Technical Skills Development

1.1       Describe areas for development in your current knowledge, understanding and skills 

What are your current knowledge and understanding in film?

 I currently have a wide understanding of all aspects of film making as I’ve made a few films on my own. I know about writing and structure, directing actors, film theory, basic editing, basic sound, basic framing, film production and would like to further skills in any of these fields.

Do you have specific areas of interest or skills in filmmaking?

I have a specific interest in writing and directing but am happy to contribute to any part of the film and learn more specifically about it.

Are you studying / working at the moment?

Yes, I’m in my final year of Sixth Form and have applied for film school

Have you done film or other creative media work already? 

Yes

https://lucyatkinsonmedia.weebly.com/

What areas of your film production knowledge, understanding and skills would you like to improve? 

My current weakness is working in larger film making groups and making films in a more professional setting as my past films have been made with a crew of one or two people (not including actors).

What role(s) would you see yourself taking on your Academy film?

Hopefully director, but any job that I can do to a high standard

What do you hope to gain from the BFI Film Academy? 

Friends, a film for my portfolio, specialist knowledge of filmmaking

Do you have plans to further study and work in film or wider creative media?

 Yes

1.2       Take a role in the production of a short film

What is your production role?

Director

What do you have to do to carry out this role?

In pre-production, I will put together storyboards, working together with the producer to make a practicable plan. I must know what I want to make and coordinate and communicate this to the rest of the group. I also need to make sure everybody knows what to do.

During production, I will help the producer coordinate the shoot, making sure everyone knows what they are doing. Be active in giving instructions to actors, cinematographers, runners, sound people and set dressers.

During post-production, I will need to control the editing process.

(Think about pre-production, production and post-production)

What skills do you need to carry out your production role?

Confidence to lead, creativity to plan the finished product, ready too compromise over practical issues, ready to change plans on the fly, ability to work in stressful situations. Communication is important because the job is describing to people what to do and how.

What equipment and planning documents do you need to carry out this role?

Celtx, storyboards, script, editing software. All the resources needed for all the other areas are important for my role too so they’re all relevant.

What other resources are needed in your film production?

Camera, tripod, lights, props, costumes

1.3       Gain feedback on how you performed your role

Ask Tutors and other academy participants these questions

Our academy lead facilitator/group mentor, Sean Mckenna, gave me some feedback about my time at the academy.

What did I do in my role?
You were the Director of the remake of Lost in Translation which involved you taking responsibility for the overall reimagining of the film. You had to translate the full film into a manageable, abridged version and to communicate what was required to the entire group as well as the actors. Afterwards you were responsible for editing the film, making decisions on what was required for the film to make sense, be recognisable for the remake it was and be funny.
What did I do well?
From the beginning it was obvious to me (as facilitator) that you knew what you were doing and had a passion for film (and a thoughtful approach to it, though we might have disagreed on things). You had the confidence and self assurance to take on the role and I knew you wouldn’t let things get on top of you and you didn’t. With very little guidance you noted the appropriate points to make the remake make sense and throughout the shoot seemed to have a good sense of how much you could control (even when you might have wished you had more) and not let that get in the way of your enjoyment of the process. You were also willing to listen to the group and adapt your decisions accordingly.
What were the challenges?
From my perspective the biggest challenges to you were caused by distance and the limitations of resources. Because of how far you were travelling this made it hard for you to be on time on early shoots but the group were cohesive enough to compensate for that and ultimately your dedication in showing up every Saturday and Thursday shows how passionate you are about film making. The resources are always an issue and though it was a challenge I don’t think you let that frustrate you as much as I might have initially thought it would.
How did I work with team?
You worked really well with your team and seemed to have a lot of fun doing it. Knowing this was the first time you’d worked with a team is particularly impressive and I’m very glad you enjoyed the experience (and hope you do it again)
Areas of development?
To be honest I started writing this feedback thinking I’d say something about you needing to show a little more humility but now I’m writing it I think that’s probably bullshit. You’re very confident (or you at least project that) and that’s a good thing and, though I wouldn’t necessarily have made the same decisions as you and we disagreed on some things (a lot of things) that doesn’t mean I was right and you were wrong despite me being at this for years, we just have different views on things. And there’s nothing wrong with that. In fact at times I think you were making decisions swayed by the group when your instinct was probably better placed to make the decision. I’m quite excited to see what you do next (and with something original) so keep making things and putting yourself out there. Just don’t let being good at this go to your head, too much.

1.4     Review own technical skills and use of equipment

Do you agree with the feedback you have been given on how you carried out your role? Give reasons for your answers.

Yes I also think I did well and I think it could definitely go to my head if I don’t keep stamping on my pride. I won’t stop arguing though, that is a strength of mine I won’t give up easily.

I also think that colour is a blindspot for me. Having the original shots from the original film as a storyboard showed me how little detail my own storyboards have.

What did you do in your role?

Directed. In pre-production I wrote a script and a storyboard, and was the mouthpiece when casting our actors. During production, I coordinated who was doing what and how to get the right performance, shot and sounds we needed. In post production I took a leadership position in the editing process.

How well do you think you carried out your role in production?

very well

What were your strengths and what were your challenges?

My strengths were in having confidence in my ideas and how I wanted to work, the challenges were persuading others and compromising on ideas.

In what ways did your technical filmmaking skills develop over the course of film production?

I became more aware of a directors role in a team, I learnt about lighting, framing and colouring techniques. I learnt how to use an editing software.

2 thoughts on “Technical Skills Development”

  1. Feedback:
    This is generally good, though I’ve no idea what is going on with the bee movie thing. Remember this may be selected for external moderation and the moderator won’t have a clue why you’re going on about Bee Movie either. I’d lose it.
    1:2 – For skills you could add about the importance of communication for a Director. And why.
    you say when asked about what documents and resources you need “I can’t work without all parts of the film shoot” I’m not sure what that means. Do you mean all the resources needed for all the other areas are important for you role too so they’re all relevant?
    1:3 – some more detail here. You say you Directed but some more detail about this please. What did that entail? Don’t worry if that is repeating yourself to a degree but you could also mention casting/auditions and the need to make decisions. A bit more specifics basically.

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  2. Further feedback:
    A few small points here:
    1:1 – you say yes to the question about planning on doing more in the future. What is that? University? Making your own stuff as Writer/Director? Getting work on sets?
    1:2 – You list the extra resources needed. You could add actors and there’s an array of other documents. As well as Storyboards and shot lists there’s release forms, risk assessments contracts etc
    1:3 – You mention a challenge of compromising on ideas. Can you give an example? (you could also mention the challenge of distance. You got in late a couple of times on the shoot days because of your travelling from Carlisle. This kind of thing is why most people who want to work in film in the UK move to London.)

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