Final Project – Progress Update #6 // Names and Permissions

Today we had our first consult with Paul after the presentation. To be honest, it was a bit of a reality check as the realisation hit that we really need to knuckle down and get moving with our final outcome. Prior to this meeting, most of our attention was focused on the presentation alone, and now we’re in a position where we need to actually put our words into action. It’s easy enough to say what we intend to do, but doing it is a whole new matter!

Paul began by encouraging us to come up with a name, or at least some form of working title. I think name’s are really difficult to commit to as it is such an important part of your product. People’s first impression of a media product is usually based on the name, and that can influence whether or not they choose to engage with it. Of course concept is important, but viewers may not seek out additional information unless they are intrigued by the title… I think this is kind of why we’ve avoided naming it all together. In our consult I casually said that I’d pick my group up from The Pines, a shopping centre nearby which is on the bus route. And with that, The Pines became our working title. Emphasis on the word ‘working,’ as unfortunately there are no pine trees in the Warrandyte State Park. “The Gums” would be more accurate, but that suggests some sort of dentistry nightmare – not exactly the horror vibe we’re going for.

We also discussed permissions, call sheets and safety reports. As the primary location manager (if that’s even a thing), I took it upon myself to handle permissions. Thinking it’d be fairly straight forward, I sent the following email to Parks Victoria:

Screen Shot 2015-09-28 at 10.27.16 am  Only to get the following reply:

Screen Shot 2015-09-28 at 10.28.47 amThe document attached was an filming permit application form which was 17 PAGES LONG. On first thought, I figured there was no way this is going to get approved in time even if I do fill it out. However, upon reading the document a bit closer I’m 90% sure that the need for permit doesn’t apply to us. To my understanding, it is for commercial projects, whereas our filming is primarily for personal use. THANK GOD. This goes to show why full-scale, commercial productions require so much more time. If we were shooting a feature film and required permission for say six locations, it would likely take months to coordinate.

In Thursday’s class, we intend to experiment with shooting walking and running shots as they can be quite difficult to perfect. Further actions from this point forward include the allocation of roles, selection of shooting days, and undertaking the necessary pre-production steps to maximise our productivity.

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