Courier - PMP Blog Diary

Two misfit teenage scavengers are challenged with the job of a courier; delivering  an important message across a dystopian grassland.

Crew:

Samantha - Script Supervisor, Boom Operator, Assistant Director

 Courier is my main PMP idea. It's a drama short film that should reach around 10 minutes. I hope to find a good location which sets a vibe of dystopia. I want to also work with cinematography to make sure each shot looks visually pleasing,

My short film idea was looked at by friends/family and I was told it related to a film called The Postman, I think that being able to look at this film and picking/sorting out differences will be valuable, plus since my piece will be a short film, i will be making sure the plot isn't too drastic or big, but still keep things interesting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MXp9qzewXU  - The Postman Trailer

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119925/ - IMDB (The Postman)

For me, fantasy has always been an interest. Books focused around the post apocalypse, games that push you into worlds ruined by nuclear war, and television shows and films with characters surviving disaster. These kind of things motivated Courier. Making this film was because of my love for the post-apocalyptic genre.

My origin of ideas was developed around the use of letters being sent delivered by an underground operation, the members were known as Couriers. The two main characters, Clover and Boe, had to deal with finding this organization, helping them, and in return were set up by Lisa and her corrupt organization. This idea was slowly whittled down until it became fitting for a short film. This was done by mood boards, many script drafts, and asking family and friends what their thoughts were.

During this time, I was keen to find areas to film, even before my story ideas were set in stone. The main area which I thought was fitting for Courier was in Norton, a large area used mainly by dog walkers, the area had trees, fields, and abandoned walkways, which fit Couriers ‘post-apocalyptic’ genre.

 

Character breakdowns have been made of each character, ready for actors to read and figure out who they would like to audition for. My treatment and proposal have also been completed, the pitch went well with tutors, agreeing that the visuals of Courier will be the most important thing, hopefully I can impress them.

Audience

Courier is a film that has all the attributes that I try to look for in films and TV shows that I myself watch. I feel that Couriers audience would be teens 14-18 who are interested in post-apocalyptic genres. Examples of shows that relate to Courier would be The Walking Dead which relates to the costume, setting, and atmosphere, with one major unrelated thing being zombies, and the lack of them in Courier. Courier would be classed as a Drama piece, since the plot becomes very full of mystery, violence, tragedy, ect.

I will need to carry out surveys on what people enjoy in films such as this, ect.

Auditions

A lot more than expected showed for auditions, since some of the first year acting didn't sign up for any roles, they were took into the green room to audition. Samantha and I held our auditions in the same room, since many who were interested in auditioning for Samantha's 'Father of Lies' were also interested in Courier. After around half an hour, auditions were complete. The character Lisa was already given to Emily Wynne, having worked with her previously I thought she would fit the part very well.

Clover was given to Chloe Malcolm, having the most enthusiasm about the film altogether, and showing the most ambition. Boe was originally going to be for Sam Brown, but since he was taking part in around three other student films, I decided to give him a break, and give someone else a chance to be a main part of the film. Boe was given to John Tyrer, who originally didn't audition for anything, so Kelly had him audition for both Father of Lies and Courier. His voice and personality suited the character, and he was given a chance.

Preperation

Today I have made a calendar of things I hope to achieve over the three months of this task. The calendar isnt set in stone, but this week I have chose to work on the script. Today I will also be visiting the first year actors to explain my idea, and see if any are interested in auditioning.

My timetable is complete for my first week of filming. I visited the makeup team before deciding which days to do, and they said they were available on the mornings, which was perfect for my schedule. I decided I wanted to get makeup done at college early, and then head down to Norton with everyone - cast and crew - by bus.

Although it went through some changes, this was the final result of our timetable. Next week's timetable would be decided on Friday when we figure out how many scenes we have to complete. Emily had work and rehearsals on the week I first wanted to shoot on, we had to cancel until the next week.

John had to be recast. In the week before filming, most of the communication from me to cast and crew was done by Facebook, messages sent about schedules/plans/ect were being read by John but not replied to, or sometimes not read for a day or so. We later found out by other actors that he didn't have access to Facebook at home, nor had a phone, which he didn't point out during audition.

John's character Boe was given to Reece Durham, someone in audition who showed interest but slight unpreparedness. I met up with him in college to explain the situation, and that filming was only two days away. He understood and was happy to receive the part. The next morning I received a message from John explaining that he wanted the part badly and that he was sorry. I explained that the part was already given away, and that the best I could offer him was a dead character in one scene; Marco. He agreed to be a part of Courier.

First Filming Day

Thursday 30th was our first film day. Actors arrived at college on time, and went down to the makeup room. This was the first time we could see them in their costumes, which were all excellent. The makeup took a little longer than expected, lasting around an hour and a half. The scars and cuts applied with makeup were very large, and it wasn't what we intentionally asked for (very minor scars). These gashes contained quite a lot of blood, actors also suffered from the prosthetic's slowly falling from their faces.

We arrived by bus to Norton - crew and cast met up at my house for a short script read-through, and until the rain stopped. Once it did, we head out to our set. We completed two scenes; 9 and 4. Scene 9 was the longest scene, and therefor took up the most time. We suffered from wind, and also clouds blocking sunshine, making some shots appear different from the others. Scene 4 went much smoother, instead of being in an open field, we were sheltered in pine trees. Cast and crew were more comfortable. Once the scene was complete, we traveled together back to my house, left filming equipment there ready for tomorrow morning, and each of them set off home by bus.

Second Filming Day

The second day (Friday) was the final day of Lisa (Emily's) time filming with us. Our makeup was done at the same time at 9:30, and took slightly less time than yesterday because of the familiarity with makeup used. This was also Johns filming day, he turned up on time and enthusiastic. No makeup was applied to his character. I helped pay for the bus fair for some actors. We completed all of Emily's scenes, including Scene 1, 3 and 10.

After those scenes, we took a couple stills of Lisa posing in grass. Emily left around 1, we then completed John's scene (7) and once he left, scene 6 with Reece and Chloe.

Third Filming Day

One major problem with planning on the the third day was Makeup. On our first week the makeup team said they would be available next Thursday and Friday. Sadly they were busy for personal reasons, and no one else from the first year of makeup was interested in helping. Kelly spoke to Nina about it, they then both asked the group, and one of our original makeup team said she would be available for around an hour in the morning, which is all we needed.

Makeup finished quickly, since Emily was not needed on the third day. We arrived in Norton by taxi which I payed for. We then walked to our location and began immediately with all the other scenes. The weather was great, no rain, it wasn't too bright as to over-light shots. We finished around 3 and head back home. Sam and I want to meet back up at college next week to decide what questions to ask cast and crew about the film, which will be something to add to our DVD menus.

We had to redo scene 6, as I had a new idea for the set layout, and since scene 6 and 8 take place in the same area, we had to do both. They turned out well, and I was happy with the mise-en-scene.

We also filmed a short clip of Clover and Boe walking on a eerie looking path, I would like this to be the background of my DVD menu.

Editing

As expected, my only visable problem with editing will be the changes in light. I am enjoying editing, and being able to turn down the saturation of shots and increase the contrast to create aesthetically pleasing scenes. All the stills we took have been added to Courier's facebook page, and the makeup team were also given pictures for their portfolios.

Apart from the lighting, I believe that I have all the shots I need to edit each scene together.

I am capturing the footage of our third day of filming, around 4 and a half scenes have been completed, I will need to search for a couple atmos tracks, birds chirping, leaves and trees, ect.

I have also created a blooper reel which has had positive reviews by the people who watched. The reel lasts around 9 minutes, which could probably be cut down a little. I also have the problem with swearing, although since Courier is a 15, I think I will leave the swear words in. My choices would be either take them out completely, censor the swears, or leave them. Emily said that she would like to receive a blooper reel where she does not swear, this wont be a problem.

DVD Authoring

Today will be focused around DVD authoring. I will complete paper/outline designs, such as what I want my menu, label and sleeve to look like. On our third day, I took a shot of Clover and Boe walking down an eerie path, this will be the animated background for my DVD menu. Dark, somber music will be playing in the background, with the addition of trees rustling and wind atmosphere.

I forgot to bring my hard drive today, so I will not be able to work on producing a copyright statement which would appear when audience first watch Courier on a disk. Nor would I be able to make an animated logo, but I will watch tutorials on how to do it.

I have completed a sketch of both DVD menu and Disk, which will be able to be put to work once I find out a few tricks on After Effects from Sam. I also took a look at some tutorials online, which helped too.

Last week of Editing

Thursday 21st is our Films deadline. Things such as DVD authoring will be handed in next month. If I am not needed to film for our Working to a Brief, I may be able to finish my edit today (there's around 3/4 left) after that, Credits will need to be made, as well as a non-animated DVD menu, since I probably wont have time to work on an animated one before the film deadline.

Monday was spent on scene 3 and 5. I had to cut parts out of scene 3 to make the edit smoother, but it works anyway.

 

Production Management

Samantha was my Assistant Director, Script Supervisor, and Boom Operator. She was a great help, working on her project 'Father of Lies' I felt that I worked very well with her. I and her share inspirations and ideas, we both have artistic goals for our films.

She kept track of our time managment and made sure the script was completed to each and every word. Sam was also a great confidence boost, kept the morale up with our team, and turned up every day on time. She had many ideas for my folder, adding research ideas, such as pinterest,  IMDB, ect.

 

Samantha was an important member of my team and Courier has benefit much with her help.

Courier could of been improved during Pre-Production. My time management was a weakness, and I did not think I worked quick enough. Problems with cast and crew members also stuggling with time was also a setback - Actors busy with lessons, makeup crew not being given enough time to prepare, ect.