Imogen Polycarpou TV Production Blog

I was looking forward to this unit a lot, as I felt more comfortable this year to experiment more with my video.  I took inspiration from Edgar Wright, who is an amazing director when it comes to monatge. I felt like being experimental with this unit and trying something I hadn't done before, which is montage. I felt that by doing so, it would be more interesting, and entertaining. I looked at some of his movies and saw some techniques which he used and tried my best to be nearly as successful as him. I chose the poem 59 by Harry Baker, because I really enjoyed it when he was performing at Ted X talk. I felt that with this poem, although it is an obvious love story, that something unique and different could be done with it, especially as it is a love poem about prime numbers. I started writing down ideas on the what the poem could be, I started off thinking on what came to my head when I think of numbers and that was a fast food joint, or a Chinese/Indian restaurant where their f...

Rough Cut              make it longer for when he wakes up  get rid of him yawning and sitting on the bed  make the shots tighter - especially when sitting putting on his clothes  put more shots of him getting ready = jump cuts = your style of directing  when he is looking in the mirror, cut to him doing an action = touching his hair  montage = show all the shots of him sitting down, then him getting the burger and then eating = make them tighter and faster  change the colour of each day to show time passing  get rid of him ordering the burger  mix up the love sequence = too much of him nodding  Fine Cut               fix the voice - when Jason speak he is too low and then when Christiana speaks she is too loud  maybe at someone saying the number of the burgers - NO.61, NO.60  try and hold the end a bit longer or add something else - it...

Christiana Hartsiotis - 61                      Jason Efstathiou - 59                    

I feel that shoot day went really well (even though my original location cancelled on me). The space might have been a bit tight but that did not matter. I feel that it was an easy shoot, since majority of the shots were the same - mid close up, close up, since it was a montage video. The only issue I had and my only worry, was getting enough footage but also the same size shots during the repetition sequence (montage), I didn't want it to look out of place or too uneven when put together. When it came to my actors I had no problems in telling them how I wanted their face expressions. I was slightly worried about this as my main actor is from first year and not an actual actor; but Jason actually did very well and followed instructions really good. Christiana was an amazing actress and knew exactly what she was doing since she studied theatre. With the location on shoot day, it was not what I had in mind as I had to improvise last minuet and work with what I had, it was a ti...

30  minutes before my filming was supposed to start my location was not answering the phone and did not show up to let me in. Therefore I had no choice but to walk around Rochester high street and try to find somewhere to film, especially since my actress had come down from London. One small cafe I found and he agreed for me to film in his coffee shop without a problem and even trusted us and let us stay longer after he close up. The coffee shop was called Cafe Moroc.

Risk Assessment:  Call Sheet 

For my video I had to buy a few props. It was many but it included burgers from McDonalds - mini regular burger and Big Mac. A pillow case which I then wrote 59 all over (this was something I decided on the day of shoot, because I thought it would help establish who the main actor is and who his character is). Also, I included paper plates and plastic cutlery - I felt that this would show how the characters life is nothing special.           

Below are some images that inspired me for my video - *all images are taken from google images*

When it came to looking for my cast I put an ad up on Casting Call Pro. I explain in the description what the unit was, which university I am with, which poem I am doing and then my idea on the poem. After that I described how I wanted my character 59 to be. 4 people applied for the role. Since so any applied for the role, I told them that I would like them to send me an audition tape, reading out a part of the poem. 2 of the actors withdrew their applications and the other 2 did not respond back to me.  This got me panicking. Fortunately I met a few people over summer at my work who are in the same industry. One of the people is a young boy from Whales who studied theatre. He recently had a premier for a movie he is in. After telling him what my project is about he seemed excited and interested in being part of it and would confirm with me if he could take time off work.  Unfortunately, my actor friend was unable to be the character of 59. Therefore I continu...

59  Characteristics:  - brown long hair - normal build, NOT MUSCULAR - AVERAGE HEIGHT (not tall or short) Personality/Attitude Beginning of video: - dissatisfied with his life - not happy with the woman/burger he is with - bored of his everyday routine, nothing exciting is happening - he is lonely and shy End of video: - he is happy - especially after meeting number 61 - satisfied with his woman/burger -excited to start his new life -  contempt with what he has Style  Body and Height  Hair  61 Characteristics: - blonde/brown long hair - not skinny or fat, AVERAGE - not tall or short, AVERAGE Personality and Attitude:  - content with her life - hence the reading - not really looking for anything significant in her life - she is a happy person, bright - open minded - not shy - upfront Hair Height and body  Style (without heels) * I do not own any of the images - taken from google image...

Draft Script -  rough idea of what I thought would film it and what would be happening in each verse of the poem. Feedback from Helen:  - make sure I emphasise why to my actors (why they feel that way)  - maybe have the characters meet somehow and then show they are in love?  - make the script dramatic  - add depth to story for context  - clarify characters and locations  Final Script - Taking Helens advice into consideration and the change of idea , I have edited the script but also developed the characters to help the actors (different blog post)   

Originally I wanted to use the set of the American Dinner at the studios. But, unfortunately I was not allowed to film there because Take Me Out is being filmed and they use that set for the contestants. Laura very kindly sent me a few locations which have the say American looking layout. One of them which I really liked was Deans Dinner which was at Chatham Dockyard. When I went to have a look at it and speak the manager I was a bit worried with the layout. Although it was everything I imagined for my shoot it was a small area and after speaking with the manager she did not sound very promising about being able to use the space. Not only that but as they are a well known chain they are constantly busy even in the morning when they open. So, although image wise it was everything I wanted, i did not want to interrupt their business but also I did not want to rely on a place that could not give me a definite answer. So I continued looking around the Dockyard to see if there was any...