TV and Film - Filming

 KENS WORK

we started filming a week earlier as we were ready to as well as efficiency sake, the first scene we filmed was kens work scene as some cast was missing so it made sense to film this scene. We were also already on location so it made it easier for us. 

Louis and I both successfully got into character and the scene was only a minute long so it made it a quick and easy filming process. 

STEVE AND CONNIE'S HOUSE 

This scene was also a very smooth scene, filming wise. It was shot at Silvana's house and filmed and directed by Emma. I stumbled on my accent a few times with the words 'party' and 'later' however after I heard them being spoken in an English accent I immediately got back into character and was able to go. 

TV and Film - Week 6

 Unfortunately I wasn't there for this week due to medical problems so I am going to reference Louis blog summary of this week to show the progress the group made as well as what I was recapped on- 

Louis original version

WEEK 6

This week we worked on improvising scenarios around our characters to build our understanding around them. We spent 5 minutes coming up with our own improvised scenarios based on implied and given circumstances in our script. Some of the ideas included:

the family Christmas dinner, with Cuckoo butting heads with Ken and Connie and Steve bursting in

• Rachel and Lorna before Rachel goes off on her gap year
• Lorna flirting with Cuckoo, then Ken walks in
• Steve leading a karate class
• Steve and Connie in their bedroom, with Steve trying to role-play Ken
• Dylan and Charlie in detention 
• Zoe and Dylan on a date
• Ken & Lorna and Connie & Steve meet for the first time

This was beneficial to all of us, as it meant we could grasp our characters on a deeper level. It also helped establish the relationships between the characters.

WEEK 5

This week was a continuation of our previous week. We continued working on the spreadsheet, continued working on our lines, and continued contacting our extras to confirm times we would be able to film. We have planned to start filming mid-march, with filming lasting around 2-3 weeks. This is to obtain realism (as if the filming was for much longer, haircuts would change). We have split the filming into 8 shoots:

1. KENS WORK
2. STEVE AND CONNIE'S HOUSE
3. PARTY,  PREPARING FOR PARTY,  KENS STUDY,  TERRACE
4. GARAGE LAST SCENE
5. FAMILY MEETING,  POTATO WASHING
6. BEDROOM
7. KITCHEN
8. VOTING,  KEN AND RACHEL CONVERSATION

A key area we focused on this week was location scouting. We all went home to scout our homes and areas and sent these to each other. Originally, we decided to film at my house. This was because we were looking for a house with an island in the kitchen, that is close to the dining room. Although my house would have worked, we decided it would be breaching COVID-19 restrictions. This means we will have to film in the conference room. Although this is more convenient, it means the realism will be lowered significantly. On the plus side, we have greater access to this room and we will be able to shoot several scenes (using flats to create the different rooms).

We still want some variation in locations, which is why we have planned to film in these locations:

• Library

This will be Kens Study, where he has a 1 on 1 conversation with Zoe.

• Silvana's house

This will be Connie and Steve's house. It works perfectly, as it appears far more classy than the rest of our set, keeping to the theme of wealth within that family.

• Terrace

We have chosen to film one of the garage scenes of a terrace, to mix up our location from being in the conference room

• A school office

This is where we will film Kens office scene with Dylan

• The school garage

We are planning on asking the school caretakers if we can use their garage to film the closing scene. Although it would make sense to film both on the terrace, the final scene is set in the evening, so the lighting outside wouldn't work.

• My bathroom

I will film my cologne scene in my own bathroom, as a school bathroom doesn't work

Film and TV - week 4/5

 I wasn't present for week 4 so this will be a summary of week 5 

HERE IS THE SCRIPT

(This was not the version at the time but is the finished version - adaptations were made to it throughout the process)

TV and Film - Week 3

 We decided that we will recreate the episode of Cuckoo talked about previously 

After deciding on Cuckoo, we chose our characters:

Cuckoo: Hugo
Rachel: Emma
Lorna: Amelie
Ken: James
Dylan: Louis
Connie: Silvana
Steve: Tristan

Our extras are:

Zoe: Olivia
Charlie: Alessandro
Kelly: Maddy
Kelly's Husband: James
Toby: Alan
Toby's Girlfriend: Ella

Ken - 

After being cast as Ken I looked through the episode in order to find some key points around characterisation 

Throughout the episode you can clearly tell Ken is the stereotypical English dad, he misses and wishes for a sense of nostalgia. He cares about his daughter but is worried about her decision to marry Cuckoo and he considers it brash however he will support her none the less, even if it's not what he had planned. 

Some smaller points to consider characterisation wise is 

- 'my way or the high way' mindset 

- well educated/ spoken

- slightly socially awkward

Quotes to emphasise these points 

- I always imagined Rachel would marry someone educated, someone with ambition.  I’d respect his opinions  

- No.  Well, in a way.  It’s just a meeting because, well, you know, the family has a new member, which I’m delighted about, and we need to introduce him to the way we do things in this house, that’s all.  No agenda. 

- Look, family meetings are to make the rules up for you not for me.

- No!  No vote.  I suggest we all do what Dad says.

- I don’t like your food. 

- I love you, too.  I just miss the way we were a little bit.  I’m sure I’ll get used to it, but I just… 

- What?  Zoe, that… that is a scandalous accusation and one that I really hope you keep to yourself. 

 

ZOE 

So what, you’re just being weird? 

 

KEN 

Well… If wanting to prepare a friend’s child for a potentially life-defining internship is weird, then yes, I’m weird.  You could say that I’m weird. I’m weird. 

Film and TV acting - Week 2 reflection

 Piece decision - 

Previously we had looked into filming a remake of the office tv show (US version) however due to several struggles especially around trying to accommodate for a small cast it became apparent that this wouldn't work as well as we had thought. 

instead we've decided to look at remaking episode 2, season 1 of the Netflix original 'Cuckoo' 

This felt better to us as a group as it worked better for the cast we have, has a similar style to the previous years film and tv piece (they remade Brooklyn 99) so we could follow some of their steps to make it more comfortable for us especially in terms of the pre/ post production stages and we all enjoyed watching the original. 

However the difficulties we immediately noted were the locations, and dynamics between characters due to covid-19 guidelines. 

Film and TV acting unit - Week 1 reflection

 Preparation - 

We were tasked with making a small video for an advertisement to show the a brief take of what this unit will entail, split into groups we each devised our idea and put in together (our group was myself, Louis and Hugo). 

Our concept

Hugo narrates the advert (film him over a green screen)

James the admirable character

Louis plays the character that is miserable, wants to be more like James

Louis is woken up by music playing upstairs (annoying neighbours) but has nothing to quiet them down with (throws toilet paper roll at the ceiling, nothing happens)

This then transitions into Hugo speaking (with background music), and discussing the 'long stick'

Then a series of 'flashback' sequences playout:

• James silences his neighbours
• Goes fishing in his bathtub
• Cooks with it
• Uses it as an umbrella in the shower
• Walking
• Keeps social distance between him and stranger
• Plays it as a didgeridoo
• Blue advert screen

Here is our final advert:

- Credit to Louis for summary of our concept 

This highlighted the tasks during the pre production phase, the filming phase and finally the post production. For this unit our main focus is the filming phase as far as the acting as well as the efficiency, however we still look to make the pre production as easy as possible to it makes the filming less chaotic