"The Bookseller" is a short documentary filmed in Liverpool. It is a portrait film that tells the story of Gerard Fitzpatrick and his bookshop, Reid of Liverpool. With this film, we wanted to capture the character and eccentricity of Gerard and the shop, as well as promoting traditional books as being superior to modern day equivalents such as e-books. The film is likely to appeal to older generations who remember a time before e-books were introduced, though it may also appeal to teenagers from niche subcultures who may appreciate more traditional or 'vintage' mediums.
Overall, I am quite satisfied with the film. The idea is charming and quirky, and Emily did a wonderful job conceiving this project. I feel that she was the best person for the job as director for this particular film because she was truly passionate about it, and I think this is evident in the finished project. However, we perhaps made a mistake in the way we filmed our interview with Gerry, as his answers came across as a bit cluttered and he rambles. For me, this is the only major criticism of the film, as I feel the dialogue is a bit much and it can be quite tedious to watch for some audiences. However, others have claimed that this merely adds a more personal touch to the film, and so I suppose it is open for interpretation. Regardless, next time it would be better to think about how we ask our questions in order to get the most concise answers possible. As the producer, it should probably have been my job to suggest that Gerry word his responses more efficiently, so I accept responsibility for this mistake. My poor judgement made Louis' job as editor a lot harder, as piecing together the useable bits of dialogue proved very tedious and difficult, however he managed to accomplish this well - with Dom's help. I feel that overall, Samantha's cinematography for the project held the film up high even in times where it was not as interesting as it could have been. She did an excellent job as cinematographer: her shots were stunningly beautiful and focussed on tiny details of the shop, which meant there was always something interesting to look at on-screen. Perhaps Louis should have held some of these shots for longer, so that the audience could truly appreciate them, but this is a minor criticism and overall I am happy with the editing. The soundtrack is also a strong point of the film; Dom's choice of the minimalist windchimes throughout the piece was masterfully made, and really added to the overall charm and sanctuary nature of the film. Luke did a good job recording the sounds on-set, and whilst some of the dialogue has an unpleasant hiss (due to the fireplace, which was out of Luke's control), he did a very good job at omitting other background noise such as people moving around upstairs. Dom also managed to edit most of this hiss out, so ultimately it was not an issue. Aside from a few very minor criticisms, I am pleased with how this film turned out.
Making the film was a lot of fun. I was already very good friends with Emily, Dom and Samantha, and I got to know Luke and Louis more throughout the project. Working with this team was very enjoyable because I felt that everyone was passionate about the idea and adapted to their roles incredibly well. We were all willing to give 100% to the project - and we did - and I feel this is evident in the quality of the film we produced together. We arrived in Liverpool on Monday 17th February, and headed straight to the bookshop (as my schedule demanded) so that we could have a look around, perform a health and safety check, take photographs for shotlists and, of course, meet Gerard himself. We got off to a great start and everyone was busy doing their various jobs. I used this opportunity to request that Gerry signed the release forms required for us to film, and he happily obliged. I feel this is largely down to the fact that I had mentioned these forms over the phone in advance and so any awkwardness was removed from the situation. We then returned early on Tuesday 18th and spent the day filming. We started by filming Gerry as he opened the shop, and then went straight into filming his interview which lasted over two hours with breaks. We then used the rest of the day to film cutaways from around the shop until the end of the day. At one point, some of the crew considering leaving as they felt we had caught enough footage, but I suggested we all stayed on location until closing time as it would do more harm to get too little footage than too much. I feel this was a wise move to make, as we got some of our best shots in this final hour or so. We managed to shoot the entire project in this one day, which gave us a nice day off in Liverpool on Wednesday, which we spent exploring the city and visiting Gerry on a casual basis.
I feel that overall I did well as the producer of this film. I had never been a producer before, but decided to give it a go because I have traits that I thought fit the role well: organisation, leadership, time management and attention to detail. I think my judgement was correct and I was certainly a very efficient producer: I secured the location as soon as Emily conceived the idea and I managed the subsequent relations between us and Gerry - including getting the release forms signed. I feel like this in itself is worthy of merit, as if I had not convinced him to take part the film would not have happened. I feel I did well with general production duties such as scheduling, as everyone knew what they were supposed to be doing and when. I also did a good job managing the crew, as I arranged meetings at least weekly. I feel this really helped keep everyone informed of where the project was at and helped us all to build chemistry as a crew. However, I feel the only real problem arose as a consequence of an oversight I made when we were filming the interviews. In my defence, I had asked Gerry to recast our questions in his answers, but it seemed to slip his mind as the interview went on and I neglected to remind him. This made Louis' job as editor much more difficult than it should have been, and I take responsibility for this.
I have learnt a lot during the production of this film. I feel that, despite my one major error, I did a good job as producer and (perhaps more importantly in first year), I really enjoyed the role and I am definitely interested in exploring it further. I learned to work with people who I did not know for the first time (Louis and Luke), as well as handling being in a professional situation with close friends (which is perhaps not always a good idea!). I had never filmed documentary either, and again I found this highly enjoyable - which surprised me, as I tend to prefer the surreal. The main lesson I learned was that, as a producer, I will sometimes have to simply 'man up' in the face of an awkward situation, as avoiding one during production ultimately lead to what I consider to be the film's only major flaw. Next time I will try to set aside my inhibitions and act professionally to ensure nothing like this happens again.
We worked excellently as a team, and I could not have asked for a better crew. Everyone was cooperative and supportive of each other, and any criticism or disagreements (as is natural on a creative project) were handled with the utmost maturity by everyone involved. I feel like everyone worked to the best of their ability; if I were to pick faults, perhaps Louis could have relied less on Dom during the editing stage, but overall everyone contributed as much as they could to the project. I would love to work with this group again, as they taught me a lot of valuable lessons about myself, teamwork and filmmaking. In this situation, we would continue to be open with communication and respectful of each other, and I am sure we would create another successful film.
"The Secret Ingredient" is a short drama film that revolves around Libby, a bright but quirky thirteen year old girl. Having recently lost her grandmother, to whom she was very close, Libby is not having a good time at the moment and things are only made worse by bullies at school and her strict, overprotective mother. After miraculously stumbling across a secret cookie recipe, Libby soon finds herself in a dream world where she is reunited with her grandma, who consoles her in a way that only a grandmother can. When Libby returns to reality, she has learned to appreciate what she has and look at life in a different way.
Overall, I am quite satisfied with the film. The idea is charming and quirky, and Emily did a wonderful job conceiving this project. I feel that she was the best person for the job as director for this particular film because she was truly passionate about it, and I think this is evident in the finished project. However, we perhaps made a mistake in the way we filmed our interview with Gerry, as his answers came across as a bit cluttered and he rambles. For me, this is the only major criticism of the film, as I feel the dialogue is a bit much and it can be quite tedious to watch for some audiences. However, others have claimed that this merely adds a more personal touch to the film, and so I suppose it is open for interpretation. Regardless, next time it would be better to think about how we ask our questions in order to get the most concise answers possible. As the producer, it should probably have been my job to suggest that Gerry word his responses more efficiently, so I accept responsibility for this mistake. My poor judgement made Louis' job as editor a lot harder, as piecing together the useable bits of dialogue proved very tedious and difficult, however he managed to accomplish this well - with Dom's help. I feel that overall, Samantha's cinematography for the project held the film up high even in times where it was not as interesting as it could have been. She did an excellent job as cinematographer: her shots were stunningly beautiful and focussed on tiny details of the shop, which meant there was always something interesting to look at on-screen. Perhaps Louis should have held some of these shots for longer, so that the audience could truly appreciate them, but this is a minor criticism and overall I am happy with the editing. The soundtrack is also a strong point of the film; Dom's choice of the minimalist windchimes throughout the piece was masterfully made, and really added to the overall charm and sanctuary nature of the film. Luke did a good job recording the sounds on-set, and whilst some of the dialogue has an unpleasant hiss (due to the fireplace, which was out of Luke's control), he did a very good job at omitting other background noise such as people moving around upstairs. Dom also managed to edit most of this hiss out, so ultimately it was not an issue. Aside from a few very minor criticisms, I am pleased with how this film turned out.
Making the film was a lot of fun. I was already very good friends with Emily, Dom and Samantha, and I got to know Luke and Louis more throughout the project. Working with this team was very enjoyable because I felt that everyone was passionate about the idea and adapted to their roles incredibly well. We were all willing to give 100% to the project - and we did - and I feel this is evident in the quality of the film we produced together. We arrived in Liverpool on Monday 17th February, and headed straight to the bookshop (as my schedule demanded) so that we could have a look around, perform a health and safety check, take photographs for shotlists and, of course, meet Gerard himself. We got off to a great start and everyone was busy doing their various jobs. I used this opportunity to request that Gerry signed the release forms required for us to film, and he happily obliged. I feel this is largely down to the fact that I had mentioned these forms over the phone in advance and so any awkwardness was removed from the situation. We then returned early on Tuesday 18th and spent the day filming. We started by filming Gerry as he opened the shop, and then went straight into filming his interview which lasted over two hours with breaks. We then used the rest of the day to film cutaways from around the shop until the end of the day. At one point, some of the crew considering leaving as they felt we had caught enough footage, but I suggested we all stayed on location until closing time as it would do more harm to get too little footage than too much. I feel this was a wise move to make, as we got some of our best shots in this final hour or so. We managed to shoot the entire project in this one day, which gave us a nice day off in Liverpool on Wednesday, which we spent exploring the city and visiting Gerry on a casual basis.
I feel that overall I did well as the producer of this film. I had never been a producer before, but decided to give it a go because I have traits that I thought fit the role well: organisation, leadership, time management and attention to detail. I think my judgement was correct and I was certainly a very efficient producer: I secured the location as soon as Emily conceived the idea and I managed the subsequent relations between us and Gerry - including getting the release forms signed. I feel like this in itself is worthy of merit, as if I had not convinced him to take part the film would not have happened. I feel I did well with general production duties such as scheduling, as everyone knew what they were supposed to be doing and when. I also did a good job managing the crew, as I arranged meetings at least weekly. I feel this really helped keep everyone informed of where the project was at and helped us all to build chemistry as a crew. However, I feel the only real problem arose as a consequence of an oversight I made when we were filming the interviews. In my defence, I had asked Gerry to recast our questions in his answers, but it seemed to slip his mind as the interview went on and I neglected to remind him. This made Louis' job as editor much more difficult than it should have been, and I take responsibility for this.
I have learnt a lot during the production of this film. I feel that, despite my one major error, I did a good job as producer and (perhaps more importantly in first year), I really enjoyed the role and I am definitely interested in exploring it further. I learned to work with people who I did not know for the first time (Louis and Luke), as well as handling being in a professional situation with close friends (which is perhaps not always a good idea!). I had never filmed documentary either, and again I found this highly enjoyable - which surprised me, as I tend to prefer the surreal. The main lesson I learned was that, as a producer, I will sometimes have to simply 'man up' in the face of an awkward situation, as avoiding one during production ultimately lead to what I consider to be the film's only major flaw. Next time I will try to set aside my inhibitions and act professionally to ensure nothing like this happens again.
We worked excellently as a team, and I could not have asked for a better crew. Everyone was cooperative and supportive of each other, and any criticism or disagreements (as is natural on a creative project) were handled with the utmost maturity by everyone involved. I feel like everyone worked to the best of their ability; if I were to pick faults, perhaps Louis could have relied less on Dom during the editing stage, but overall everyone contributed as much as they could to the project. I would love to work with this group again, as they taught me a lot of valuable lessons about myself, teamwork and filmmaking. In this situation, we would continue to be open with communication and respectful of each other, and I am sure we would create another successful film.
"The Secret Ingredient" is a short drama film that revolves around Libby, a bright but quirky thirteen year old girl. Having recently lost her grandmother, to whom she was very close, Libby is not having a good time at the moment and things are only made worse by bullies at school and her strict, overprotective mother. After miraculously stumbling across a secret cookie recipe, Libby soon finds herself in a dream world where she is reunited with her grandma, who consoles her in a way that only a grandmother can. When Libby returns to reality, she has learned to appreciate what she has and look at life in a different way.
The initial inspiration came from the song La Vie En Rose, as I found the concept of looking at life through rose-tinted glasses to be endearingly naive and sweet. The concept then evolved and was perhaps unintentionally influenced by the strong relationship I share with my own grandmother, and a narrative began to take shape as I looked for ways to bridge the pieces together. I think the key demographic for a film like this is women of all ages: the film features three quite easily relatable females from three different generations.
I feel that the film leaves much to be desired, though I will say that its main flaw is its inconsistency. For every merit the film has, there is something to criticise. For example, one might say that some of the shots are considered and well done, however there are also examples of the opposite: shots that have been poorly lit or badly focussed are so obvious that they distract attention away from those that are pleasant. The audio runs in the same vein; some parts are nicely done, and others horribly so. I feel that if the film had a consistently mediocre quality, it would be less off-putting than this one that shifts between 'good' and 'bad' within the space of a single cut. It is not the 'fault' of any one member of the crew in particular, rather a combination of various oversights and mistakes that have culminated in the final product. For example, the cinematographer and editor switching roles at the last minute was not a wise move, and nor was the choice to record audio in a high-ceilinged, acoustic room with a rifle mic and boom pole. I feel that if we were to recreate this project, we would all pay much more attention to the smaller details as we have seen first hand how they can start to stack up and ruin a film. We would keep to our assigned roles, consider the equipment and locations much more carefully and manage our time with more precision.
As director, I feel that a large portion of the blame falls on my shoulders. Perhaps the weakest point of the film is the narrative. Whilst I tried my hardest to create an uplifting film with a strong art direction (which I feel was successful to an extent), I neglected to include a real sense of dramatic tension in the concept and its script. As the name suggests, 'drama' films fall a little flat when there is no drama involved, and 'The Secret Ingredient' was no exception. However, I do feel that my art direction was relatively successful. I included some basic motifs such as the colour pink and various versions of the song 'La Vie En Rose', as well as using visual metaphors for change in the form of butterfly imagery in the dream sequence. This is likely indebted to my preference for art film, which I have learned I am much better at directing than traditional narrative during this project.
The process of creating the film was a tumultuous one during pre-production. As the director, I was naturally required to work with everyone in the crew from start to end. The producer and I had such difficulty securing actors and locations that we were almost ready to give up before we had even begun. Aside from this, my script had to be changed due to impracticality regarding the location, which disheartened me further.
The shoot itself went surprisingly smoothly, save for some poor time management and preparation issues. My job of directing the actresses was made easy by their willingness to cooperate. Our main mistake was that we only have one battery, and ended up having to sacrifice some shots that would have added variety to the film in order to make time to charge ours once it had expired. The editing process was long and tedious, but the main challenge came in the form of trying to come up with ideas to make the best out of the material we had. Sound design was also an issue, as nobody used a clapperboard on-set, meaning the sound designer had to try and manually synchronise the sounds. Naturally, the effects of this tarnished the film further. When filming grandma's scene in the bedroom, the sound was much cleaner. However, the veil technique inspired by We Need To Talk About Kevin did not look very good, and kept falling down from the doorframe. As a result, we had to remove this element from the film. I felt like, despite going against my vision, I made the right choice as leaving it in would have lessened the quality of the film even further.
On this project I have learned that careful planning and consideration need to be put into any project in order for it to be successful. I also learned how to deal with disappointment within my own work and persevere, doing everything I can to make the best out of a bad situation. Teamwork and consideration to others have been traits that I have greatly improved during the course, and this project was no exception. Being put with a completely new group of people was initially off-putting but I was grateful for it later on when I realised that I had adapted and managed the group well as its director.
