EYES Pilot - Evolution of the Script

This is a script that evolved a great deal through its seven iterations and as a result of rehearsing it with the performers. Of all the scripts I have written, this is the one that has received the most input, re-thinking and revising. I feel that it is a very thorough script as a result and served as a strong foundation on which to build and develop the Pilot episode further.

Embedded below is the 7th draft/shooting script. 



The other drafts and variations of the Pilot script can be viewed in this Google Drive folder. 

Busybody and P.S. are two earlier scripts that I wrote that have had clear influences on the EYES Pilot script.

EYES Pilot - Reflective Commentary

Here I have produced a reflective commentary for Pilot as means for me to more directly discuss my intentions for my approach with the Pilot and the EYES Project as a whole. These reflective commentaries actually serve as a sneaky short cut into understanding the project as a whole.

The first reflective commentary is just a traditional commentary track running playing over the Pilot.

The second reflective commentary is more of a video essay in which I spend a bit more time discussing various attributes of the Pilot and their place in the overall project. 

The Complete Vlogs

These vlogs chronicle the year-long evolution and process of creating the EYES project. You can either view the vlogs as a playlist or as separate videos. 

Remember This

Remember This is a fellow creative enterprise project/practical dissertation orchestrated by my peer Matt Coot. Matt's creative project was concerned with producing a short film - Remember This - and then submitting it into various film festivals. However, as was the case with EYES, Matt's project was not completed at the time of the final module submission; that said, it did not prevent the potential of the project from being awarded a First! 

And here (a year-and-a-half later) is the final cut...

While does tell a good story, I do still have a few issues with the final cut (mostly technical), but, meh, it's Matt's film at the end of the day, he can do what he likes.

You can find out more about Remember This on Matt's website.

Matt Coot - the orchestrator of Remember This.

As a means of support to double each of our effectiveness, Remember This was produced in co-operation with my EYES web series project, from October 2012 to May 2013. As such, I served as the co-producer on Remember This, in return for having Matt (writer, director, co-producer and co-editor) serve as the co-producer on EYES. 

In addition to producing (nagging) and providing technical support, I also took many photos of the production.

I was heavily involved with the organising and co-ordination of Remember This during the pre-production phase before Christmas (Oct - Dec), but in the New Year I devoted more of my time my own projects. However, throughout the whole process of making Remember This, my producing role has consistently been concerned with motivating the members of the project and keeping everything on schedule. I also offered additional technical support during the production phase. The documentation I produced for Remember This can be viewed here.

For more information on my role in the making of Remember This, please see the feedback videos below. I made these videos as feedback for Matt's portfolio, but they also act as my reflections on my producing role for Remember This.

 

EYES Documentation

As EYES was a final year creative enterprise project, there is a great deal of extra material that was generated during the course of orchestrating the project. When I submitted the project back in May, together with the primary elements (Series Bible, Pilot, Pilot Script and this blog), I also submitted a hard copy appendix.

I submitted the project on the 20th of May.

As this blog is also the projects portfolio, I was very keen to include all of the project materials on it; as such via a Google Drive folder and I have digitised other documents where necessary. To access the folder, follow the link below:

 EYES Documentation

I have arranged the documents into relevant folders.

The documents included are: Series Bible, all drafts of the Planning Portfolio, all drafts and variations of the Pilot script, my marks and feedback, reference guides (free e-books), risk assessments, shot lists, filming permits, Survey Monkey feedback results, Time Investment Log Sheets, weekly project sync documents and other (general) materials.

I want to put the entirety of this project on this blog/portfolio so all the world can see it.

EYES Vlog Update 22 - Feedback for the Actors

Part 1

 

Part 2

EYES Vlog Update 21 - Preproduction (Recap)

Mock-up: A Trailer to Sell the Idea

The EYES mock-up trailer was a component I was very keen to implement into the project, as I felt it would help to strenghten the overal presentation of EYES being a web series proposal package.



The purpose of a mock-up trailer is akin to Kickstarter campaign video - to get funding!

Black Dynamite is a comedy homage to the Blaxploitation films of the 1970s, the film was released in 2009. Below is the original mock-up trailer followed by the trailer made from the finished film.

 

 


Prototype is a film currently in production thanks to the funding its mock-up trailer managed to secure. 



Below is the initial vision I had for the EYES trailer material:

EYES Season 1 Trailer - This will be produced and exhibited online and two versions will be produced: a standalone one (2 mins), that would feature footage from the Pilot, and one to fit on the end of the Pilot (30 secs). I'm keen to do this because it would allow me to hint at what happens in the rest of the first season and would demonstrate that EYES has a story that can continue beyond the Pilot. Producing a mock-up trailer is also a very current concept and demonstrates an understanding of advertising and a completely different style of editing. My plan is to write a trailer script based upon the treatments of the other season 1 episodes and then film this footage alongside the Pilot. Likewise, the two edits of the trailer will be edited during the same period of the Pilot.

Overall, the development of the trailer really just suffered from lack of time and my inability to invest any real attention into it, as I said in the vlog it became apparent to me that it would require an equal amount of time as the Pilot.

The Trailer was something I was very keen to do.

I had many Ideas for the trailer, its contents would have been comprised of snipet-scenes of significant turning points in the first season. However, this plethora of material was part of the problem - I just didn't have the time to sit down to work my way through these ideas and structure them into a form that was aesthetically pleasing. You can read all that exists of the script here.

The trailer would have opened with something like this.

More time would also have been required to insure that everything that was in the trailer synced up with what was in the Pilot episode. This is was even more problematic when you consider that I was rewriting the Pilot at the same time. Therefore, on top of the Fencing documentary and my dissertation, I think I made the right choice in disbanding the trailer.

However, after we completed production, Daniel (EYES' sound designer) put the following video together to showcase some sound design he had done and to demonstrate a possible idea for a teaser trailer.

While a trailer created from the Pilot's footage did interest me, it was something I felt I wouldn't have time to do and I have been proved right. Ultimately, a trailer was an embellishment too far and something that will have to be tried another time.

EYES Feedback: Mykel Elledge ('Boris')

EYES Preproduction Meetings - Clarity

I would just like to make it clear that regardless of the fact Matt (my co-producer) has only produced one minutes of the meeting document for one of the EYES preproduction meetings, there were actually five preproduction meetings for EYES (see my Time Invested Log Sheet)!

This is slightly annoying when you consider how many documents I put together for Remember This.

EYES Vlog Update 7: Rehearsals

EYES Vlog Update 6: Technical Concerns

In these vlogs I discuss some of the technical concerns I've had in regards to filming, the test I've done to explore these problems and the solutions I'm going to implement to illuminate them when we do actually film the Pilot.

For best results put the video qualities up to 1080p.

EYES Vlog Update 6.1: Lighting Problems

EYES Vlog Update 6.2: Sound Problems

EYES Vlog Update 5: Locations

Here I discuss the locations for the Pilot and why I picked them.

EYES Vlog Update 4: Characters & Cast

Here I discuss the characters of EYES and who I have cast in the roles.

Test Footage: Touching the Water

Here is some test footage I shot for when Boris touches the water in the pilot script. In my head I had a pretty clear Idea of logistically how we would do it. However, as I would be putting water together with £3000 camera, it was something I wanted to be sure of in a controllable environment.




In this second test, I experiment with a lens flare effect and the results speak for themselves! This also features some of Daniel's initial sound design work for the project.
 

Sound and Lighting Tests: Upper Weir - 21/02/2013

Following on from my initial technical concerns about lighting and sound recording on the Upper Weir location (11/02/2013 Test Footage & 12/02/2013 Test Footage), I conducted some research into the University's equipment (for the sound) and elsewhere for the lighting (see below).

 

While looking for a solution to my lighting problem, I came across the above video and liked the very simple and surprisingly satisfactory result it offered. Following the videos guidance I invested in an LED torch and nabbed some gel paper (you place this over the bulbs to soften the light and to stop it from your blinding your performers) from the Broadcast Lab equipment cupboard. 
 
Last night, together with Tish and Matt, I conducted some sound and lighting tests at the Upper Weir location trying out the solutions I found. I did this to determine what would be the best microphone, camera, settings and lighting rig to use in order to achieve the results I want from the shoot. 

Following the results, I have decided to use the LED light and the Radio mics for the sound.

The videos below should be pretty self-explanatory.

EYES Vlog Update 3: Pilot Script

Here I discuss the status of the pilot script.

Location Recce and Test Footage: Upper Weir - 12/02/2013

The other day I captured some test footage and photographs of the weir at night to assess what lighting issues I would have to deal with when are doing our filming. However, It was a hard situation to assess because the Bath Rugby Ground had their stadium lighting on. To this end, I captured some more test footage and photographs from the following night when the Bath Rugby Ground didn't have its lighting on. 

 

Location Recce and Test Footage: Upper Weir - 11/02/2013

As I was worried about the lighting situation with night filming by the wier, last night I went and captured some test footage and photographs to assess my situation.

This night the Bath Rugby Ground had their stadium lighting on. However, this wasn't as promising for the lighting situation as it first seemed...