Everything in life comes to an end, and so does this blog, now.
It was a wonderful journey for me and I want to thank all of you who followed along.
An end is always a sad thing and this one was no exception.
But I like to think that every end is just a new beginning.
Actually, something big is about to begin in my life.
It was all set in motion by a dream. At the time, I wasn't sure about this dream.
Now I am.
I'll see you around.
18.7.10
Course Overview
Overall I thought this course was extremely formative and very well structured. I really liked its fast-paced nature, with all the rigorous restrictions and deadlines as it was a terrific training on filmmaking discipline.
The main highlight goes definitely for the practical approach: to be enabled to make your own film in a 2 weeks course, to get your hands on all the material, getting to direct real actors, working directly with and get advice from seasoned professionals and getting to know how it all works on a film set was quite simply an invaluable experience, which by itself is well worth the price you pay for it – furthermore, it gives you more than just a certificate when you complete it – it gives you a finished film to put on your portfolio, produced with professional means and actors.
The tutoring environment is excellent, everything is very informal, the tutors are very committed and inspiring and the backstage organization is stunning – absolutely everything ran smoothly and without a flaw. I was aware that there were some troublesome unexpected occurrences (as one of the confirmed actors not being able to come) but they were always quickly solved by the staff and never affected the course plan. By this alone we can see the true filmmaker nature of the organizers – extremely versatile and adaptive.
The lectures are not very strong in the theoretical component but this is largely compensated by the course booklet they offer you which is fairly detailed and comprehensive for such a short introduction. You should see the lectures as an excellent opportunity to chat and to clarify how things are done with active, experienced professionals, and you will only take the most out of them if you’re ready to ask lots of questions.
I’m particularly insistent when it comes to this, but all the tutors had an amazing patience and they would always answer me objectively and thoroughly. I really appreciated their willingness because after all they are masters at what they do and I’m no one in this field. It was a real privilege to be allowed to develop such a close relationship with them.
I would most certainly advise anyone who’s taking their first steps in the world of filmmaking to go take this course. You won’t be disappointed. It will broaden your views, make you understand exactly how things work in the industry – this course could be easily called “How to make movies in 10 days”, because it’s exactly what it is.
It only scratches the surface, of course, you couldn’t do more than that in 10 days in such a vast, complex and multi-faceted subject as filmmaking, but it teases you to dig further and further by yourself.
Finally, at a personal level, this experience was particular significant because it made me have a very strong epiphany.
For the last couple of years I’ve been a little adrift, not knowing exactly what I wanted to do with my life.
This couple of weeks were the most intense, exciting and thrilling experience I had in this period of time. As a consequence I believe I’ve finally found my true vocation.
I wish to become a filmmaker.
If you long for a highly challenging, profoundly stimulating and ultimately fulfilling and rewarding profession, this is undeniably the realm for you.
Now I just have to build up the path to pursue this dream all the way, because only with full, unrelenting commitment will you thrive in this extremely competitive world.
And LFA’s outstanding Summer course gave me exactly the confidence I needed to start out this bold journey into the magical world of cinema…
Post Scriptum: Acknowledgments
I couldn’t finish this blog without expressing once again my deep gratitude to the London Film Academy and the Algarve Film Commission for the incredible opportunity they have given me to do this course.
I met some wonderful people throughout these 2 weeks and I’m thankful to all of them, but I would like to specially acknowledge Anna Macdonald, LFA’s joint Principal; Paulo Pereira and Eduardo Pinto, from AFC; Nélson “NJ”, from the LFA’s staff.
Congratulations on the excellent work and the best of lucks for the following editions, I’m sure they will continue to be a consistent success.
I also strongly hope I’ll be able to work with you again in a near future.
My very best regards,
Sonat Duyar
The main highlight goes definitely for the practical approach: to be enabled to make your own film in a 2 weeks course, to get your hands on all the material, getting to direct real actors, working directly with and get advice from seasoned professionals and getting to know how it all works on a film set was quite simply an invaluable experience, which by itself is well worth the price you pay for it – furthermore, it gives you more than just a certificate when you complete it – it gives you a finished film to put on your portfolio, produced with professional means and actors.
The tutoring environment is excellent, everything is very informal, the tutors are very committed and inspiring and the backstage organization is stunning – absolutely everything ran smoothly and without a flaw. I was aware that there were some troublesome unexpected occurrences (as one of the confirmed actors not being able to come) but they were always quickly solved by the staff and never affected the course plan. By this alone we can see the true filmmaker nature of the organizers – extremely versatile and adaptive.
The lectures are not very strong in the theoretical component but this is largely compensated by the course booklet they offer you which is fairly detailed and comprehensive for such a short introduction. You should see the lectures as an excellent opportunity to chat and to clarify how things are done with active, experienced professionals, and you will only take the most out of them if you’re ready to ask lots of questions.
I’m particularly insistent when it comes to this, but all the tutors had an amazing patience and they would always answer me objectively and thoroughly. I really appreciated their willingness because after all they are masters at what they do and I’m no one in this field. It was a real privilege to be allowed to develop such a close relationship with them.
I would most certainly advise anyone who’s taking their first steps in the world of filmmaking to go take this course. You won’t be disappointed. It will broaden your views, make you understand exactly how things work in the industry – this course could be easily called “How to make movies in 10 days”, because it’s exactly what it is.
It only scratches the surface, of course, you couldn’t do more than that in 10 days in such a vast, complex and multi-faceted subject as filmmaking, but it teases you to dig further and further by yourself.
Finally, at a personal level, this experience was particular significant because it made me have a very strong epiphany.
For the last couple of years I’ve been a little adrift, not knowing exactly what I wanted to do with my life.
This couple of weeks were the most intense, exciting and thrilling experience I had in this period of time. As a consequence I believe I’ve finally found my true vocation.
I wish to become a filmmaker.
If you long for a highly challenging, profoundly stimulating and ultimately fulfilling and rewarding profession, this is undeniably the realm for you.
Now I just have to build up the path to pursue this dream all the way, because only with full, unrelenting commitment will you thrive in this extremely competitive world.
And LFA’s outstanding Summer course gave me exactly the confidence I needed to start out this bold journey into the magical world of cinema…
Post Scriptum: Acknowledgments
I couldn’t finish this blog without expressing once again my deep gratitude to the London Film Academy and the Algarve Film Commission for the incredible opportunity they have given me to do this course.
I met some wonderful people throughout these 2 weeks and I’m thankful to all of them, but I would like to specially acknowledge Anna Macdonald, LFA’s joint Principal; Paulo Pereira and Eduardo Pinto, from AFC; Nélson “NJ”, from the LFA’s staff.
Congratulations on the excellent work and the best of lucks for the following editions, I’m sure they will continue to be a consistent success.
I also strongly hope I’ll be able to work with you again in a near future.
My very best regards,
Sonat Duyar
10th day - Financing, Distributing and Screening of the Films
Wow!...
This was the last day of the course... I can't believe how fast it all ended... I'm feeling very nostalgic while writing these words because by now it's all over... and these were some of the best 2 weeks of my life.
In the morning Rebecca Knapp gave us some notions on how to finance a film and of all the costs involved in the process. She also told us how the profits are distributed and more important - how to properly target and advertise your film to guarantee you have profits. After all, filmmaking is as much an art as it is a business.
In the afternoon the museum's auditorium was used for the screening of all of the 11 short films made by the students in the course. There were some pretty good concepts there, definitely. It's amazing how different minds can come up with such different ideas, all based on the same subject and having the same restrictions.
After the screenings the Vice-Mayor of Portimão handed over the course certificates to all the students and expressed his wish to establish a permanent partnership with LFA, which would be unquestionably terrific for all the aspiring filmmakers of Portugal, in my opinion.
LFA is all about know-how and that's exactly what's missing in Portugal's academic film panorama. Furthermore, its prestige would certainly attract more foreign and private investment in Portugal's film industry.
After the ceremonies there was a little party at the museum with drinks and snacks.
This was the last day of the course... I can't believe how fast it all ended... I'm feeling very nostalgic while writing these words because by now it's all over... and these were some of the best 2 weeks of my life.
In the morning Rebecca Knapp gave us some notions on how to finance a film and of all the costs involved in the process. She also told us how the profits are distributed and more important - how to properly target and advertise your film to guarantee you have profits. After all, filmmaking is as much an art as it is a business.
Financing and distributing class with Rebecca Knapp
In the afternoon the museum's auditorium was used for the screening of all of the 11 short films made by the students in the course. There were some pretty good concepts there, definitely. It's amazing how different minds can come up with such different ideas, all based on the same subject and having the same restrictions.
After the screenings the Vice-Mayor of Portimão handed over the course certificates to all the students and expressed his wish to establish a permanent partnership with LFA, which would be unquestionably terrific for all the aspiring filmmakers of Portugal, in my opinion.
LFA is all about know-how and that's exactly what's missing in Portugal's academic film panorama. Furthermore, its prestige would certainly attract more foreign and private investment in Portugal's film industry.
Receiving the Course Diploma
Anna MacDonald and the Vice-Mayor of Portimão
After the ceremonies there was a little party at the museum with drinks and snacks.
The LFA's Principal providing catering services.
We said some sad goodbyes as Anna and Becky left earlier to London, in the end of the afternoon.
In the evening, all the students and the remaining course staff went to Praia da Rocha to have dinner: take-away pizza on the beach, chatting under the stars with the fine tunes of a guitar and the sea in the background.
It was an absolutely delightful night. With the intensive rhythm of the course, and because we were separated in two different groups early on, we ended up not socializing very much with each other. After the course days we were frequently too tired to go out or had things to prepare for the next day.
This evening made me see what I had been missing. I got to know the other side of these people, outside of the course environment, and they were really great: deep, intelligent, fascinating...
My only regret is to have missed the opportunity to hang around more with them... At least we kept each other's contacts and I hope we can keep networking and that we'll meet again soon... It's great to know people who share the same dreams than you... and who have such interesting and different personalities.
The conversations I had this night were incredibly enriching and even though this bonding was created in a matter of hours, I hope it was strong enough to last.
For my part, It definitely was.
16.7.10
9th day - Post-producing
This day was completely practical, we sat in front of a state-of-the-art-one-million-inch-wide-screen Mac computer in order to edit, sound mix and colour grade our films with the useful help and suggestions of both NJ and Simon.
I really enjoy editing even though it is also kind of an overwhelming job: you can build an infinity of completely different films with the same footage. But as I usually know very well what I'm looking for, my first coarse edit flows very easily. My trick is to never question this first attempt too much, because if you start wondering and asking yourself "what if", you will end up being swallowed by an neverending spiral of alternatives and you'll most likely go mad, being unable to figure out which one is the best as you start getting too involved, too contaminated, incapable of seeing the film with fresh eyes as a person who's watching it for the first time.
Thus, I do my first edit based on intuition and on what I'm trying to convey and then I just refine it.
I had a problem with my performances: they weren't as slow-paced as I intended and I had to fabricate the pace I was looking for through the edit. I thought it worked out fine, but NJ told me you should never do that because the audience will notice that something is fishy when you cheat the natural reaction time of the actors.
Once again I think I wasn't seeing clearly on the day of the shoot. This keeps happening to me and I can't prevent it. I try to be focused on the performances but there's too many things to control at the same time, a schedule to keep up with, technical issues to deal with, stress, fatigue (which was very present as I've been sleeping badly and my shoot was the last of the day) and all of this distracts me of what I should be concentrating on.
I guess I shouldn't be concerned with all of these things, that's what my crew is there for. But I'm not used to work like that as I usually have to accumulate a large number of jobs in my productions and have to worry about everything at the same time. I have to stop doing that if I want to direct decently - and this was my first experience as a real one-job-only director - they actually wouldn't let me deal with any of the small stuff, which felt quite strange at the time, but is making a lot of sense now.
Overall, I'm not exceptionally happy with the final result but I never am anyway and as my bright colleague Tiago Inácio said, "a bad film can be a great lesson", and this one definitely was at least the latter.
My colleagues editing. No photos of my edit. All censored. I can't tell you why because that would bring this blog down.
I really enjoy editing even though it is also kind of an overwhelming job: you can build an infinity of completely different films with the same footage. But as I usually know very well what I'm looking for, my first coarse edit flows very easily. My trick is to never question this first attempt too much, because if you start wondering and asking yourself "what if", you will end up being swallowed by an neverending spiral of alternatives and you'll most likely go mad, being unable to figure out which one is the best as you start getting too involved, too contaminated, incapable of seeing the film with fresh eyes as a person who's watching it for the first time.
Thus, I do my first edit based on intuition and on what I'm trying to convey and then I just refine it.
I had a problem with my performances: they weren't as slow-paced as I intended and I had to fabricate the pace I was looking for through the edit. I thought it worked out fine, but NJ told me you should never do that because the audience will notice that something is fishy when you cheat the natural reaction time of the actors.
Once again I think I wasn't seeing clearly on the day of the shoot. This keeps happening to me and I can't prevent it. I try to be focused on the performances but there's too many things to control at the same time, a schedule to keep up with, technical issues to deal with, stress, fatigue (which was very present as I've been sleeping badly and my shoot was the last of the day) and all of this distracts me of what I should be concentrating on.
I guess I shouldn't be concerned with all of these things, that's what my crew is there for. But I'm not used to work like that as I usually have to accumulate a large number of jobs in my productions and have to worry about everything at the same time. I have to stop doing that if I want to direct decently - and this was my first experience as a real one-job-only director - they actually wouldn't let me deal with any of the small stuff, which felt quite strange at the time, but is making a lot of sense now.
Overall, I'm not exceptionally happy with the final result but I never am anyway and as my bright colleague Tiago Inácio said, "a bad film can be a great lesson", and this one definitely was at least the latter.
8th day - Producing
Today we had a lecture on production with Rebecca Knapp, an award-winning producer with a very rational, analytical mind and a delicious sense of humour - I absolutely loved her delightful depictions of film crews and actors.
The way she portrays her job is extremely funny, resembling the one of a mother trying to get all of her "special" and childish kids to get along with each other and to get them moving in order to get the job done.
She started by giving us a comprehensive description of every job involved in a film production and the respective hierarchy.
Then we analysed how to break down a script in order to make a schedule and a budget - no easy task at all. It's like trying to put together an ever-changing puzzle where everything is constrained by and depends on everything else. I find it amazing that there are people who find this job stimulating because I tried it before and I find it completely daunting, overwhelming and overall frustrating. I have a deep respect for producers partly because I think I could never be one - I would die from massive headaches in no time, there's simply too much information to compute and you have to be awesomely flexible and adaptive and prepared to alter everything you planned if needed.
I don't know how it is possible to do this, but I would say that's mainly because I'm limited by my male brain, and males are characterized by their one-task-only thought process - hell, I moved my laptop from the living room to the bedroom to write this entry just because my roomie was watching TV and for me it's impossible to concentrate if there's any background noise. Women on the other hand are famous for their multi-tasking abilities and that's why the majority of producers are female.
Thanks Becky for all the insights, they were very important to make me utterly admire you... and all those of your kind!
See you tomorrow.
The (a)cute producer Rebecca Knapp
The way she portrays her job is extremely funny, resembling the one of a mother trying to get all of her "special" and childish kids to get along with each other and to get them moving in order to get the job done.
She started by giving us a comprehensive description of every job involved in a film production and the respective hierarchy.
Then we analysed how to break down a script in order to make a schedule and a budget - no easy task at all. It's like trying to put together an ever-changing puzzle where everything is constrained by and depends on everything else. I find it amazing that there are people who find this job stimulating because I tried it before and I find it completely daunting, overwhelming and overall frustrating. I have a deep respect for producers partly because I think I could never be one - I would die from massive headaches in no time, there's simply too much information to compute and you have to be awesomely flexible and adaptive and prepared to alter everything you planned if needed.
I don't know how it is possible to do this, but I would say that's mainly because I'm limited by my male brain, and males are characterized by their one-task-only thought process - hell, I moved my laptop from the living room to the bedroom to write this entry just because my roomie was watching TV and for me it's impossible to concentrate if there's any background noise. Women on the other hand are famous for their multi-tasking abilities and that's why the majority of producers are female.
Thanks Becky for all the insights, they were very important to make me utterly admire you... and all those of your kind!
See you tomorrow.
15.7.10
7th day - Shooting
The shoot day started really early for me: 2 a.m. to be precise. I went to bed at 10 p.m. the day before because I was completely knackered after an entire week of terrible insomnia. It didn’t get better today, as I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn’t sleep anymore.
I spent my time reading most of the course booklet, which I didn’t have the opportunity to read before.
At 7:30 I was at the entrance of our headquarters, Portimão Museum, with all the other students. We waited for the course staff to come and unlock the doors, we loaded our cars with all the equipment and crew and we went to the Fortress of Sta. Catarina, our filming location.
The day was extremely hot, long and exhausting. We had 5 shoots scheduled; one for each pair of students (the other half of the class filmed yesterday), and mine was the last of the day. I kept getting more nervous as we started getting more and more behind schedule. Most of the films were too complex and had far too many different shots and camera set-ups to get done in less than 90 minutes and the tutors were not very rigid about it, which I wasn’t expecting.
In the first shoot I was 2nd Assistant Director and my job was mainly crowd control. It wasn’t the most pleasant experience I’ve ever had because each time I’d approach people to ask them to be quiet as they passed by the set, they would think that I was trying to sell something and just waved away and ignored me. Twice I was very rudely shouted at (by a Spanish and a French, respectively, both women) when I insisted .
Throughout the day I also had the opportunity to be a boom operator, focus puller and lighting assistant.
I got the focus puller position for the most demanding shot of the day in respect to focus: a racking shot, constantly alternating the focus between the two characters as they spoke. Basil, if you’re reading this, I did my best, I hope it was acceptable (we only did one take and as I said before, when you’re pulling focus you don’t get to see the image, you just measure the distances and use the scale on the focus ring, so I’ve no idea if it was fine or not).
My shoot started by 6:20 p.m. when it was supposed to start at 4:00. The main problem we had was because of the strong wind and the ambience music from a bar nearby (it was shot in a very exposed balcony), but we asked the bar to stop the music and they acceded for half an hour and the sound crew said they could capture good sound.
I could get all of my shots done fairly within the timeframe. I had never worked with professional actors before so I’m not sure if I got the best out of them. I’m used to giving a lot of freedom to the actors so the performances seem more natural but in this case maybe I should have been more imposing to them to approach even more the performance to my original vision - because they were great, and I think they would be able to deal with it.
Overall I think it went well but I’m completely exhausted.
I’m sure I’m going to sleep well tonight.
See you tomorrow!
I spent my time reading most of the course booklet, which I didn’t have the opportunity to read before.
At 7:30 I was at the entrance of our headquarters, Portimão Museum, with all the other students. We waited for the course staff to come and unlock the doors, we loaded our cars with all the equipment and crew and we went to the Fortress of Sta. Catarina, our filming location.
The Fortress of Sta. Catarina
The day was extremely hot, long and exhausting. We had 5 shoots scheduled; one for each pair of students (the other half of the class filmed yesterday), and mine was the last of the day. I kept getting more nervous as we started getting more and more behind schedule. Most of the films were too complex and had far too many different shots and camera set-ups to get done in less than 90 minutes and the tutors were not very rigid about it, which I wasn’t expecting.
In the first shoot I was 2nd Assistant Director and my job was mainly crowd control. It wasn’t the most pleasant experience I’ve ever had because each time I’d approach people to ask them to be quiet as they passed by the set, they would think that I was trying to sell something and just waved away and ignored me. Twice I was very rudely shouted at (by a Spanish and a French, respectively, both women) when I insisted .
As a 2nd AD, asking the 1st AD to go away and not disturb the set.
Throughout the day I also had the opportunity to be a boom operator, focus puller and lighting assistant.
I got the focus puller position for the most demanding shot of the day in respect to focus: a racking shot, constantly alternating the focus between the two characters as they spoke. Basil, if you’re reading this, I did my best, I hope it was acceptable (we only did one take and as I said before, when you’re pulling focus you don’t get to see the image, you just measure the distances and use the scale on the focus ring, so I’ve no idea if it was fine or not).
Boom operating. Always good to remember my shoulder tendinitis.
My shoot started by 6:20 p.m. when it was supposed to start at 4:00. The main problem we had was because of the strong wind and the ambience music from a bar nearby (it was shot in a very exposed balcony), but we asked the bar to stop the music and they acceded for half an hour and the sound crew said they could capture good sound.
Directing. Now this is what I came here for.
I could get all of my shots done fairly within the timeframe. I had never worked with professional actors before so I’m not sure if I got the best out of them. I’m used to giving a lot of freedom to the actors so the performances seem more natural but in this case maybe I should have been more imposing to them to approach even more the performance to my original vision - because they were great, and I think they would be able to deal with it.
Catarina Saraiva, the actress.
André McQueen, the actor.
Paul Kite and Robin Vidgeon, the set overlords, working hard.
Now seriously: my most profound acknowledgment to them, they were absolutely great.
Now seriously: my most profound acknowledgment to them, they were absolutely great.
Overall I think it went well but I’m completely exhausted.
I’m sure I’m going to sleep well tonight.
See you tomorrow!
14.7.10
6th day - Editing
Today we were instructed on the art of editing by Mr. Julian Doyle, who edited films like Terry Jones's "Meaning of life" and Terry Gilliam's "Brazil".
Once again, Mr. Doyle’s lecture was very well organized and structured and included a great number of film excerpts as editing examples. He brought our attention to the array of tools and tricks that a clever editor has at his disposition to better convey the story while disguising what didn’t go that well during the shoot, showing us how a good edit can actually save a bad performance, make the unrealistic look real and much more.
Through examples, we saw how different the same scene can be if edited in different manners. We could really see how important it is for the editor to be a good storyteller, to know what to show and when to show it, to know how to slow the pace down when the audience is interested and speed it up when it’s not. Editing is a highly creative job which has a tremendous impact on the overall film, much greater than most laypeople are aware of.
In the afternoon we had a practical lesson on the editing program Final Cut Pro. We had the chance to learn how to cut a scene in some real top-notch Mac computers, which we’ll use on Thursday to edit our own films.
And tomorrow is the day of the shoot.
I’m pretty well prepared and I really know what I want. I went to the location and decided exactly where I’m going to shoot (considering the position of the sun at my shooting time and my wish to take the most of the location) and what I need there. I’m not worried about the time restraints because I purposely kept everything very simple in order to guarantee I’ll have no problems at all. I have a very small amount of mandatory shots, all of them with no technical challenges at all, so I can be sure that I don’t waste any takes on technical issues and thus I can concentrate solely on getting good performances from the actors. 6 minutes of rushes doesn't seem like much time...
I have two optional additional shots, which I will only shoot if I have the time and which are the only ones that involve camera movements and focus pulling.
I know my shot list is not bold at all, but I’d rather make sure I can capture my story within the filming time limit and on schedule than to have plenty of fancy shots but to risk not having enough time to shoot everything and not enough takes to be happy with the performances.
I’m sure none of this will help me to have a good night of sleep though…
Once again, Mr. Doyle’s lecture was very well organized and structured and included a great number of film excerpts as editing examples. He brought our attention to the array of tools and tricks that a clever editor has at his disposition to better convey the story while disguising what didn’t go that well during the shoot, showing us how a good edit can actually save a bad performance, make the unrealistic look real and much more.
Through examples, we saw how different the same scene can be if edited in different manners. We could really see how important it is for the editor to be a good storyteller, to know what to show and when to show it, to know how to slow the pace down when the audience is interested and speed it up when it’s not. Editing is a highly creative job which has a tremendous impact on the overall film, much greater than most laypeople are aware of.
In the afternoon we had a practical lesson on the editing program Final Cut Pro. We had the chance to learn how to cut a scene in some real top-notch Mac computers, which we’ll use on Thursday to edit our own films.
And tomorrow is the day of the shoot.
I’m pretty well prepared and I really know what I want. I went to the location and decided exactly where I’m going to shoot (considering the position of the sun at my shooting time and my wish to take the most of the location) and what I need there. I’m not worried about the time restraints because I purposely kept everything very simple in order to guarantee I’ll have no problems at all. I have a very small amount of mandatory shots, all of them with no technical challenges at all, so I can be sure that I don’t waste any takes on technical issues and thus I can concentrate solely on getting good performances from the actors. 6 minutes of rushes doesn't seem like much time...
I have two optional additional shots, which I will only shoot if I have the time and which are the only ones that involve camera movements and focus pulling.
I know my shot list is not bold at all, but I’d rather make sure I can capture my story within the filming time limit and on schedule than to have plenty of fancy shots but to risk not having enough time to shoot everything and not enough takes to be happy with the performances.
I’m sure none of this will help me to have a good night of sleep though…
10.7.10
5th day - Sound, continuity and script reviewing
This morning we had a lecture on sound with Simon Gill.
It was very interesting for me because once again this is a subject in which I'm completely ignorant and I definitely learned some things.
It really made me see how important sound can be as a part of storytelling.
Sound quality is a fundamental component of professional filmmaking and yet it’s amazing how easily it can be overlooked by the rest of the production team.
Simon also gave us some notions about film continuity and the methodologies used on set to guarantee that it is preserved.
On the afternoon we had a review session of our scripts with Paul Kite who helped us to trim the rough edges on our screenwriting. I also discussed the script with Catarina Saraiva, the actress I’m going to direct on Tuesday.
This was really important because until now I’ve been writing and directing my own material and thus I don’t get an idea of how clearly my ideas are passed through the script. There are things that seem obvious to me because I’m conceiving it all in my head but that are not that well conveyed through the text, and I’m rarely aware of this.
Other thing that I’ve come to notice is that my ideas appear to degenerate in the development process. They seem great in my head, not so great on the paper, and even less great on screen. Also, I always try to be a subtle storyteller but as a consequence what I’m trying to communicate is often misunderstood.
I still don’t know what I’m doing wrong but it’s clear that I have much to learn about writing and directing – I say this because I’m really convinced that the problem is not with the ideas, I’m confident that they have a good potential. I just keep spoiling them more and more on their way to the screen.
And it's the end of the first week! So far - really good!
See you monday!
Simon Gill sleeping during his own lecture (just kidding Simon, it was great!)
It was very interesting for me because once again this is a subject in which I'm completely ignorant and I definitely learned some things.
It really made me see how important sound can be as a part of storytelling.
Sound quality is a fundamental component of professional filmmaking and yet it’s amazing how easily it can be overlooked by the rest of the production team.
Simon also gave us some notions about film continuity and the methodologies used on set to guarantee that it is preserved.
On the afternoon we had a review session of our scripts with Paul Kite who helped us to trim the rough edges on our screenwriting. I also discussed the script with Catarina Saraiva, the actress I’m going to direct on Tuesday.
Personalized script discussion at the make-up room.
This was really important because until now I’ve been writing and directing my own material and thus I don’t get an idea of how clearly my ideas are passed through the script. There are things that seem obvious to me because I’m conceiving it all in my head but that are not that well conveyed through the text, and I’m rarely aware of this.
Other thing that I’ve come to notice is that my ideas appear to degenerate in the development process. They seem great in my head, not so great on the paper, and even less great on screen. Also, I always try to be a subtle storyteller but as a consequence what I’m trying to communicate is often misunderstood.
I still don’t know what I’m doing wrong but it’s clear that I have much to learn about writing and directing – I say this because I’m really convinced that the problem is not with the ideas, I’m confident that they have a good potential. I just keep spoiling them more and more on their way to the screen.
And it's the end of the first week! So far - really good!
See you monday!
4th day - Lighting and Camera
This morning I had the chance to be the director of photography on set and lit a scene as I pleased.
I didn't have the faintest idea of what I was doing but apparently this job has much to do with intuition and good aesthetic notion and not that much with theory.
There are some basic rules, but after that there's a lot of freedom and it's up to the DOP in close collaboration with the director to decide what kind of look they are aiming for.
Apparently, in Mr. Vidgeon's opinion, I did ok.
Throughout the day, which was all spent doing camera and lighting tests both indoors and outdoors, I also had the opportunity to be a zoom operator and a focus puller as every job on set was being rotated by the students.
This was a very practical day intended to make us feel familiar with all the equipment and with set discipline so that we're more confortable and efficient in the day of the shoot.
A lighting set up - not mine, actually. There weren't any photos of mine, it was probably too bold and controversial.
I didn't have the faintest idea of what I was doing but apparently this job has much to do with intuition and good aesthetic notion and not that much with theory.
There are some basic rules, but after that there's a lot of freedom and it's up to the DOP in close collaboration with the director to decide what kind of look they are aiming for.
Intelectual osmosis.
Apparently, in Mr. Vidgeon's opinion, I did ok.
Throughout the day, which was all spent doing camera and lighting tests both indoors and outdoors, I also had the opportunity to be a zoom operator and a focus puller as every job on set was being rotated by the students.
Three jobs for one camera: operator, zoom operator and focus puller
This was a very practical day intended to make us feel familiar with all the equipment and with set discipline so that we're more confortable and efficient in the day of the shoot.
8.7.10
3rd day - Cinematography
Today we were introduced to cinematography, the photography of moving pictures.
Our very agreeable tutor was Robin Vidgeon, who gave us some basics about lighting and how to create depth and mood with it.
In the morning we had a quite instructive chat about several technical aspects of lenses and cameras and about the role of the cinematographer on a film production. We discussed the differences between stock film and digital HD.
In the afternoon we started a workshop on camera operating. I grabed a camera for the first time in my life. A pretty respectable one, also. It's definitely not my thing, but it was a good and important experience to have. I also got acquainted with the obscure craft of focus pulling, which demands some kind of extra-sensorial perception that hopefully I'll never have to understand.
Most of all I had the opportunity to clarify an enourmous amount of aspects about photography technicalities, a subject in which I am utterly ignorant.
At the end of the day we compared the image from different film stocks and different digital HD cameras by watching footage captured with each of them.
It was a fairly fruitful day about the more technical realm of filmmaking, which doesn't captivate me as much as the creative and artistic one, but which is still unavoidable if you want to be a good director.
I'm really looking forward to learning some more tomorrow, as the camera and lighting workshop continues.
We'll meet again then!
Our very agreeable tutor was Robin Vidgeon, who gave us some basics about lighting and how to create depth and mood with it.
Mr. Robin Vidgeon, DOP
In the morning we had a quite instructive chat about several technical aspects of lenses and cameras and about the role of the cinematographer on a film production. We discussed the differences between stock film and digital HD.
In the afternoon we started a workshop on camera operating. I grabed a camera for the first time in my life. A pretty respectable one, also. It's definitely not my thing, but it was a good and important experience to have. I also got acquainted with the obscure craft of focus pulling, which demands some kind of extra-sensorial perception that hopefully I'll never have to understand.
Most of all I had the opportunity to clarify an enourmous amount of aspects about photography technicalities, a subject in which I am utterly ignorant.
As you can see, I spent the entire day nagging this incredibly patient gentleman with my endless questions...
At the end of the day we compared the image from different film stocks and different digital HD cameras by watching footage captured with each of them.
It was a fairly fruitful day about the more technical realm of filmmaking, which doesn't captivate me as much as the creative and artistic one, but which is still unavoidable if you want to be a good director.
I'm really looking forward to learning some more tomorrow, as the camera and lighting workshop continues.
We'll meet again then!
A pretty respectable camera indeed...
6.7.10
2nd day - Directing
This day was quite simply amazing.
Our tutor was the incredible Julian Doyle, an extremely versatile, charismatic filmmaker, most famous for his work with the Monty Python.
Mr. Doyle, if by any chance you're reading this, I want to thank you again for your brilliant and utterly inspiring views about direction. It was an immense honor to learn with you, definitely one of the most stimulating experiences of all my life.
The presentation included dozens of film scenes to exemplify directorial choices and the reasons behind them. Mr. Doyle introduced us to the challenging art of conveying story, emotion and meaning through camera angles, movements and lenses, specific lighting and mise-en-scène decoration and configuration.
We were taught on how to overcome technical limitations with clever gimmicks and editing tricks, how to keep a grip on the audience by sustaining tension, how to break the rules to explore unconventional methods of storytelling, how to thicken a flat scene so it doesn’t become boring and how to tell more with less, playing with omission, letting the audience fill up the blank spaces for you.
Also, he showed us how easily you can get away with unusual, unrealistic or even awkward things if you know how to use them.
He encouraged us to see past what is established, inciting our criticism and analytic reasoning to think in original, entertaining and efficient manners, all at the same time.
We were also given some nice tips on how to spot good actors on castings and how to be sure you’re not discarding a good actor who just had a bad audition.
In the afternoon we had an extremely didactic workshop on the very complex, non-linear skill of directing actors.
I can’t emphasize enough how important this practical approach was. Trying to apply what we've learned to a concrete situation was undoubtedly the best way to consolidate our knowledge. It all seemed pretty manageable and straight-forward when we were dealing only with theory, but when it came to assume the role of a director, having to guide the actors (which in the exercises were our fellow colleagues) and making decisions about the number of shots and respective angles, it all got more complicated. You have an infinity of choices in front of you and it’s up to you to discover the best. It’s no easy task!
Mr. Doyle made us see, through several examples, the colossal amount of decisions that are involved even in a very simple scene.
By the way, apart from excelling on many aspects of filmmaking, he also proved to be an impressive actor, by showing us radically different performances for the same scenes.
A good director must know acting to better understand actors, to know what it is to be on their shoes. He should be aware of how difficult it is to act. Only then can he give useful orientations. Mr. Doyle can do much more than that: he can teach an actor how to do his job, by demonstration. It's probably not a good idea to use this skill too much, but it's definitely a great advantage to have it.
This was one of the most enriching days I have ever had.
Now I really have to use all of this inspiration to write the first draft of the script that I have to deliver tomorrow.
See you then!
Our tutor was the incredible Julian Doyle, an extremely versatile, charismatic filmmaker, most famous for his work with the Monty Python.
Mr. Julian Doyle
Mr. Doyle, if by any chance you're reading this, I want to thank you again for your brilliant and utterly inspiring views about direction. It was an immense honor to learn with you, definitely one of the most stimulating experiences of all my life.
The presentation included dozens of film scenes to exemplify directorial choices and the reasons behind them. Mr. Doyle introduced us to the challenging art of conveying story, emotion and meaning through camera angles, movements and lenses, specific lighting and mise-en-scène decoration and configuration.
We were taught on how to overcome technical limitations with clever gimmicks and editing tricks, how to keep a grip on the audience by sustaining tension, how to break the rules to explore unconventional methods of storytelling, how to thicken a flat scene so it doesn’t become boring and how to tell more with less, playing with omission, letting the audience fill up the blank spaces for you.
Also, he showed us how easily you can get away with unusual, unrealistic or even awkward things if you know how to use them.
He encouraged us to see past what is established, inciting our criticism and analytic reasoning to think in original, entertaining and efficient manners, all at the same time.
We were also given some nice tips on how to spot good actors on castings and how to be sure you’re not discarding a good actor who just had a bad audition.
In the afternoon we had an extremely didactic workshop on the very complex, non-linear skill of directing actors.
I can’t emphasize enough how important this practical approach was. Trying to apply what we've learned to a concrete situation was undoubtedly the best way to consolidate our knowledge. It all seemed pretty manageable and straight-forward when we were dealing only with theory, but when it came to assume the role of a director, having to guide the actors (which in the exercises were our fellow colleagues) and making decisions about the number of shots and respective angles, it all got more complicated. You have an infinity of choices in front of you and it’s up to you to discover the best. It’s no easy task!
Mr. Doyle made us see, through several examples, the colossal amount of decisions that are involved even in a very simple scene.
By the way, apart from excelling on many aspects of filmmaking, he also proved to be an impressive actor, by showing us radically different performances for the same scenes.
A good director must know acting to better understand actors, to know what it is to be on their shoes. He should be aware of how difficult it is to act. Only then can he give useful orientations. Mr. Doyle can do much more than that: he can teach an actor how to do his job, by demonstration. It's probably not a good idea to use this skill too much, but it's definitely a great advantage to have it.
This was one of the most enriching days I have ever had.
Now I really have to use all of this inspiration to write the first draft of the script that I have to deliver tomorrow.
See you then!
1st day - Screenwriting
We spent this entire day covering a series of aspects about screenwriting, the foundation of filmmaking, with our tutor Paul Kite, in a very informal and interactive environment.
We had some really interesting discussions and I could clarify a lot of things that I didn't understand well about the way this industry works by talking with this experienced professional.
Throughout the day I had the opportunity to talk with some of the supporting staff members of the course, mostly graduates of LFA who are now making their own way into the industry. It was a very inspiring and enriching experience to get to know them, and to know that they are consistently achieving what they were aiming for. Also to see how spontaneously creative they are. Their minds are trained to imagine, to wonder, to transform creative limitations in pure inspiration. It's great!
After lunch we started discussing a short film screenplay in groups of 4, analysing scenes and scrutinizing their hidden meanings, their flaws, their purpose in the plotline and in the development of characters.
Then we were briefed about the film we'll be directing early on next week.
We were paired up in director/cameraman teams (I’ll be director, fortunately) and extremely incentivized to do team work, which is crucial on filmmaking, a collaborative art more than any other.
We were told which actors we're going to direct (famous Portuguese actors, by the way), what equipment we're going to have available, in which location we're going to film and what should the film be about.
They also told us we'll have a total of 1,5 hours to set up the all scene for each angle and shoot everything – and by the way, you can only shoot 6 minutes maximum, even though we’re using a digital camera (an unbelievably huuuge digital camera with an unbelievably huge lens)!
And we were told we have to deliver a first draft of our script, Wednesday morning.
We've just started and by now I have less than 36 hours to write a screenplay!
Talk about INTENSIVE course!...
All of these rigid constrictions, creative limitations and tight schedules are designed to train us on discipline. On having to deliver something with what we are given, and only with that and nothing more. On having to be wise and responsible filmmakers. On being capable to work with deadlines. On being able to be creative even when it seems there’s no room for creativity. On being able to work under stress. On working like professionals have to.
You want your school to prepare you for the real world, for the wilderness that awaits you out there.
Well, at LFA it seems you can be sure that’s what’s going to happen.
Now, if you excuse me, I have a lot of things to read and a lot of brainstorming to do.
See you tomorrow!
Paul Kite (screenplay tutor), Beatrice (Course Leader) and Anna Macdonald (LFA's Joint Principal)
The course only has 24 students which makes it easy to create a very comfortable, friendly atmosphere.
Interviewing some of the people I'll be working with for the next 2 weeks, before the lecture starts
We had some really interesting discussions and I could clarify a lot of things that I didn't understand well about the way this industry works by talking with this experienced professional.
Throughout the day I had the opportunity to talk with some of the supporting staff members of the course, mostly graduates of LFA who are now making their own way into the industry. It was a very inspiring and enriching experience to get to know them, and to know that they are consistently achieving what they were aiming for. Also to see how spontaneously creative they are. Their minds are trained to imagine, to wonder, to transform creative limitations in pure inspiration. It's great!
Me talking with Nélson "NJ", a Portuguese graduate from LFA.
After lunch we started discussing a short film screenplay in groups of 4, analysing scenes and scrutinizing their hidden meanings, their flaws, their purpose in the plotline and in the development of characters.
Analysing and discussing a screenplay.
Then we were briefed about the film we'll be directing early on next week.
We were paired up in director/cameraman teams (I’ll be director, fortunately) and extremely incentivized to do team work, which is crucial on filmmaking, a collaborative art more than any other.
We were told which actors we're going to direct (famous Portuguese actors, by the way), what equipment we're going to have available, in which location we're going to film and what should the film be about.
This is the location were my film will have to be set.
They also told us we'll have a total of 1,5 hours to set up the all scene for each angle and shoot everything – and by the way, you can only shoot 6 minutes maximum, even though we’re using a digital camera (an unbelievably huuuge digital camera with an unbelievably huge lens)!
When I say huge, I mean huge...
And we were told we have to deliver a first draft of our script, Wednesday morning.
We've just started and by now I have less than 36 hours to write a screenplay!
Talk about INTENSIVE course!...
All of these rigid constrictions, creative limitations and tight schedules are designed to train us on discipline. On having to deliver something with what we are given, and only with that and nothing more. On having to be wise and responsible filmmakers. On being capable to work with deadlines. On being able to be creative even when it seems there’s no room for creativity. On being able to work under stress. On working like professionals have to.
You want your school to prepare you for the real world, for the wilderness that awaits you out there.
Well, at LFA it seems you can be sure that’s what’s going to happen.
Now, if you excuse me, I have a lot of things to read and a lot of brainstorming to do.
See you tomorrow!
5.7.10
Hi!
My name is Sonat and I'm a 23 y.o. aspiring filmmaker (with some experience as screenwriter, director, producer, score composer and editor) from Algarve, Portugal.
I'm about to start the "London Film Academy Filmmaking Foundation on location in Algarve" 2-week-long-intensive Summer course and the purpose of this blog is to keep a daily journal of my experiences in it.
Before I start I thought it would be good to give you some of my background:
I'm in the middle of a master's degree on physics engineering but I was always fascinated by the magic of cinema and in January of 2009 I convinced some friends to join me in making a horror movie in my grampa's empty house in the middle of the woods.
The film was made just for fun, with a budget of only 65€, but when we sent it to one of the major portuguese television broadcasters (SIC), we received an extremely enthusiastic response from their director (Pedro Boucherie Mendes) who really loved it and how it was conceived and wanted to promote it. We made a series of teaser-trailers which were broadcasted for a month on the cable channel Sic Radical and through its web page.
The film premiered on Sic Radical on the occasion of the channel's 8th birthday and had 3 re-runs. Despite the very low budget and a production based only upon improvisation it caught the attention of the press and we had articles published in several papers and magazines.
This success encouraged us to continue working on film projects and always try to take it to the next level. Even though none of us has any professional training on the area, for the past year we've learned a lot from our experience "on the field", from reading books about filmmaking, from watching tutorials on the Internet, et cetera. We became more organized, more efficient and more self-demanding.
In April 2010 we released a short film in which we put all of our effort on trying to maximize production value, to take the most out of the resources we had available, while being very rigorous with all the details so anything in our production would look amateurish.
It was still made only with friends but it demanded a fair amount of planning, coordination and good logistics. We had to ask an awful lot of favors to an awful lot of people to make it, but spending only 27,5€ we completed a film that was already chosen to the official selection of 3 portuguese film festivals, including Porto7 (www.porto7.com) and Shortcutz Lisboa, in which we were nominated for best short film (myspace.com/shortcutzlisboa).
Titled "Comando", the film is not available online for now, but here's the trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVioeEomBRo&feature=player_embedded
For more information about all of what our team is up to (we call ourselves the "New Light Pictures") please refer to the site:
www.newlightpictures.blogspot.com
Finally, I was awarded with a "Best Original Screenplay" Prize in a national competition called "Até Breves".
All this leads us to now.
With this successive accomplishments I'm starting to consider, for the first time in my life, a career on filmmaking. I love the creative and collaborative aspects of this art and I'm dreaming on becoming a writer/director.
And this crash-course is the absolutely perfect deal if you want to acquire a global perspective on all aspects of filmmaking, from screenwriting to editing. A fast but comprehensive instruction in which you get to know a little bit of everything that's behind a professional production.
Most importantly, it has an outstandingly practical approach: you actually get to make your own film, directing professional actors, using professional equipment!
All of this in just 2 weeks. Isn't that amazing?
I can't wait to start! See you tomorrow!
I'm about to start the "London Film Academy Filmmaking Foundation on location in Algarve" 2-week-long-intensive Summer course and the purpose of this blog is to keep a daily journal of my experiences in it.
Before I start I thought it would be good to give you some of my background:
I'm in the middle of a master's degree on physics engineering but I was always fascinated by the magic of cinema and in January of 2009 I convinced some friends to join me in making a horror movie in my grampa's empty house in the middle of the woods.
The film was made just for fun, with a budget of only 65€, but when we sent it to one of the major portuguese television broadcasters (SIC), we received an extremely enthusiastic response from their director (Pedro Boucherie Mendes) who really loved it and how it was conceived and wanted to promote it. We made a series of teaser-trailers which were broadcasted for a month on the cable channel Sic Radical and through its web page.
The film premiered on Sic Radical on the occasion of the channel's 8th birthday and had 3 re-runs. Despite the very low budget and a production based only upon improvisation it caught the attention of the press and we had articles published in several papers and magazines.
Newspaper "Público" (25/04/09)
This success encouraged us to continue working on film projects and always try to take it to the next level. Even though none of us has any professional training on the area, for the past year we've learned a lot from our experience "on the field", from reading books about filmmaking, from watching tutorials on the Internet, et cetera. We became more organized, more efficient and more self-demanding.
In April 2010 we released a short film in which we put all of our effort on trying to maximize production value, to take the most out of the resources we had available, while being very rigorous with all the details so anything in our production would look amateurish.
It was still made only with friends but it demanded a fair amount of planning, coordination and good logistics. We had to ask an awful lot of favors to an awful lot of people to make it, but spending only 27,5€ we completed a film that was already chosen to the official selection of 3 portuguese film festivals, including Porto7 (www.porto7.com) and Shortcutz Lisboa, in which we were nominated for best short film (myspace.com/shortcutzlisboa).
Titled "Comando", the film is not available online for now, but here's the trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVioeEomBRo&feature=player_embedded
For more information about all of what our team is up to (we call ourselves the "New Light Pictures") please refer to the site:
www.newlightpictures.blogspot.com
Finally, I was awarded with a "Best Original Screenplay" Prize in a national competition called "Até Breves".
All this leads us to now.
With this successive accomplishments I'm starting to consider, for the first time in my life, a career on filmmaking. I love the creative and collaborative aspects of this art and I'm dreaming on becoming a writer/director.
And this crash-course is the absolutely perfect deal if you want to acquire a global perspective on all aspects of filmmaking, from screenwriting to editing. A fast but comprehensive instruction in which you get to know a little bit of everything that's behind a professional production.
Most importantly, it has an outstandingly practical approach: you actually get to make your own film, directing professional actors, using professional equipment!
All of this in just 2 weeks. Isn't that amazing?
I can't wait to start! See you tomorrow!
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