May 1st saw our second pre-production session, working on feature film ‘SPECTRUM’. So, what has happened since I last wrote to you? Quite a lot, to say the least. We now have a colourful, trippy-looking promotional poster thanks to Brandon Wilson and Callum Emms of the dazzling design team. We have ourselves a Snapchat account so you lovely people can follow our progress in a more intimate way (simple add ‘qpfilm’). Crowdfunding is kicking off big time (now at 20%!) and we are glad people are getting behind us and making this film a reality.
Once again, Director Michael Henry was swift in organising us into our assigned groups, ensuring everybody knew their roles and allocating equipment to those who needed it. Producer James Jackson was data logging contacts, making sure everything was in order, and offering advice to fellow film students.
Lucy Tyler and Tom Hinckley were tasked with widening the audience and drawing up on ideas to publicise the crowdfunding campaign. Tom has a weekly show on local radio station Siren FM. Using this connection to his advantage, Tom has proposed the idea of a weekly interview with Michael Henry, focussing on the production company and the progress of ‘SPECTRUM’. The team have dubbed this as “Keeping up with Michael Henry” (though few can considering the pace he works at). Added to this, the team have been formulating ides of promoting the feature film in new and interesting ways (more soon), as well as the traditional methods of local magazines, newspapers, radio & TV stations.
The script team continued their hard work of breaking down the script (It’s big). The script team have been responsible for highlighting and logging every location, actor, props and key costume that will be required during the shoot, working closely with every department so they have a clear idea of what needs to be created for the film.
The Prop team is led by Robyn Fuller, and was accompanied in this session by Dan Davis. Their duties consisted of sketching and designing props, searching for appropriate materials, and finding stores to purchase materials at an affordable rate. When speaking to the prop team, they showed me an amazing design of a gizmo known as a personality helmet (working title). This piece of technology is a very powerful gadget, which allows users to alter their personalities and emotions.
Locations scouts were armed with laptops and a list of location descriptions, taken from the script breakdowns. The group were soon finding potential locations in the locality. Upon finding these locations, Chloe Bond, Lauren Key and Stuart Riley noted the addresses and established contact details, in order to check for availability and obtain permission.
After creating the wonderful posters since last week, the design team knuckled down and designed A5 flyers. These will be handed out to members of the public, to inform them of the feature film, and encourage more people to support the crowdfunding campaign. To grab peoples attention the flyer (created by Callum Emms) poses the question: “What colour is your personality?” Accompanying this question are various coloured triangles that link to characteristics, that represent personality types. After the flyers were produced, the first batch were printed, and a team comprising of Myself, Lucy Tyler, Paulina Misarko, Lauren Key and Morgan Mellor, were sent out to the streets of Lincoln, to distribute them. Kirsty Cheetham of the (in-film) design team, has also been looking at designing logos for Spectrum corporation.
Once again, the Behind the Scenes team documented the hard work undertaken in the session. Paulina, James Burtenshaw and I were in charge of capturing the magic taking place. Added to this, we were given the opportunity to interview the producer of ‘SPECTRUM’, James Jackson (who I must say is an awesome character). Make sure to check the behind the scenes video when it is uploaded.
As you have probably gathered, the pre-production team has been bustling with activity this week and will continue to be. Make sure to come back next week to see how the crew are progressing.
by Declan Godfrey