After the finalisation of roles in the group I decided to do some research on what each job entails and how they work with each other to form a team. This post is an insight to do with everyone else's role in the group to assist me with understanding my own place in the production as assistant director. I plan to do another more in depth post on my own role.

Director (Thomas)

The director of a film is the main driving creative force, acting as a crucial link between the technical, production and creative teams. They act as a story teller and team leader to bring the production to life, creatively translating the script into actual sounds and images on screen as well as bringing their own style and structure. In post production, the director and editor work closely together through the technical processes of editing to reach a final cut of the film. Generally, it is thought that directors are ultimately responsible for a film's artistic and commercial success or failure. They also have to understand and appreciate the film's financial side. 

Jobs
  • May write the film's script/ commission it to be written (or alternatively can be hired after a draft script is complete)
  • Develop a vision for the finished film
  • Design a practical route to achieve what they want
  • Select right cast, crew and locations
  • Direct rehearsals and performances during production
  • Manage technical aspects of filming (e.g. camera, sound, lighting)
  • Help editor create final cut of film
Skills
  • Have exceptional artistic vision and creative skills
  • Commitment to carry through with the process
  • A deep passion for film making
  • Be a strong, confident leader
  • Capacity for long work hours, attention to detail
  • Remaining calm and thinking clearly under pressure
  • Self belief and determination 
Producer (Julia)

A producer follows the project through right from the beginning to the end of production. Generally they are considered chief of staff, while the director is in charge of the line. This means they have overall control and can even terminate the director if things are not working. Basically while a director actually makes the film itself, the producer authors it and does the work in able to make it happen. 

Jobs
  • Initiates, co-ordinates, supervises and controls all aspects of productions
  • Hires the director and crew
  • Manages film through production
  • Raises money for the film to be made
  • Looks out for material
Cinematographer (Rob)

This term generally refers to the director of photography, but can also be in relation to camera operator. A cinematographer brings the story to life visually by working with the film's director to capture the underlying story in a way that will captivate the audience. 

Jobs
  • Discusses director's vision scene by scene
  • Determines what is needed for each scene within budget
  • Hires camera crew 
  • Arranges equipment 
  • Buys film and supplies
  • Works with sound and lighting to co-ordinate production needs
  • Co-ordinates crew 
  • (On set) Makes sure each shot is set up to match the director's vision
  • Decides best combination of cameras, lenses and filters
  • Works with processing lab to make sure film retains colour and mood
  • Is a critical eye
Skills
  • Having a good artistic eye for photography
  • Knowing technical basis of photography
  • Being able to collaborate with a director
  • Flexibility and problem solving skills
  • Being able to keep up with the ever changing advances in technology

Production Designer (Lucy)

Production designers are responsible for the entire art department. They help directors achieve the visual requirements of the film, providing producers with calculated schedules offering viable ways of making the film within the required budget. Constructing an appropriate backdrop and finding appropriate locations is all a major part of the job. 

Jobs
  • Responsible for informing and realising the director's vision
  • Have to prepare detailed drawings and specifications
  • May be asked to look at scripts before production begins to estimate the amount going to be spent on art department
  • Assess visual qualities to create atmosphere and bring story to life
  • Discuss with director the best way to shoot film (sets or location)
  • Intense research into design
  • Check on construction and dressing of sets
Production Design Assistant (Joel)

As the name suggests, the production design assistant is a right hand man to the production designer. They take on roles to assist the head of design complete the job, as well as help with budgeting, preparing and construction of the set/ location.

Sound (Ulysses)

Sound designers provide required sounds to accompany the screen action. They do this by creating original sound elements, working with the director, production mixer, sound supervisor and editor. They can supervise the work of the entire sound post production as well as having a role in creating the sound during production. 

Skills
  • Good communication 
  • Imagination and creative flair to produce original sound
  • Ability to accept direction and work well with others
  • Good understanding of acoustics and knowledge of sound recording and digital editing techniques
  • Enthusiastic - spent personal time experimenting with sound
Grips (Lydia)

Jobs
  • Responsibility to build and maintain equipment that supports camera
  • Push, pull, mount or hang equipment
  • Ensure that the artifice of film is maintained and camera moves are as seemless as possible
  • Work with director and DOP to ensure positioning / movement is achievable
  • Responsible for pushing the dolly
Screenwriter (Dowan)

Jobs
  • Come up with ideas and themes
  • Research background information 
  • Develop believable plots and characters
  • Lay out the screenplay to an agreed format
  • Prepare short summaries of ideas and selling them to producers / development executives 
  • Obtain feedback on a first draft
  • Rewrite the script for the required needs
Script Supervisor / Continuity (Mollie)

Jobs
  • Continuity of storyline
  • Recording and assessing all information regarding the screenplay and scenes that have already been shot
  • Knowing if there is a need for any additional coverage or re-shoot or link shot
  • Make definitive technical decisions in a crisis / when in doubt
Camera Operator (Harry)

Jobs
  • Adjusting camera settings, lights and lens
  • Being prepared to innovate and experiment with ideas
  • Taking instructions from director of photography
  • Taking sole responsibility in situations where there is only one camera operator
  • Keeping up to date with filming methods and equipment
  • Repair of equipment 
  • Interacting and maintaining good working relationships with actors and camera crew members (technicians etc)
Casting Director

Casting Directors organize and facilitate the casting of actors for all the roles in a film. This involves working closely with the director and producer to understand their requirements, and suggesting ideal artists for each role, as well as arranging and conducting interviews and auditions. 

Jobs
  • Organise and facilitate the casting of actors
  • Assist director and producer to assemble the perfect cast
  • Responsible for matching the ideal actor to each role based on a number of factors
  • Arranging and conducting interviews and auditions 
Skills
  • Good communication and organisational skills
  • Ability to give direction
  • Being able to recognise talent
  • Good with attention to detail
  • Good memory 


Rosie told us to look at work by artist Jeffrey Shaw, as our interactive work may be similar.


The Legible City (1989) // Jeffrey Shaw

In this piece, the partaker rides a stationary bike through a simulated representation of a city composed of computer generated three-dimensional letters forming words and sentences along the sides of the streets. Ground plans of actual cities, consisting of Manhattan, Amsterdam and Karlsruhe, were used to develop it, except all of the architecture was replaced by the textual formations complied by Dirk Groeneveld.  The visitor is given interactive control over the bicycle by the handlebar and pedals, which decides direction and speed travelled and therefore the physical effort of cycling in the real world  is transposed into the virtual environment. The piece represents a journey of reading by travelling through a city of words. Depending on the path chosen, there will be spontaneous juxtapositions and conjunctions of meaning. The installation consists of a video projector  to project the visuals on to a large screen and another small monitor placed in front of the bike to show a ground plan of each city, an indicator showing where the cyclist is at any particular moment. 

The Golden Calf (1994) // Jeffrey Shaw

This installation consists of an LCD colour monitor placed on a platform. The visitor can then pick up the monitor in order to view a three-dimensional computer generated image of a golden calf on top of the platform. As the visitor moves around the piece it is like moving around the calf, if it was actually present in the real world, and they can examine it from different angles. The monitor is meant is meant to act like a window, revealing a virtual body that is seemingly located physically on the real platform. 

I also found another installation piece that I found interesting, and while it focusses more on the entire human body rather than just the brain, it is useful to take a look at other biological pieces of work. 

Primary Intimacy // Ikse Maitre

A connect is used to capture the visitor's movement, while a gender determining algorithm decides whether to form a masculine or feminine figure on to the screen. As the viewer comes closer to the screen, he or she can see the interior of their body. The piece is all about inviting the visitor to explore and gain more knowledge about themselves and how their bodies work, 

During our tutorial with Rosie, we discussed the following things.

What is the meaning behind our project?

The group needs to discuss what we are trying to say to the audience with the interactive piece, rather than just to make something that looks visually interesting.

How do we map the brain?

We have to think about how we are going to emphasise the brain and nervous system as a map. This could be shown by how different parts carry out different functions/ are related to different personality traits such as being creative.  How can we display this through the visuals and interaction?

What type of interaction will be involved?

 We need to reign down what exactly we want the interaction to be. Will it be purely sound or movement based? Or will there be a mixture of several? Which interactions will work with the piece, yet still be achievable.

Keep it simple!

 We initially planned to use several projectors and a couple of walls for the visuals, however as this is our first experience creating a piece that is interactive, we have been advised to stick to one wall. This has reminded us that we should focus this time on getting it right once before moving on to more complicated art works, and we may be able to create an overall better piece by using more simple methods.
In this meeting, we decided on our individual roles in the group.

Thomas - Director
Julia - Producer
Rob - Cinematographer
Lucy - Production Designer
Joel - Production Design Assistant
Ulysses - Sound
Lydia - Grips
Dowan - Screenwriter
Molly - Script Superviser / Continuity
Harry - Camera
Me (Lauren) / Shahid - Assistant Directors

I personally wanted to be an assistant director as it is something I haven't done before and as someone still trying to find their place in a production team, as well as enjoying being director for my own film in Reflections last year, I thought it would be interesting to try and see if I like being AD as much as directing.

Anne also gave us some feedback, referring back to our original idea of a 'world with no art'  and whether we were still going to acknowledge this in the campaign or if it was even still relevant. She also made us reconsider certain elements, such as creating a stronger character - instead of being a middle aged slob like we had intended she suggested someone more our own age to aim more towards our own generation and the pressure to buy new things.  She also said that our idea reminded her of a piece by Richard Hamilton called 'Just what is it that makes today's homes so different?'

Just what is it that makes today's homes so different? // Richard Hamilton (1992)

The piece shows how we are constantly bombarded with new, desirable items. The dull, blank walls of the background kind of seems out of place with the bright, flashy items that are in your face. 


Updated Idea

Anne's comments made us think deeper into the style we want to take and we thought about different set designs that would be achievable and also still sustain our message. While the same story will mainly apply, set changes have been made. We all liked the idea of maintaining the plain-ness and blank-ness of the set, but maybe turning it into more of a gallery space rather than just a dull living room. There will be an infinite corridor behind where the character is seated, and along this will be plinths showcasing the characters old phones (instead of a pile like we previously suggested). This will be done in post production as it is impossible to actually carry out this effect on set, especially with our budget. The end has also changed slightly - after purchasing his new smart phone from the advert he carries the phone he used to make the purchase down the corridor and sets it on an empty plinth, thus adding it to the collection (instead of throwing it into the pile/ smiling). This solved our problem of where will we get so many phones to form a pile, prevents damage to any phones we have and adds more of a twist to the final. 



After hearing all the ideas from everyone in group tutorials and discussing them outside of class, Josh, Julia, Tom and I joined together and merged our ideas and goals.

Initial Idea

We wish to do an interactive installation piece involving the brain and nervous system in the body. The brain is split into different sections, each part associating with a particular trait or certain function.



We are thinking of having some form of brain, possibly touch screen or movement sensor, in which the viewer can touch a particular area and an interactive piece will be projected on to the wall/ walls, relating to whichever part of the brain was selected. For example, we were thinking of showing electrical impulses going through motor neurones to show the function that a particular area of the brain controls. The rate at which the impulses travel could get faster based on movement of the partaker. Which wall the interactive projection could be put on could also represent the area of the brain chosen by the viewer, for example if the front is selected it could be displayed on the wall directly in front.  

Research List
  • Scientific - how does the brain work and looking more into the different sections
  • Imagery - how does the brain and nervous systems look inside the body etc
  • How to make the projections interactive using movement, sound etc
So far we have been looking on Art and Science Journal, as suggested by Julia to get some visual reference and biological background. We came across an interesting piece called 'Biomimesis: Hyphae' by Polish artist Szymon Kaliski, that kind of gives a feel as to the direction that we want to go with our own project: 

     
                                   
This interactive visual installation combines algorithm which stimulates fungal growth and cold digital aesthetics. 'People movement is tracked and changed into food that this digital life-form consumes. Lack of movement means lack of food, and fungus starts to slowly decay.' 

Also, here are some visual references we found of brain neurones that we quite liked and might want to incorporate in style wise.


The group met up again to look over the script that Dowan had created based off of our first meeting and discuss more ideas. 



Rob also suggested we all watch Black Mirror, a channel 4 TV drama that "taps into collective unease about our modern world," to get some visual references for our campaign and to get an idea of style. 



The colours are quite dull and bland, which is similar to the look we want to achieve for the film. I also noticed a certain scene that stood out to me in which a mysterious, dark fog quickly approaches a group of people in the street. They are seen standing blankly, unmoved by the danger approaching, filming the situation with their smart phones instead of running away or being frightened. This appears to be a similar comment on society to what we are also trying to convey - their emotions seem to be removed. 








Initial Idea

Originally we talked about creating a campaign film in which there was a world with no art and the consequences that would bring. In the opinion of some, there is a big emphasis on art vs science and how the art world tends to get neglected in terms of funding etc while creative jobs can get overlooked and dismissed easily rather than considering it as a serious career option. We thought it would be interesting to take art out of the equation to show how both are just as important in society. Companies require artists for advertisement, branding and designing, along with many more things, so could they function without art? Would they learn to appreciate it if they didn't have access to it? The Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw said that "Without art, the crudeness of reality would make the world unbearable." Following this we thought we'd design the set with a lack of colour and depth, with empty, dusty spaces where art works used to be on the walls etc. Basically saying that without the many mediums of art, the world would be a very dull and uninteresting place. 




New Idea

The group had a meeting in the library and after a lot of discussion the idea developed into more of a consumerism campaign, but following the same kind of design as the 'world with no art' concept. The idea is to show the reliance on new technology and how customers buy products just because they are new/ trendy/ cool rather than because they actually need the item. We want the set to still remain mostly blank and dull, creating more of a dystopian world in which people only seem to care about gaining new products and nothing else to show that this could be the way humanity is going if they continue purchasing how they do. Roughly the story we decided on is as follows:
  • A man sitting alone in a relatively empty space containing a lack of personal items (yet this is meant to be his living room), fixated on a TV placed in front of him.
  • An advertisement for the new smart phone available plays in the background.
  • The man looks blankly and without even seeming to think about it picks up his current working phone and purchases the phone from the ad. 
  • Afterwards he goes on a social media site to let everyone know that he has bought the latest model of smart phone. 
  • Comments of positive reactions from what appears to be his friends are shown. 
  • He then throws his current phone into a big pile of previous phones that he has discarded to show this has happened many times beforehand. 

We weren't sure of how to end the campaign but thought that either :

  1. After receiving the comments and throwing the phone he still seems to lack emotion, however he starts to show a faint glimmer of a manic smile that quickly disappears and returns back to the previous state. 
  2. Lack of emotion continues until a doorbell is heard and we hear the mail man shout "delivery" as the person smiles/ goes to collect their new device. 

The first ending seems a lot more serious and what we are going for as it creates more of an impact to the viewer about the reality of the situation. The second ending creates a more humorous approach, but we thought that this might cause the campaign to lose the message that it's trying to convey. 



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Lauren Fox
Third year at UCA studying Digital Film and Screen Arts
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