The Editors

Hello everyone, it's Erin here to tell you about yesterday's news. So far the young film makers have created a storyline and characters, wrote up and performed dialogue, sat through casting, handled film equipment with care and now it's time for what probably is the most important part of the film making process. Editing! Maria form Littlestar Media's catchphrase is "Always think of the edit". I've been around a year, long enough to hear it enough, least I can say I've learnt something. Drumming things into people's heads really does work.

The material given for the practise edit was all the original footage recorded for 'Vacant No. 21'. Something I'm quite familiar with, and I was looking forward to seeing three different takes on the film. I decided to observe Rebekah's, Zoe's and Jayne's attempt, and input a little constructive critique, but only a little, because these girls seemed to know what they were doing. I asked the girls some questions while they edited away.

Erin: Do you think editing is easy?

Zoe: Quite easy.

Rebekah: I thought it was going to be quite hard, I don't like computers, but it has turned out easy.

E: I noticed the doll clip keeps reoccurring, is it meant to represent something?

R: The doll represents one of the character's victims.

Z: People can interpret it in their own way.

E: If you were given the choice to edit between 'Running Fast' (another MYVP film) and 'Vacant No. 21' which would you choose and why?

Jayne: I've seen Running Fast, but not its original material, but Vacant N0.21 seems to have a lot more to play with visually, a lot more scope.

R: This is harder (Vacant No.21) to edit than ours (film

this group is making), as ours has a clearer storyline.

During the editing session everyone learned how to add transitions and sound to there mini films. You can usually tell when a transition has been used from when a scene has faded out and another fades in. They are used to indicate a lapse in time, e.g 28 days later (not the actual film). Marisa from Cornerhouse explains that if there are not used in a selective and considered way and thrown in whenever, they can confuse the audience.

Rebekah was interested to know how editing was done before computers made mistakes easier. Marisa enlightened us that the case was to cut the films up and tape them together, and that they were fed through film reels during viewings. So you can imagine how many more expensive mistakes were made during editing compared to today's technical magic that lets us retrieve our second ago slip on the keyboard.

After a few hours of playing around and making stories to be proud of, it came round to showcasing the mini films to each other. It was interesting to find out why the three groups had chosen the shots they used for their own take on 'Vacant No.21', and why most of them had an obsessive want for the use of the creepy doll.

Maria came to a conclusive lecture on how editing something can give the film maker endless possibilities for the outcome of the film. A true expression of creativity.

Erin :)

Fun, filming, and free food!

Hey guys, Zoe here again, but this time I've got Farhana, Rebekah and Jayne helping me out. As I type, the rest of the crew are outside, filming the crucial scene where our two characters meet.
Today, so far, we have filmed a few scenes for the beginning of our film, one of which was an important character development scene where we are introduced to our main character, we show him in his environment, using establishing shots and other character defining features.
Hey it's Farhana here and I'm going to tell yous about something that I found embarrassing that happened yesterday, "Maria sent us (Me and Jayne) on a mission to find the actress Faye Janelle who is playing the host of GAMER CRAZEE. It was pretty embarrassing as we had to go around the nearby streets with a sign that had her name on it which we had to hold up so she knew we were looking for her. Also, we have experienced continuity, operating the boom for sound, and using the reflector to monitor the light, I had to control the boom which was very tiring as I had to keep holding it up whilst Maria retook the shots."
We have two days left in which to film and edit the different scenes and we all feel that this has s far been a very rewarding and challenging project. We have had the opportunity to make new friends, and gain valuable experience in the art of film making. This is Jayne, btw :)
Zoe here again,and I just caught up with Rebekah who didn't want to write anything as she isn't too good with computers and thinks she is in a very privileged position to be part of an actual film crew, and thinks she has to speak very formally for the blogs.
I'll leave you with that for now, hopefully we will have some more updates for you later, when we have finished all the filming. Then it's time for the editing tomorrow, which I am truly looking forward to!

Zoe, Jayne, Farhana and Rebekah :)

For all you crazee gamers out there..

Hey guys, well, with the bloggers not here, it's time for us, the film crew to take over the blog. Taking you through the events of today is Zoe, Jessica, Josh, Aqsa and Rebekah.

So, here on the second day of filming, we are just beginning to film the very first scenes of our film. Whilst creative juices flow down here, just two floors up, the rest of the film crew, Jayne, Farhana and Saima are shooting the establishing of our film.

With not much else to do, conversation soon turned to the project in hand. It seems everyone is really enthusiastic about actually making a film, and everyone seems to be getting maximum enjoyment out of it so far. It seems Aqsa is slightly obsessed with getting involved in the sound and audio side of the film after having a chance to operate the boom yesterday. Rebekah claims to have enjoyed doing the set building and just generally getting to see what goes on behind the scenes of a film, and I think I speak for everyone when I say she's not alone with her opinions. Make-up artist Jessica says that she has really enjoyed assisting with coming up with a storyline for our film and getting involved in other things as well as her makeup. Josh has just generally enjoyed making the film and seeing behind the scenes parts. And as for me, Zoe, I've just loved every minute of it, and I'm really enjoying getting a feel for how the film is made, and I must say, the people I've met are pretty damn cool too.

Also, everyone seems to have enjoyed creating the set, and alot of thought and effort was put into how to arrange his room and what props we had to buy. We had to buy props that really reflected our main character and we had to give him alot of geeky props, figurines, comics, DVD's and we all thoroughly enjoyed messing up his room. The transformation between before and after are actually quite spectacular.

Our actors finally got a chance to meet each other today and Fay seems to think that Daniel is great for the role of our male character and she says that the contrast between the two characters at the end is really good. I spoke to her about the filming we did yesterday and she said she really enjoyed filming the reviews and thought that the technical language added an extra something to the scenes. She told me that it was a fresh challenge and good experience to get, not just for her, but also for the young people involved in the project. Overall, about the project, she said that she was surprised about the quickness of it all, and how fast we got through things and she liked to see how everyone got involved in everything, giving us all a chance to get some experience. Finally I spoke to her about the scenes she filmed with Dave yesterday and she said that all the technical language he used was invaluable and brought something extra to the film.
So, with a hard day ahead of us, it's time for us to sign off here and get on with some proper work.
Zoe :)

Time To Get Our Hands Dirty

Today was the first day of filming for the crew, and they clocked up about fifty minuets of footage. Which I hope they realise will mean a lot of editing, but anyway the more the better! I also got the chance to grab a few minuets with the actress Faye Jenelle, who plays the beautiful game reviewer, with no actual interest in games what so ever.

Faye has done film, adverts and television work such as Coronation Street and Emerdale, and has been acting professionally since the age of fourteen; with her first experience doing Heartbeat. I asked Faye what had been her favourite acting experience, in return she couldn't decide, she explained "Different jobs are fun for different reasons". Another thing I was interested to know was what Faye thought of the character she was playing. "There are two strong elements to the character, she is interesting in the sense she has got two very distinct persona's in the character. She seems quite loud, but in reality she is quite reserved." Asking what Faye she thought about being part of the young people's project she enthused "It's fun to be involved with young people and give advice on the industry."

Another actor today was Dave, but that isn't his real profession. Dave's job today was to play "The game dork." I asked Dave how he felt about his experience. "You can see the difference between people who have had training and those who don't, it's challenging. It was lucky for me, improvising. But retakes were difficult, it was hard to remember what I said in the last take. So it will be harder for the production team with the edit. It was a shark attack moment." Dave thought the film crew were "Very professional, enthusiastic and it was good to see them sharing roles and responsibilities." Another key question that I've already asked most of the young people on was are there are enough opportunities like the film project out there. Dave's view was "Interesting question, because film is an increasing accessible media, people are no longer bound to a TV channel or production company, anyone can have a broadcasting channel on the Internet." He also pointed out that like it is important to have literacy skills, in the future editing skills will be in demand. And mentioning a bit about the blog, Dave also mentioned that thanks to the Internet, paid journalism might not exist in twenty years time. An interesting thought, but that isn't really good news for me, considering I would like to have a career in journalism. Hmmm, better start thinking up plan B, just encase.

One treat from today was seeing the geeky gamer's living quarters. It was like the production crew had gone to town and painted it red! The set was really impressive, no wonder why everybody said it was one of their most favourite parts of the project so far. I did a quick fire round of who loves what about the experience so far and what they think of the project.

Rebekah: The technology is daunting, the set is kitsch and I like being in control behind the camera.

Josh: It's good to be involved, you don't go into detail but you touch on all areas. I like the creative process of the production process and working with the actors.

Farhana: Filming is well worth waking up for and I liked the shopping we did for the set.

Saima: I like working with the actors and creating the set.

Jayne: I liked doing the continuity.

Zoe: I like the people.

Aqsa: My favourite part was decorating the room.

My favourite part of today was seeing the set, the way the spaced is considered in terms of design helps contribute to the reality of the obsessive, geeky gamer character. I was definitely impressed.

This film is going to look so good! Can't wait.... Erin

Changing rooms

Hey, It's Alice again. Over the past week the team have took part in lots of different aspects of film making, from script writing, to casting, to camera operation, to editing, and also had the responsibility of dressing the set of a large part of the film - exciting stuff! On the Uncommon Shorts last film, I took part in decorating a part of the set, turning what was a toddler's room into the room of a teenage 'emo kid'. It's amazing to see a location completely transformed, so I was really excited to see the space the group has chosen for their film once they had turned it into the gamer's flat, by furnishing and decorating it with gaming related props, and giving a general look of messiness.

It's hard to imagine that this room was once an empty, disused space, and the team have successfully managed to not only make this space look lived in, but lived in by a specific character. Immediately upon viewing the set, an audience gets a picture of the main character of this film and his interests. Well done guys, it looks top!

Two can play that game..

Hi, Alice here again. Yesterday I caught up with the team's progress of putting their ideas together for the film. They have come up with a story about an obbsesive gamer who develops a crush on a beautiful games reviewer, who unbeknown to him, has no interest whatsoever in the gaming world. Though a slightly saddening tale, the synopsis allows for alot of humour, and the team really hit the nail on the head on the comedy front. With inspiration from gaming mags and the infinately helpful internet, the team wrote up draft scripts for two scenes - one, where the gamer is watching the woman review a game from his flat, and another, where where the gamer meets the beautiful games reviewer, ultimately ending in disaster.
Each member of the group seemed to have a really strong hold on the development of both characters - the introvert, yet at times over-enthusiatic, slightly creepy gaming nut with a lose grasp of reality but a much stronger grasp of virtual reality, and the efortlessly glam games reviewer who addresses her audience in a casual, yet flirtatious manner.
The scripts were also delivered really well, and had the whole room cracking up, so if being behind the camera doesn't end up suiting any team members, watch this space for your future comedy stars!

You've Made A Right Scene!

Hi again from Erin, and today task included more technical aspects for the film crew, such as learning how to set up the camera and sound recording equipment.

The crew were split into two groups, one group would do the technical and informative side of film equipment, while the others would creatively string together the shot list. By the way a shot list isn't a violent piece paper of names for some sort of assassin, it's basically what you would seen from the camera's point of view. Somehow I feel I've just personified the camera, but now I'm just waffling on.

Julian from Littlestar Media pointed out that the camera wasn't something to be afraid of, but still needed to be treated carefully. Translation for don't brake it! I know from past experience that once you learnt how shots are considered, you no longer have the ability to just enjoy watching films, but your always justifying why scene are shot the way they appear. The wonders of booms and small microphones proved to be a treat, especially if you like ears dropping. Not that there's any involved in this project.

After a quick performance of what the shot list included so far from Zoe, it was time for the groups to swap. For the next hour it was none stop. I pretty much stuck with the group consisting of Asqa, Farhana, Jessica and Rebekah for the whole day. The shot list workshop came with a bit of role play and Asqa did a pretty good job of conveying how an obsessive geeky gamer might behave. And pretty much by the end of today's session we had a strong shot sequence.

Anyway despite today's extra hour (did you all remember to put your clocks back an hour) I'm feeling pretty sleepy, so night for now, Erin.

"Let's Play Maiden Dragons!"

Hi, it's Erin again and today was a bit like stand up comedy (great script writing guys)! In no way was today's session a messing about one, it was full steam ahead. Today the young film makers had to create their main two characters, a geeky gamer and a glamorous game review, who is not all she seems.

The film crew had to conjure up two scenes, one where the gamer discovers his obsession with this beautiful woman, and one where he ends up meeting her. Not only did they had to set the scene, describe how the characters looked and behaved, but write the dialogue too. To achieve this they had to imagine how these characters live their lives. With some handy gaming publications and the internet they mastered the lexis of the gaming world, and wrote some solid scenes.

I give applauds to the entire film crew for performing the dialogue, and believe me some of it was so ridiculous that it was really convincing. Believe me, this is one film you don't want to miss!

Can't wait for tomorrow, Erin

Back Again And About Time Too!

Hi film followers, it's Erin again and I'm here to tell you all the juicy details of our new film crew. So far I'm only scraping the surface of this female dominated film crew (poor Josh, none of us girlies are going to understand his guy problems LOL). Though me and my new fellow blogger Alyx managed to grab a few minuets with some members of the film crew members, for quick question fire round!

First of all I'll start off with Jayne, an experienced Livewire member. She certainly might be writing the scripts of future, as she has cemented plans to study creative writing, so watch this space. Jayne commented "I want to make a film to be proud of, it would be a great achievement." Sat by Jayne was the glamorous Jessica, future make up artist to the film stars of tomorrow. Not only does she have an expert eye for eyeliner application, but is uncovering a flair for creating characters.

The next interviewees were Zoe and Rebkah, who both go to the same school, where they found out about the Uncommon Shorts project. Zoe commented that it was "A cool opportunity", and Rebekah said it was a "Bizarre" one. I guess these points illustrate how great and rare these volunteering opportunities.

Sisters Farhana and Saima were interested in something new and were intrigued by the film opportunity. And I bet there glad they took it, as I think creative story telling runs in the family. Farhana's idea of obsession stood out and is in the process of development.

Unfortunately nothing from Asqa and Josh, but I promise to catch them next time with my fishing net.

But as you can see from the pictures today's session was a very productive one.

Well till next time, stay safe!

Erin :D

Oh yeah and before I forget, don't you forget to check out some of our first hand footage of the set for film 2. Just click on the link below.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hwayoungjung/sets/72157621854780057/

The Newbie :)

Hiya, Alyx here :)
its my first time ever writing a blog , so sorry if it sounds kinda .. stupid.
but this is just a little quick blog to introduce myself.
so here goes.. Im Alyx-Nicole Kilmartin, I'm fourteen and I'm the latest blogger to join (:
Over the next few weeks I'll be keep you posted with the exciting action happening throughout the Uncommon Shorts film 2 progress. Expect to see exclusive interviews, pictures and videos!
Spread the word about this people, Followers are good.

until next time, Alyx (:

Uncommon Shorts Film 2 Project Begins!

Hey, it's Alice here, a new addition to the Uncommon Shorts team of bloggers. Having taken part in the first Uncommon Short film and a previous MYVP film project - Vacant No 21, part of the Spring Trinity, I know just how exciting and fun these projects can be.
That is why when I arrived at the first workshop of Uncommon Shorts's second film on Sunday, I was not the least bit surprised to find the team engagaed in a number of bizzare activities, from the baffling untangling of a human knot, to a 'stay on the island whilst sea levels rise' game (abit like Lost but alot shorter and with an evironmental message), to what I can only describe as wink murder with vampires..
Needless to say, the team building part of the workshop was interesting and engaging, and really got the team working together - after all, how could you not become friends with someone you survived life on a desert island or a vampire invasion with?
And if the first half of the workshop tired anyone out (I know it did me) we got abit of a rest whilst we watched - for free! - a film in the Cornerhouse's cinema. Well, maybe a 'rest' isn't quite the right word, as we watched The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. Judging by the title alone, you can tell this isn't going to be exactly easy watching. Packed to the brim with mind-boggling special effects, head-aching twists and turns, and a narrative constructed to stretch your imagination to breaking point, you could say this isn't one for the 'faint-minded'. However, during the postcast review after the film, the group's general agreement seemed to be a thumbs up for Terry Giliam's latest feat.

All in all, a very productive and exciting day, so keep checking back for more updates on Uncommon Shorts, Film 2!