Cinematography Blogpost 3, other news

As I type this I'm finishing up editing for my cinematography project, with just another thirty seconds' worth of footage to shoot later this week. I have still focused on empty streets (made even more atmospheric by the terrible weather, adding an interesting feel and pathetic fallacy to the piece).

My short film, Transmission, is also nearing completion, also based on 28 Days Later and following a lonely survivor passing the time alone following a viral outbreak.

Monday morning I'm heading off to BFI Southbank in London with the rest of the Sit In Silence team to give a talk to the "Future Film" visitors about making Science Fiction film on a low to nonexistent budget. Should be fun.

Cinematography Blogpost 2

Yesterday morning I set off to get some filming done in the morning, but overslept, arriving instead at 6am as the town started livening up. There were very few people around but enough to render shooting the majority of my planned shots usesless.

Instead I simply decided to go location scouting and get a few shots filmed more out of the way, down alleyways and by the river.

I will head into town again early on sunday to hopefully film the town at it's emptiest and get the shots I need for a film of an abandoned town.

Here's a test shot.

Cinematography Referral Blogpost

Having fallen in in love with Danny Boyle's films such as Sunshine, 28 Days Later, Shallow Grave and the incredible Trainspotting, I have chosen to follow the style of cinematography seen in 28 Days Later, one of Boyle's more universally praised films, it tells the story of Jim, a bicyvle courier waking up from a coma in a deserted London, 28 Days after the outbreak of the "Rage" virus.
The film's core concept is the fear of loneliness, protrayed by the empty London streets at the beginning of the film and Jim's nightmare towards the end.

Anthony Dod Mantle's cinematography in this film includes long establishing shots to create a sense of unease, which, with the music, is used in montage to portray the fear Jim feels, the isolation of waking up in a desolate London.

For my Cinematography project, I intend to try and replicate the feeling of emptiness and fear and 28 Days Later.

For roughly the first act of film, the streets off London are empty, abandoned, establishing shots where the protagonists Jim and Selena (a survivor who rescues Jim) journey through the city, empty and dead. The camera a distance away to exaggerate the emptiness of an abandoned city.

For my Cinematography project, I am aiming to try and recreate the visual style of 28 Days Later over several shots, trying the slower style, and trying to create a short clip (of three minutes lenght) that could possibly show a narrative, as 28 Days Later does. I will probably focus on one lone person, no exposition through narration or dialogue, but leave the main story to be interpreted by the viewer.

Updates to come.

Referrals and other news

Results are in, I cocked up the second year to a significant degree.
Requiring a film for FT2, a cinematography project and a short video to be edited, as well as an exam resit, an essay and a project proposal to be handed in.

Waiting for a cheque to clear, then I'm buiying a Canon 550d, with 18-55mm + 55-250mm lenses and getting to work.

In other news, the music video I helped on is finally up.

Enjoy.

Neglect!

Realising I've been neglecting this blog - instead of updating, save for my pissy little ramblings about grievances, annoyances and whatnot, I should probably make an actual update for a change.

I'm a day away from finishing my second year of university, one exam left, unfortunately the most boring, awkward and difficult two hour exam I have yet to endure. :P
Other than that, things are going well. Recently helped my friends at Surface Rush on a music video for The Cads - as well as placing 2nd in the SciFi London 48 hour film challenge with the Idle Films Crew with our entry "Sit in Silence"



We met a few people before and after the awards, made a few contacts and Rob Savage has a film he wants to pitch to a Producer we met for the Cannes film festival. Which is definitely not bad.

Hopefully I'll have some work over summer, which means money - and a Canon 550D - which should remove the need for equipment rentals next year at uni. I also intend to work on a series of short films with the Idle Films crew - hopefully getting a bit more involved over time; as the FNG, I'm somewhat designated as the Visual Effects Guy, but would love to help out more with Scriptwriting, Cineamtography and Editing. I should also be working more with Ben and Alex from Surface Rush, as they're running short on editors.

Hopefully things go well then!
(For a change!)