Lost in La Mancha

Lost in La Mancha

‘Lost in La Mancha’ is a documentary about the filming of Terry Gilliam’s failed attempt at making ‘The man who killed Don Quixote’. The film was a few days into filming when it was abandoned for several reasons. Financial issues, freak weather and ‘Gods will’ all played a part in the failure of the film.

Although at the beginning of the film all seemed to be going aright, it soon became obvious that ‘The man who killed Don Quixote’ was heading for failure. At the start of the film when they were talking about financial issues, you could start to tell that the film was doomed. Although you can make low budget films that are good, Gilliam wanted lots of special effects, which don’t come that cheaply. So without good financial backing the film was doomed, even with looking for investors in Europe. Another issue which made it obvious that the film wasn’t going to be finished, was when John Rochefort became ill and couldn’t do certain things, such as sit on a horse, which was a key element to the film. By the time that he had fallen ill, it was a little too late to pick a backup actor who would be able to just step in. Rehearsals and filming had already taken place and so to just get somebody else to do it may have be costly and not have worked out as well.

There are a couple of points in the film where I would have considered given up. When the freak weather occurred during filming and most of the equipment and film were damaged would have made me think of giving up. However I think that I would have stopped filming at about the same time they did in the documentary. If I showed the same passion for the project that Gilliam showed for it, then of course I wouldn’t let a couple of set-backs stop me. However when they were talking about the troubles finding financial help at the very beginning of the film, this made it obvious that this film may not be the success that Gilliam was hoping for.

One thing that stood out as being particularly challenging to do was creating the large props and sets. Not only in the designing process but also where to store them once they were created. Also the language barrier between the employees would present a problem, as American, Spanish and French employees were working on the film. It would be unlikely that everybody working on the film would be able to speak all three languages, so finding translators would need to be done so everybody could communicate with each other. Another issue which would have been an issue before they started shooting would be that the actors were busy and so couldn’t make it for rehearsals. This isn’t much an issue but an inconvenience, as when the actors get together to film, they may not know how to work with each other.

The reason why and animatic is used in pre-production is so that the producers, directors and anyone else who see’s it knows how the film looks in the directors head. This helps the crew come up with a plan on how to create each scene, and also to set a budget for each scene. In my opinion this is a good thing to do when shooting any type of film, live action or animated. The animatic will help you be clearer on what you are filming, and how you are going to film it. It would be important to use an animatic in this type of film because of all the special effects that would be used in the film. It just basically helps to see how the scene will look after the effect have been added and it moves unlike a storyboard, which makes it seem much clearer to the people creating the effects.

Several problems occurred while they were shooting the film, but the crew sorted the problems out as they went along. One of the problems that the crew faced was one of the places they chose to film at was on a military base. At certain times of the day fighter jets would fly over the set while filming, so it was decided to just film and add in sound later. Another problem they faced on set was that of the freak weather. At first they just lit the set up to try and match what it would look like in the sunlight. However when the weather turned for the worst not much could be done apart from filming another scene for the time being.

Nobody is really blamed for the films failure; it was just a mix of misfortune and bad weather that contributed to the failure of the film. Blaming the failure of the film on just one person, or group of people for that matter, would just be shifting the blame around and would be a little immature. People may have contributed to the failure but overall in my opinion if the failure was to be blamed on any factor it would be to

I think that the film could have been made if John Rochefort had been replaced and if the freak weather hadn’t of happened, then the film could have been finished. However I think that Gilliam made a good decision by abandoning the project when he did, otherwise the film would have been more expensive to put right than to start again from scratch. However with the attitude and passion that Gilliam had for the project, that he didn’t stop marching forward when the equipment got damage, shows that if everything that went wrong went even okay, the film could have been finished. However in the state that the film ended up in, I think I would have abandoned the project too as it would have been costly and prolonged to sort everything out.

Teaser Trailer

For the teaser trailer I have decided to do a horror, I chose to do this genre as horror covers a lot of topics and also because it seemed the trickiest to get right. A horror film should make the audience a feel a sense of fright and make them feel a sense of fear. I did some research into horror film trailers, and came to the conclusion that they should intice a person into going to see it, while giving them some hint as to what it will be about.

The idea for my trailer came after reading a book called 'Deathnote: Another note, the Los Angeles BB Murder Caes', which is a murder mystery which involves logic and thinking throughout. Another influence is from the Japanese film 'Higurashi no naku koro ni', in which you meet a group of seemingly normal teenagers, who later turn out to be cursed. My idea is a mixture of these two themes. "A girl name Reina Night" is the name of the teaser trailer, the name Reina Night came to my head when I was thinking about spooky names that sound normal. Reina is a spanish name that means queen or emporess, the last name Night just from the time of day, so together the name means Queen Night.

After looking through a few trailers, I liked to look of the beginning of the 'Easy A' trailer, with the main character talking into a webcam. To make this have elements of horror I decided to film at night with a side light to create a dark tone, this would make it seem more like a horror film. Also making it very simple with a vague sort of outline to the girls life, in my opinion, would attract people to go an see it.

Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni Trailer : This is the trailer for Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni, although it says 'Shrills cries of Summer' the the title actually means 'Higurashi: When they Cry' and Higurashi is the type of cicada, a type of bug, which is found in that area of Japan. I like this trailer as it explains a little of what is going on, as well as showing that it is a horror film. This is one of my favourite films, and in my opinion it is about the hidden flaws in society. The trailer is effective as it creates suspense and makes you want to go an see the film and find out what is happening.

Easy A Trailer : This trailer is effective as it tells you the plot without going into too much detail. I liked the idea of the person talking into a camera and talking about what she thinks. So I including this idea into the teaser trailer, I thought that since it's a teaser trailer it wouldn't have to show scenes from the movie. I also think that this trailer is funny and again will encourage people to go and watch this film

My Teaser Trailer

So here is the teaser trailer I made. I think it could have turned out better but overall I am happy with the result. I filmed the trailer in my room, and just used my side lamp to light the scene, which makes it very dark and spooky. The music I used came as part of the editing software I used to edit the trailer, I used some software I had already called Corel Videostudio Pro 12. I filmed using HD and then rendered it again in HD. I'm still really trying to figure out the software so all in all it took me about an hour or so to edit this, I tried to keep in simple and to the point without adding a ton of effects, which would over complicate the trailer. It dosen't have the production company name at the start of trailer, mainly because the software wouldn't upload it.

Production Paperwork:

Script

Risk Assessment

Storyboard

 

Call Sheet

Codes of Practice and Regulations

If you decide to shoot a film there are some rules and regulations that must be followed. Just like in any line of work there are some rules or guidelines that you should take into consideration. A few of these rules are as follows. When filming permission should be given from all people present that says that you are allowed to film them. This also goes for when filming on private property, permission should be given and on record.
Also if filming in public, members of the public should be taken into consideration. So if there is a load of cables along the ground, then these should be taped down to the ground or sign posted. If there is a particular scene that is going to loud, then filming shouldn;t take place too late at night if the set is in a populated area. Generally you shouldn't make a lot of noise between the hours of 10pm and 8am.
Local authorites should be contacted or notified. Access for emergency vehicals and services should be taken into consideration when selecting a location. If an accident occurs then local services should be able to get to the set with as much ease as possible.
http://www.canterbury.gov.uk/main.cfm?objectid=1448

Lighting Equipment

Lighting a scene correctly is important when shooting a film. If the lighting is off then it can ruin the effect the film is trying to have on an audience. If the scene is too bright in a horror film is won't seem scary for example. Some lighting equipement includes Redhead's and Blonde's. Both of these are open faced lights.

Three point lighting is the basis off how to light a scene properly. The main lights are the Key Light, Fill Light and Back Light. The Key light is the main light source in the scene, it will be the strongest influence. It is usually placed a little of to the side of the object, so one side is lit and a little bit of shadow is present. The Fill light is placed on the opposite side of the Key light and is used as a secondary light. The Fill light is often a lot softer than the Key Light. The back light is placed to the rear of the object, such as the name suggests. The role of this light is to define highlights and also to show some subtle definition of the object.

MCPS and PRS

MCPS is the shortened version for Mechanical-Copyright Protection Society, this is part of an alliance with PRS, the Performing Right Society. This is a non-proft organisation that is based within the United Kingdom and they were created to make sure that royalties are paid to songwriters, composers and publishers. It is usually enforced when their work is used on Televsion or is distributed in other ways.

Fesitvals

Entering film festivals is always a good idea when you are wanted to get noticed. Although enetering a festival can be costly, and you may not always be gauranteed to win something, it can help you to meet people who have similar interests to yourself and allows you to meet people are share information.

There are plenty of festivals to enter, locally, nationally and internationally. Some examples of film festivals are below;

Raindance: (http://www.raindance.co.uk/site/index.php)
Raindance is a film festival that was founded in 1992. It provides training and support for film makers, and these training programms have been highly successful. Raindance had produced some feature films that have won awards, and example is The Living Dead which won 11 awards. Raindance is of benefit to me as it is a well known film festival and has a good reputation.

The End of The Pier: (http://www.eotpfilmfestival.co.uk/)
The End of The Pier film festival is a festival that is mainly for low-budget, independent film-makers. It is for both short and feature films, which is good as you can get a mix of different styles. This is a good festival for me as I don;t have a lot of money to spend on making a film, so with a competition that is for people in similar situtations to myself, it means that I have more chance of winning.

The Keswick Film Festival: (http://www.keswickfilmclub.org/kff/)
The Keswick film festival is the best option for me to enter, mainly because it is a local festival. With it being local, it means that local independent film-makers will attend and so it'll be a good chance to meet people wholive locally and share ideas.

Withoutabox: (https://www.withoutabox.com/)
Withouabox is a film festival that is in over 200 countries worldwide and it allows film-makers to distribute their films themselves. It also allows film-makers to view other peoples work, and for film-makers to eneter their work into other festivals and competitions.

Professional Paperwork

Some examples of professional paperwork can be found all over the internet, but you can also find examples in books. Different pieces of paperwork can look the same but all have different jobs and purposes.

Storyboards:
A storyboard looks very similar to a comic strip, it shows how a scene will be played out. Storyboarding helps to plan out how each scene will look, and how each scene will be made. This includes figuring out where the camera will go, where it will move to, where the actors should stand and so on. Storyboards can be very simple, basic stickmen and arrows, or have lots of detail and description. An example of a professional storyboard can be seen below on the left. On the right is a storyboard that i completed for the teaser trailer project, as you can see my storyboard is very simple compared to the more professional version.

  

Scripts:
A script is important as it not only tells the actors what to do an say in film, but it also helps the producer, director and cameramen figure out how to make each scene. A script again can be very simple, with basic dialogue and vague stage directions which means that the screenplay can be changed easily. Then you can have more in depth scripts which include loads of detail and description, and makes it easier to follow and stick too. During pre-production and production the script can be edited and changed if something dosen't work, or if a better idea is thought of. Below is an example of a professional scrip on the left and a script I wrote on the right. Both use a similar layout, however the professional script is a little bit more in depth.

 

Schedule:

A schedule helps to keep the project on track, and if the project is on track it means that deadlines are met, and also if any money is being spent, the cost is kept down. 

Crew/Cast Release:

Crew and cast release forms are documents which just say that you are allowed to use the actors/actresses image in your original work. If the actor or actress does not give you permission to use their image it can breach copyright law. These documents also have information such as docters names, contact information and information like that.

Risk Assessment:

The purpose of a risk assessment is to help cast and crew pin-point anything that is a hazard and could cause harm to either a person or the location. Once these hazards have been spotted and the risk pin-pointed, measures can be put into place to stop any accident occuring. Just like if you were working on a construction site, a film set can also have its share of hazards, and certain measures must be put into place to stop accidents happening. If an accident does happen, then it can lead onto legal action, which can be costly. An example of a professional risk assessment can be seen below on the left, on the right my version of a risk assessment. 

Call Sheet:

A call sheet is a piece of paper that includes contact details of everybody on the set. Usually call sheets are distributed at the beginning of the week, to allow for any changes in schedules that may occur while on set. A call sheet helps with organising days that filming can commence. A rule to creating a call sheet is to assume that everybody involved is always going to be available, unless they have said otherwise.

Budget:

A budget is what the name suggests, this paper helps teh producer figure out how much the filming will cost. A budget will generally help to work out how much should be allocated to what, so how much actors should be paid, how much props should cost ect.

Location Scout:

A location scout helps teh producer and directors pick an apporpriate place to shoot a certain scene. Usually these will include details about the location and pictures. It will also contain information about how much the locations will cost to hire, if they are private, details about parking, nearest conviences ect.