FILM

PRODUCTION
ALAN CLARK
UH SCHOOL OF HUMANITIES
5HUM0205
MODULE STAFF
Module Leader: Alan Clark
a.p.clark@herts.ac.uk
Currently in Room R323

Senior Digital Technician: Abu Ullah
Room M113
a.j.ullah2@herts.ac.uk

THIS YEARS THEME.
Disruptions.

Intersections of
the real and the
imaginary.

Daydreams,
hallucinations
and fantasies.
FIRST 6 WEEKS
Week Date Lecture/Theme Seminars/Workshops
01 Lec. 01 Oct
Sem 01,
02,03
Module Introduction
theory into practice.
Intro to theme. Cinema
and the subconscious.
Examples and analysis.
Introduction to the digital video camera. Working in ad-hoc
groups. Basic in-camera editing. Looking at your work on a
big screen.
02 Lec. 08 Oct
Sem 08,
09,10
Initial ideas
development. Intro to
storyboard. Examples
and analysis.
Introduction to loans of cameras, equipment and lights.
The reflective process. Introduction to advanced camera
controls. Importing video into the computer. Adobe
Premiere.
03 Lec. 15 Oct
Sem 15,
16,17
Storyboarding. Mise-en-
scene. Examples and
analysis.
Shutter Speed/Iris. Depth of Field. More on controls. Adobe
Premiere.


04 Lec. 22 Oct
Sem 22,
23,24
Surrealism in Cinema.
Examples and analysis.
The moving camera. Adobe Premiere.
Date TBC Risk Assessment
Workshop R110, 11am-
1pm
Taking care of your group, your actors and the equipment.
Led by Abu Ullah
05 Lec. 29 Oct
Sem 29,
30,31
Editing techniques.
Tone and Pace.
Examples and analysis.
Writing workshop and storyboarding.
November 1
st
. Storyboard Submission, by 14.00. Hand In system, 3
rd
Floor R Block.
Date TBC Lighting, Health and
Safety Workshop, R115,
12-2pm
Some hints and tips for lighting use, but most importantly
how to manage lights safely. Led by Abu Ullah
06 Lec. 05 Nov
Sem 05,
06,07
Final points and
examples in the lecture
series.
Production planning.
FINAL 6 WEEKS

07 Sem 12,13,14 Nov Production week 1 Group Tutorials. Cinematography
workshops

08 Sem 19,20,21 Nov Production week 2
(Some access to labs in
evenings and at weekends)
Group Tutorials. Editing workshops 1

09 Sem 26,27,28 Nov Production week 3
(Some access to labs in
evenings and at weekends)
Group Tutorials. Editing workshops 2.

10 Sem 03, 04,05 Dec Editing and Post-Production.
(Some access to labs in
evenings and at weekends)
Colour correction. Layers. Titles.
Editing support.

11 Sem 10, 11,12 Dec Hand in session for groups. Editing support. Hand in of group films
and professional pack by Thursday
December 12th, at 11.00pm.
Completion of reflective diary, uploaded
by 22.00 on Friday 13
th
December.
Christmas Break
12 Date TBC Feedback and screening.
ASSIGNMENTS
There will be four assignments for this module:

1) Group: The production of a storyboard, with research
evidence.
2) Group: The production of a short film, 3 minutes long.
3) Individual: A reflective diary.
4) Professional Standards: A professional pack and
adherence to professional values.
Details on Studynet. Briefings in seminar sessions.

THEORY INTO
PRACTICE
Source material for analysis, The language of Moving
Images, a PDF on Studynet in teaching Resources, week 1.
1) Misc-en-scene
2) Cinematography
3) Editing
How is disruption created in cinema?
CINEMA AND THE
SUBCONCIOUS
From the fantasy landscapes in the films of Georges Mlis
to the warped perspectives of Robert Wienes Das Cabinet
des Dr. Caligari (1920), the subconscious mind and dream
states have been the preoccupation of a global cinema. Art
movements have provided particularly in depth focuses on
the dreamworld, above all, the Avant-Gardes, the
Experimentalists and the Surrealists.
Varying philosophical studies of the unconscious mind can
be found in films such as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless
Mind (2004), Waking Life (2001), Brazil (1985) and Adrian
Lynes nightmare text, Jacobs Ladder (1990). Inception and
The Matrix are two other films in which the dream state
features heavily.
CREATIVE
RELATIONSHIP
Our task is to develop a 3 minute film in which the conscious
and the subconscious meet in daydreams, hallucinations
and fantasies. In the moments between waking and sleep. In
the half remembered dreams recalled in waking life.
In this lecture series, well examine examples of films which
cross this psychological boundary. We are interested in how
this boundary crossing is achieved. What are the techniques
employed. Well look at a wide range of clips from various
times and genres.
CREATIVE TEAMS
Please keep notes and discuss what you see with each other.
You will need to develop and produce your film as a group.
Ideally you should work with people because of what they
bring ideas, expertise, commitment. Dont be sentimental.
Try to find people who give you confidence. That sometimes
means not working with friends.

Autobiographical
expression, common in
literature, very unusual in
film.
Exploration of the creative
process and the
subconscious elements that
feed it.
Narrative alternates between
the exterior and interior
worlds of the protagonist, a
film director.
Reflexive, film within a film.


EIGHT AND A HALF,
1963
Fantasy
Midlife crisis
Older man, younger woman
Attack on American middle-
class notions of beauty and
personal satisfaction
Sexuality and repression
Writer Alan Ball realised
when creating the script that
he cared about an authentic
life
Director Sam Mendes a rites
of passage film about
imprisonment and escape
from imprisonment.
AMERICAN BEAUTY
1999
The experience of South
Asian women in the UK.
Asha, who owns a
newsagent store is a
talented creative woman,
who frequently has
headaches and daydreams.
Suppression due to Duty,
Honour, Sacrifice?
Although a comedy, the film
touches deep issues about
women in Hindu, Sikh and
Muslim cultures.
Some gender issues are
universal. Male violence,
teenage pregnancy etc.
BHAJI ON THE
BEACH, 1993
Science Fiction. Pre-digital.
Based on actual scientific
experiments in isolation
tanks with LSD and
ketamine.
Our other states of
consciousness are as real as
our waking states.
John Lilly, the neuroscientist
whose work this film was
based on predicted that
there would be a showdown
between humanity and a
malevolent entity he called
solid-state intelligence, a
digital autonomous life-form.
ALTERED STATES,
1980