River: A2 Media

After trying out different exterior shots, we moved inside to play around with lighting, audio and close up shots and eerie editing.

After practicing some outdoor shots, we came back a few days later and filmed more with a DSLR, trying out different techniques such as zooms and focus pulls.

After we finished the preparation for filming, we starting to take some test footage for our film, to get a hang of the cameras we were using and the different shots we had to take. For the initial testing, we used Eoin's Pixel 2, which had the best camera.

Due to the importance of Narrative theory in created a film, I thought that applying River to different theories would help us in the creation of this project. Propp's Character Types: The Hero: Kevin The Villain: Limbos The Helper: Ferry Man/Ron Todorov's Narrative Theory: Equilibrium: Kevin Being Alive, Ron continuing his job  Disruption: Kevin Dying Recognition: Ron and Kevin meet, tells him what the ferry man does Repair: Bring's him to see memories and his former life Reinstatement: Kevin going 'up' or 'down' Strauss' Binary Opposition Life vs. death Knowing vs. unknowing Good vs. bad Moral vs. immoral Heaven vs. Hell

To master recording audio, I first had to practice. This video helped me learn how to record quality audio on a budget, so i could make the audio as good as possible:

Before the initial testing of river, I took up the role of recording the audio for the film. This meant being alongside Eoin, the cinematographer, as he recorded the visuals. I will be using a field recorder that has a clean, crisp sounding, which is important for a professional sounding film. As we live in quite a windy country, it is important to prepare for all conditions. The field recorder has built-in mechanics to take care of wind resistance, yet if this still doesn't work, a cloth to cover the receptors will help further. I felt I was fitting for this role, as since I wrote the script, it was only right that I managed what the characters will say.

RIVER Genre: Dark comedy, fantasy Duration: 5 - 10 minutes Target audience: anyone over 12 Outline: A man dies from alcohol poisoning, collapsing onto the side of the road. The fabled ferry man comes to 'collect' him, who takes him 'through the river' to the afterlife. It is seemingly a form of purgatory, as the ferry man takes him to different parts of his life, and to see different people who mean something to him. Yet the world also seems to have a society in itself, with the ferry man doing this as his job, and other ferry men working at the time. As his journey through memories comes to an end, the ferry man must send him up or down... Character breakdown:  Ferry Man/Ron (John Campbell): One of the ferry men. Seemingly used to be a plucky, enthusiastic man, has now been de-emotionalised by his monotonous regime and is cynical about it's repetitive nature. He sees Kevin as unknowing, which irritates him as he knows the ins and outs of the ...

Scene 1 Props - Can of drink Scene 2 Props - Printer - Laptop - Chair and table - Paper for printer (Listing paper?) - kettle - clothes to put on - travel mug Scene 3 Props - Paper but folded up Scene 4 (interview) Props - table and chairs - stack of paper -pens, general stationary Scene 6 Props - Phone - empty cans, crushed Scene 7 Props - folded up paper Scene 8 Props - Sealed letter - sheet of paper

As the first draft of the script for River was completed, I moved on to writing the shot list, in detail, shot by shot. - Canted angle of intoxicated man, walking towards camera, camera close to ground - falls out of frame, "hits his head" -Match on action for next shot, frontal close up of RON'S face waking up - cut to close up shot of printer - medium establishing shot of room as he stands up to get paper from printer, held as he looks at paper and walks out of the room. - elipsis of him getting ready, several close ups of action e.g. coffee, coat, slippers. - medium shot of front door, ferry man walks out then out of shot - medium-long shot of ferry man walking into frame, looking at KEVIN - close up zoom in on KEVIN, camera twisting, stops when RON slaps KEVIN. - mid side on shot of both charcaters, RON begins to read as KEVIN stands up into frame - RON begins to read script, switches to shot of KEVIN looking down at his own dead bo...

Here is the first draft of the script for River that I finished today. The start contains a lore of the film, helping me in understanding the characters as I wrote their lines. there is still some tweaking to be done, but it is mostly finished.