I'm delighted to announce that "Fortune" has been chosen as official selection for Cam*Era student short film festival in Cambridge. I have been sent an invitation to the festival's reception, in which filmmakers are given the opportunity to network with professionals, sponsors and filmmakers. This event will be held on the 19th of June at Cambridge University.
However, the journey from Spain to London, then to Cambridge and hotel expenses will probably be out of my budget. Anyway, the festival's organization are willing to send the prizes and awards abroad if won in case the filmmaker cannot make it to the festival.
lunes, 24 de mayo de 2010
miércoles, 28 de abril de 2010
Fortune presented to "Cam-Era"
Fortune has been submitted to Cam-Era Cambridge International Short Film Festival today. The festival is held in Cambridge from the 18th-20th of June. The fees to enter were relatively low (£7), and hopefully the overall quality of the short films presented is not so high, and my film can make it through the selection process. This is a festival for student short films from around the world.
On the first of June they will let us know what films made it through.
http://www.cam-era.org/
On the first of June they will let us know what films made it through.
http://www.cam-era.org/
jueves, 15 de abril de 2010
Rough cuts of the first scene at the poker room and flat
I edited and uploaded the first two scenes of both locations in order to get some feedback regarding color correction. My assistant director suggested me to get rid of the glowing white effect coming from two diffusion filters that I added in post (CC Test 2), he stated it looked a bit clichéd, as referring to the tipical dreamy feeling added to similar situations in other films. Also, he recommended me to get rid of the softness of the characters' faces in the poker room (CC Test).
I erased both diffusion filters from the flat scenes and lowered the exposure compensation, which resulted in a much more credible environment. I considered that the dreamy feel was already suggested by my character's performance and the simulation of the bleach bypass process in color correction.
The process of controlling the softness of my characters' faces was a bit more complicated, the reason for this is that both characters were slightly overexposed from the raw footage, especially Frederick. This means that I lost plenty of color information which I could not recover in post, this is also why my characters heads grow from the background inappropriately. I lowered the saturation which I added previously in an attempt to raise the tension and emotion from the scene. I also lowered the intensity of the 'telecine net' effect (digital effect to emulate the process of converting film to video), this reduction brought back some clarity and realism to their faces.
THE PASSWORD FOR BOTH VIDEOS IS: poker
I erased both diffusion filters from the flat scenes and lowered the exposure compensation, which resulted in a much more credible environment. I considered that the dreamy feel was already suggested by my character's performance and the simulation of the bleach bypass process in color correction.
The process of controlling the softness of my characters' faces was a bit more complicated, the reason for this is that both characters were slightly overexposed from the raw footage, especially Frederick. This means that I lost plenty of color information which I could not recover in post, this is also why my characters heads grow from the background inappropriately. I lowered the saturation which I added previously in an attempt to raise the tension and emotion from the scene. I also lowered the intensity of the 'telecine net' effect (digital effect to emulate the process of converting film to video), this reduction brought back some clarity and realism to their faces.
CC Test from Mikel Camara on Vimeo.
CC Test 2 from Mikel Camara on Vimeo.
THE PASSWORD FOR BOTH VIDEOS IS: poker
jueves, 25 de marzo de 2010
Website for the degree show
As part of my contribution for the show, I developed the website which will hold the information on our show; our profiles, short-films and so on. I think it is a good start to keep things going towards the end of year show.
The Website desing was done on Microsoft Expression Web 2.
Check it out at: http://www.littleeye.co.uk/
Further information will be added soon, as soon as we all finish our short films they will be uploaded on Vimeo to then be linked to the Little Eye website.
The Website desing was done on Microsoft Expression Web 2.
Check it out at: http://www.littleeye.co.uk/
Further information will be added soon, as soon as we all finish our short films they will be uploaded on Vimeo to then be linked to the Little Eye website.
martes, 9 de marzo de 2010
Production of Fortune completed
The production of Fortune has been completed on the 4th and 5th of March as planned. I will be including production material soon. The filming took from 9am till 5:30pm on both days, at the TV studio and the flat location on thursday and friday respectively. Thanks to the help of my Assistant director (Navarro Aydemir) the shot list for the Poker scene was simplified in a way that allowed us to shoot the whole scene in the day. Dolly shots where removed and replaced by mostly OTS shots of both characters.
I'll begin with post production in a couple of weeks, this way I'll have time to clarify my mind and come up with new ideas for the structure of the film.
Here are some stills taken from the actual footage of the film:
Here there are some production pictures at the flat location:
I'll begin with post production in a couple of weeks, this way I'll have time to clarify my mind and come up with new ideas for the structure of the film.
Here are some stills taken from the actual footage of the film:
Here there are some production pictures at the flat location:
viernes, 19 de febrero de 2010
Presentation for Fortune
BA FVIA Year 3 Mikel Camara’s Fortune
- Introduction:
An overview of project
a. The underlying theme: The biggest fortune in live is not money and fame or reputation, but love.
b. A very brief synopsis: Frederick plays Poker against his brother Chris in order to get his business back, which Chris snatched from Fred making the best of the economic crisis. Fred realises there is more at stake than his business and money, and he’ll have to make a change within his mind in order to recover it.
c. The look of the work - tell us the aesthetic and style of the proposed work (evidenced through descriptions and examples of both your own and that of existing work): Fortune is a Social drama that focuses on the domestic and psycho-drama sub-genres. Both are closely related. Fortune has a redemption plot, which means that there is a moral change within the protagonist from bad to good.
d. Who is your target audience? Where will you send it when it is complete? Is there a particular way that it needs to be shown? The target audience for Fortune would be mainly young professionals. I will be sending my film to film festivals in Spain primarily, so there will be a subtitled version, which I will also upload on Youtube or Vimeo. Extracts from it will also be part of my showreel.
- Context:
a. How this relates to your previous work: Reference previous work of relevance to this project: My previous films and work always had a psychological influence on it. Forever Together and Bodhi are good examples of it.
b. How this relates to a wider context: is it a particularly important issue for today? Is it a particularly interesting approach? Poker is well famous nowadays, this means that more people would be attracted to watch my film because of this. The fact that the film does not rely only on Poker makes it different in many ways. And I think I am sending an important message to people that may find themselves in the same situation, like people that lost their job because of the financial crisis.
- Research:
Evidence of research materials (work by others that you have referenced, both written and visual) that you have undertaken in preparation for making this project.: At the beginning the message of my film was going to be :”what happens within us will create what happens outside of us” taken from the documentary “What the bleep do we know” (William Arntz, Betsy Chasse and Mark Vicente, 2004, USA). I worked on the idea of making that alternative world representing the mind of my main character; Frederick. But I came up with few ideas that I couldn’t structure, and were too ambitious and expensive to make. So I thought of a different idea influenced by the film “Intacto”, which Helen recommended me to watch. After structuring my film based on this idea, I got some information from a psychotherapist in order to build my character’s personality (link), this information comes from the ancient sufi teaching of the enneagram, and it gave me a detailed description of how my characters would behave.
- Preproduction:
Presentation of preproduction already undertaken (materials such as scripts, storyboards, maps, photographs, character sketches, location scouting, sample of a relevant test shot or rough scene you have already shot etc)Through the link you can see the pictures from the location that would represent the inside of the mind of Frederick, I will get rid of all decorations and furniture, with exception of the sofa and the coffee table, this scene will be shot in daytime. Through this other link we can see the magazine cover that the graphic designer made for the magazine that Frederick will find in the sofa of this flat. Now you will see a test shot at the studio that I did to test different possibilities with the lighting, camera, sound and colour correction in post. (link). I specially like the 85 effect, 85 is actually an orange filter that converts daylight to tungsten, it can be used as a gel or as a camera filter. However, in this case it is emulated in post. The only problem is that there is almost a full stop of light loss as you can see in the picture. I have three tunes that I got from a music designer and the artist “Moby” which will be used for the scenes in the flat (link). The soundtrack for the Poker scene will be made with ProScores, which is what I used to create the music and effects for the rehearsal at the studio.
- Methodology:
How are you going to produce this work?
- Outline your techniques, resources, and approach.
As you have seen, I’ll use the dolly and tracks from the DMW when shooting the Poker scene, however it requires from more practice and rehearsal, because as you dolly in or out, it is very easy to show things that you don’t want on screen, such as the lighting or parts of the set. I will use a Canon 7D for the filming, which I also used for the rehearsal at the studio. This camera allows 50 frames per second filming, which will be applied to some slow motion scenes. I posted my film on Castingcallpro and I’ve already got 8 candidates for each character so I’ll arrange a casting soon.
- A realistic schedule of the existing production time, (be particular to your project)
Fortune will be shot in 2 days, on the 4th and 5th of March. The auditions for the actors are set to be next week. I have 2 or 3 weeks from the auditions to do more rehearsals at the locations, storyboards, floor plans and shooting schedules.
Script for Fortune (3rd draft)
INT. POKER ROOM. UNKNOWN.
Frederick and Chris stand facing each other on either side
of the poker table. The lighting in the room is focused on
them two and the table. Both wear suits, however,
Frederick’s is sloppy and wrinkled. Chris’ body language
indicates tranquility and control, whereas Frederick’s
indicates the contrary, besides, his eyes look tired. At
this moment Chris has three quarters of all the chips in the
game.
Chris laughs defiantly. Fred’s facial expression reflects
hate, he sits up and slams the table with his hands.
Fred hits the table again with his right hand.
2.
INT. EMPTY FLAT ROOM. DAY. (INSIDE FRED’S MIND)
Frederick opens his eyes, he finds himself standing up in an
empty room of a flat. The only furniture in the room is a
white sofa with a coffee table. There is a messy pile of
papers on the table, graphics and numbers written in red are
all over them. White is the predominant color in the room.
The walls are made of glass, and Canary wharf can be seen
through them.
It is a cloudy day. Fred looks around confused. He rummages
through the messy papers on the table for a moment but
hurries towards the door. Some papers drop to the floor as
Fred passes by the table. Fred tries to open the door
several times, but it will not open. Fred turns and walks
agitatedly towards the glass door on the other side of the
room, which heads to the balcony, but this door will not
open either. He walks back to the other door whispering to
himself.
He tries to open the door one more time with no success. He
kicks the door angrily and drops to the floor while taking
his head in his hands in anguish.
INT. POKER ROOM. UNKNOWN.
Frederick is looking up to his right, then towards Chris.
Fred looks nervous, he is holding the cards with his hands.
Chris stares at him in astonishment.
Fred touches his face anxiously.
Both show their cards. Chris sits up and looks at both
hands.
(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: 3.
Chris slides the chips from the middle of the table towards
himself with both arms while laughing. Fred looks at his
remaining chips, he has lost half of what he had. He takes a
few chips from the pile and plays with them anxiously.
Meanwhile Chris is smiling and carefully arranges the chips
to a pile. Fred leans forward and puts his hands on the
table.
Chris silences Fred by raising his hand and pointing at him
with his finger.
Chris laughs insolently. Fred’s face reflects vengeance.
CUT TO:
INT. EMPTY FLAT ROOM. DAY. (INSIDE FRED’S MIND)
Fred, visibly disturbed, looks around and goes towards
the curtains by the window, he looks behind them and under
the carpet, as if looking for something. Fred goes by the
window and hits it with his hand desperately.
4.
FLASHBACK.
Fred is standing by the window in the same room in the same
position. He holds a picture of a woman, the picture appears
to be cut in half, someone seems to be next to the woman but
we don’t get to see the person. Fred looks at the picture
visibly shaken by it.
END OF FLASHBACK.
Fred is in the same position by the window as before the
flashback. He looks down quietly and goes towards the sofa
calmly. He sits down relaxed and closes his eyes. His deep
breathing can be heard.
INT. POKER ROOM. UNKNOWN.
Fred opens his eyes gradually. They both stare at each other
for a few seconds. Chris smiles.
Chris smiles confidently and shows his cards.
Fred shows his cards and sits up to amass the chips from the
middle of the table. Chris looks upset.
Chris stands up and hits the table with the palm of his
hand.
(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: 5.
Chris takes out a picture of himself. There was another
person in the picture with Chris but they have been torn
out. Chris lays it on the table and sits down staring at
Fred. Fred looks at the picture amazed with no words.
FLASHBACK.
A short version of the last flashback reminds us of the
picture with a woman on it.
END OF FLASHBACK.
Fred clambers over the table to pick up the picture, but
Chris is faster and snatches it first. Chris remains sitting
while Fred is standing in a tense position.
Fred looks at Chris surprised and confused. Chris nods
sarcastically.
Chris turns around the picture to look at the back of it, he
nods and smiles while looking back and forth from Fred to
the photo.
(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: 6.
Chris laughs at Fred. Fred’s face reflects hate.
INT. EMPTY FLAT ROOM. DAY. (INSIDE FRED’S MIND)
Fred is standing, he looks around confused, he turns around
and goes towards the sofa and on his knees he starts
searching through the cushions. Underneath a cushion he
finds a magazine, he stares at it for a few seconds. It is a
business magazine. On its front cover the words "How the
economic crisis will affect us all" can be seen.
Fred rummages through the pages as if he knew what he was
looking for. In between two pages he finds the half of the
picture we saw in the flashback, in which his wife appears.
Fred, slightly shivering from anxiety turns it around, there
is a message written. The picture is cut, we can only see
half of the message: "I won’t be back/finish this, now/for
your brother/busy most of the time/on holidays with"
INT. POKER ROOM. UNKNOWN.
Chris has a few more chips than Fred. The cards are already
dealt.
They both stare at each other for a moment. Fred suddenly
stands up and attempts to go towards Chris. Instantly, Chris
grabs the picture from the table and takes out a lighter
quickly. Fred stands still.
(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: 7.
Chris waves the picture towards Fred while moving the
lighter towards it.
Fred looks at Chris desperately and sits back on his chair.
Fred takes his hands to his head nervously.
Fred looks up towards Chris. Chris raises his finger
pointing at Fred in a defiant way.
Fred straightens his back and now he looks at Chris with
superiority. Fred grabs his two cards from the table and
looks at them. While Fred is not looking, Chris takes out an
ace of hearts from his right sleeve. Chris looks up and
looks at Fred, who is smiling and looking at his cards
confidently. Chris looks back to his arm and hides the ace
of hearts back in the sleeve.
INT. EMPTY FLAT ROOM. DAY. (INSIDE FRED’S MIND)
Fred stands by the window, looking nostalgic towards Canary
Wharf. As if suddenly remembering something, Fred turns and
quickly walks fast to the sofa while looking through his
pockets. By the sofa, he takes out the half of the picture
in which Chris appears and waves it in victory. Anxious,
Fred sits in the sofa and reaches the other half of the
picture, which is now on the table. With both pieces in his
hands, he puts them together in order to read the back
message.
(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: 8.
It reads: "I won’t be back until I finish this, now that I
work for your brother, I’ll probably be busy most of the
days, but I promise we’ll go on holidays after. Loads of
love: Lisa".
Fred smiles unbelieving. Someone knocks on the door. When
Fred looks up towards the door, everything is suddenly back
in place in the room, flowers on the table, decorations on
the wall. The atmosphere is warmer. The person who knocked
the door opens it slowly.
Lisa smiles kindly. Fred smiles while looking at her
mesmerized. After a few seconds Fred stands up.
END
Frederick and Chris stand facing each other on either side
of the poker table. The lighting in the room is focused on
them two and the table. Both wear suits, however,
Frederick’s is sloppy and wrinkled. Chris’ body language
indicates tranquility and control, whereas Frederick’s
indicates the contrary, besides, his eyes look tired. At
this moment Chris has three quarters of all the chips in the
game.
CHRIS
This is not gonna take you
anywhere, you know that Frederick?
anywhere, you know that Frederick?
FRED
It’ll take me as far as I need
Chris. Just deal the cards,
alright?
CHRIS
It’s not that much about what you
need, but about how you behave with
the little you have.
FRED
Maybe you have something to do with
that, don’t you?
CHRIS
Are you blaming me?
FRED
Well...it seems like you always
wanted what I have.
CHRIS
Oh come on...don’t be a dick,
Fred-the-dick!
It’ll take me as far as I need
Chris. Just deal the cards,
alright?
CHRIS
It’s not that much about what you
need, but about how you behave with
the little you have.
FRED
Maybe you have something to do with
that, don’t you?
CHRIS
Are you blaming me?
FRED
Well...it seems like you always
wanted what I have.
CHRIS
Oh come on...don’t be a dick,
Fred-the-dick!
Chris laughs defiantly. Fred’s facial expression reflects
hate, he sits up and slams the table with his hands.
FRED
(angry)
Don’t you ever call me that again!
(angry)
Don’t you ever call me that again!
Fred hits the table again with his right hand.
FRED
(shouting)
Do you hear me!
(shouting)
Do you hear me!
2.
INT. EMPTY FLAT ROOM. DAY. (INSIDE FRED’S MIND)
Frederick opens his eyes, he finds himself standing up in an
empty room of a flat. The only furniture in the room is a
white sofa with a coffee table. There is a messy pile of
papers on the table, graphics and numbers written in red are
all over them. White is the predominant color in the room.
The walls are made of glass, and Canary wharf can be seen
through them.
It is a cloudy day. Fred looks around confused. He rummages
through the messy papers on the table for a moment but
hurries towards the door. Some papers drop to the floor as
Fred passes by the table. Fred tries to open the door
several times, but it will not open. Fred turns and walks
agitatedly towards the glass door on the other side of the
room, which heads to the balcony, but this door will not
open either. He walks back to the other door whispering to
himself.
FRED
What’s going on...
What’s going on...
He tries to open the door one more time with no success. He
kicks the door angrily and drops to the floor while taking
his head in his hands in anguish.
FRED
(shouts anguished)
What the hell...what..?
(shouts anguished)
What the hell...what..?
INT. POKER ROOM. UNKNOWN.
Frederick is looking up to his right, then towards Chris.
Fred looks nervous, he is holding the cards with his hands.
Chris stares at him in astonishment.
CHRIS
Honestly Freddy, I think you’ve got
Honestly Freddy, I think you’ve got
your head full of rubbish.
Fred touches his face anxiously.
CHRIS
What you got?
What you got?
Both show their cards. Chris sits up and looks at both
hands.
CHRIS
Ha! The beginning of the end!
Ha! The beginning of the end!
(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: 3.
Chris slides the chips from the middle of the table towards
himself with both arms while laughing. Fred looks at his
remaining chips, he has lost half of what he had. He takes a
few chips from the pile and plays with them anxiously.
Meanwhile Chris is smiling and carefully arranges the chips
to a pile. Fred leans forward and puts his hands on the
table.
FRED
Are you enjoying this? Don’t you
think-
Are you enjoying this? Don’t you
think-
Chris silences Fred by raising his hand and pointing at him
with his finger.
CHRIS
-Hold on, Hold on. I wasn’t the one
who wanted to start this game...
-Hold on, Hold on. I wasn’t the one
who wanted to start this game...
Chris looks at both piles of chips.
CHRIS
(sarcastic)
However...it seems that I’ll be the
one finishing it.
(sarcastic)
However...it seems that I’ll be the
one finishing it.
Chris laughs insolently. Fred’s face reflects vengeance.
FRED
(upset)
You know what I’m talking about.
(upset)
You know what I’m talking about.
CHRIS
(ironic)
Oh, come on, lets say that...at
that moment I moved my chips and
made the best of the situation.
Don’t take it personally.
(ironic)
Oh, come on, lets say that...at
that moment I moved my chips and
made the best of the situation.
Don’t take it personally.
FRED
(shouting)
How am I not-
(shouting)
How am I not-
CUT TO:
INT. EMPTY FLAT ROOM. DAY. (INSIDE FRED’S MIND)
Fred, visibly disturbed, looks around and goes towards
the curtains by the window, he looks behind them and under
the carpet, as if looking for something. Fred goes by the
window and hits it with his hand desperately.
4.
FLASHBACK.
Fred is standing by the window in the same room in the same
position. He holds a picture of a woman, the picture appears
to be cut in half, someone seems to be next to the woman but
we don’t get to see the person. Fred looks at the picture
visibly shaken by it.
END OF FLASHBACK.
Fred is in the same position by the window as before the
flashback. He looks down quietly and goes towards the sofa
calmly. He sits down relaxed and closes his eyes. His deep
breathing can be heard.
INT. POKER ROOM. UNKNOWN.
Fred opens his eyes gradually. They both stare at each other
for a few seconds. Chris smiles.
CHRIS
(sarcastic)
It’s a shame this is gonna end this
way, I was beginning to enjoy this.
FRED
(upset)
You can’t enjoy something that was
never yours!
(sarcastic)
It’s a shame this is gonna end this
way, I was beginning to enjoy this.
FRED
(upset)
You can’t enjoy something that was
never yours!
Chris smiles confidently and shows his cards.
CHRIS
Tell me Frederick, who is gonna
recognize you now that you have
nothing? huh?
Tell me Frederick, who is gonna
recognize you now that you have
nothing? huh?
Fred shows his cards and sits up to amass the chips from the
middle of the table. Chris looks upset.
FRED
I worked hard for my money, all my
life, and I bought everything I
own, so I won’t allow you to snatch
it from me.
I worked hard for my money, all my
life, and I bought everything I
own, so I won’t allow you to snatch
it from me.
Chris stands up and hits the table with the palm of his
hand.
(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: 5.
CHRIS
(sarcastic)
Oh really?
(sarcastic)
Oh really?
Chris takes out a picture of himself. There was another
person in the picture with Chris but they have been torn
out. Chris lays it on the table and sits down staring at
Fred. Fred looks at the picture amazed with no words.
FLASHBACK.
A short version of the last flashback reminds us of the
picture with a woman on it.
END OF FLASHBACK.
CHRIS
(ironic)
Well...Freddy, as you can see I am
not snatching anything from you,
because you bring them to me.**
(ironic)
Well...Freddy, as you can see I am
not snatching anything from you,
because you bring them to me.**
Fred clambers over the table to pick up the picture, but
Chris is faster and snatches it first. Chris remains sitting
while Fred is standing in a tense position.
CHRIS
(overbearingly)
Forget her Frederick...She is with
me now...
(overbearingly)
Forget her Frederick...She is with
me now...
Fred looks at Chris surprised and confused. Chris nods
sarcastically.
CHRIS
(overbearingly)
...What? didn’t you see the note
she left for you at the back of the
photo?
(overbearingly)
...What? didn’t you see the note
she left for you at the back of the
photo?
Chris turns around the picture to look at the back of it, he
nods and smiles while looking back and forth from Fred to
the photo.
FRED
(tense)
You...you better tell me what’s
happened between the two of you.
(tense)
You...you better tell me what’s
happened between the two of you.
(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: 6.
CHRIS
(overbearingly)
Oh..Freddy! You have been...what?
thirteen years together? and you
suffer from such a lack of
communication!
(overbearingly)
Oh..Freddy! You have been...what?
thirteen years together? and you
suffer from such a lack of
communication!
Chris laughs at Fred. Fred’s face reflects hate.
INT. EMPTY FLAT ROOM. DAY. (INSIDE FRED’S MIND)
Fred is standing, he looks around confused, he turns around
and goes towards the sofa and on his knees he starts
searching through the cushions. Underneath a cushion he
finds a magazine, he stares at it for a few seconds. It is a
business magazine. On its front cover the words "How the
economic crisis will affect us all" can be seen.
Fred rummages through the pages as if he knew what he was
looking for. In between two pages he finds the half of the
picture we saw in the flashback, in which his wife appears.
Fred, slightly shivering from anxiety turns it around, there
is a message written. The picture is cut, we can only see
half of the message: "I won’t be back/finish this, now/for
your brother/busy most of the time/on holidays with"
FRED
(anguished)
No...Please...not you my love.
(anguished)
No...Please...not you my love.
INT. POKER ROOM. UNKNOWN.
Chris has a few more chips than Fred. The cards are already
dealt.
CHRIS
I guess she couldn’t stand sharing
her life with a loser.
FRED
(upset)
Why do you always have to be the
clever one?
I guess she couldn’t stand sharing
her life with a loser.
FRED
(upset)
Why do you always have to be the
clever one?
They both stare at each other for a moment. Fred suddenly
stands up and attempts to go towards Chris. Instantly, Chris
grabs the picture from the table and takes out a lighter
quickly. Fred stands still.
(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: 7.
CHRIS
You want this right?
You want this right?
Chris waves the picture towards Fred while moving the
lighter towards it.
CHRIS
I’m afraid you’ll have to gamble
for it.
I’m afraid you’ll have to gamble
for it.
Fred looks at Chris desperately and sits back on his chair.
Fred takes his hands to his head nervously.
FRED
(desperate)
Why are you doing this to me
Chris?..I..I mean..
(desperate)
Why are you doing this to me
Chris?..I..I mean..
CHRIS
(out loud)
Don’t start with your fucking
crying!
(out loud)
Don’t start with your fucking
crying!
Fred looks up towards Chris. Chris raises his finger
pointing at Fred in a defiant way.
CHRIS
Now I’m the one who sets the rules,
so move your chips to the middle of
the table...and let fortune decide.
Now I’m the one who sets the rules,
so move your chips to the middle of
the table...and let fortune decide.
Fred straightens his back and now he looks at Chris with
superiority. Fred grabs his two cards from the table and
looks at them. While Fred is not looking, Chris takes out an
ace of hearts from his right sleeve. Chris looks up and
looks at Fred, who is smiling and looking at his cards
confidently. Chris looks back to his arm and hides the ace
of hearts back in the sleeve.
INT. EMPTY FLAT ROOM. DAY. (INSIDE FRED’S MIND)
Fred stands by the window, looking nostalgic towards Canary
Wharf. As if suddenly remembering something, Fred turns and
quickly walks fast to the sofa while looking through his
pockets. By the sofa, he takes out the half of the picture
in which Chris appears and waves it in victory. Anxious,
Fred sits in the sofa and reaches the other half of the
picture, which is now on the table. With both pieces in his
hands, he puts them together in order to read the back
message.
(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: 8.
It reads: "I won’t be back until I finish this, now that I
work for your brother, I’ll probably be busy most of the
days, but I promise we’ll go on holidays after. Loads of
love: Lisa".
Fred smiles unbelieving. Someone knocks on the door. When
Fred looks up towards the door, everything is suddenly back
in place in the room, flowers on the table, decorations on
the wall. The atmosphere is warmer. The person who knocked
the door opens it slowly.
LISA
Hello my love! Are you...busy with
work? If not...I thought of those
holidays together..
Hello my love! Are you...busy with
work? If not...I thought of those
holidays together..
Lisa smiles kindly. Fred smiles while looking at her
mesmerized. After a few seconds Fred stands up.
END
Bodhi - Short film for Experimental film module
This is the finished Experimental project that kept me busy for a few weeks, in it, I try to emphasize the relation between the observer in dreams and dreams themselves.
It was filmed with the Canon 7D that will be used in Fortune, therefore this also was a good "Experiment" as to practice with the camera capabilities a bit further.
Edited on Premiere Pro CS4 and After effects 7.
It was filmed with the Canon 7D that will be used in Fortune, therefore this also was a good "Experiment" as to practice with the camera capabilities a bit further.
Edited on Premiere Pro CS4 and After effects 7.
martes, 2 de febrero de 2010
Influences 3 (Intacto)
The film intacto was recommended to me by my tutor, Helen, as it approaches gambling in a very original way. I needed ideas and definitely this film provided me with one of the foundations of Fortune, that is the cut photograph. In Intacto, the characters bet photographs of people, meaning that they collect people as if they were objects. Well, despite differently, my character Chris plays a sinister role in which he also requires Frederick to go all-in if he wants to recover the photograph, as in a metaphoric way of representing the power of the character, who 'owes' her.
viernes, 29 de enero de 2010
Magazine cover
This is the magazine cover created by the graphic designer (Sergio Mansilla) for the magazine that my character Frederick will find in the flat. The key element is the sentence "How the financial crisis will affect us all" which suggests that Frederick lost his job, and that he was a business man. Besides, by the action happening in the poker table, we guess that it was actually his brother who snatched his fame. The sentence "Reclaiming a legacy" suggests that Frederick bought this magazine after the situation. The fact that he finds a small picture of his wife among the pages, is a metaphor of how little attention he was paying to her wife.
miércoles, 27 de enero de 2010
Schedule and crew update
Schedule
Script completed at 24th January.
Expected days for shooting: Thursday 4th and Friday 5th March.
Things yet to do: Meeting with Eddie for lighting, Magazine cover.
Recruit actors: 28th January to 11th February for auditions on the 12th February.
Preproduction: Lighting and shooting rehearsal 2 at the studio and the flat. Storyboards, floorplan,shot list and more to be done in two weeks (17th February to 3rd March).
Crew
Producer, writer, director: Me
1st AD: Navarro Aydemir
Camera operator: Carlos Garcia
Boom operator: 'Awaiting confirmation'
Editor: Carlos Garcia, Me.
Music by: Gutxi, Moby.
Script completed at 24th January.
Expected days for shooting: Thursday 4th and Friday 5th March.
Things yet to do: Meeting with Eddie for lighting, Magazine cover.
Recruit actors: 28th January to 11th February for auditions on the 12th February.
Preproduction: Lighting and shooting rehearsal 2 at the studio and the flat. Storyboards, floorplan,shot list and more to be done in two weeks (17th February to 3rd March).
Crew
Producer, writer, director: Me
1st AD: Navarro Aydemir
Camera operator: Carlos Garcia
Boom operator: 'Awaiting confirmation'
Editor: Carlos Garcia, Me.
Music by: Gutxi, Moby.
Two additional tunes for Fortune
A few days ago I contacted Ludovico Einaudi -composer of the score for "Dr. Zhivago" and "This is England"- in order to get permission and information regarding his song "Primavera" (http://www.myspace.com/ludovicoeinaudispace). As Fortune is a non-profit film I asked him whether I can use the song for my film for free. He fowarded my message to the Synchronisation Manager for Film & TV of "The Music Sales Group".
This person gave me an estimate of £50-£100 with a license for 1 year that allowed me showing my film on film festivals -subject to writer approval-. I would also need to obtain permission from Universal Music with regards to the master recording and a licence from the PRS for Music if I wished to upload my film to youtube.
This license is, at the moment, out of my budget, so I'll have to find alternatives.
And I did find them. The artist Moby has a variated collection of free music on his website (http://www.mobygratis.com/gratis/list). The only requirement for using the music was to complete a form with information on my film. After a week, I got today a confirmation email and a link to download the songs. Radio station seems the most appropiate to transmit the anguish that the character is feeling in the first two scenes where he finds himself in the empty flat.
Here they are:
This person gave me an estimate of £50-£100 with a license for 1 year that allowed me showing my film on film festivals -subject to writer approval-. I would also need to obtain permission from Universal Music with regards to the master recording and a licence from the PRS for Music if I wished to upload my film to youtube.
This license is, at the moment, out of my budget, so I'll have to find alternatives.
And I did find them. The artist Moby has a variated collection of free music on his website (http://www.mobygratis.com/gratis/list). The only requirement for using the music was to complete a form with information on my film. After a week, I got today a confirmation email and a link to download the songs. Radio station seems the most appropiate to transmit the anguish that the character is feeling in the first two scenes where he finds himself in the empty flat.
Here they are:
viernes, 22 de enero de 2010
Camera and lighting rehearsal at studio
This is a rehearsal made at the university studio to test several options in terms of lighting, camera position, color correction in post and more. It took us an hour to set up the lighting and dolly tracks. One test was planned but not rehearsed, this is having two Arri 300w fresnel tungsten spotlights, each behind the subjects, this will make for backlights and also for fill lights of both subjects, a Pampa2 fluorescent light would be used as key and placed 3m away from the table, matching the middle of it. This presents an issue, as two different colour temperatures are being reflected on both sides of the subject's face. This could be corrected attaching a blue gel (frost) to both Arris, this gel softens and diffuses and reduces light intensity by approx. 2/3 stop.
Although the effect I'm looking for -dark background- is achieved when the CC is applied, we should attach the black curtains available at the studio, in order to be able to add more light on the subject without getting a blueish background. The fact that the Poker table and chairs are blue could also make a good match with the blueish background, however, I still don't know if this would match the story visualwise.
Although the effect I'm looking for -dark background- is achieved when the CC is applied, we should attach the black curtains available at the studio, in order to be able to add more light on the subject without getting a blueish background. The fact that the Poker table and chairs are blue could also make a good match with the blueish background, however, I still don't know if this would match the story visualwise.
002 from Mikel Camara on Vimeo.
miércoles, 20 de enero de 2010
Canon 7D Test Footage 1
This is a simple test shot I did with the Canon 7D. 3 point lighting, Key:pampa at 80%; Fill: Pampa at 40%; Backlight: Arri 300w. This was shot on NTSC 720p at 60fps. No.85 color correction.
This test has been carried out to clarify whether my computer supported .Mov files of this type.
Tomorrow further tests will be made at the University's studio room.
This test has been carried out to clarify whether my computer supported .Mov files of this type.
Tomorrow further tests will be made at the University's studio room.
001 from Mikel Camara on Vimeo.
viernes, 15 de enero de 2010
Step outline for Fortune
Step Outline for Fortune.
1 . Frederick and Chris face each other at a poker table. At this moment Chris has more than a half of the total chips on the table. They have a conversation, Chris ends up calling him “Fred-the-dick”. Frederick gets very annoyed and we are taken to scene 2.
2. Frederick opens his eyes, he’s sitting on a sofa at an unknown room of a flat. This flat is mostly empty, only the sofa and a table can be seen. White is the predominant colour. Glass walls all over the room. Frederick stands up and looks around stranged, walks towards the room’s door and tries several times to open it, but it will not open. He walks back to the opposite wall, where the door for the terrace is place, it will not open either. He gets very nervous and unstable, he does not know what is going on. He starts shouting and walking in circles.
3. Frederick is back at the poker table, visibly more worried than in the first scene. After a hand Frederick loses almost half of the chips he had left. He is close to a nervous breakdown.
4. Frederick is back at the flat’s room, out of control he starts looking behind the curtains and under the carpet. Here we see a flashback of him crying in that room holding a cut picture of his wife. After the flashback Frederick calms down and steadily goes to the sofa and sits. We hear his tranquilised breath while he closes his eyes.
5. Back at the poker table Frederick seems more confortable and goes all-in, winning the hand. This annoys Chris, who takes off his pocket the other half of the picture of his wife, this half shows Chris holding his wife’s arm. The picture is shown to Frederick, who asks Chris for explanation furiously, but Chris does not wanna collaborate, he is actually taking the piss out of Frederick, telling him that his wife left a note behind the picture and how dirty she is in bed. Fred beats the table with his hand. This act takes us to scene 6.
6. Back at the flat’s room Frederick goes straight to the sofa and searchs in between the cushions, he finds a bussiness magazine under one of them. The words written on the cover of the magazine read: “How the economic crisis will affect us all”. He looks though the pages as if he knew perfectly what he was looking for. He founds what he’s looking for, the other half of the picture, which shows her wife. He looks the back of the picture, there are things written, but he needs the other half to understand the message. By the way the picture is cut and the words written, it makes us undertand that his wife left him for Chris when Fred lost his job.
7. Now at the poker table Frederick demands Chris the other half of the picture. Chris notices his special interest for the picture and proposes Fred to either put it in a bet for the last hand or he’ll burn it. Fred accepts reluctantly. Both go all-in, it’s all or nothing for both of them. The cards are dealt by Fred. The audience don’t get to see who has won.
8. Frederick is back at the empty room, goes quickly to grab the magazine and takes his wife’s picture from it. He takes the other half showing his brother off his pocket and connects them both. Now that the message is clear, we understand that his wife would never abandon him despite he lost his job. Someone knocks the door, when Fred looks up towards the door everything is back to place in the room, his laptop and case on the table, decorations on the wall and more. Frederick’s wife opens the room door and asks him whether is he too busy with work or if he would like to go for a walk with her . Fred smiles and stands up.
END OF THE FILM
jueves, 14 de enero de 2010
Lenses to be used with Canon 7D
Canon EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM
Combining a extensive zoom range featuring wide angle and telephoto plus a 4-stop Image Stabilizer, the EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM provides outstanding performance and flexibility. The wide angle will allow me to shoot the scenes in the flat more confortably, as there is no much space in the room for camera positioning.
Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II |
Although most of the film could be shot with the EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6, this lens is always a good choice, specially for the shots that do not require for the wide angle effect. The fact of being lighter means that this lens could be the most appropiate for moving shots.
New camera equipment for shooting
There is a high probability that I will be using a Canon 7D DSLR camera for the shooting of my film. It has an astounding video quality and its easier to handle than the camcorder with the DoF adapter that I was previously going to use.
Full HD Video is captured at 1920 x 1080 resolution at 30p (29.97), 24p (23.976) or 25p frames per second, for up to 4GB per clip. Movies are saved as .MOV files. Other recording sizes include HD at 1280 x 720 (50p / 60p (59.94) fps) or SD/VGA at 640 x 480 (50p / 60p (59.94) fps).
The film will be recorded on 720p at 50 fps, this frame rate will allow me to do slow motion shots much smoother than at 25p.
The camera also has a great performance under low light conditions, whereas the DoF adapter on the camera makes you lose 1 stop of light.
Here is an example of what is the 7D's footage like:
Canon 7D Test from Matt E on Vimeo.
Tune 1 for short film
This is one of the tunes the music designer made for me. It may be used for the scenes in which the character is within his mind. It kind of transmits that lonely feeling. However, I'll be collecting more music in order to have more possibilities in post.
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