Unit 1: The Revenant Review (Section C)

A masterpiece. If I was to generalise the entire 156 minute feature to just one word that would be it- Masterpiece. After winning several Oscars, including best directing and best film, in 2015 for his film 'Birdman', Alejandro G. Iñárritu completely silences me with this truly great work. I have no doubt that The Revenant will completely dominate the Oscars this year, and I am very glad about it.

In terms of the story, it is beautifully written, a captivating narrative which was executed to complete perfection. From the very first moment right until the last I was engulfed in the drama, thrill, and grit of this amazing piece. 

Leonardo DiCaprio's performance was one of the many films greatest attributes. DiCaprio has always been a stellar actor, but his role as Hugh Glass was on another level. It comes as no surprise that he has a nomination for best leading actor, an award he fully deserves. Likewise, Tom Hardy is up for the award of 'best supporting actor' for his portrayal of Fitzgerald in The Revenant. I am more the delighted to believe that Hardy's performance was completely on par with DiCaprio. Both performances were outstanding and further lost me in the fiction; to me these are the best performances of the actors' careers and I would very much like to see someone top this. However, the rest of the cast gave exceptional performances. Domhnall Gleeson and Will Poulter gave staggering portrayals of their characters and, after this, the two actors will be taking on great opportunities in their careers.

But... THE most important and groundbreaking element of The Revenant is the cinematography. Never have I been in such awe at the cinematography of a film; visual poetry is a very accurate way to describe it. Being a fan of Kubrick I have developed an eye for cinematography and I can say without a doubt the Iñárritu has reached an equally astonishing level as Kubrick did. Movement in the tracking shots and pans is so fluid, as though a picture is being painted or even a sculpture carved and that is exactly what is done. Equally astounding was the fact the entire film was shot using only natural light. An unbelievable piece of information but something Iñárritu and Emmanuel Lubezki can only be applauded, perhaps worshiped for their efforts in the stunning visuals of this film- truly remarkable. 

Viewing the film in IMAX was a surreal experience in how real it actually felt, it was unbelievable how involved in the films environment I felt. I would recommend - in fact insist - that anyone should watch this film in the cinema. A very unique but amazing experience; one of, if not, the best cinema experience I have had. 

Unit 2: Reflection and Feedback (Section E)

Generally speaking, everyone in the group felt the shoot day was very successful and we completed the shoot with time to spare. Of course this was mainly due to thorough planning and considerate execution. However, when looking back at some takes I personally felt that some shots could have very much been improved upon, there was a slight level of disagreement in regards to this but our production and film wasn't particularly hindered in any way.

(Feedback of the shoot day from Ryan)

Ryan also felt we had managed our time particularly well which gave us the opportunity to experiment with a few shots we had not originally intended. I agree in the fact the weather was quite an issue as both ourselves and actors were getting uncomfortable, even though we had spare jackets and layers it was very tiresome having to do this between shots that didn't take long to set up.

Reflection:

What was successful?

Pre production went quite smoothly, I ran into a few issues which may have hindered the shoot but I believe we overcame any lasting problems. For example, the actor who cancelled on us the night before the shoot was the biggest issue we could have faced but I promptly asked our team member who has had acting experience if he would be willing to take on the role. Prop's were difficult to make but were very much possible; I made them at home a few nights before the shoot, giving me plenty of time so I could make them of fairly good quality.

Also, the shoot day itself ran smoothly and we stuck to our plan and completed all of our shots with time add a few extra. Everyone was enthused on the shoot day which made it less stressful and we were much more productive.

What was challenging?

In terms of pre production, we were challenged with the fact we only had two weeks to plan our films and that involved scripting, recruiting actors, shot lists, schedules, props and even more; these all had to be completed to a final draft as well which made it quite tough. The weather was also something of an issue, as previously stated, having to provide the actors with layers between very short takes became quite tiresome even for the actors, they often said that they would prefer not have a jackets on between takes as it becomes uncomfortable. In post production, we had an issue with sound, it was far too loud and caused a very harsh rustling sound even when turned down. We worked with a supervisor of the course to try and solve the issue but it was particularly difficult. A few members of the time had little experience in film making and had not been taught any basic principles which also made the shoot day a little bit rough at times but as we progressed we overcame most of this issue.

What would you do differently?

If I were to this again, I would hope to have more time in regards to planning as it felt far too rushed and, although no major issues arose, it made me less confident about the day in case we had missed anything. Also, I feel that the shot list could be more thoroughly gone through as some shots did not look right and I felt that some were unclear as to what was happening. I think it would have been more beneficial to work closer with the writer in pre production as there were some parts of the script which proved a bit tasking (such as some of the props) which could have been dealt with if I were to work more closely with him.

Unit 1: The Machinist Review (Section B)

  

The Machinist (Brad Anderson, 2004) is a psychological thriller about a troubled man who experiences strange hallucinations which begin to piece together and remind him of a terrible event which took place a year before the film is set.

Christian Bale's wonderful performance brings to life a man who "would not exist" if he was any thinner. Clearly dedicated to the role, Bale lost 63 Pounds in order to portray insomniac Trevor Reznik; he creates a very in depth character which I found to be very believable and original.

The use of colder colours throughout The Machinist offer an unsettling tone to the film and help the viewer to identify with the gritty world. There isn't a particular amount of cinematographic 'flare' but it is not something I feel is a necessity in such performance driven film. The use of cold filters are the only notable aspect of the movie's cinematography but they are used subtly and offer a very original look to the film.

The score for the film was very interesting. At parts, a friend and myself noted that it was somewhat reminiscent of some of the music from Star Wars (NOT the most known Star Wars theme or the theme of Darth Vader). 

In terms of narrative, I would say it is extremely good, I did not notice any major plot holes or issues. The twist of the film was perfectly executed and brought together all the pieces of the film. Foreshadowing and subtle hints were made throughout the film which were tied up nicely when the twist is revealed making for an overall intense but concise plot that provokes thought and something I found very interesting.

The Machinist is very cleverly written and executed and such a smart and concise manner. I found the film extremely entertaining as well as thought provoking and, in parts, traumatising. 

Unit 2: Teamwork (Section D)

As previously mentioned most of my main duties as producer took place in pre-production such scheduling and preparing for any issues. This gave me the opportunity, however, to work more closely with other team members and provide help wherever needed.

Director:

I worked very closely with the director and acted as something of a ‘co-director’. I would give a second opinion if required and generally helped in any way that I could and that was necessary but did not intrude on her vision of the film. Also, I took on similar responsibilities as a runner and sought to any things the director required.

Cinematographer:

Again, I did not work with the cinematographer as a producer, I was there to give a hand with the more hefty equipment when moving it around and to act as a second pair of eyes in checking there wasn’t anything unwanted in shot. Secondly, I held the boom pole for capturing audio in the scenes. I had to work carefully with the cinematographer to keep the boom positioned out of shot and, as she was the one listening to the audio, making sure it wasn’t too loud.

I generally worked with other members of the team, including actors, in keeping on time and dealing with any issues that arose whilst filming. Fortunately to say, no issues arose during filming that were unexpected or hindered our production in anyway. When the actors were getting cold due to the weather, we had planned and brought extra jumpers and layers which were used effectively.

Unit 2: Day of the shoot (Section C)

The images above are all from the day of the shoot.

Overall, I feel the day of the shoot was very successful and everyone played a valuable part in the production of our film. Upon the actor's arrivals we jumped straight into a quick rehearsal of the lines inside in order to make sure we ready to go as soon as shots were set up. We shot almost all of the film before our dinner break which meant we were ahead of schedule. Afterwards we had the rest of the shots done and took on our final crane shot which took a fairly long to time to set up for one shot. Fortunately we had plenty of time to do so and was able to get a few more takes of shots we felt could be better at the end.

In terms of development of my leadership role, there wasn't a great deal to develop because, as previously mentioned, most of my duties as producer took place before the shoot when planning. I did keep everyone on track however, and gave the director a hand where needed which do relate my leadership role a fair amount. The organisation and planning skills I had developed in pre-production, however, did transfer across well to the shoot day and I was able to keep everyone on time and up to date with plans and weather issues. 

Unit 2: Plan/Issues (Section B)

Our film was to be shot on the 21st of November, 2015. We had two weeks to prepare for the shoot, in which time my main duties were carried out.

As the producer planning and being weary of issues were some of my main concerns.
In order to ensure everyone could learn the scripts on time I gave the writer two dates to hand in the first and second drafts. The final (second) draft of the script was handed in three days before the shoot which I felt gave optimum time for actors and the crew to learn it and be prepared for the day.
I ensured the shot list was provided in advance also to help prepare the crew.





As previously mentioned, I had to particularly attentive when it came to potential issues. It was to snow the night before the shoot and be extremely cold on the day, our actor's costumes were not suitable to be worn in that condition of weather so I brought plenty of spare jackets/jumpers to keep them warm; I instructed the rest of the crew to do so as well to make sure we had enough. In case of rain, myself and a couple of other crew members brought umbrellas to protect the cameras and also for actors to use between takes.

Another issue we were to face was the fact we had a small pocket knife to be used as a prop. The knife was a real blade so we had to make sure of two things. The first being no one on set was injured by the knife, I ensured a supervisor of over 18 was attentive during the knife scene and that he was the one to carry around when not in use. The second issue with the knife was ensuring no passer bys were to see it and become concerned. To avoid this, the editor and I stood at both ends of the ally way in which we were film and made sure no pedestrians were passing when the knife was in use. We also made sure no one would walk past when shooting and broke continuity of the film in any way.

One of the biggest issues (but strangely the easiest to deal with), was having an actor cancel on us the night before the shoot. Fortunately one of our group members was an actor so I promptly took to asking if he could do the part instead, he was happy to do it and the whole crew thought he portrayed the part really well.

Unit 2: Improvement of skill (Section A)

The projects aim was to improve my skill in the role of producer. I have had experience in filmmaking before the shoot had taken place but I didn't take on the role of producer. I have carried out some basic duties before, such as organising and making sure filming is on schedule. However, recruiting actors and being in charge of organising a team before a shoot was a completely new experience for me and was an exciting task to take on.

I hoped that this experience would improve my skills in terms of conducting a film shoot from pre production, through to post production. Organisation, effective planning, communication and leadership are the main skills I was to develop though there are plenty more.