Risk assessment

Shooting schedule

Here is the shooting schedule for my project. I may have to adapt the schedule tomorrow as I go along, depending on how long it takes to film certain scenes and depending on any unforeseen circumstances which arise (and there always will be on film sets :) ).

Updated shot list

Here is the final shot list for my media coursework. If I film from 4:30-7:30pm then that gives me 10 minutes per shot - this is quite ambitious, but might be doable. If I don't get everything done tomorrow then I'll arrange another day to finish filming. I've highlighted in yellow the vital shots for each scene so that (in theory) I could film just those 6 shots and still cover everything necessary. I will try to film these shots first so that if I run out of time on a particular scene, I still have these shots done. By far the two most ambitious and difficult shots are numbers 6 and 7, which are profile lateral tracking shots of the two characters running. I will try to get these by filming out the window of a moving car, however this will be very challenging and may well not work. However, if I don't manage to get these shots, I should still have enough coverage for the scene to work and (hopefully) be exciting.

My location

It's a dead end!

This location and the surrounding area will be used for the chase and stand-off scene in my project. I scouted the location, and think it is perfect for my show; it has a grungy, urban aesthetic (typical of crime dramas) and is in a quiet area with very few passerbys and not much background noise. It also works with the story, as it leads to a dead end which is necessary within the chase scene. The only problem is that there may be some background noise from the cycle bridge which runs overhead, however this should be manageable - I could try to film the standoff scene (which includes dialogue) either before or after rush hour so that there are less people passing by.

Pitch for my TV drama

Title
Partners


Logline
After the murder of an anti-LGBT campaigner, an enigmatic detective teams up with a young, flamboyant officer to solve the case.


Genre
Social issue-based crime drama.


Audience
18-35 year old millennials, mostly male, ABC1, liberal-minded.


USP
A gay romance between the two main detectives.


Convergence
Branding - the same title/logo across different platforms.
Tagline

Aims and intentions sheet

Here is the first draft of the aims and intentions sheet for the video portion of my coursework:

Storyboard & shotlist

Shot setups

Scene 1:

1. Extreme long shot of park (establishing shot).

2. Extreme close up of beer bottle being opened.

3. Medium long shot of Dave & Michael on park bench.

4. Medium shot of Michael (dirty).

5. Medium shot of Dave (dirty).

6. Close up of Michael putting his hand on Dave's.

7. Medium close up of Anna (dirty).

8. Close up of Dave.

9. Close up of Michael.

10. Close up of computer screen (dirty).

11. Long panning shot of Dave chasing Michael.

Scene 2:

12. Long/medium panning shot of Dave chasing Michael through alleyway.

13. Medium shot of Dave chasing Michael down street.

14. Long shot of Michael hiding behind bush.

15. Long shot (from behind) of Michael hiding behind bush.

16. Medium long shot of Dave (dirty).

17. Medium long shot of Michael, handheld (dirty).

18. Medium close up of Michael, handheld (dirty).

19. Medium close up of Michael (in flashback), low angle, handheld.

20. Medium close up of victim (in flashback), high angle, handheld.

21. Medium close up of Dave (dirty).

22. Medium close up of knife falling on ground.

22 setups is a lot, and it's more than I would ideally like to do (as I'd rather spend more time getting the perfect take for one setup rather than getting ok takes for lots of setups), but I think it's necessary in order to meet the exam board's criteria to use a "Wide range of camera shots, angles and movement, to establish locations, narrative/topic and representations". To compensate for this (and save time), I will sometimes do multiple shots (e.g. a medium shot and a close up) one after the other, without moving the camera at all and only changing the lens. I will make sure to group shots like these together when I make my shooting schedule. I will also think about which lenses I will be using for particular shots so that I don't have to keep constantly changing lens. I will definitely alter the shot-list slighty, particularly in the chase scene, as I feel that section is very boring at the minute. Stylistically, I opted for a less-is-more approach, and tried to avoid having elaborate, stylised shots merely for the sake of it (which I felt was a weakness of many of the past coursework projects I watched). On set, I'll make sure that I get all master shots and other completely necessary shots first so that if I run out of time for a particular scene, I have these as a backup.