My Journey Through Film

From starting my Film and TV course 2 years ago I have gained so much experience in all areas of film. I started the course with a keen interest in the film and TV industry but didn’t have much experience at all. I hadn’t even really used a proper camera no matter create a full short film.

On the first few weeks of college, we were given a task that would get us ready for the two years ahead of us, this was called ‘Filmmaking 101’ and it taught us the basics of filming from turning on the camera and framing a shot to getting a cast and crew ready to shoot a project. For this project me and my friends worked together as a group and created two short videos, one being a horror and the other being a silent movie also known as film noir, these first projects got us working together so that we knew what it was like to work as a crew on set. This was my first experience of this and I really enjoyed it as it felt like we all worked as a team to get this project completed even though we had just met each other.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttHRPXwd1qo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdiqUSEQd8A

This project gave us a real insight into what we were going to be doing and what we needed to learn for the upcoming two years, it thought us camera basics, working in a crew, planning a production which we learnt to be actually one of the most important parts of film and many other skills.

We then moved on to other projects such as advertising where we had to create a John Lewis style Christmas ad, this was our proper full assignment where we also had paperwork and blog work to complete alongside the actual production and finished video. This was our first taste at working to a deadline and completing written tasks such as analysis’ and evaluations, something that was going to be a key skill to have in all future assignments.

This project was a lot of fun as we worked in a small team and it was Christmas themed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zy4aPveYJs

After the Christmas holidays it was now time to get back to it and start our next project, this time it was situation comedy production, our task was to create two full length episodes for two different sit-coms. This was going to be a much bigger project than last time as we had to interview and audition actors, talk with makeup about what makeup we wanted and also work in a much larger production crew. All of this was to push us to learn more about what it takes to work in the TV industry.

On this assignment, me and my crew created two shows, The Followers and Hardly Students. The Followers was about 3 teenagers who want to be popular at school so they throw a party but it doesn’t go quite to plan and Hardly Students was about 3 male teenagers in school who find themselves in the strangest situation while constantly running after girls.

The project taught us many new skills mostly about working with actors and scheduling shoots so that everyone could make it.

During this project we had great up’s but also some downs such as actors dropping out last minute which resulted in me actually stepping in as an actor and playing one of the roles which actually turned out to be quite fun, as I had never acted before. These shows were really fun to make and I really enjoyed the whole project.

The first year of our course was quickly coming to a close but we had one last

Project to complete, this was our FMP (Final Major Project), for year one. For this project we had to produce and create our own short film. This project was really going to push us and make us use our skills that we had learnt in the previous projects. For my short film I created my film named ‘UNFOLLOWED’ it was about a girl that is obsessed with posting everything that she is doing on social media but eventually this comes back to bite her as a stalker has been watching her all along and end up attacking her.

For this assignment I had to write my own script for the film, something that I had not done before so I learnt and researched about script writing and eventually written my own script for the film. This was exciting as I felt like I had made something that was truly mine.

The next thing to do was to plan and actually shoot the film. On this project I went off site from college and used locations that would look good on camera. Me and the team went up to Newcastle to shoot some scenes and then around our local area for the rest. This was exciting as we had never gone this far to film something before, we got permission and trust from our tutor Kelly and it worked out well as we got some nice shots for the film. The project also taught me how to direct actors and crew well to get the job done. This was a good skill to learn this early as further down the line I realised that directing/producing was most likely where I wanted my career in film to go.

Year 2 –

We were now scarily in our second year of our course time had flew by and it was now time for our second-year assignments.

This year was going to be bigger and better but also a lot harder to really push us and show what we can do.

I gained so much experience last year, from never being on a set before to now being confident to control a cast and crew and work on multipole projects. The first year of my course really did make me into a filmmaker.

Our first project of the second year of Film and TV was going to be our biggest project to date. We were aiming to create a full-length period drama film. Our project was to create our own version of the classic film ‘A Christmas Carol’.

Each person on this project got their own individual role, which we had to apply for just like a real job role. My role on this project was 1^st assistant director, Production Co-ordinator and Marketing Manager.

This was a big job to take on as it was my job to schedule the huge amount of scenes that we needed to film with the also huge amount of actors and extras that we were using.

This project really pushed every one of us to our limits, and tested our skills as a group of filmmakers. We shot for three weeks straight, on locations, in college, on time limits, everything you could think of. This took a lot of planning to get right but the overall project ended up looking great.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9UyfYDKW88&feature=youtu.be&app=desktop

While working on this project in Kelly’s lessons we also had another project on the go in James’ lessons. James was a new teacher too us in the second year, in his lessons he gave us the project of factual programming, our project was to create a documentary on a topic of our choice. As me and a fellow member of the class struggled to think of an idea we joined forces and decided to work on work together on one big documentary. This was SRC's ANNIE: The Documentary.

We set out to make a documentary on the crazy world of musical theatre as they put on their Christmas production of Annie: The musical here at college. We followed the process of what it takes for students to put on a professional production in a professional theatre.
From the initial idea, to auditioning over 140 children to the final show night and everything in between.

Even though Annie was going to be a very large project, we decided to make a second documentary to make sure that we had enough evidence to support our assignment as me and Anya were now working together.

For this me and Anya came up with the idea of making a documentary on social media, we were going to show different generations views on it and how it effects people.

The finished edit ended up being around 40 minutes long, which is longer than we thought it was going to be but we are more than happy for it to be this long as it includes a lot of content.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=335&v=6D2eDod7X9k&feature=emb_logo

This year had also flew by and it was time to start thinking of want we wanted to create for our second FMP (Final Major Project), We started to create pitches and proposels for our second FMP, but due to the rise of the coronavirus, we weren’t sure how much time we actually had left at college.

Which brings us to today were we are currently working from home. We are planning our FMP’s from home in hope of actually making them if and when we go back to college.

SHOWREEL

Find below my person showreel which showcases my work over two years at SRC:

SPECIALIST SUBJECT INVESTIGATION - 

This assignment was broken into two parts, part one being the Oscars rundown, and the second part is an in-depth essay on our specialist area.

Our assignment was to research and critically examine the influence of historical and contemporary contexts on your own practice. 

The first part of our project was to produce a magazine show, based around Oscars season, our episode had to focus on our area of interest as we were required to research, plan and produce a multi-camera, studio-based show that provides the audience with a greater knowledge of Oscars season whilst focusing on those we admire in the industry and that also practice our industry specialism. 

For this assignment, I made a magazine show pice that included me and ollie, we both had the same specialist area which was producing so we decided to work together to talk about our areas. 

Our oscar rundown talked about producing and producers who have won at the Oscars and how they got to that stage. We researched information on what it takes to win an oscar and famous producers and how they have worked their way up to that role.

Watch our finished show below - 

For the second part of this assignment, we were asked to produce a piece of extended writing of a minimum of 2,000 words on our individual area of interest, this piece of writing should be well researched and based on a range of academic and cultural findings.

The question for my essay was why does the title of a producer cause so much confusion and what does the role of a producer entail and how does this differ in terms of the many other production roles? 

Find my finished essay below -

Matthew Hooton

Specialist Subject Investigation

2,000 words minimum

Specialist Subject Investigation

This essay will aim to answer the question why does the title of a producer cause so much confusion and what does the role of a producer entail and how does this differ in terms of the many other production roles?

The role of the producer has always been a little unclear, both within and outside the film and TV industry. A writer writes, a director directs crew and actors and an editor edits the film together, but it’s never really clear what a producer does. This essay will give an explanation into the role of a film and TV producer and the background of what it entails.

They are many reasons at why someone way be confused by the role of a producer, one of the reasons why people may be confused is part due to the fact that the role of the producer has shifted and expanded with the market demands and the changing conditions of which films and TV shows are now made.

Many may not think this but the producer has the biggest role and responsibilities on any film or TV production, they are responsible for a verity of things, first they must find and develop a material to eventually turn into a film or TV show, The project always starts with the producer, they find a story from something weather it’s a newspaper article, book, or a script that has already been written, it is the producer that finds the story and brings it to life through earning the rights to making it into a film and finding a writer to develop the script and get it ready for production.

Arguably, the producer’s biggest responsibility of all is sourcing and securing the funds needed to producing their idea, this is what scares many people away from producing. It’s their job to gain initial funding for the project through various ways of selling the idea to an audience such as pitching. This is where I believe the business side of the role comes into play. Many may think the producer just finds the idea and makes it with a crew on set, but in reality, the producer is actually more involved with the serious business side of the production rather than the creative and production side, they need to have a very business orientated mind and need to know how to get the money it’s going to take to produce their project and how to keep within that money budget when creating their media text.

The producer must take into account all aspects of the production to create an accurate budget so that the crew doesn’t over spend, as this will all come back to the producer.

What people don’t ever realise is that the producer hires the director, not the other way around, the stereotypical view is that the director has more power than the producer. This is a point that I will consider later on in this essay. The producer is responsible for sourcing all the production crew including the director.

A producer is a role that starts at the very start of a production and finishes at the very end, they are responsible for everything in-between, from pre-production to distribution of the finished product. They are not just an on set role as they have to make deals months before the crew start to go on-set. When everyone else goes home the producer continues to be the champion of the film.

As mentioned before the stereotypical view is that the director has more power than the producer. This is where I would like to show the differences between a producer and a director. The producer has much more of a business role compared to the director, the producer is the one who finances the film where as the director is more in control of the visual effects and how the film looks. While the director may appear to have a more important and significant role on set as they are the ones controlling all the crew, is It actually the producer who has all the power as without them there would be no idea to create into a film and no money to do it with.

In the industry, Directors are almost always more well-known than producers even though the producers do the hard part of the work, this maybe because the directors are seen as the people in charge of the production, and as this is true to an extent, people believe that there is no one above when in fact the producer is higher. Directors also sometime star in their own films which gives them more exposure than a producer as they tend to stay behind the camera. For example, Woody Allen has starred in his own films.

Becoming a producer is much harder than first thought, people may believe working in the creative industry isn’t a real career and that you can’t earn money, but what it takes to become a producer isn’t as easy as it seems. Within the industry if you want to become a film or tv show producer then you are expected to attend university to study film. But in the industry, there is something much more valuable than a degree from university, and that’s experience within the industry. Company’s and people need people who have the skills and experience to produce projects and bring them to life. Anyone can go and get a degree in film but showing people what you have worked on or created already is nearly always more important and overall more impressive. The average experience needed to join a production company or team is between 1 and 5 years. This makes company’s much more comftable with implying you if they already know what you’re like. When becoming a producer, having critical skills are a must. These include: - thinking, writing, decision making, time management and listening.

No one ever starts out straight as a film producer, it takes years of gaining experience but it’s one of the best things to do to stand out to future employers. The experience needed to become a producer is much more important.

Because working in the film & TV industry is such a high target job, producers gain a lot of power. Successful producers can gain fame and popularity which also leads to power within society. With a following they are influencers who can easily influence people and make themselves into a brand. The power can be a great thing but can also bring negatives. An example of this power being used in the wrong way is in the recent Weinstein scandal.

Weinstein had been accused of sexual assault to woman within the industry, and has now been more recently found quality, people may have not said something right away purely because of the power that he had.

When something like this happens the persons, career is now dependent on what the audience thinks of them. Their career can be suddenly taken away in seconds because of one story. This is the reality of being in the public eye.

Examples of other producers are people such as Michael man, Tarantino and Stephan Spielberg all people who have worked in the industry for some time now and have built themselves a brand that they can gain power for themselves with. With a world now full of social media this is now easier to do than ever.

An example of the difference between a director and producer can be seen by the scott brothers who are both famous filmmakers. Tony Scott was a British film director while his brother Ridley was a producer. Tony was always the more well-known brother purely based on the fact that he was a director. Even though some say ridley made the better films he was always less known compared to his brother. This is an issue that still goes on to this day, which leads me onto my next topic of how the role of a producer has changed over time and why it’s now the most important role on and off set.

Many years ago in Hollywood, the producer was the creative force behind a project, something that still applies today to an extent, Once a project was ready to be screened the producers job was over and the responsibilities went over to the studios distribution team.

Over the last 10 years, everything has changed with the huge market of digital filmmaking and shearing platforms. The world has been flooded with digital content and the producer has come to be something more. Though finding funding for the film is still their main job the role of producer has become something so much more. From finding the idea in the first place to now marketing the film and distributing it to an audience, the producer has become the link between the filmmaker and the audience even though they take upon the more business side role of the production.

Productions are now bigger than they ever used to be and the role of producer has adapted to help with this, years ago films used to have small budgets and crews and would now feel like a walk in the park to produce looking back. But these days crew sizes are in the hundreds of people and the producer is now in charge of all these people. The role has developed into something so huge that doesn’t really get the reignition that it deserves.

 In conclusion, I believe there will always be a confusion between the roles of director and producer, due to the fact of the roles being similar and people who are not fully involved in the film and TV industry thinking that they are the same thing and also not realising how many business skills are needed by the producer to create a professional production these days. The role will always be more business than creative as there needs to be someone on a production that can deal with money, people and finding crew to produce an amazing final piece. There would be no way productions could work without a producer and they play such an important role which doesn’t really get recognised. 

References

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Careers In Film | Film Schools & Colleges. (2020). Producer vs. Director: Who’s the Boss?. [online] Available at: https://www.careersinfilm.com/producer-vs-director/ [Accessed 6 Mar. 2020].

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Garden, H., HowStuffWorks, Entertainment, Movies and Awards (2020). How Movie Producers Work. [online] HowStuffWorks. Available at: https://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/movie-producer2.htm [Accessed 6 Mar. 2020].

Huffingtonpost.co.uk. (2020). HuffPost is now a part of Verizon Media. [online] Available at: https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/preetam-kaushik/the-changing-roles-of-film-producers_b_2483863.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAM_KmI6WAAJtLz5DYDPByDmzhpnJ0ZBnk-3394J7lE0YGAIWbY2xD17ZXXccbpO-d5U7T8fACzai26G8uuCSXju_hwvBVL7oYshXGtC0HU-3YkhdWxjB3JA2AbmfyjYvT9_Zb2oQNlNFjY1vEV3VPmjzxR0y0R4jbUbXHH5utJi7 [Accessed 6 Mar. 2020].

Movie Raiders. (2020). Tony Scott v. Ridley Scott, no contest? Not so fast.. [online] Available at: http://movieraiders.net/2012/06/tony-scott-v-ridley-scott/ [Accessed 6 Mar. 2020].

Study.com. (2020). How to Become a Movie Producer | Education and Career Roadmap. [online] Available at: https://study.com/how_to_become_a_movie_producer.html [Accessed 6 Mar. 2020].