https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tU1UsEKLFDE
As mentioned in my previous blog post, my group (STeve) opted with the mockumentary genre for our TV series prototype. There are many facets that went into deciding this, and I thought I’d delve into what I believe were the most important.
SCRIPT
Our original intention as a group was to explore the process rather than the product of filmmaking, with a heavy focus on writing for genre. Ironically, we veered far away from this, turning to modes of improvisation/ad-libbing to fuel the narrative of Keeping Mum. In the first take of our mock shoot for our mockumentary, we shot strictly to the script, and felt this footage lacked somewhat of a genuineness that is so imperative in the mockumentary genre. It came off a little forced and melodramatic. While the overarching theme of our series trailer remained the same as that of the original mock-doc script, which was inspired by our overall premise, it seemed to work against our favour to work to a script. Instead, we utilised the space/set/location that we had, propping ourselves into a room and thinking “if our characters lived in this sharehouse, in this room, what would happen?”. We then hit the big ole red button, and it worked a treat! We were essentially *filming for writing*.
ACTORS
Similarly to how it panned out in terms of our script, our intentions for the way by which we would recruit actors changed over the course of the project. We were not opposed to this, as it challenged the traditional process we aimed to explore. We originally planned to use ourselves for our mock shoots for convenience, and then progress to casting professional actors for our series trailer. As time progressed (faster than expected) and as our draft scripts came to life, we felt the need for professional actors had become redundant. Apart from the fact that we are all narcissistic millennials who love a good selfie, we felt that we, ourselves, had the most thorough understanding of our characters, aesthetic, and what we wanted to achieve. We also managed to concoct a great chemistry that reflected on screen, which we feel could not have been matched by a pick ‘n mix of casted actors. We were also all being graded on the project and therefore had an incentive to not flake. After hearing the horror stories from some of the other groups, we were pretty chuffed with this decision. Only issue was, upon review, we realised Dylan and I came across on screen as incestuous siblings more than we did a couple. Oh well ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
CAMERA
According to the typical conventions of the mockumentary genre, we shot most of our footage with a handheld single cam, which aided in making the production process a lot quicker to shoot. This also worked well when combined with improvisation – as we were not reciting dialogue from a script, having to shoot in the multi-cam style with one camera would have resulted in many a continuity error. One of our scenes featured in the trailer (where ‘Mum’ thinks her son is dating Don) is shot and cut in the multi-cam format, and although it is one of my favourite moments, the overall feel is slightly different to the other shots. The genre allowed us to play with camera movement, giving it a personality and enabling ‘creative’ tracking, panning and zooming, and was forgiving of any mishaps that may have occurred. Because of this, the camera/(Wei Yun) stood as a character in itself.
EDITING
The intentionally rough-cut style of the mockumentary is very forgiving, and added a bit of ‘spunk’ and energy to the pace of our series trailer. Additionally, the typically amateur nature of the genre let us enhance the amateur nature of ourselves, subsequently allowing us to play up the change of lighting and atmosphere in our various locations. The addition of relatively goofy, happy-go-lucky non-diegetic music from our title onwards highlights the typical notions of mockery that comes along with our chosen genre. It provides an overall tempo and musicality, making the trailer all the more engaging to watch!
#THROWBACK
“…scriptwriting, like all art forms, is always changing and reinventing itself”
– Linda Aronson, The 21st Century Screenplay, 2010
Upon review of this prompt from the studio guide, I’m super proud to have the project we slaved over for the course of the semester to ring so true to the intended ideals of the studio. In its pre-production, production and post-production stages, Keeping Mum/Lord of the Land constantly changed and reinvented itself, just as we did to adapt to the outcomes of our hard work. I must admit, it’s a huge weight off my shoulders to have the project completed, and I’m pretty chuffed with how it has turned out. Hopefully our intentions translate to a fresh pair of eyes!
