Brainstorming
We started pre-production by brainstorming ideas for what we were going to make. Our initial concept was making a romantic comedy, but with a twist; the characters would've been IB students. Since the IB programme is often teased by its students, we considered making use of that humour in our film. We considered making the programme an obstacle for the couple from getting closer due to its difficult nature.
In the end we decided to make a film exploring issues within society. We continued with the romantic comedy genre, and decided to make a film about online dating and fake identities, because we thought it would've been simpler. The idea was that in the end of the film, the protagonist (who would've been male) meets his online 'girlfriend' which is revealed to be a creepy old man. While we were exploring the romance/romantic comedy genre, I imagined the film to have a warm, yellow look and lighting, which would've been added in post-production. However, we thought that making a romance would've been difficult.
Finally, we decided to make a drama film and base it around a boy who secretly wishes to be a girl. The inspiration for this came from a certain classmate who dressed up as a girl as a joke. We also thought it would've inspired people around our age to find their own identity. The story basically goes that a quiet, emotionless boy, whom we decided to name Taylor, just turned 17, and is holding a birthday party at his house. At the end of the party, Taylor's friend, Derek, hides a gift in the house and tells him to go find it. As Taylor explores, his house, he finds different things which bring back bad memories. In the end, he finds the gift in the closet in his bedroom; a girly dress. Thus, we decided to name this film "Gift".
The story went through a couple of revisions to make shooting easier, and to make the story shorter but more concise. We had just learned about narrative when we began this project, so we considered implementing concepts such as flashbacks, 'in media res', cause and effect, etc. We initially planned to have a few flashbacks, but settled on one. We also considered putting the ending of the film in the future, where Taylor's friends hold a high school reunion, and when Taylor arrives, we show 'her' appearance from the back.
Treatment, Scrip, and Storyboard
The script and treatment was written by a teammate, and since we were a team of three, we split the workload of making the storyboard, with me and the director giving input.
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| Script sample |
Storyboard samples
Treatment
The film follows Taylor, a quiet American high school student who rarely shows his emotions, yet is popular. He is the epitome of a stereotypical tough man. The audiences discover Taylor’s life-changing secret, his belief that he is a girl, that he’s been hiding for all of his life at his 17th birthday party. He explores his own house to find a birthday present that Derek, his best friend and fellow classmate, hid somewhere. Along the way, he comes across objects in his very own home that gives the audience insight into his harsh life, which includes his abusive father who believes Taylor should be a stereotypical strong guy. Some of these insights are shown through flashbacks. When he finally finds the present, which is a dress, he becomes happy for the first time in his life.
Logistics
For location, we decided to rent a friend's house to shoot most of the scenes. One problem we discussed is what if the house doesn't match our needs, such as not enough rooms, or not the right arrangement of furniture, etc. We then decided that we could shoot specific scenes and rooms in other people's houses, as long as in the end, it all looks like one house, and that the audience wouldn't be able to tell.
For our cast, we chose some people who were taking theatre, some people in other year levels, and some people outside of school.
For equipment, we plan on using boom mics, a tripod, and for the camera; a Canon EOS Rebel T6i (aka 750D).
Shooting Strategies
When discussing with the director, we decided that it would be best to prioritise shots that have a large amount of people so that we could dismiss those who are no longer needed. The next priority was shooting from wider shots to close ups, and finally we decided to shoot by location.
There is one shot that is particularly tricky. We wanted the camera to go over someone standing in a doorway, and continue on in the other room. We considered several approaches, such as holding the camera on a stick, or having someone pass the camera into someone else who is inside the room.
Role Assessment
My main job as cinematographer is to bring out the director's vision of the film. Therefore, I need to talk with them about what shot types they want to use, what angles to shoot from, and what movements need to be done such as panning, tracking, or zooming, as well as telling them what can work, and what won't. I am the one holding the camera so it's my responsibility to get the shots to work as intended. The camera we will be using is a Canon EOS Rebel T6i, also known as the EOS 750D, with the 18-55mm IS STM lens. This is my personal DSLR, it's not quite
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