INITIAL IDEAS

As I knew about the possibility of making a media product of our own choosing for a long time as we just missed out the year before, I had a long time to think of and begin developing an idea. My idea for this project didn't really change drastically I just made it shorter as, when I first began planning, the idea I had was a much longer, more pretentious film that ended in the same way except with a longer opening. As time went on and I learned more, I came to realise that the film worked much better as a very short film that only included the ending and that I only added the opening section as an excuse to try out certain shots. However, once I had decided to remove the opening, I would have to try and find a way to portray a loss of faith in less than a minute which I saw as a challenge.

From the beginning of the planning process, I wanted to make a film with comedic elements. However, I didn't want to make a so-called out and out comedy film. I was instead very intrigued by the difficulties that came with creating a dark comedy or tragicomedy because of how vital the tone is. For example, what intrigued me most about tragicomedies was how perfect the shift in tone had to be in order for it to work whereas dark comedies have the task of making horrendous things comedic without missing the mark.

PRE-PRODUCTION

I began my research by looking more in-depth at some of the filmmakers that made me want to make a film in the dark comedy/ tragicomedy genre such as Martin McDonagh and Yorgos Lanthimos. Films like In Bruges, The Lobster, and The Killing of the Sacred Deer were major points of reference when I first began developing the idea. These films helped me to better understand visual tone, in Lanthimos' films, and literary tone, in McDonagh's films.

I also watched innumerable short films in order to improve my knowledge of the format. The short films I liked most were Un Chein Andalou and one that I found on Netflix called Att döda ett barn. Although these are two vastly different films and aren't similar to the film I wanted to make, I enjoyed analysing them and seeing how they used pace and tone.

A lot of my research was completed by reading certain books. For example, when I first began planning for this idea, I began reading a lot of Franz Kafka because of his twisted humour and Albert Camus as I really liked the absurdist and existential element of his stories. When I began thinking of making a tragicomedy, I read many Harold Pinter's plays as well those by Martin McDonagh's as the tone shifts were even more interesting to look at on paper.

Once I had thought of a rough outline of the film I wanted to make, I began thinking about thematic possibilities and, as the film deals with religion, that obviously opened up the opportunity to add many layers to the story. To help me with the thematics, I looked in various strange places for influence such as poetry and parables until I eventually worked out how I wanted to use the theme in the film.

JOB ROLES

Writer, Director, Camera Operator, Editor - Tom Dersley

Actor - Patryk Chlebos

Equipment Assistant - Josh Nancarrow, Jacob Clark, Samuel Pipe


PRODUCTION

DAY 1 OF FILMING - 
Although there were things that went well on the first day of filming, these were far outweighed by things that went horribly. I was able to get some good looking footage on the first filming day and, mainly because of the weather, none of it was overexposed which was something I was worried about beforehand. Another thing that I think went very well was the hanging sequence which was the most important and most difficult to film part of the film. I had expected it to somehow not look like what I had imagined in my head but it went exactly how I wanted it to.

Whilst I was collecting the equipment the day before, I made the mistake of not checking through it beforehand. Because of this, I wasn't aware that the tilt handle for the tripod was missing until I got back home. This was frustrating because there were numerous shots where tilts were needed. Because of this, I messaged Callum to tell him it was missing and also to ask how I could tilt the camera smoothly without it. He told me that I could do this by distributing my weight onto the handle of the camera and tilting it that way. I tried this, and it worked fairly well except I couldn't hold the camera still after the tilt because of how heavy it was which was frustrating.

During filming, it began pouring down with rain without any warning and so we were forced to hastily cover the equipment and run to the van that my Dad had parked nearby to seek shelter. This was obviously frustrating as it completely interrupted me and we were forced to hide for about half an hour before it stopped. By the time it had stopped and we had set up the equipment again, the rain began again. This time it was much lighter but it still stopped us from being able to get the remaining footage.

DAY 2 OF FILMING
The reshoot of my project went far better than the previous day of filming. This was mainly because of the weather which was very warm and sunny but also because I learned so much from the previous day which made me much more prepared. Because of this, my mindset was also much better on this day as I knew what to expect and I was used to the equipment.

However, there were some things that didn't go so well. For example, I struggled to get the tripod onto the tracks and even when I was able to find a way around this, I came to realise that the grass was much too long for it to work properly as grass kept getting tangled in the wheels stopping it from moving smoothly. Although I was unable to get the track to work properly, I did manage to find another way to film the shot that didn't include the tracks and was instead a crash zoom which, in some ways, actually worked better as I was simply going to have the push-in stop abruptly when the cracking of the branch is heard which isn't as dramatic as the crash zoom.

Another issue that arose was that one of the lenses I booked out wasn't available when it came to collecting the equipment. This was frustrating but there wasn't much I could do about it. The reason this worried me so much was because I knew I would need a tight lens for the insert shots of the rope swinging and then snapping. The only way I could think to tackle this issue was by extending the tripod as far as possible to get closer but because the brackets that kept the legs equally parted had been taken out to fit on the dolly, this was a very difficult process and took a lot of time. I also had to change the way I was going to shoot the rope snapping by having a quick tilt down to the frayed end of the rope.

THE PRODUCT

I believe the narrative structure of the film was appropriate and it allowed me to dissect the film into three sections during filming, the first section (contemplation), the second section (hanging/ action), the third section (consequence) which helped me with time management. This also allowed me to control the pace of the film better. For example, I wanted to have the first section play out very slowly so that expectation and anticipation was built up with tension and then have that tension relieved when the hanging sequence begins. This also helped me dictate the shifts in tone better. As for framing, I believe there are some nice shots in the film however, I came to realise how much westerns have influenced me because whilst trying to shoot the first sequence in the most simple way I could, most of the shots ended up looking like I was trying to replicate a Leone film which wasn't my intention. For example, the way I had Patryk enter the frame OTS and then switched to the medium with the tilt-down made it seem like he was going to be holding a gun instead of a rope. Besides this, I believe the hanging sequence was done well and shows that I am slowly developing a style of my own. As I decided not to use any lighting equipment, the lighting is obviously not very good however, I knew this was something that I would have to sacrifice as I had far too many jobs to do as it was.

I believe the choice of music in the film was good especially the opera piece because it gave the hanging sequence an almost poetic, balletic quality which I believe added the humour. The choir piece also worked fairly well however, when watching back the final cut, I have noticed that it could have been synchronised better with the visuals. I believe if I had more time to edit the video, this is something I would have noticed and adjusted. I knew that the sound effects in the film were also going to be one of the most vital elements because of the things that I wouldn't be able to show. This is why I was very relieved when Callum agreed to help me with finding sound effects and balancing the audio.

INVOLVEMENT

On previous projects, I realised that if the project began to swing in a direction I didn't like, it would result in me losing all motivation to the point of almost waiting for the next project to come along. This was something that I put down to the frustration that came with creative differences and my obsessiveness and perfectionism. However, by working alone, the quality of the product was solely up to me which prevented me from simply being able to stand aside and hide from the blame. And so when the first day of filming went horrifically, I noticed a great change in my mentality as I didn't immediately give in like before, I instead desperately wanted to reshoot it to get it how I wanted it. This change in mentality comes, not only from working individually but also from being in a much better place mentally unlike before which I am happy about.

Looking back at the production process, I am happy that the first day of filming went horrendously as I learnt more during that day than any day before. I would say that the main thing I learned during that day was the importance of composure when filming. When I first saw how silly Patryk looked, I completely lost my composure which stopped me from being able to think properly and led to me rushing through the filming process. However, when I reshot the film, I knew what to expect and I managed to keep my composure unlike before. This is why I was able to think of alternatives to certain shots whilst filming which ultimately saved the overall outcome of the film.

Another thing that I have learned during this project is to always consider the 'why' when making creative decisions. I came to realise this most when I started storyboarding each shot as I wanted to make sure that each shot had some creative intention instead of simply being used for how good it looked. I also made sure to consider this when making editing decisions like choosing whether to hold long on a shot or to cut short. This was something that I didn't always think about on other projects which obviously hurt their outcome.

CONCLUSION

My overall thoughts of the project are positive ones. The video itself obviously isn't perfect but I believe it shows an improvement in my knowledge of filmmaking and my practical ability as I was finally able to complete a project that hasn't suffered a great deal because of the disparity between my theoretical and my practical ability. I think the fact that I reshot the entire video shows that I have progressed as that is something that I don't think I would have done before as this time I didn't lose my motivation and instead learned from before to make sure I didn't make the same mistakes.

If I was able to make the video again with more time, I would likely make various changes to the edit but I would also change how I shot certain parts of the film. I would try to think of a better way to portray a loss of faith and also find a better way of shooting the ending so that I don't have to cut to black. Lastly, I would make sure to spend more time with Patryk to make sure he is prepared enough and understands what is expected of him.