Transition | SUBMISSION (Links)

Website

(Click here or type http://ahargood.wixsite.com/vet-man)

VET-MAN Film



Research and Development Journal

• Pitch and Ideas
• Brief and Initial Ideas
• The Pitch
• Development
• Research
• Mockumentary Genre
• Production
• Scripting
• Test Shoot and Edit
• Pre-production: Props and Set Design
• Pre-production: Casting and Locations
• Shooting
• Editing
• Writer / Director Statement
• Website

Project Evaluation

Transition | Project Evaluation

What worked?

I feel that Katie, Melissa and I worked well as a team to produce the film as we were able to communicate our ideas well and plan through all the details of each shoot, from locations to cast, and scheduling.

I am very pleased with the script, as I have not written a comedy piece before, I feel that the jokes flow nicely and I was happy with the feedback I received from various people.

The final cut of the film works nicely as a comedy.  I was fairly numb to all the humour at this stage, but from showing it to other people, there were some genuine laughs which would suggest that we have actually succeeded in creating an amusing comedy piece.

Having never worked with animals on a shoot, I feel working with Coco worked effectively, and I feel that we followed the correct procedures when working with her to ensure that she was not mistreated in any way during the course of the production.

I feel that the props, costumes and set design really sold the setting as a vets.  I have said throughout this unit that authenticity is key to the mockumentary, and I feel we hit the nail on the head here.

What didn't work?

We definitely did not get enough coverage for all the shots.  The surgery scene in particular could have been a really nice addition to the film, but since we rushed this part of the shoot, we missed this moment and some of the practical effects may have gone to waste.

I feel that we could have managed our time a lot better.  Considering we started this unit shortly before the live studio production on the last unit, we were not focusing much of our attention on preparing for this project.  This was a particularly significant issue for us as Katie and Melissa were producers for the live show, so that they needed to be fully involved in a lot of the last minute changes to the show, so that this unit was swept under the rug to a certain extent.

We could have been much more ambitious with the casting of our film.  Whilst I am happy with Aidan and Samantha's perfomances, they fell flat on some of the lines, and it would have been nice if we had more time to focus on casting some professionals.  This was largely due to timing, as we said, and logistics as we were not sure when we could film due to our issues with locations.

We should have considered how we recorded sound more as the quality is not very good from the footage.  Mel has salvaged it somewhat in the edit, but sound is something that needs to be thought about from the start and I regret that we did not

What did I learn?

I learned a lot about writing and directing comedy, such as relying on reactionary shots and building up to the punchlines.  As mentioned, this was completely new to me, and I am proud that I managed to make some people laugh with what I wrote.

I learned the importance of contacting as many locations as possible, as three out of four of our vet locations dropped out quite close to the shoot days.

I also learned how I can collate my work into a presentable format through designing and making the website, which I think looks really slick and professional - these skills will become very useful for my final major project and in future when I am making showreels and advertising myself for any potential freelance work.

The most significant thing I have learned is stepping back from the editing desk, as I have edited for every single unit so far on the course.  Giving the footage over to someone else was difficult, but it allowed be to take a step back and think about the broader picture of the film and not get bogged down with the gritty technical details as I normally do when editing.

What could I develop?

Casting is always something I feel I could develop so we could find actors that are much more appropriate to our film and have a broader range of capabilities in delivering their lines.

My time and project management skills could definitely be developed so that even if I have a lot more work going on, I can still divide up my time fairly to get everything done as efficiently as possible.

I feel that I could also develop my understanding of shooting for a particular genre.  As Simon said in one of our feedback sessions, the film felt more like a drama at times due to the camera angles, so I need to get out of the rut of using basic camera angles as they may not always be appropriate to the style of what I am creating.

Transition | Website

(Click here to go to our website or type http://ahargood.wixsite.com/vet-man)

After the project was complete, we compiled all the creative elements and key research from the project into a website using Wix.  I mainly worked on the website design and main page; Katie, Mel and I all added our own components into the site to go into our own roles.

I found it interesting to compile all this work into one place and I feel that we have demonstrated everything that we have done in a coherent way, and despite some hiccups the final product has come together nicely.

Transition | Director's Statement

I took on the role as writer/director as I wanted to try writing and directing a comedy.  Mockumentaries have always appealed to me as they subvert what we would expect to see in a documentary with a comedic twist.

The idea for VET-MAN came about upon watching Channel 4's 'Supervet' which follows esteemed vet, Dr Noel Fitzpatrick as he treats animals in his specialist vet practice.  The series is shot through fixed cameras, cut between interviews with vets and pet owners as they talk about the animals featured on the show, and normally involving some sort of emotional story behind the animal to accentuate how much these pets mean to their owners.  I felt that we could twist the genre into a comedy by making the lead vet incompetent and ignorant of pets' needs juxtaposed with an authentic vet setting and storyline.

I looked into the work of Armando Iannucci, writer and director of The Thick Of It, and found that the general rule for writing comedy is to ensure that the jokes are timed well, and the characters' reactions can greatly add to the effectiveness of the joke.  As I delved further into the mockumentary genre, looking at series' such as 'Come Fly With Me', it became clear that comedic value was added through the dichotomy between the serious tone of a documentary with the absurdity of the characters in this environment.  Therefore I found the key elements of writing and directed a mockumentary were an effective build-up, timing, and authenticity of the set to provide a believable backdrop to contrast with the ridiculous.

I began by writing the lead character, Dr Tim Stewart, as this incompetent, yet arrogant vet with a complete disregard for animals' wellbeing.  This would contrast with how I would eventually plan to structure and shoot the film, which would be in the style of the factual entertainment series, 'Supervet'.  It would become very important for us to ensure that we would make the setting, props and costume look genuine to sell the idea that we are making a documentary so that the finished product would be an effective mockumentary.

The script features the key elements that I found in my research.  The build-up came in the form of Sheila's interview where she talks about her husband who has died and that Coco is very special to her, followed by the increasing suggestion the Dr Stewart is not an ordinary vet, and then leading to the death of Coco.  The humour in the script is absurd at times - Dr Stewart's cow infatuation - and also quite dark, as he disposes of Coco's body in the bin and it would be the deliver of these lines and actions that would make the comedy flow naturally.  When it came to shooting, we also ensured that we gave the authentic feeling through how we dressed the set, used props and practical effects, and how closely we followed the documentary shooting style.

I chose the cast based on the characters - I felt that Aidan was an effective Dr Stewart through his deadpan delivery and his ability to explain through the prognosis in a confident manner.  Samantha was also a good choice for Sheila as she was able to provide some cracking reaction shots which added to the humour of her scene with Dr Stewart.  Working with my dog, Coco, was a new experience but I learned how difficult it was to work with an animal.  I feel that she worked effectively and the relationship between Sheila and Coco was believable in how they worked together on screen.

The film starts with the intro sequence, which I worked with the editor, Melissa, to create.  We ensured that it set the correct tone for a factual entertainment show such as this, and I feel this was achieved well.  After this, we start to go into establishing the setting and building up Sheila and Coco's backstory.  These follow the main features of a documentary series such as 'Supervet' which I found focused on the pet owners and built up the relationship between the pets and the owners.  However, rather than building tension to create interest as to what happens to the animals, our  build up would lead to the punchline of the jokes that came later in the film.  It was important to make Sheila's opening scene emotional, so that when the jokes come in, there is a contradiction between the dark and the light which would create humour throughout.

I liaised with the director of photography, Katie, as we set up the lighting for the film.  We aimed to make the scenes with Coco and Sheila at her house and at the park quite warm-looking to look happy and idyllic which would contrast with the vet itself which I wanted to have cooler lighting to look more clinical to match the setting and genre.  We also chose to shoot the scenes in the surgery with static cameras to give the impression that there is no camera operator and give the film a fly-on-the-wall-esque style to it.

I wanted the consultation scene to feel awkward between Sheila and Dr Stewart to give the vet a sense of peculiarity and oddness to his character which was accentuated by showing his affection for cows.  By focusing on Sheila's reaction to Dr Stewart's comments, it allows the audience to grasp the ridiculousness of his lines through her, and Melissa and I chose to draw out these shots as long as possible to let the lines sink in and allow for Sheila's bewilderment to come through.  The music was also picked particularly to help convey the tone of the film.  Sheila's interview had a piano track to emphasis the sadness of the scene and another sad track is used for the waiting room scene in which Dr Stewart tells Sheila that there were complications in the surgery, as well as a tense track in the surgery itself.  Mel cuts these tracks on two beats - the first cuts out when Dr Stewart stabs the needle into Coco and the second cuts out when her body hits the bottom of the bin.  This helps with the comedic timing by completely undercutting the emotion and tension with the characters disregard for the animal.

The surgery scene itself was initially intended to include a graphic blood splatter as we saw him operating on Coco but due to complications on the shoot we were not able to use the footage.  This became a blessing in disguise as Melissa and I later agreed to rely entirely on sound design to give an impression of what was happening.  This works quite well as the audience is allowed to picture the scene for themselves and visualise how badly the surgery is going through the sounds.  It may have been too 'on the nose' to show exactly what was happening so the is a level of subtlety added to the comedy in the scene.  The punchline comes when Dr Stewart hands Sheila the bloodstained leaflet and the shock of seeing the blood all over the leaflet darkly contrasts with the sadness of the scene.

In conclusion, I am pleased with how the script evolved over time.  I have not written comedy before and through researching into the genre, I feel I was able to deliver a reasonably strong comedic tone and I feel this translated well into the finished film.  The authentic setting and the photography and edit contribute to building up the mockumentary style of the film.

Transition | Editing

Melissa was in charge of the edit, but it was also crucial that I provided my input, as the director, so that what I wrote in the script translates well into the finished product.

I initially left her to her own devices to make the rough cut based on the script before I started to add my input to help her with the pacing and flow of the film.  Here is the initial rough cut that Mel put together:




The main issue for me was that some of the shots drew out to be a lot longer than they needed to be, almost to the point that it feels uncomfortable.  I felt that the build up lasted far too long, especially as Sheila is coming in to the building - the lack of music and dialogue accentuates this so I advised Mel to cut this first sequence down massively.  We also agreed that the audio needed a lot of work, but that is something that will be perfected toward the latter end of the editing process.  The surgery scene also needed a lot of work - this was largely my own fault on the day as we rushed shooting this scene and missed out on some crucial coverage of the blood splatter.

The overall sequencing was there, now it was a matter of condensing it down and ensuring that the editing works in favour of the tone instead of making the piece seem awkward, and not in a good way.  This was the first rough cut, however, so I am not expecting perfection just yet.



The second rough cut featured the first version of the opening titles, which I am very happy with.  The music fits the tone of the film very well and I am a big fan of cutting to the beat, so other than some minor adjustments, I am mostly happy with the titles.  The pacing feels a lot better in this cut as well, since Mel has condensed the opening down a lot, so there are no uncomfortable pauses.

Mel and I both decided that in order to salvage the surgery scene, she could work on the sound design to give an idea of what is happening in the room without actually showing it.  If executed well, this could even be more effective than showing the blood splatter itself.  There was still a lot of work to be done here, as the blood splatter we did record looked very poor, it may even be better to rely entirely on the sound design rather than showing any of the blood until Dr Stewart leaves the room.  With this feedback on board, Mel went on to the third rough cut:



This edit saw the addition of music to some of the scenes which really added a lot to the tone of the film.  We also re-recorded 'the sniff' so that it lasts longer and feels a little more awkward for Sheila.  I said previously that I did not want the film to feel awkward, but I feel the awkwardness is unnecessary for the consultation scene to show how ridiculous Sheila finds Dr Stewart's methods.  For example, Sheila's long pause after Dr Stewart says he is going to sedate Coco works well to linger on her reaction as she is completely bewildered.  My favourite addition to this cut was the louder 'thud' right at the end which cuts off the sombre music.  Mel has timed this perfectly and I feel the dichotomy between the sadness of losing the dog and the complete disregard for Coco's body comes across as darkly funny.  This edit also involves the credits, which I am happy with as well.

Simon also gave feedback on this cut.  He liked the build up sequence as it felt very fitting to the style we wanted and he was happy with the overall pacing of the film.  His primary concern was that the choice of shots did not feel like a fixed camera documentary as we had initially decided on.  I agreed with this to an extent however I feel we needed to get more coverage than we would usually see on this sort of documentary series.  Come Fly With Me also uses more diverse camera angles than we would expect on an actual documentary series, so this did not both me too much.  This is certainly something to reflect on with regards to how we approached filming the mockumentary.

I gave Mel some final notes to improve on for the finished cut:  The audio volume needs to be consistent, especially with dialogue, the timing of the music needs to be altered slightly so it comes in with the action, and I thought that some of the shots could linger for a little longer (such as the "these hands" line).  Mel finalised the cut and Katie joined to help with the colour grading, as she was Director of Photography.  As director, I also gave my input to the colouring.  Here is the finished cut:



I am very pleased with how the edit has developed since the first rough cut.  The timing works very nicely to create that darkly comic tone and it feels a lot more polished than before.  In future, we certainly need to ensure we have as much coverage as possible, and when shooting, ensure that we remember the style of shooting we want to go for in order to ensure we are filming for the genre we want.

Transitions | Shooting

We had intended to shoot the entire film in one day, however due to time constraints on the first shoot day, we ended up shooting over two days.  This was not what I had intended, but it meant that the second shoot was not rushed so we were able to get a lot more coverage for the park scenes.

Katie and I worked on a shot list so that we were more efficient with which shots we wanted to capture and we could mark off exactly what shots we needed to get on whilst at filming:



I also planned out the order in which I wanted to capture the footage - I felt that scene 5 (the consultation scene) was the most difficult to film, so I wanted to get that out the way first before moving on to Dr Stewart's PTCs and the surgery before moving on to the waiting room scenes.  The next day we would shoot Sheila's scenes at home, then end with the idyllic shots of Coco.  I found that writing notes on the script as we went through the day to be very useful, as I could make minor tweaks as and when we shot the scenes, and then keep referring back to the script if we were unsure of anything.

We arrived at the village hall where we were filming the vet scenes, and immediately began dressing the set and ensuring that the rooms looked as much like a vet as possible.  We put the posters and leaflets up in the main room and waiting room and rearranged the tables and chairs to fit in with what we wanted.  It was this attention to detail that would sell the initial 'documentary' feel of the film from the get-go so making sure the set looked authentic was vital.


After we made sure everything looked how we wanted, we set up the cameras and lighting ready to shoot the first scene, which was scene 5.  This scene involves Sheila and Coco coming in the the room to see Dr Stewart as he is looking at pictures of cows on his laptop; he then examines Coco and claims she needs surgery and the scene ends with Sheila looking confused about the prognosis.  This was possibly the most complex scene to shoot, as we not only needed to shoot Dr Stewart's and Sheila's lines, but also film Coco being examined.

I wanted to make the set look quite clinical with the lighting, so Katie and I agreed that we would use bright softbox lights and the fluorescent lighting on the ceiling to achieve the best effect.  We were shooting on two DSLR cameras - my own Canon EOS 60D, and Katie's Canon EOS 700D, both with 18-55mm lenses and lyre-mounted Rode microphones.  We decided several weeks ago that we would be using our own equipment as we wanted to get more experience with using them as well as what the university has to offer.  In hindsight, I feel I would have liked to shoot on a Panasonic DVX200 as it has a lot more capabilities with the larger sensor, but I am happy with what we were able to achieve with the DSLRs - particularly the depth of field.

Scene 5 took longer than we had hoped to film, as Aidan and Samantha were still getting to grips with the script and this was our first attempt at filming with the dog.  I ran through Aidan and Samantha's lines with them and blocked out where I wanted them to move throughout the scene.  I found this to be a fairly simple process as I had made a lot of notes on my script and was taking them through the scene step by step so they knew exactly what to do.  I made sure that we got as many reaction shots as possible as a lot of the humour would draw from how the characters react to certain situations.

I have never filmed with animals before and this proved to be a challenging experience.  I researched some tips online beforehand, and the main thing I needed to make sure was that she was not too hot or uncomfortable and that she was not in the same place for too long as this may distress her.  Coco is my dog, and I know her well enough to see when she is distressed anyway, but these tips were useful in reassuring me on how to approach filming with an animal.  I also made sure that Coco was familiar with Aidan and Samantha before shooting so that she responded well to being near them.  We made sure she had plenty of water throughout the day and I took her out several times so she could get some air and relieve herself as much as possible - the minute we finished her scenes, I called my parents to pick her up and take her home.

We ran through the other scenes in this room over the next few hours before moving into the waiting room.  These scenes were more difficult to block as the waiting room was quite narrow and there was little room to move the camera without breaking the 180 degree rule.  The lighting was also a bit of an issue, as the shadows were moving as the sun did, however the aesthetic of this lighting worked quite nicely, especially as we moved toward the scene where Dr Stewart delivers the bad news to Sheila.  This gave the scene a more sombre feeling which was appropriate to the scene.

The surgery scene was not as difficult as scene 5, however we were running quite short on time and unfortunately ended up rushing it.  The practical effects worked very well but we narrowly missed the actual blood splatter as is in the script.  This was unfortunate as it would have been quite funny to see in the finished film, but we will have to work around it in the edit.  We made absolutely certain that we would not spill any blood on the floor or walls by covering the floor in plastic sheeting and avoiding the walls completely.

After some exterior shots of the vet, we wrapped for the day and agreed to come back the following day to shoot the scenes in Sheila's home and the park scenes with Coco.

The second day of filming went very smoothly.  Samantha's house worked very well as the room we shot in was well lit and we were able to dress the set to add the photographs of Coco and Sheila with her husband.  We did several takes so we could play around with the mood we wanted to achieve through the edit.

We then moved on to shoot the exterior scenes, which also went very smoothly and we were able to get a good amount of coverage for the scene.  Like the day before, we ensured that Coco was well looked after and was not working too hard.

Overall I am moderately pleased with these shoot days.  We managed to shoot almost everything we needed but I feel we were let down by the audio quality and by missing some crucial coverage shots that will make the edit a little harder for Melissa.  As a director, I think I did fairly well with blocking and working with the cast, but the footage is looking more like a drama than a documentary which loses some of the authenticity we worked so hard for with the set and props.  However I am optimistic that we will be able to make suitable adjustments when it comes to the edit and the comedic tone will be able to shine through.

Transition | Pre-production: Casting and Locations

Alongside my script, I wrote some character profiles for the actors that we would be casting for the film:

Dr. Tim Stewart

"Dr Stewart is a confident and dead-pan, yet completely incompetent vet.  He believes he is a good vet, but ends up doing a lot more harm than good and most of his patients don't last very long.  He has as strange affection for cows."

I feel that the most important trait for Dr Stewart was that he would come across as deadpan and so I asked my friend Aidan, who has acted on many of my projects.  I felt that he would convey the right tone and be able to deliver a believable performance as Dr Stewart.

Sheila

"50-something year old office worker and lover of animals, especially her dog Coco who has a special place in her heart after her husband died."

Some of these developments came through as I was writing the script and the rest came from how I wanted to convey the tone of the piece, and these elements helped add to it.

I wanted Sheila to essentially just be an ordinary woman, but crucially could convey the sense of shock and befuddlement in her reaction shots as a lot of comedy would be able to come through naturally.  We asked Samantha to play the role of Sheila as I felt he had the right look, and when seeing some of her reactions, I was happy that she would deliver a believable performance.


Coco

For simplicity, I will be using my own dog Coco to play herself in the film.  She is well-behaved and responds well to commands which will help when filming.  I also feel that, since she is my dog, it will be easier for her to listen to me, as she knows and trusts me.


Locations

We needed three main locations for the film: Sheila's house, a park and of course, the vet surgery.  We decided to shoot Sheila's house in Samantha's actual house as she had photos with her in and it made it more straightforward in terms of set decoration.  We only needed a living room, or dining room where we could place photographs of Sheila and Coco, and somewhere that was well lit and her house worked well in this regard.  We also decided to shoot the exterior park scenes in the park next to the vet location that we found.  We needed somewhere that was nice and open and could look aesthetically pleasing for Sheila to walk her dog, so we were not too worried exactly where this was - the park we ended up shooting at worked as it was near the other locations and was logistically quite convenient.

The vet surgery proved to be the most difficult location to come by. I went to recce the first potential location which is an office in Swanscombe.  It was quite small, but would have served well as the consultation room and waiting room with some set dressing.

I liked the green wall in particular, I feel that, whilst it was not plain as I would have liked, it added a nice contrast to the white.  This would have worked quite nicely.

There were a few issues with this location (aside from the contributor dropping out) - it was fairly small and very close to a road, therefore we were likely to have a lot of background noise, such as cars driving past which would have made editing the audio quite difficult.

The next location we had planned to shoot at would have worked very well - we went on a location recce to a potential location in Ebbsfleet which looked very plain, just as we wanted, the room we would be shooting in was also well lit and had some features that would have added to the mis en scene very nicely.  The television would have been a nice addition to the waiting room as we could put some clips of animals on there to add to the illusion that we were in a real vet surgery.  The only drawback we had initially was the cost of the room which would have been £12 per hour which was a little steep for our budget.  We were coming very close to the shoot day when the contributor dropped out, as they were no longer comfortable with letting a dog into the office, so we had to look for other options.

We were running out of options, and tried to get permission to film at the Maidstone Studios, but we were unsuccessful.  Luckily Katie was able to get in contact with her local village association which turned out to be a good call, as the building looked much more appropriate for the aesthetic we looking for.  The meeting room we were filming in also had a lot of cork boards that we could attach our posters to.  There was a large model attached to the wall which we could not remove but we will be able to work around this by framing the shots to keep it out of view.  There was a small charge of £16 for the entire afternoon, but this was not too expensive for us to cover.

The room we were using was fairly large and had more that enough room for the consultation room and the surgery room.  We checked that we were allowed to remove posters from the walls so we could add our own to add to the impression that we were in a vet's office and waiting room.  We were also able to move the tables and chairs around the room as we wished to make room for the camera and lighting equipment, as well as to help decorate the set.

The area around the location was also perfect for the idyllic scenes with Sheila and Coco as there were very few people about and the trees and foliage helped to give a natural and calm feel to the scene.

We carried out risk assessments to ensure that each set was as safe as possible.  We found several minor trip hazards, as expected, as we had the tripods and lighting equipment about the room and we made sure the whole cast and crew aware of where these hazards were and to take extra care traversing around the set.  We were lucky with the weather as both shoot days were nice and sunny but we made sure that if the weather did change, we would take extra care with the equipment so it would not get wet.  The fire exits were also kept clear throughout shooting.  Since we were working with fake blood, we took extra steps to ensure that the whole area around the blood was protected using bin bags and paper to protect the room surfaces in case of spillage.

We had a lot of issues with finding the main location, but I am happy with the building we ended up with.  The building itself looked visually interesting and the rooms we used were fit for purpose, and I feel we will be able to do well with creating an authentic-looking vet when it comes to shooting.