Danny Hewitt's Television Production Blog

As director, I am in charge of producing different shots to entertain the viewers and create an easy-to-follow film for our target audience. I have conducted intensive research to discover what shots are available and realistic to produce:

• Aerial Shot - An exterior shot filmed from the air, often used to establish a location. I believe this type of shot would be useful for the opening football pitch scenes (with the drone) as it helps to establish where the film is located (sets the scene).

• Arc Shot - A shot in which the subject is circled by the camera. I believe this type of shot would look great for the first pitch scene when the players are standing at the centre circle as we can then see the faces, as well as the back of their shirts of each player.

• Close Up Shot - A shot which only contains the face in frame. This will be used regularly for different scenes so the audience can understand the moods of the characters (through facial expressions). 

• Medium Shot - From the waist up, in between close up and long shot. Again, these shots will be used regularly, especially scenes involving dialogue between a group of people

• Long Shot - A shot that depicts the whole body of the actor/actress. These shots can be used in the football, boxing and wedding scenes so the whole outfits can be seen, as well as part of the scenery.

• Deep Focus - a shot that keeps the foreground, middle ground and background in sharp focus. These shots can be used in the wedding scenes as I want the audience to see the whole set so they know exactly where the characters are located.

• Handheld Shot - a shot in which the camera operator holds the camera during motion to create a jerky and immediate feel. These shots can be used in the football scenes as it will give the film a more dynamic and realistic feel, as well as being used as part of a point of view shot.

• Over the shoulder shot - a shot where the camera is positioned behind a characters shoulder, usually during a conversation, as it implies connection between the speakers. These will be used during scenes with plenty of dialogue between different characters.

• Pan - a shot where the camera moves continuously from right to left or left to right. These shots will be used to establish the different locations, as well as when the characters move (walking from dressing room, car driving into space) 

• POV Shot - A shot that depicts the characters point of view so we see exactly what they see. These shots will be used in the nightclub scenes as well as the football playing shots. Also will be used in many conversation scenes between the group as then the audience can see the reactions to some of the comments said by the spokesman. 

• Sequence Shot - a shot which covers the whole scene in one take, without any editing. This type of shot will be used for the split screen scenes, as cuts would break the flow of the split screen.

• Tracking shot - a shot that follows the subject, whether its behind, alongside or in front. These shots will be used when the characters are walking, mainly to the camera, as it help represent progression in the scene.

• Two Shot - a shot that depicts two people in the frame, usually in a conversation or to represent some sort of connection between them. These shots will be used when the team split, meaning the scenes contain two characters (Nath being jumped and boxing).

• Zoom - a shot where the cinematographer can change the distance of the shot without moving the camera. These shots will be used when characters are moving, as well as when I want the audiences to see the facial expressions in sad/angry scenes, particularly when Nath gets jumped.

Overall I am very happy with how the pre-production elements have gone. I am very proud of finding some great actors after a long auditions process, these additions will help enhance the quality of our programme. 

One role of being director is the use of storyboards to portray my ideas in picture form. This helps me to show my team, as well as everyone else exactly what kind of shots I want, and the style I want to use. I am not the best at drawing, therefore I have made the decision to hire someone else to draw my ideas for me, as they will specialise in this field, and therefore help me get my ideas on paper with high quality. I found a girl named "Joey Ku"who studied Graphics at UCA; she has a business card and seems very friendly as well as passionate about drawing:

Doing this has helped me envision exactly what shots I want to do, meaning I can then create a shot list so the team know what I want. This actually helped me progress as the script was rather overwhelming at first. My research also said this may happen:

• What is the location setting?
• How many actors are needed in the shot?
• Do you need any important props or vehicles in the shot?
• What type of shot (close-up, wide-shot, establishing shot, and so on) do you need?
• What is the shot's angle (where the camera is shooting from)? Is it a high angle? A low angle? 
• Do any actors or vehicles need to move within a frame, and what is the direction of that action?
• Do you need any camera movement to add motion to this shot? In other words, does the camera follow the actor or vehicles in the shot, and in what direction?
• Do you need any special lighting? The lighting depends on what type of mood you're trying to convey (for example, you may need candlelight, moonlight, a dark alley, or a bright sunny day).
• Do you need any special effects? Illustrating special effects is important to deciding whether you have to hire a special-effects person. Special effects can include gunfire, explosions, and computer-generated effects.

The next step in planning the storyboard process is the shot list:

I am in charge of directing a teaser for our project, therefore I have researched into how to create one, what to think about, as well as look at some examples. After researching on how to create a teaser, I came across this handy information which sum them up nicely:

This one particularly caught my eye as it was short, but had many dynamic clips that kept me hooked/interested. The quick cuts helped keep a good pace and I believe this is exactly what I need to do when planning the shots for our teaser.

This one features clips from the actual film, something we are unable to do, so I am going to have to use shots that will be the same style as the ones in the actual film. I am going to create a shot list for the teaser so everyone knows exactly what I want on the day.

After securing the actors, we hosted a table read so everyone could get together, meet each other, and practice lines from the script in the same room. This turned out to be a great success as I managed to see what they were all like in their respected roles. I must say, the cast did very well and I was happy with how it all went. I noticed a number of things while at the table read, one being the fact that Malik (playing Dean) struggled with the bigger passages, therefore Helen, Aimee and I decided to shorten his lines to fit him and his character. We want the actors to feel comfortable in their roles, therefore decisions like these will benefit all of us. I was particularly impressed with Dan (playing Tom) as he seemed to adapt to his character well and read his lines with ease. He put emphasis in the right places and I believe he is a very strong actor in a difficult role. 

One task I need to complete as director, is the shot list. This needs to be done in great detail as this then leads onto my storyboarding. I have looked into how to create a detailed shot list, and have come across these 4 vital steps:

I love watching films, hence why I have a passion for this project and degree. I like a number of directors including Tim Burton, Quentin Tarantino and Martin Scorsese; however there are a couple that really stand out to me due to their distinctive directing styles: