A bit about The Concept

Having a background in Marine and Natural History Photography and a love for all wildlife I am very passionate about conservation. With theories of eco-fatigue spreading across the nation, I wanted to use my knowledge and expertise to discover an innovative approach to bring conservational messages to audiences in a more palatable way. Eco-fatigue is the theory that consumers are fed up of being told to be ‘eco-friendly’ and they are rebelling against it. I can see how this has happened but as an avid conservationist the idea frightens me.

After a great deal of brainstorming I came up with the idea of dramatising the issues. My theory is if you make a great drama that grips the viewer with an underlying conservational message, they won’t feel as though it is being pushed upon them as much. If these ‘conservational dramas’ are backed up on a multiplatform level with information showing the public they really can make a difference I believe people will listen.

Now, why bees? The honeybee holds a special place in my heart, being a beekeeper myself and having carried out countless amounts of research about them I want to make a difference. Honeybee population decline is a global problem and is relevant today more than ever. The honeybee is a crucial species within the ecosystem, playing an extremely important role in the £165 million pollination industry in the UK. If the bee population continues to decline at it’s current rate they will become extinct by the year 2035, they are responsible for pollinating 1/3 of our food crops so their demise will have a devastating knock on effect.

I believe that Gone confronts these environmental issues in a way that no documentary can. Bringing the subject to life with the heart wrenching story of one man and his fight for survival. Exploring the raw human emotions of fear, love and hope as he desperately attempts to save the life of his sister. It is a cutting edge programme approaching the subject of bee conservation in a groundbreaking manner, educating and inspiring viewers through an engaging and spectacular cinematic experience.

Gone originally developed as a series idea and was adapted into this 10 minute ‘taster’. It is a very small part of something far bigger. There is much potential for other subject matters, the list is endless. I believe that Gone is a cutting edge concept with the possibility of bypassing eco-fatigue to deliver important conservational messages to the general public.

I have made a start on the multiplatform movement with a website for 'gonefilm'

Reflection

My main issue with Gone is the length, the whole thing just feels too rushed. However the brief was 10 minutes so that is what I’ve done. I will definitely be doing a longer cut because I think the story suffers at this length. Yet overall I think we have done a great job at creating a drama with minimal crew, budget and a very tight schedule and I am generally pleased with the final outcome.

I feel that I have worked extremely hard throughout the entirety of the film making process. I do not believe I could have put in much more effort, although Gone is not perfect at least I know I gave it my all. I have struggled throughout this project due to lack of crew, I have been doing lots of roles, including things such as catering! A more supportive and expansive crew on set would have taken the pressure off me and allowed me to concentrate more on getting the shots and staying true to the story. Never the less it all got done in the end and I had so much fun doing it. I really enjoyed being on set and found it a great experience to be directing professional actors!

Pre production was a hive of activity, recceing locations with my producer Rosy, developing the script, storyboarding, researching and watching lots of TV and films for inspiration. I found it quite fun and interesting to organise everything ready for the shoot, I wish I’d had a bit more time before I had to drive to London to pick up the actors. The pre production stages flew by so quickly and before I knew it, it was the night before the first shoot! I appreciate just how much work goes into making films now. Every tiny detail has to be carefully considered and making Gone has given me great experience in doing just that.

I am really pleased with the locations we managed to secure. Even though a few fell through, like Eden, I think our back ups turned out to be the stronger choice anyway. Heligan created a much more wild looking Garden of Eden than the Eden Project would have done and the biome would have been a nightmare with the lenses steaming up on the camera. I was able to make quick decisions on set when confronted with problems, such as the pouring rain for the scene where Ollie hands Imogen the bees, I adapted the script there and then and we went with it. As it turns out I actually prefer that they are outside now and I think the rain adds a lovely feel to the final scene, it makes the relationship between Ollie and Imogen seem more playful. Other locations I think worked especially well include Bodmin and Cligga Head. The control tower at Bodmin is such a cinematic looking building, fitting the theme of the film perfectly with its run down appearance. Cligga head on the other hand is a beautifully scenic location and produces a different kind of cinematic aesthetic, but equally as powerful. Although not much of the location made it in to the final cut I did get some good stills for posters etc (and I love how they were edited by Jon Barclay). Myself and Rosy knew from the very beginning that the Locations would play a massive part in making the film look good as we were on such a tight budget. I think we pulled it off well and secured some amazing locations, they were a pleasure to film at.

Overall the shoots went smoothly, there were bound to be a few hiccups, there always is, granted some were bigger than others. Most of the time we worked well as a team but there just wasn’t enough of us, this made things take much longer than they should have. This part has always been my favourite of making a film, but I do feel some of the fun and excitement was taken away by having to worry about everything. I found myself having to think about whether the actors were ok, whether we were getting all the shots and if they were even any good, if everyone had eaten enough, if the shots would match up in the edit, had I covered enough cut aways, so on and so forth. This is a shame because I really did want to enjoy every moment of it, looking back on it now it was great fun but at the time I didn’t really appreciate it.

Once we were in the edit I started to worry massively about the film, I just didn’t like how it cut together, something wasn’t working for me. We had to cut out so many shots I was proud of and sequences that were filled with great moments with Ollie, to enable the rest to breathe within the 10 minutes. Each cut I saw just jarred and didn’t flow properly, but I couldn’t put my finger on why. I got feedback from people saying that the start and end were really good but the middle was blocky and didn’t have enough substance, I could see where they were coming from. After the crit screening we amended a few bits that were pointed out, but there were few that I decided as Director I didn’t want to do. Such as taking out the last scene on he bridge with Ollie and Imogen, it was a fair point but I believe that the story needs this part, you need to see what happens to the bees, after all it is supposed to be a conservational drama to help them. After viewing the film on the cinema screen it was clear to me that the grade wasn’t stylistic enough, it didn’t conjure up the same atmosphere as the many apocalyptic films I watched did so we re–graded, de-saturating it more and pulling the shadows into blue. We then moved on to the sound design and this is where the film came into its own. It no longer felt as awkward with the terrible levels and the clicking of the image stabilizer. Hours were spent over a number of days trawling through audio websites trying to find the right piece of music to lift the footage, it paid off in the end. I am extremely happy with the track I found, in my opinion it makes the film. It completely transformed it, the paced immediately seemed slower which was amazing, it also builds a great atmosphere, especially when it changes at the control tower.

I am really pleased with what I managed to achieve with this film. I have aimed to keep really high standards, at times I may have seemed a bit of a perfectionist but it paid off.

Here are some of my favourite parts of the film:

There are a few major things that I would change about Gone, one of them being the scene on the bridge with Ollie and Imogen. On the day of shooting I only had 20 minutes to film the whole scene, and it shows. I was too rushed to be able to get enough camera angles and do enough takes to nail it. I left Heligan knowing that I hadn’t got it and I was dreading watching it. This scene proved the hardest to edit, both visuals and audio and we had to re-shoot some stuff with another actor to try and improve the emotion. Another thing I would change is, as I’ve mentioned before, the length. It is just too quick, there isn’t enough breathing space to allow the emotion and atmosphere to mature. There are also a few scenes I would add back in, such as the part when Ollie feeds the stray dog, I think it will make a touching scene. I also like the sequence where he is playing around on the carousel, it highlights how alone he is and how he craves for emotional support.

I hope that I have managed to create a drama with an innovative approach to tackling conservation. I hope it will make a difference. 

Editing, Editing, Editing...

I have spent so so so many hours in the edit with both Tasha (Editor) and Dave (Sound Designer) but I am happy with the progress that is being made with the film. 

Tasha has done a second colour grade on the film as I didn't feel the first one was strong enough. This was highlighted when we had the crit screening, on the cinema screen the film looked bright and colourful which is not the desired effect! Below are a couple of examples of the new grade. I think it is very powerful and adds a great deal of atmosphere to this apocalyptic film.

We have also been working on the special effects for the film, including the green screen for the newsreaders below, adding in the video camera effects above.

The other effect that needed to be done was the fuzzy/broken TV for the transitions into the newsreaders. This was quite time consuming but worth it in the end.

I have also spent days in the protools suite with Dave our sound designer. I am really pleased with the job he has done as the sound was all over the place before. I am also really happy with the piece of music I found for the film. The music really slows the pace down and makes the film much easier to watch.

And that's a wrap!

What an exciting but exhausting week that was. I feel we did very well under the circumstances, there was minimal crew and very little time to get it done in. I am at home in London now having driven the actors home arriving in central London at 3 am on a Saturday night. That was a pretty scary experience I must say especially as I was horrifically sleep deprived and perhaps a little hungover from the wrap party. I'm going to have a little rest day to recover before driving back to Cornwall. We have decided not to continue with Torchbearers as Garvey is very unwell and unable to film with us. We are also very stretched for time and we wouldn't be able to allow enough time to each production to make it the best we can. I am not closing the chapter on this documentary completely, we already have some great footage and I still feel like it has the makings of a great piece. We will come back to it once Gone is finished and we have a bit more time.

Images copyright Natasha Mitson

We got to film in some amazing locations and I had a great deal of fun getting into all manner of precarious positions with the camera. I hope that the edit will do all of these shoots justice, I really can't see how it is going to fit in to 10 minutes.

The First Shoot

Flambards Shoot

As Flambards Theme Park was our first shoot I was always expecting there to be a few minor hitches and glitches as we all found our feet on the production, however I think it went quite well. I did find it quite hard to establish myself within my Directorial role, I felt like the while shoot was a bit rushed and extremely under crewed, but we got all the shots we needed and that was the main objective.

 The people at Flambards were very accommodating to us, when Rosy and I went on the Recce John Martin, our guide for the day, told us we could go on the rides with the actor and I could climb to the top of the roller coaster to get an aerial shot!

The first shot we set up for was when Ollie sets up the video camera before doing a diary entry. We set up the tracks, I am a fan of the tracks, and the shot started as the image above shows and ended as the image below shows. I am really happy with the composition of this shot, the angle of the lines in the frame is very pleasing to the eye and the use of hornet carriages is very fitting with the theme of the film. I like the colour palette created in this scene and think it will work really well in the edit once colour graded. However the track is not faultless, it wobbles at places and there is a strange pan towards the end but that could be cut out in the edit. I think if I were to do it again I would try and get a smoother track, I think I was just a bit rusty at using them.

This is a screen grab of the video diary we filmed next. In this scene Ollie is telling his sister Emma that he is nearly out of food and reminiscing about when their mum used to force them to eat brussel sprouts. It is a very moving and intimate moment for the character and using down the lens as a device brings the viewer in to this moment with him, also the acting is very strong which makes this part powerful. I like the angle and composition of this shot as it really does make it feel like we are viewing his video diary.

Next we moved on to shots around the rails, we did some with the character walking under rails and some where he was sat on the rails looking around, as shown in the images above. I really like the composition above, once the trees in the background are removed in post it will give the illusion that Ollie is high up. It will be cut with shot of him looking out over clay pits as if they are next to the fairground, I think this will look great in the final film and will make it look impressive for a student production.

This shot is where Ollie is climbing the ladder to get a better view from the top. I think the centering and low angle of this shot makes what could be a very boring shot look interesting and pleasing to the eye.

This is one of my favourite shots from the Flambards shoot as I got to don a harness and climb to the top of the hornet rollercoaster. The predominance of grey in this shot will work well in the film, especially once it has been graded. I really like the lines also, the curves created by the pillars and shadows are visually interesting. Not much is happening within this part, Ollie is just kicking a bottle but it helps show a bit more of his surroundings and reinforce the fact that he is all alone in this world. Using a deserted fairground, a place that we normally associate to be buzzing activity and fun, subliminally reinforces how changed the world is to the viewer.

While up the top of the roller coaster I got a few other shots, one being Ollie walking along the middle of the log flume, as shown above. Although this does not serve much purpose in the telling of his story it works well to show a bit more if his playful side as he jumps on to the concrete block. It is also a good travelling shot which we need a lot of to underpin the fact that he is on a journey to a new place. I like the composition of this as it is another aerial angle that aren’t normally accessible for student productions and the vertical lines look impressive.

This shot is where Ollie looks up at the rollercoaster before he climbs it. I think this below angle is nice as you can clearly see what he is looking at when he turns, as it is isolated. I really like the lighting on his face here too, it highlights the expression on his face well.

The tuna scene, this is where Ollie sees a stray animal while he is eating a tin of tuna. He feeds the animal even though we know as an audience that he has little left. The intention of this scene was to make the viewer really care about the main character as he does something beyond what he needs to do to survive, he makes a kind gesture and it is reinforced that he is a really kind person. We did end up having to cut it from the film as there was not enough time, which is a shame as I feel it is a lovely moment. If I cut a longer version this scene will return.

This is an extra sequence that was not scripted but we decided to do it after the recce. In this we see Ollie having fun on the carousel and then realising how what he is doing is strange and that he misses human contact. This isn’t in the final film but I think it is a lovely moment of emotion for the character and would work really well in a slower longer cut. In hindsight I should have done a couple more takes but I felt rushed as we needed to get to the next location. I also think these are beautiful looking shots too, but just not necessary for the 10 minute film.

Taking into account that it was the first shoot and we were very under crewed I think it went well. We managed to all the shots we needed and did it within the schedule, give or take a few minutes.

Roseleigh Shoot

Emma’s Bedroom

The scene where we see the flashback to Ollie saying goodbye to his sister Emma before he left on his journey was filmed at the Production base. This made things a lot easier with feeding the cast and keeping people amused. The bedroom set was dressed by Rosy, who did a great job making it look like it was Emma’s. Emma loved to surround herself with photographs of flowers and this is clearly shown by the set. The makeup for Emma was done by our makeup artist Ruby Rice, she did an amazing job making actress Chelsea look at deaths door, with protruding veins, sunken eyes and gaunt cheekbones.

The shot above is a nice establishing shot of the room, but it is nothing special, I would have liked to go wider but as it was a small box room this was not possible.

I did a few different angles of Emma in the bed and coughing, this one is nice as it is a low shot on Emma’s level. It will work well cut with some of the other angles.

The shot above really puts emphasis on the fact that Emma has just coughed up blood, but because the tissue is out of focus it doesn’t give away that it is fake blood too much.

I like this big close up of Emma’s face, in this shot she weakly opens and closes her eyes, this would work quite well as a transition shot. If I were to do it again I would go even tighter. 

In this shot Ollie talks to Emma and tells her his plans. I really like the beginning of this shot where you can see the expression on his face but when he turns to speak to Emma you only get a profile view. Looking at the footage now I can see that I needed to do a shot from Emma’s POV to get the intimate emotion of the moment. I can only learn from my mistakes and improve on my next project.

I like the depth created in this two shot, it shows quite a bit of the room but doesn’t detract away from Emma who is the main focus of the scene. There is a focus pull in this shot but I don’t think it is that noticeable. If I were to do it again I would change the aperture to achieve a shallower depth of field to make the focus pull more predominant. I feel this shoot went well and I was starting to feel like a Director again, now it was time for the ‘Hippie Party’!

Hippie Party in the Garden

Now this is where it got really fun! We had a load of friends come round dressed as hippies, well I say dressed as, they actually are hippies, with all kinds of musical instruments. It was now that I felt myself slip into the role of Director properly, I felt a lot more comfortable and everything seemed a lot clearer, I knew it would only be a matter of time.

Overall I think the first day went well, I hope we carry on like this...

Time to get the Actors

I have spent the past couple of weeks researching, organising, writing, storyboarding, making shot lists etc and now the time has come to get the actors. I can't believe how quickly it has come around. I'm driving up to collect them and once we get back we will be launching straight into production.

Beeeees

I have been home and collected my very own bees :) They seem very happy in their nucleus hive at the bottom of my garden. I'm getting really excited about production now.. not long at all.