OTHER DELETED SHOTS

Both these shots were also deleted from the film. We felt that both of the 180mm macro shots far too blown out and shot at the wrong angles and the framing of the shots were not too good. The shot of the flower also crossed the line.

HITCHCOCKIAN DELETED SHOT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vC3P5A_rwAQ

Our original opening shot for Benjamin was extremely influenced by Hitchcock's film 'Strangers on a Train' as you can see from the screen grabs above. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vC3P5A_rwAQ Here is the scene from Hitchcock.
We ended up taking the shot out of the film as it seemed to give the impression that Benjamin was a powerful character, when he's not. Also the shot is around 15 seconds long and as the film felt unbalanced we went in and cut the first scene down, by doing so the film flows a lot better.

Stabilising Shots!!

This is an example of a shot w had to stabilise.

We have had to stabilise multiple shot for the edit as some were far to shakey and detracted from the film by drawing you attention away from the story and onto the cinematography. We feel that we do not want our cinematography to take anything away from the story but to add to it seamlessly and unnoticeably. We used After Effects plug-in stabilise motion to achieve this and added wiggle to the shot so it was not stationary and looked natural.

Edinburgh Film Festival

Edinburgh Film festival is amazing but we are going to give it a miss as the deadline is too soon. We hope to enter on of our future projects next year as it is one of our goals.

DAVE ADAM SCORE

We have just received the film score from our composer Dave Adam. We are extremely pleased with the score as it compliments the film dramatically. It's clear how much hard work went into the piece and how much he took in what we had to say in our meetings. We explained to him everything about the film, locations and characters and he delivered exactly what we wanted. Thanks Dave :)

BBC sound library

The BBC sound library was extremely helpful when adding atmospheric tracks to the film. We used 3 tracks of the CD's, one being the birds with a little noise, the river sound for the scene over the bridge to indicate that its not the train station bridge and the other was the traffic track for the train station scene. We haven't used the BBC sounds before, and there great because they aided to blend the sound together but it would be better to record all our own sound in the future.

Szymon on Sound

We went to edit the sound for the film with Szymon. We knew that Szymon was the best person for the job. When editing the sound we came to find the the levels were recorded to low! So as we pushed the levels the noise raised far too much, we tried to cut the noise out but it ended sounding robotic, instead of soft and subtle like it should. So we have worked around the noise by adding some buzz and a slight traffic track to blend all the noise frequency's together, and are now really happy with it. We feel that having these sounds add greatly to the interaction of the film by providing the audience with the atmosphere of the location.

Press Pack

This is another example of a press pack from a short film titled Skin Deep. A simple press pack that does the job, this has given us the info we need to write and produce our press pack.

The Fallen Trapeze.

We have been working on Rob Blake's new short The Fallen Trapeze as a Brown Bread Film Production. It was great to work on another production so soon after shooting ours as we knew exactly what to do, also the way to go around different issues and problems. Its was great to add the skill and techniques that we had learnt from shooting Benjamin into this film. We are really proud of the way everything went and the amount that we both have learnt. Can't wait to see the finished edit. Here are some on set pictures.

LEEDS FILM FEST

Eligibility:
· Films must be submitted to the Film Festival by Friday 20th August 2010.

· The film must have been completed after 1st January 2009.

· Any genre and any length of film will be considered – anything under 45 minutes is classified as a short, anything over 45 minutes is classified as a feature.

· The film must not have appeared on British television.

Please note that by submitting a film to us, you agree that:
1) You are authorised to submit the film, including having permission from a distributor or sales agent representing the film, and you must have obtained necessary permissions for the inclusion of copyrighted music and/or images within the films.
2) The Film Festival can keep the DVD screener and any extra materials sent to us (DVDs of selected films will be used for archive and videotheque purposes).

Premiere Policy:
UK Premieres will be prioritised in the selection process in all Film Festival sections, especially for the Official Selection. However, we do not categorically insist on UK Premieres – this is up to the discretion of the Film Festival Team. Features in the Golden Owl Competition must be English Premieres to qualify.

How to submit a film:
Click on the Withoutabox logo to be taken into the Withoutabox submission system, the easiest and most effective way to submit your films to festivals. Once you have completed the submissions process, send your DVD screener and Press Kit (if it is not available digitally) to the address below complete with your Withoutabox tracking number - this is essential! (without the tracking number we will not be able to process your submission). We do not accept submissions in any other way. If we have contacted you ourselves to request the film you can still submit through Withoutabox, asking for a fee waiver.

How to submit a film for free:
This is only applicable if we have specifically contacted you requesting it, or if the film was made in Yorkshire.

If we contacted you, please send your DVD screener to the address below. If the film was made in Yorkshire, please send us your DVD screener and include a completed submission form for Yorkshire entries (click here for form).

Please note: The Film Festival only accepts DVDs as submissions (both NTSC and PAL are accepted).

Address:
Leeds International Film Festival
Town Hall
The Headrow
Leeds
LS1 3AD
United Kingdom

Submission Fees:
Due to increasing economic pressures and the high level of administration necessitated by the submission process, the Film Festival is introducing a fee-paying system. We have tried to make it as affordable and competitive as we can, and unfortunately the decision to implement fees was unavoidable. As a small and dedicated team putting on a world class film festival, we hope you understand the pressures we face and our decision to join Withoutabox.

Feature submission deadlines and charges
Early bird deadline – Tuesday 3rd June - £40
Regular deadline – Thursday 5th August - £50
Late deadline – Friday 20th August - £60
Notification date – Approx Monday 30th September

Short submission deadlines and charges
Early bird deadline – Tuesday 3rd June - £20
Regular deadline – Thursday 5th August - £25
Late deadline – Friday 20th August - £30
Notification date – Approx Monday 30th September

Films Made in Yorkshire:
We will waive the fees for any films made in Yorkshire, but you must include a completed submission form (click here for form).

Solicited Films:
We will waive the fees for films we have specifically requested DVD screeners of, please send them to us by post. Unfortunately we are unable to provide a courier account number due to the sheer number of films we request.

Multiple Submissions:
You may submit as many films as you like, but each film must be treated as a separate entry (one fee per film).

Submission Deadline:
Friday 20th August 2010.

Selection Process and Notification:
· The selection will be carried out by the Film Festival Team.

· Due to the sheer number of entries we receive, we regret we are unable to enter into correspondence regarding the selection process.

· Successful applicants will be notified by Friday 25th September. A further message will be sent to all applicants in early October with thanks to those applicants whose films have not been selected.

· Please do not include an SAE as we are unable to return any DVD screeners.

Formats:
If your entry is chosen for the Film Festival Programme, you will be asked to supply either a 35mm print, a Digibeta (PAL or NTSC), or a DV Cam.

Submission Delivery:
Film submissions and screening copies being sent to the UK from a non-European country must be accompanied by the necessary customs documentation / pro forma invoice. When arranging delivery you must ensure that all import and export charges associated with the film are paid. It is advised that the stated value of the package is listed as being no more than 5 Euros for customs purposes. Packages should be marked as: NO COMMERCIAL VALUE – FOR CULTURAL PURPOSES ONLY. The Film Festival accepts no responsibility for DVD submissions which do not arrive at the office.

If you have any further questions, please email leedsfilmfestentry@gmail.com or ring us on +44 (0)113 247 8489.


We are going to be submitting our film into Leeds Film Festival. This is everything we need to know about it. The great thing is that as it was shot in yorkshire its FREE. We will be using our Brown Bread Film account with Withoutabox to submit the film. Can"t wait for this festival.

Costume For Addison

These are three costumes Katie came up with, we thought she had done a great job. We chose the bottom image as our final costume for Addison. We felt is was perfect as she is waiting for someone to view the house so she would be quite dressed up. We also felt it linked in with Rachel well.

New Boy 2008

A young African boy with a haunting back story starts school in Ireland, and finds out quickly exactly what it means to be the new kid. Winner of Best Narrative Short at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival and nominated for an Oscar.



WOW.. Everything about the film was great. Loved the way it was shot beautiful use of 50mm, great use of colour grading to show the contrast from the new boys past, from the vibrant colours in africa to grimy britain. The was not much technicality when it came to cinematography which was great, keeping it simple just worked. The one main change in the camera work was in the african school which they used the hand held technique a really great touch to the film, showing the african school in a different way like it was a lot more fun and everyone was happier. Also just a great narrative, it had so much soul and you could connect with the new boys within seconds of watching the film. This hand held technique of making the audience engage with the film and character will help us do the same in our production.

Miracle Fish '2009'

8 year old Joe has a Birthday he will never forget. After friends bully him, he sneaks off to the sick bay, wishing everyone in the world would go away. He wakes up to find his dream may have become a reality.




Again liked the film, pretty dark but it works. Nice concept with the fish, very unique. You can see that there would have been quite a large budget great art direction etc. The cinematography wasn't anything to rave about, not saying it wasn't good, just not amazing. Loved the way there was minimal music, it added tremendously to the tension of the film. Joe was also a really good little actor one to watch out for maybe. Great short film with a dark unpleasant twist right at the end.

'The Door' Juanita Wilson and James Flynn

The Door is a universal symbol of life, of death, of entering the next life. It has many associations inherent in it, both positive and negative. It can mean an opportunity gained or an opportunity lost: As one door opens, another one closes...

The film opens with an absurd act: stealing a door. This raises a question in the viewer's mind, a question which is not answered until the final shot where the door's purpose is revealed. Then, what had seemed an absurd act turns into a simple statement of human dignity, of people making sense of loss through ritual.

THE DOOR reflects the fact that it is based on someone's testimony. Images are impressionistic, haunting, like fragments of memories which the viewer must piece together. Although the main character, Nikolai, gives us the facts, he himself is trying to make sense of them in his own mind.

The story moves forwards and backwards in time, revealing the events retrospectively as the viewer bears witness to the universal tragedy of Chernobyl through the eyes of one man.

This short was nominated for an Oscar this year and you can see why. The way it is shot is beautiful, we love the way the style of cinematography changes dramatically as the narrative goes on. The one shot that stood out is the hand held/steady cam shout of where they are evacuating their home it creates such an interaction as a viewer ( making you feel there). The colour grading is perfect it gives the whole film grimy feel making the characters look weathered and kind of beaten. We really like the way the film doesn't rely on music to create emotion upon the audience is is purely the action on screen. These techniques will help to produce emotions and tension with our production.

Shot List for Bolton Abby

This is how we set out our shot list, pretty straight forward but extremely helpful. It helped us by organising our time to make sure we were on track for the day and also helped us mark off every shot that we needed. This was mainly used for Rob as he needed to get everything set up for our next shot and have everything and one in place so that we could concentrate on the direction and cinematography. Without this i think that we would of been quite lost and not been able to shot everything on time.

Props We Need For The Film

Here are the two main props that we need for the shoot, the newspaper and the flowers for the train station and the house scene. We had two papers done just incase, the illustrations were done by a guy called Nick who studies Graphic Design. and the flowers are wild as they need to grow out of a train station platform. The flowers are representative of Rachel as with her speech she talks about inspiration being everywhere and how beauty can come from the most horrible of places. These flowers even though they are weeds and grow from sides of old walls still are pretty and we feel they portray that fact.

Final House Location Aldwalk, York

This is our final location for the house scene. Its a beautiful house and fits well with the way rachel comes across at the train station. The house is in Aldwalk with is near York. The house is owned by Rory's Aunts, we were really lucky to have a relative with such a perfect location. Its amazing that we didn't have to film at someone who we didn't know house, as this give the cast and crew a more relaxed environment to work in. We really like how the house is perfectly symmetrical and how there is a lot of space around the door area and there's a lot of space for wide shots. The house is located in a tiny village, we were there taking pictures for around 20 minutes and my be one car drove past. We are really happy with this location.

Final 3 Costume Options for Rachel

We had a meeting with Katie Brown our costume designer. After our input Katie put together some perfect outfits. We are going to use the top image as the final costume for Rachel. We feel it is subtle but still has a sense of sophistication with it as well as been bright and colour full which reflects her character. The broach will be used on the costume of Francesca to show her relationship with Rachel.

Bolton Abby Train Station Changed Location

We went to a meeting with Stephen Walker (the manager of the steam line) two days before our shout at Embsay train station, to check everything was set and we knew where the electric was etc, BUT we saw that the were two huge steam trains parked in the station. We had asked for nothing to be there.... but there was no way of moving them at this point in time. Stephen said that we could film at his other station, (Bolton Abby) so we went to take a look.

We felt that Bolton Abby was actually a better location for the shoot but just didn't have an incredible bridge like Embsay. As you can see its still a beautiful location.

"The Man Who Walked Around The World

Johnnie Walker : Walk from George Nimeh on Vimeo.

Such a great concept, and the fact its one steady shot is crazy must have taken many takes to get it as perfect as it is. The acting is incredible he did a great job controlling the heavy dialog and all the interaction with props on the walk cycle. You can easily notice how much creativity went into this project.

'I Love Sarah Jane' Short Film

This is quite a lengthy short film, with obviously quite a large budget. The narrative isn't the best but we really like some shots, like the opening shot of the boy on a bike is lovely and the way the titles interact with the moving image. We also really like that pretty much the whole film is hand held (shoulder mount) creating an uneasy/on edge feeling for the audience, therefore creating a greater interaction for the audience.

'Synesthesia' Short Film

This is a pretty weird short but has been getting a lot of attention in the short film world. The colours and the way its shot is great. We really like how much effort and time must has gone into the art direction of the film. WATCH IT.

'Leave Me' Short Film

Leave Me from Daros Films on Vimeo.

Dont really like the narrative of the film, but some of the shots and the grade are great, when watching you feel the emotion from the characters come across, this is mostly brought across in the music. Thats exactly what needs to happen in our film.

Things we just Like.

This is just an amazing animation, cant even start to think how much time went into this project.

Locating the perfect house for the house Scene

We went house location hunting to find the house for the door scene in Benjamin. We were looking for a house that looked pretty up market so it suited the way Rachel is in the train station. We thought it would be a good idea to go around small villages in the Harrogate area as we knew that it was up market. Some of the house we looked at weren't perfect but some were.