Pre-Production: Folder design

I designed the print to go on our folders today. Here is the Synopsis and Script one:

And here it is printed on the folder.

Pre-Production: Company logo

Dylan's logo with edit font and colouring.

Pre-Production: Synopsis on template

Here is Casey's synopsis on the document template. Does the cloakndagger logo look better to the side or in the centre? Side

Centre

Pre-Production: logo

Just experimenting with different fonts for the logo. Let me know which is your fave. STENCIL

PIZZA OPTI

OPTI FUTURA AG MITE

KREMLIN

GORLOCK

FUTURAAGMITEOPTI

ARIEL BLACK

And the original: HELVETICA

Pre-Production: Document templates

So I am pretty pleased with this one. While trying to think of an interesting background it occurred to me that simple is best, and it's always effective to have a logo of some sort in the background as a watermark. So I thought, lets use the sussex police crest! This ties in with the package idea, being a set of case files and with the document folders having the sussex logo too. I discussed with Casey and we agreed. So this is what I have as a template at the moment and I really like it! Hope case and dylan do too!

Pre-Production: Case file presentation Idea

So you might have seen on Dylan's blog that our idea for the final presentation of our work is to have a number of case files in a briefcase. To be presented as a police package. We have had difficulty finding the right kind of folders but I finally ordered some on monday. I hope they get here in time! Anyway, During a google search I found this:

It's a met police doc folder. So I thought we could try something similar with our folders!

Pre-Production: Collating and prettyfying

I am currently working on collating all the work that Casey has done into pretty documents. There's alot so it's gna take a while but I am hoping I will get a good amount done over the weekend. I am back on photoshop! Which is always fun. I love working on photoshop because I always manage to get a good work flow going. Here's a little sunnin sunnin:

I don't think I have quite gotten his face right over the background but you see what I am getting at. Obviously all our documents have to look the same as a unified piece of work but I am trying out things to find out what will work at the moment so things might not be unified quite just yet.

Pre-Production: Document Design

Another one.

I made the logo similar to dylan's in this one. And put a background image of Brighton in. I don't know if there needs to be more information on the documents?!?! But if we are using case file folders, the information could be printed on there? I don't know.

Pre-Production: Script second draft

I initially had difficulty cutting down the longer scenes of the script after Simon gave me notes on my first draft. However, when I came back to it I think I managed to cut out the unnecessary dialogue and make it more snappy. Some scenes could probably do with being a bit shorter but I couldn't find a way to get it down any further and Dylan and Casey couldn't see what to remove either, we have all read the book though so we might be biased to what should stay.

Pre-Production: Document Design

I am trying to design a way to present our documents that looks professional. I don't have dylan's logo yet so I have used Simon's version for now. But here's my first attempt.

I think it might look a bit too adult? I used a leather texture in the background which I think is a bit too textured. I think it will be easier to create a fitting document when I can work with the correct logo but it's fun making things look professional.

Pre-Production: Teaser

Here's what I have been doing. Used the tagline for text.

Pre-Production: Editing teasers

At first we all set off to edit our individual bits and bobs. And they were all very different and didn't look uniformed. So Dylan showed Simon his edit and we decided to all conform to that. Which is what I am currently trying to do. I have experimented with altering the footage and I really like what I have just done... I have a feeling it will be a bit out of place with dylan's but we shall see. I went on the ucreative website and saw this: http://ucreative.ac.uk/news/2012/april/pantheon#.T56Sab_AHPY The set looks cool and Chris Pinnock sounds cool. Makes me feel like I need to be really ambitious for our project next term. But the thing that I have taken from this is the text in the trailer. Not the green text but the movie title text. It's a common text animation and so simple yet effective. I keep trying to be all fancy with moving text but this works so much better. So that is what I have been doing today. AND I have found a nifty way to make after effects so much quicker and to make all the text the same. A simple use of copy and paste. Et voila. On a roll. Wish I had final cut at home. I would be editing all the time.

Pre-Production: Script editing

So having completed my first draft, it's time to edit it down and get it more refined. As I was writing, a couple of scenes felt too long and Simon felt this as he read it too. So my mission is to make these scenes shorter and more concise. Today I gave it a go and didn't have much success so I will look at it again tomorrow.

Pre-Production: Scripting

The script writing went on a bit of a hiatus over Easter as I was concentrating on my dissertation. So the past few evenings I have been going back through it sifting out the spelling mistakes and tense errors and readjusting the odd line. AND re-capitalizing all those pages I forgot to do it on. Because I am adapting from the book I have noticed that I referred to Roy Grace as Roy in some scenes and Grace in others. So I am changing them all to Roy as that could be confusing. In the first few Roy Grace chapters there's alot of background information on him which can't come across naturally in the script and would be things that would have to come up through out the series. Things like his promotion, his father was a police officer. Roy is the youngest DS in the sussex police. Things about sandy. So I am cutting most of that out as things that will come up more naturally later on in the story.

Experimental Teaser Trailer for dead simple 2

A super quick one.

Experimental Teaser Trailer for dead simple

Music isn't very C4-y.

Pre- Production Unit: Script fuel 2.

The book gets pushed aside for food.

Pre-Production: Script writing fuel.

I can't sit at my desk without some kind of sustenance and my main form of procrastination is finding sustenance.


Tea script writing fuel.



When I am writing the script I have to have the book in front of the laptop to keep it open while I type. This gives me a bad neck as I end up leaning forward with my neck almost at a 90 degree angle. Not comfy!

Pre- Production: Location shoot: The woods

Unfortunately because trains suck, particularly on easter weekend, Dylan wasn't able to make it to the Barming shoot. However, Casey and I still went along and Dylan is going to do a New Forest version.

I met Casey straight after work and went recce-ing woods to see if we could find anywhere better than we had already found. We decided the initial location we had found was the best but when we got there, we couldn't get the car in a position to provide us with light. Despite a great effort!

So we found a place close by where we could get the car into the woods and pointing in a good direction for us to shoot in the trees with head lights. It was a strange patch of woods, with parts of car and loads of clothes and shoes and glass which weirded us out a bit!

It was still really light when we got there so we couldn't start shooting straight away so we recorded some sound. We recorded atmos noises, walking through the woods, shovel sounds etc.

Once it started getting dark we planned what we wanted to get.

We decided to shoot all hand held. We did various shots of the shovel and shoveling, walking through the woods, the headlight glare, over the shoulder, close ups and wides. I hope it all looks as good in final cut as it did on the monitor! You never can tell.

It was quite scary in the dark, in the woods. When we started packing up I noticed a car turned up the drive into the trees where we were. Casey and I panicked and jumped into the car, both through the same door and were a bit silly and scared. Then I realised it was a police car! hahah. We got out and had to explain what we were doing and why we acted so suspicious haha.

Our second police experience during our crime thriller production.

We had great fun and I hope Dylan's shoot goes just as well and he has as much fun as we did!

Pre- Production: Location photos.

Just a selection














Brighton Rooftops


Barming Woods.