American friends, for instance, tend to talk fast with lots of filler words, and sentences tend to end with a pitch up instead of down, which to me indicates hesitation or indecision. Speaking slower, ending your sentences with pitch going down to indicate a full stop rather than up makes you seem like a refined speaker even if your subject is utterly stupid. 

Body language and mannerisms, social interaction 

Watch old classic Hollywood movies to really understand this - especially romantic ones. Choose ones with a femme fatale or siren-like female lead, and watch how she enraptures the male lead or the audience around her. 

A combination of fantastic storytelling and body language will take you places beyond your dreams. Some of the biggest frauds, scammers, politicians, criminals are also some of the best storytellers. Humans are attracted to stories, we pick up body language intuitively, we can sense when someone is nervous or isn’t. Unfortunately the world isn’t a kind place and will not necessarily help you out of your shyness- in fact, that might just make you the best target for exploitation. 

Storytelling + Vocabulary + Body Language = Your Best Personality

[yourlocalabomination]

Your Wagon Is On Fire!

[lottiestudying]

19.03.2024—trying to get back into some study routines