Production Roles - Miss Miller

When creating a film, it is easier to allocate specific roles to the people involved as it will make the process more organised. That way everyone will have their own jobs to do and can contribute their small part to the making of the film. By doing this, it makes it less stressful as if everything was left to one person then they would feel overwhelmed and the film would not be as good.
The main roles necessary for creating a film are;

• Actors - as otherwise we would have nothing to film.

• Director - the person who is in charge of the making of the film.  

• Producer - responsible for the 'financial and managerial aspects of making a film'. 

• Director of photography - controls the camera and films everything.

• Sound technicians - to plan the sound used.

• Screenplay Writer - the person who writes the script for the film.

• Mise-en-scene Coordinators - to plan and prepare all the lighting, hair & make-up & Iconography etc. 

• Editors - To edit the footage filmed, to finish the film and to create an effect for the audience. 

When planning our opening credits we had to make up some names so that there wasn't the same names being repeated over and over again, as this would look unprofessional. However, even though these names were shown, all of the roles were divided between the three people in my group; Ayesha, Lillian & Myself.

We decided to allocate each other the roles that suited our strengths as this will be beneficial for the end product. It will make the individual feel more comfortable with the tasks involved, if they enjoy it and are naturally good at it, which should help to make the production of our thriller opening sequence easier.

When planning our groups narrative, we decided that we needed 3 characters; 2 sisters and a killer. When choosing who should play these characters, Ayesha said that she had a little sister and so we decided this would be the easiest and most appropriate as they would actually look like sisters, where as if it was me acting alongside a little girl it would not look as truthful. Also, Ayeshas little sister, Yasmin, is good at drama, meaning she would be able to portray the emotions we needed for this character well, and the chemistry between the pair would be good. The role of the actor is to learn their lines and be prepared to follow the directors instructions to make sure they show the emotions that have been planned. Once the filming is complete they would have acted each frame throughout our storyboard on 2 different days; one for the forest and one for the underwater scene.  In our groups narrative there is no dialogue, as my research showed me this was conventional and so the actors in our footage will simply follow the directors instructions etc.

The role of the director is to make sure the making of the film runs smoothly. This would involve them making sure all roles have been allocated, as well as making sure each role has been completed by each person. It is down to the director to ensure everything is completed by the deadline. When deciding who in our group should be the director, we chose Lillian as she seemed keen to do it. It wasn't fair for Ayesha to do this as she was already acting in our opening and it meant that she could make sure everything was done, whilst me and Ayesha did various other roles. Lilian also said she is good at organising things etc, and so thought that she would be able to organise and delegate specific roles, to specific people, whilst keeping the peace, and this should allow us to complete our thriller opening sequence on time.

We appointed Ayesha as our producer and Mise-en-scene coordinator. As she decided the location of the filming in the forest, and as it was her and her sister acting in the film, it was easier for her to know how much everything would cost etc, rather than me or Lillian guessing. It was also easier for her to plan the costumes as she could decide at home with her sister what looked best on them, which was suitable for our narrative. Her role is to work alongside Lillian to help me in deciding on shots etc that we may question when filming. Ayesha has a clear understanding of what would and wouldn't work for our narrative, and knew of some possible settings where we could potentially film; me and Lilian completely trusted her to make the best decision.

I was the director of photography as it was the most suitable thing to do, due to Lillian directing and Ayesha acting, I could operate the camera. My job was to look at our filming schedule and film that specific shot, by guiding the actors into place and telling them what they needed to do and portray. I will be in charge of the filming in the forest as well as in the underwater scene, and so will have to decide what shots work best and executing them. My group allocated me as the director of photography as I had more experience with using a camera than they did, but also because I helped Lilian film our preliminary task and they thought I would be able to experiment with different shots to help convey the meaning of our narrative.

This leads onto my next role as the main editor. I will be in charge of editing our footage, with the help of my peers as well. This was suitable as although we all have a basic understanding of the final cut pro x editing software we are using, I was the one who edited and put together our preliminary task. My group and I therefore decided that I would be able to familiarise myself with the software faster than they could, allowing us to complete the editing within the deadline. Whilst I may not be the one controlling the mouse for the editing, my group decided I am a good leader to suggest ideas etc, and it may be best for me to watch and direct them with the editing, so it showed the right effect. 

Firstly, Ayesha had 3 roles in the making of our thriller opening; she was an actress, producer and coordinator of mise-en-scene. The role she was acting for was only in the thriller for a shorty amount compared to the other female character and so when she wasn't acting, she assisted me in guiding Yasmin for her shots. Therefore she completed her role as actress well and did more than was asked by helping me. When fulfilling her role as producer, we found we hadn't planned a budget, and most of the Iconography and costume used were items that the group had already owned. This is something I would make sure we had if we were to do this task again. I would therefore say that perhaps she didn't complete this role sufficiently, but this would be different if it was an actual professional film as a budget would be essential before any filming takes place. Her last role as the mise-en-scene coordinator was fulfilled very well. She knew what we were hoping to have in terms of the correct costume etc. For example, we originally wanted both female characters to be wearing everyday clothes to allow the audience to relate to them. Ayesha went a step further and came up with the idea that the little girl should be wearing a pink dress to emphasise her youth, making the audience sympathise with her more easily.

Lilians only role was to be the director as this is a big job that requires helping and guiding all parts of the production. I think she completed this role well and had many creative ideas that she wanted us to try. She helped in all aspects of the production, making sure me and Ayesha were comfortable and knew what we were doing in each task, which definitely helped to make the production easier. However, I would say that she lacked the confidence to decide on a certain idea when filming. Instead she wanted to try all ideas our group had, and then decide later. This is not necessarily a bad aspect, but at certain points did slow down the filming on the day.

My roles included being the director of photography and the main editor, which involved me supervising and suggesting ideas to members in my group. I think I carried out the role of an editor well as I helped Ayesha with the cutting of our footage, as well as putting in the transitions and opening credits well. I enjoyed my role as director of photography, and tried to confidently film several different angles of each shot so we could decide what worked best. The experience from filming in the forest to the underwater scene was interestingly different, but I think I was able to produce steady shots with or without the aid of the tripod, and this helped the filming on the day go quicker. 

Overall I would say we all carried out our individual roles well, and although there were some problems, we worked together as a team to solve them and try to produce our thriller opening as best we could.