Cumha - Production Blog

For our photograph shots, we decided to do the first one as a group shot in school uniforms, as if the characters are surrounded by their friends. It was meant to be informal and messy, and we got a lovely sunny day to get the photo. I also took a few seconds of footage to use in the film as the camera passes over the photograph.  Then, using Final Cut Pro, we edited the footage to get the 'dreamlike' quality we want. This included editing the colours to give them a soft, golden quality, and adding a slight blur, as if it was a near distant memory. The exposure was slightly lowered so that the glare of anything white was easier on the eyes. We then saved these edits as a 'template' so we can drop them over any footage we need. The footage we edited was also cut considerably, as we only need a few seconds of it.  We still have to slow it down and edit in gentle instrumental music.  In order to have time to...

To get used to the camera we'll be using (Canon EOS 1300D), we decided to do a test run of some of the shorter scenes we're planning to use in the final product. We tried shots 14, and 17, 20, 23.  Here is the final edited product of the few scenes we tried; This exercise was an excellent idea as it really helped us get used top the new camera, and also to try some editing techniques, such as colour correction.

Cumha has three major locations: the bedroom, the park, and the train station. For these locations we'll be using my brother's room, Lady Dixion and finaghy train station. These locations are all closely linked to one another, so on the first day of shooting walking from my house to the train station will be easy, and then for day two, Lady Dixon is only 15 minutes away. Here are some photos I took of the train station and my brother's room: And these are photos of Lady Dixon sourced online:

We're planning to do our filming on the 18th and 19th of March, the Sunday after St Patricks day and the Monday. The first day will be dedicated to shooting the scenes in the bedroom and train station, and the next will be the day in the park. 

REALITY Black credit shot with title - ' Cumha ' with definition. Introduction of loud ticking noise. Close-up of clock mount on wall. The bedroom is dark and it's very early in the morning.  Medium shot of bed with The Boy in it.  Medium close-up of protagonist - Bird's eye view. He's wide awake with his hands above his covers. As he turns his head, we cut to the next shot. Close-up of calendar with a heavily circled day, countdown etc. It should be very clear that this is the day he's been waiting for. Medium close up of the protagonist - Bird's eye view. He turns the other way to see the wall.  Three pan shots of the photo wall at different heights. As the camera settles over one photo in particular, cut. DREAM SEQUENCE Few seconds of close up of The Girl. There's a dreamlike quality to the footage REALITY Medium close-up, side on, of the protagonist in bed. Change in focus from the photographs on the wall to the protagon...

- Clock - Calendar - Wristwatch - Photographs - School uniform and two casual outfits - Luggage bag Casual outfits: - One for the day at the park (Main boy and girl) - One for the final scene (including coat, watch, and luggage bag)

  Cumha will have a minimal cast with three people at most; The main boy, the girl, and the second boy, who is only in it for a few seconds at the end.  The most logical course of action was to go through our list of friends at first, as the characters of Cumha are of a similar age to us, the teenagers creating the film.  For the girl, we contacted my friend Ríbh Brownlee . She did drama for GCSE and also outside of school, and was eager to help out where she could.  Ríbh is small and slight, with a heap of auburn curls, which ties into the story we're basing Cumha off of being an Irish folk tale. Ríbh Brownlee Role: The Girl Height: 5'1  Build: Slight Appearance: Pale complexion, curly auburn hair, hazel eyes  Experience: Several stage productions  We initially had plans to use another of our friends who did drama, Eamonn , to be our main character, but this plan fell through. In the end we asked Calu...

For my third piece of analysis, I choose to look at a seven minute drama called Emily by Sam Benenati . Unlike my last two pieces, it's heavily centred around verbal codes with very few technical or symbolic codes used to tell the story. The vast majority of it, maybe five minutes, is all one shot. The title card is very similar to the one used in Semele , but is used at the start rather than at the end, which is something I think will work better for Cumha . This simple monochromatic credit style seems to be very popular among dramatic pieces. I like the handwriting style of font used, as it suits the incredibly personal and intimate feel of Emily .  Emily was very interestingly shot, with one long close up of the main actress' face, evoking a sense of intimacy that could not be avoided.  If we want Cumha to feel just an personal as Emily , I think that we should use a number of close ups around the face. They are ...

The second short movie I've analysed is Semele by  Myosin Aristidou : a drama about a young girl looking for an excuse to see her absent father.  It's far more understated than Past The Second Stage , but that's why it works so well, and I'll be looking at it now to see what I can learn from it to add to Cumha .  The opening of Semele is quite abrupt, there's no fade in or title card, the movie simply starts in medias res with a close shot of Semele herself. Throughout the piece, extreme closeups are used to convey emotion, but it's never incredibly intense. Very few emotions ever go deep, except for disappointment, and because of this the whole piece feels very natural and not at all contrived. It feels very personal, and the audiences becomes a little bit uncomfortable to be viewing something so intimate, and this is a testament to how well the subtly of the piece works.  Some examples of the extreme closeups are th...