Context:
Senior UX design course project.
The Last Straw
My Role:
Script Writing, Directing, Videography, Video Editing.
Duration:
Oct. to Nov. 2017 (1 month)
Team:
+ Amos Xiang, Michelle Mao & Rachel Shen.
Tools:
+ Hardware: DSLR Cameras, lighting & sound equipments.
+ Software: Adobe Premiere & Adobe After Effects.
The Last Straw is a 4-minute fictional short film project, it is the final project for a digital video production course at Simon Fraser University. The film tells a story about a cyberbully realizing how his action on virtual public space could dramatically impact people in real life.
The crew working on set.
Ideation
We were given the opportunity to freely choose a topic that we want to talk about. So I came up with the topic of cyberbullying since I think it is a severe problem that needs more attention. Also, I came up with the idea of staging the communication in the online discussions as if people are speaking to one another in person, I hoped that by doing so, the feelings behind the seemingly emotionless texts would appear clearer, and thus help the audience understand how hurtful words could be on the internet.
The idea of representing online forum discussions with seemingly realistic in-person meeting comes from a Japanese Anime - Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex.
Scripting
When drafting the script, we used a formal stage formatted script template, where it would be easier to find the information needed for filmings, such as the scene location, character’s actions, and emotions.
The script of the film, which was modified 7 times in total to get the best film result.
A sample script page with changes made right after getting feedbacks in class. It consists of the standardized format including character names, actions, dialogues, and emotions, etc.
Character Development & Casting
At first, we assign the characters with various identities and backgrounds so they would be able to represent the groups of people that were mostly affected by cyber violence.
The character Ethan was designed to be an obese man with depression, but after sending out the casting audition invitations, we hardly found any actor that fits the role's description, so we change the character to a person who suffers mental illness, and after a few auditions, we soon found the actor who fits the description.
Scott who played Ethan in the film turned out to fit the character very well,
as he presents his lines with the exact emotion we were hoping to communicate.
Shot Planning
In the planning of the shots, a team member made hand-drawn storyboards to visualize the scenes, then photos of the filming locations are taken with the characters drawn upon them. It helped the cinematographer to get ideas of how the shots should look like and how we can change the shots with better utilization of the space.
The hand-drawn storyboard that initially visualizes the story,
and provides relevant filming informationsuch as shot type, character movements, and dialogues.
When preparing for the filming, the biggest challenge is to find a space that’s big enough to create the online forum simulation scene. We went through studios rentals online, and we went around campus and do the shot test, finally found a big classroom that works.
The test shot we did in the classroom that's big enough for setting up a wide shot for a scene that has 10 characters.
After confirming the location for different scenes, we made a more detailed and professional storyboard with the real pictures of the locations.
After the storyboard is finalized, we put relevant information about the shots into a table format shot list, it provides detail information of each shot. Similar to the storyboard, it is organized based on the scenes, what's different is that the shot list stripped away all the visuals so it's concise enough to help me as the director to navigate through each shot during filming.
The video shot list contains essential information. As the team proceeds with the filming, we marked down useful notes on the shot list each to make the post-production easier.
Directing & Filming
I was the director on set, also responsible for major camera operating. In one of the biggest scenes, there are about 10 actors in the scene, we had them sit in a circle and the camera set in the middle. As the director, I need to make sure the camera operator and the sound recorder is ready, and the assistant director had the actors and props in place, and most importantly, make sure the footage recorded is as perfect it can be.
The first round of filming: me working with the camera,
and our boom pole operator working on the sound recording.
But filming is a revolving and iterating process, after the first round of filming. The team was not satisfied with some of the footage. First, the
hand-held shots are too shaky, second, even we have found the biggest location we can possibly find to make the 10-actor virtual forum scene,
it's still not big enough that it can be recognized as a classroom in the shot, which lose the authenticity to work as a fictional space.
The shot diagram I created when preparing for filming, to illustrate the spatial relationship between characters and cameras from the top view. We were planning to make the shots in an actual setting where 10 characters sit in a circle.
The team went back to the discussion about how we can present the shot alternatively without using the hand-held camera. After researching many other short films and consulting with the teaching team, we decided to break down the continuous revolving shot into multiple single character pans shots, and we edited them together to create the illusion of people sitting in a circle. We also moved the location to a green screen room, where we can edit and cut out the background to make it look authentic.
End product of the virtual forum shot.
Post Production
I also took on the role of editing and part of the visual effects creating. when color grading the film, a cold blue tone was used to add a sense of bleak feeling to match the plot of the film.
Before
After
Color grading the shots to make it more appealing and matching the tone of the story.
In the climax of the film, a series of fast-paced shots are edited to create a hierarchy in the plot, to create a dynamic curve that keeps the audiences’ attention and push the emotion of the film to the peak.
In the fast-paced cuts, some glitch effects were used to create tension and thills for the audience.
Reflection
In completion of the project, I went through the complete process of narrative video production, learned the necessary skills to realize the ideas and solve issues in every stage of the creative process, including ideating storyline, storyboarding, logistics like location renting and casting, actual filming, and post-production.
By creating the project, as a team, we went through all the basic process of short film making, and now have a deeper understanding of the necessity of filmmaking more than just theories and concepts but hands-on experiences. As the director of the film, I was responsible to organize every aspect of the film to present our imagination as close as possible.