kai Assistant director

Kai Sappleton During this assignment I was assigned to be assistant director as soon as we all arrived on location I was in charge on team productivity the first scene I was telling the crew the best places to film, the room we shot in was small so it was a challenge for me to place people in the correct space so we decided to only have 3 people in the room filming and doing sound the rest of the group was outside the room making sure unwanted background sound from the other group didn’t disturb us, On the second day I was helping out most of my group members providing assistance what where the most professional camera shots we could use this was made evident when we was filming on the high road and I suggested we used a long shot to give the impression someone was watching the character Snpes from a distance out of view. My other job role was lighting the scene when we was filming in the chip shop I chose to take the peg lights because we couldn’t depend lights in the building this helped even out the contrast of light in each shot I am satisfied watching the scots back how the lighting turned out. The weather was a consistent pain because we was filming in sunlight so we couldn’t film during an overcast because the continuity wouldn’t make sense I was helping Emanuel keep track of the weather so the scene look of high standards when kiren was filming the shots. When we came back from surrey our group still had some filming to do because we needed the actual London location to film in for the scenes. We also decided to do some additional filming it was my idea add a few voice overs of the main character to monologue over to connect the audience to the character more. Also I thought that the ending of our film could be improved on we are currently working of adding more elements such as a backstory to the drugs and the moral choices he has to live with because of his actions. My overall experience in surrey was a positive one I came back learning in order to produce a film of high level each eventuality has to be measured so we can adapted and overcome obstacles, even though the major obstacle we faced was the weather we still made an effort to just get on with it, I found it challenging to act and tackle my 2 job roles at the same time but I think I handled it well I am pleased with the overall outcome of the film, the only thing I would change if I could go back and improve on is adding more humour in the film.

Harlanfoster AD

Production Roles As assistant director my role was quite complicated and strenuous. As AD you have to be on your toes all the time, talking with your team making sure everything is up to date and everything is going to schedule. We faced a few problems but in the end everything pretty much went to plan. Location wasn’t what was promised and was slightly hindering as we planned to shoot in a town type location, but we turned the situation around by altering the script slightly by changing the last scenes location to the canyon and it all went swimmingly. During swindle I made sure I was aware of all my teammate’s issues and any problems that came up, for instance when we was in town we had a cock up with the sound. For some odd reason the phantom power wasn’t working, we quickly solved this by getting the local co-op to co-operate with us. Our camera man was using the D7, a very good camera visually and it had good connections for the mics we had to attach. Our production used tie clips and a boom both worked well with the only problem being batteries. We had a few disappointments in terms of what equipment was promised and what we ended up with, but in the end we pulled through and achieved the best possible quality of work with what equipment we had. An interesting change was our pub scene. It was originally being shot in a coffee shop but with the help of some networking and a friend called (star) we were able to shoot in the pub that Sherlock holms was written for several hours. Living quarters where quite close which made everything a whole lot more tricky. We all chipped in with the cooking and cleaning which we found out was an essential part of a film crew, I cooked on the first night. One of the hardest scenes to shoot was the break in scene. We were using the same room for two different scenes so we had to do a little rearranging of furniture, but nothing the team couldn’t handle. I also helped out the other group in their chip shop scene as an actor; the people made us feel very welcome and didn’t have a problem with us at all. All in all I feel our trip was a successful one, all scenes where filmed on the day we planned and we had shot every single one by the last day.

Producer of Swindle - Leydimila Alves

One of the responsibilities as a producer in Swindle was to create a shooting schedule. And because most of our scenes were during the night, the shooting schedule was created in a way in which we’d start filming as soon as we arrived in our location. We arrived in Surrey in the afternoon and before anything else, we went to buy food. As part of organising and managing the trip, both Swindle and Snipes’s producers wrote a shopping list in which would be enough to feed the whole class including teachers with breakfast, snacks and dinner. As predicted, by our shooting schedule we were only ready to start filming later in the night. However, because we were still settling in, it had taken us a few hours to film our first scene. One of the problems we faced during the first night was a functional crane and a second 7D camera. In addition to that, another obstacle we faced was the location not appropriate for the theme and idea our film was trying to portrait. We were forced to adapt the script into the locations we had available. As a producer, it was my responsibility to make sure the crew were ready and on time to film in each scene in order to keep up with the schedule. Therefore, me and Amy (Snipes’ producer) decided to be responsible of making breakfast each morning so that we’d also wake up everyone else on time. Because of this, our team was always on time and ready to work. Our team cooperate and helped with the cleaning up. Each morning, every crew member was given a call sheet. This included everyone else’s contact number, crew members needed for each scene that day, the location and time. We travelled to the nearest high street that morning, to film the opening sequence. Everything went according to plan, the weather was good and the location wasn’t too busy. During the lunch break, me and Vedant (Director) contacted our local friend ‘Star’ who knew a pub in the village appropriate to film one of ours scenes. He introduced us to the manager of the pub and in that same afternoon, we shot the scene there. These were our only outdoor scene and the weather forecast predicted rain, fortunately, it was a very sunny afternoon and no artificial light was needed. During evening of the second day of shooting, we planned to film our main scene. In this scene, the characters Scarlet and Ted had to break into Ivan Belik’s living room and steal his diamond. As part of our scenario, the director (Vedant) planned to use broken mirrors to reflect lasers across the room; however, it did not go as planned. Because we didn’t know how the cottage would look like, we could not plan the scenario before travelling to our location. Meaning, a lot of time was spent but we did not manage to get the reflections to work. Therefore we decided to add the effects of lasers during the edit. Another problem we faced when filming inside the Hostel was the noise upstairs. Because it was such a tiny cottage, any noise made, was heard downstairs. We resolved this by informing the other team every time they hear our assistant director (Harlan), shouts ‘Action’ and to avoid making noise. In the third day of filming it was raining constantly, and the other group needed one of our main characters Alex (Harlan) in their film; so decided to film our interior scenes first. Later that evening, we planned to film our last scene; Where Ivan Belik would meet Celine once again and his greed for the diamond would kill him when he jumped for it from a tall building. This scene includes gun shots, dialogues, and dramatic turns. . Our abilities in film making were tested because we did not have enough time to think of special effects or action for our dramatic ending to the film. All of our main characters would come together and all the questions answered and everything would now make sense.Unfortunately, in Surrey there was no building that matched our idea. We travelled to ‘The Devil’s Punch Bowl’, and adapted the script to match the location. It was the last night of the trip, and we intended to use it wisely and carefully because this was also the last scene in the script so we focused on making it as best as possible. However, we were only given 45 minutes to film a scene with a lot of action and dialogue. So the director had to quickly adapt the script together with the Cameraman (Jordan) to make sure every character and action was caught on camera. As the producer, I had to make sure everyone and everything we needed for that scene was with us. This was our last night in Surrey and would not get a second chance in this location. Although it was raining, thankfully, everything went well. The fog gave the location an effect of mystery, along with the cliff hanger where all the main characters of Swindle got together for the big ending. All the questions given to the audience was answered. We decided to leave our last morning as spare time in case we needed to re-shoot or if we got ourselves behind schedule. Because the production schedule went smoothly, everything was shot according to schedule and spent the last morning, cleaning and packing all the equipment back into the van.

My job roles in surrey - Belle designer (swindle)

My role as the designer was to make sure that all the actors had the right props and costumes that they needed for the duration of the filming process as well as being in charge of the set design. Although I did not face many problems in my job role during the filming process I found the pre-production stage the most difficult. I had to go through the script with the director and write down what props were needed for each scene as well as what each actor would be wearing in different scenes.as we had not been given a budget we had to find the best resources we could with the money we had. I told each character what outfits they would be needing to bring and for what scene. When we got to the location it was a lot different to how we would imagine it would look like and envisioned in the script, the space within the house was very small, cramped and cluttered, but we had to make the most of what we had to work with and slightly adapt the script to fit in with what we could do with the set up. The most difficult scene to set up was the break in scene; it took a very long time to set up due to the fact that we had to clear a lot of the furniture out of the room to make it look less like someone’s living room. We had planned to use a green laser and small mirrors so that the light bounced off them and created a laser maze around the diamond in the middle, but we found it very difficult to position all the mirrors correctly, even if it was a couple of millimetres out the laser light would not hit it correctly, so once all the mirrors were positioned we had to make sure that no one moved the sofas or mirrors. The setup of the diamond was presented extremely well, we had it positioned on top of three small pillars and a satin cushion with the 6 pressure pads around it, in the dark with the fire flaming behind it gave it a beautiful overall effect. Overall there was not a lot of problems in the prop and costume department, all the people were wearing the correct clothing that they needed and we had a lot of props that looked really good when they were all set up correctly. Being in surrey was a great experience as it gave us a feel for what a real industry shoot would be like, our team all worked well together and although we were faced with a few problems through the duration of the trip we overcame it and found a way to get all the footage we needed in the way we wanted as well as meeting the schedule deadlines.

Rupal Solanki Assisant Producer

My role in Surrey was Assistant Producer; being an Assistant Producer I had to make sure no problems occurred and if any occurred I was the person to sort it out and fix it. I had to make sure everything was going according to plan. I also carried around a blue folder everywhere with me as it had important documents inside which included all scripts, production schedules, locations and call lists etc. Every Morning our group would discuss our production schedule and what we were doing on that day so I had to hand out all the scripts and production schedule on that day. The Producer and me worked closely together and discussed what is happening, and if anything occurred she would tell me to fix it or is equipment was missing I had to get someone to get it etc. Day 1 – On the first day we got to Surrey, we decided to film the indoor scene where Snipes is looking for drugs, the room we filmed in was really small so only a few people were allowed inside, which included me, Kieran (Camera), Neil (Sound) and Snipes (Kai). I was there to oversee what was happening, I also gave my input in the scene and talked about what different shots we could use and also how and where the lighting should be. Day 2- On the second day we filmed outside in a nearby Town, we shot two scenes which included ‘Snipes coming to Surrey’ and Snipes and his girlfriend’ it was really difficult for us to film due to wind and also the weather change, we wanted to make sure it had continuity. So we had to film a lot of times so we could get the perfect sound and shot, without any issues. Day 3- The last and final day we had to film we shot the ‘Fish and Chip Shop’, ‘Farmer’, Train Station’ and ‘Gang’ Scenes. The fish and chop scene we only had 20 minutes to film the footage so we were tight for time and we couldn’t get as much shots as we needed too but we worked with what we got. For the Farmer and Gang Scene it was also very difficult as it had rained a lot and didn’t stop so we had to film in the rain, protecting all the equipment we got it shot very quickly. The train station scene had involved Snipes walking out of the station and getting different shots of it; although it had rained we got it done. Our other scenes we shot back in London. Included ‘Outside Gang’ and ‘London Train St’ Scene. While in Surrey the weather was the main issue we had as most of our scenes were located outdoors, so we had to work our way around the rain by protecting the entire camera with umbrellas and shooting quickly. Overall this Surrey trip has enhanced my experience on knowledge to filming on Location, I now know that you need to prepare yourself different situations and weather conditions. I had enjoyed this trip thoroughly even know it was for our work, we all had a good time.

surrey blog post, heath and saftey & continuity by Emmanuel Akunor

My role as part of the snipez team was health and safety and continuity. The continuity meant that I was in charge of continuous flow within the filming process and making sure everything was in check. And the health and safety meant that I was also had to make sure that the locations were secure and safe to shoot In. during filming there were a number of problems that occurred. One of them was that the weather didn’t stay consistent which affected the continuity of the project, as a result of this there may be different contrasts in each exterior shot during the film. Another thing that could affect the continuity would be difference in the characters appearance i.e slight change in clothing or slight disturbances such as the microphone clashing with the subject. In terms of the health and safety aspect of the production, because the weather wasn’t at its best we had to make sure that none of the equipment was affected by the rain or any other potential hazards to the other equipment that we used. Once the rain had settled we had to make sure that none of the equipment was left in any potentially dangerous places such as the camera being left in rain puddles or any damp areas. For example in the scene where the main character (snipez) is walking while making a phone call to his friend greezy, some of the equipment used could be left on the side which means that it has become a vulnerability to being lost or stolen while filming. Another problem that was taken into consideration was permission to film in certain locations; this was very much the case when shooting the establishing shot for some scenes. The reason for this was because some locals i.e shop owners may not have been happy with their shops being shown in the film, so to resolve the situation this meant that we had to explain what was going on to the shop owners before filming. This was also the situation with the chip shop scene where we had to ask permission from the person who owns the shop before filming and also making sure we were punctual with the timing when arriving. The problems we could have faced while filming this scene would be continuous interruption from people within the shop or the environment being too noisy which may have affected the continuity. Although, we managed to tie sounds in to add some realism to the scene. During filming the scene that had the biggest effect in terms of health and safety was the final scene which was when snipes is confronted by the gang at the end because of the heavy rain on the day of filming. Due to the heavy rain this meant that there was a high chance of the equipment being damaged which would have a bad effect on the project as a whole. As a result of this potential issue it meant that we had to film quickly. Overall I think that we worked well as a team and managed to finish production on schedule and it showed well we can work together to produce the best quality of work.

Jessy Namiki reflections on Lighting

My production role for Swindle was the gaffer (Lighting Technician) and continuity. When in charge of Lighting in various scenes were Swindle had to film at night or in dark places for e.g. corridor and other dark places. I didn’t anticipate on the lack of lights around the hostel since there was no street or head lamps around the area. This meant I had to use a torch to help me look where I was going and being extra careful on planting the flolight exactly where I wanted it to be. The weather throughout whilst using the lights at night was quite challenging since it was cold and windy, this meant I had to plan ahead of schedule and adapt well to these conditions where I wore warm clothing, I also communicated well with the director, producer, cameraman and soundman this lead to all of us being fully satisfied with what we filmed and building a greater bound with each other. Others aspects that occurred whilst filming meant that me and the cameraman had to communicate really well especially whilst filming in the dark to get the best quality shots which we were both fully satisfied with but if this wasn’t the case then we’d adjust the lighting and re-shoot the scene. Various problems that occurred whilst I was using the Lighting were the weather and health & safety concerns. The weather was an issue because it would have been impossible for to protect the lights, if it were to start pouring down with rain I wouldn’t have been able to protect it. Another issue would have been the health & safety due to exposing wires lying around. In one script due the EXT I didn’t get the chance to use the aril lights since it wasn’t dark enough to take effect whereas it was quite bright when we reached our destination. Even whilst trying to keep time with our production schedule I’d build myself some extra time to set up and make sure the stool is screwed on properly same with flolight as well to avoid any accidents from happening. Due to the short staff my other role was Continuity this was quite challenging since I had to always keep a photo image of how the scene looked and making sure everything was in the right place. If this was not taken seriously into consideration, whilst editing we would of witnessed an obvious mistake were our character could be misplaced, wearing something different from the previous scene or just something bait and obvious which wouldn’t make our film reaching a professional standard. Overall I found it an enthralling experience because I improved my communication skills with my colleagues; I also became more independent and well prepared for various situations. Staying on task with the production schedule went smooth for the reason that I was prepared and determined for the task ahead. In addition I enjoyed the whole experience and I would definitely go again if I had the chance, yet the weather did let us down a bit. Since the weather wasn’t on our side I would next time bring an umbrella and water proof protection to help protect my equipment.

reflections with sound SWINDLE

Sound Swindle by Neal Chauhan

As my role was doing the sound in Swindle, overall I think some parts were alright and some parts weren’t. One of the important problems I had was when we were filming in a little town, where we needed power because I was using a mixer, that had a function of phantom power, but it didn’t manage to work. The solution to this problem was we had to ask a local supermarket, Co-Operative, if we could use their power. At first the manager was a bit hesitated to use the power, but then he went to ask his work partner, to get his view of this situation. 10 minutes later he came back saying we could use the power for a couple of hours. The solution for this whole thing was the college should have got another Edirol with the sound mixer and the recorder built into one and has phantom power with it. I had to keep using their sound recorder/mixer because some scenes we had to film in the van. 

The most important we had was the Canon 7D. Although it was a fantastic camera, in the sound wise there were some problems. We couldn’t connect the mixer to the camera, because we weren’t allowed to adjust the sound levels, as it was only set to automatic. Also another problem was that there was only one output on the camera. 

The rain was another big big problem for sound and the camera men. Every time we were shooting it was always raining, and we had to stand under the umbrella. Also the power had to be outside and was getting wet, so we had to make sure it wasn’t wet, so we covered it up with a plastic bag so the water doesn’t go in to the main power. 

Most of the time when we were filming we were using the tie clip mics, and the battery life wasn’t that great even though we kept turning it off, when we didn’t need it. We took 16 batteries with us and they were all used up within 2 days. Because the Edirol was taking huge amounts of battery life even though it was doing what you wanted it to do. When I was using the Edirol I had to change the battery twice, even though again we kept turning it off when we didn’t need to use it. 

Another problem was that I was using the mixer and a zoom recorder which was fine. But then on the Edirol zoom recorder, there was a 4 GB SD card, after I had recorded and transferred the first scene on the mac, I wanted to format the card, so there is space for the next day. I tried several times to format the card it just wouldn’t work because the card was locked. I took the card out of the Edirol zoom recorder and tried to look for the lock switch. I wasn’t able to find it, I even showed it to David and he couldn’t find it. Luckily there was a solution to this problem, which was we bought down the HD camera, just in case one of the SLR cameras had failed. I took out the SD card out of the HD and put it in the Edirol. It was a good thing I done that because I had a chance to record more sound, because it was a 32 GB card.

The problem I am going to have is when it comes to the editing, where I have to sync all the clips together. The first Tuesday I came back I tried syncing the clips in Final Cut Pro. At first it was very hard trying to find the clips. The way I sorted out the clips was looking at the times we shot the clips both the camera and the sound. Some of the clips weren’t similar time than the time on the camera. Next time, to make it easier I would in Surrey, select the clips I want to use as well as the video footage, so when we come back to edit, I straight away know what clip goes where. Another way is write down the video and sound footage name is, so we know that they are synced together. 

My Overall experience in Surrey, was very good, it was a good experience. I had never been to a place we stayed in, so it was a very good experience. The actual filming of Swindle was very good and had some great moments. After a hard day filming in the evening we would just chill and rest. 

problems with sound SWINDLE

Sound Swindle by Neal Chauhan

As my role was doing the sound in Swindle, overall I think some parts were alright and some parts weren’t. One of the important problems I had was when we were filming in a little town, where we needed power because I was using a mixer, that had a function of phantom power, but it didn’t manage to work. The solution to this problem was we had to ask a local supermarket, Co-Operative, if we could use their power. At first the manager was a bit hesitated to use the power, but then he went to ask his work partner, to get his view of this situation. 10 minutes later he came back saying we could use the power for a couple of hours. The solution for this whole thing was the college should have got another Edirol with the sound mixer and the recorder built into one and has phantom power with it. I had to keep using their sound recorder/mixer because some scenes we had to film in the van. 

The most important we had was the Canon 7D. Although it was a fantastic camera, in the sound wise there were some problems. We couldn’t connect the mixer to the camera, because we weren’t allowed to adjust the sound levels, as it was only set to automatic. Also another problem was that there was only one output on the camera. 

The rain was another big big problem for sound and the camera men. Every time we were shooting it was always raining, and we had to stand under the umbrella. Also the power had to be outside and was getting wet, so we had to make sure it wasn’t wet, so we covered it up with a plastic bag so the water doesn’t go in to the main power. 

Most of the time when we were filming we were using the tie clip mics, and the battery life wasn’t that great even though we kept turning it off, when we didn’t need it. We took 16 batteries with us and they were all used up within 2 days. Because the Edirol was taking huge amounts of battery life even though it was doing what you wanted it to do. When I was using the Edirol I had to change the battery twice, even though again we kept turning it off when we didn’t need to use it. 

Another problem was that I was using the mixer and a zoom recorder which was fine. But then on the Edirol zoom recorder, there was a 4 GB SD card, after I had recorded and transferred the first scene on the mac, I wanted to format the card, so there is space for the next day. I tried several times to format the card it just wouldn’t work because the card was locked. I took the card out of the Edirol zoom recorder and tried to look for the lock switch. I wasn’t able to find it, I even showed it to David and he couldn’t find it. Luckily there was a solution to this problem, which was we bought down the HD camera, just in case one of the SLR cameras had failed. I took out the SD card out of the HD and put it in the Edirol. It was a good thing I done that because I had a chance to record more sound, because it was a 32 GB card.

The problem I am going to have is when it comes to the editing, where I have to sync all the clips together. The first Tuesday I came back I tried syncing the clips in Final Cut Pro. At first it was very hard trying to find the clips. The way I sorted out the clips was looking at the times we shot the clips both the camera and the sound. Some of the clips weren’t similar time than the time on the camera. Next time, to make it easier I would in Surrey, select the clips I want to use as well as the video footage, so when we come back to edit, I straight away know what clip goes where. Another way is write down the video and sound footage name is, so we know that they are synced together. 

My Overall experience in Surrey, was very good, it was a good experience. I had never been to a place we stayed in, so it was a very good experience. The actual filming of Swindle was very good and had some great moments. After a hard day filming in the evening we would just chill and rest. 

Behind the scenes

Starting behind the scenes sequence