Ashley Wing

Hey folks, Finally got my sci-fi short 'Fracture' released. We distributed it through Sony's Playstation Home network throughout the EU and looking at further outlets. I'm glad the project is now finished and I can move on to my next project which has been in the pipeline since 2007! Fracture was a no-budget community project. You can watch the full film HERE Would be great to get some feedback. Best, Ash

Howdy all, We filmed this some time ago - but it's nearly finished. It was my first set based shoot directing and it's strange seeing how I approached it and how I've developed over the period. Time seems to go so quick! It's a teaser for a short commercial promo piece. Full short is released soon. http://vimeo.com/14313266 Feedback would be very much appreciated. Many thanks, Ash

Thanks Adrian, your advice is much appreciated.

Hey all, We're in prep on our short film and I just wanted to get some feedback on the relationship between the DoP and director. As we're writing and directing, how far do we go in terms of reaserch/pre-production in the style/look of the story without pissing off the cinematographer. We're still trying to find someone to fill the role consistently, so at this time I'm not sure how to approach it. If we were using the same person time and time again I guess it would be easier because a relationship of trust would have been built over previous shoots and these developments would, hopefully, come across more as suggestions. Depending when we find our cinematographer, if we then presented storyboards, shot lists, ideas for preferred stock/format, the tone/atmosphere we want to achieve with the lighting - is that overstepping the mark? We don't want to alienate or restrict the creativity and input but at the same time we're developing a visual identity for the story, we know the direction we want to take it. We're also developing our writing style and we're writing more camera movements and positions into the story. I don't mean in the slug line, more in the action, as part of the story. We used to avoid any type of camera movement and still do for material we don't direct, but we are finding it helps the reader develop a stronger image and sense of pace. Is this considered offensive to a cinematographer? I've been very conscious in the past about such things, we've never presented a script with camera movements in before but we're considering whether to do so on this occasion. Ideally we'll talk it all through after we presented our ideas, we didn't want to present them and end up annoying our collaborators in the process! Simply put, we don't want to encroach on their job. Reading the above post it sounds like something that does happen. It would actually be great to hear how other cinematographers on here would react if presented with such things. Any advice or opinions would be very welcome. Cheers, Ash.

Nah, it's most likely an issue with the way we constructed the flick if it isn't clear. The house not belonging to the killer is very obscure, the fault is ours. There's some shot choices that would fix this but... it's a bit late now :) It's all good though! We know what works and what doesn't and we'll no doubt fix that in the next one. Thanks again. Ash.

Thanks Richard! Yes, there's a few things that are a little 'bumpy' that we're aware of. It's actually not the killers house, but the family in the photo frame. There's a line of dialogue that acts as exposition in the phone conversation. She says - "he's only gone and broken into Roger and Jane's house". Again it's not clear from the short who Peter is, it's actually the killer. When he leans into the cupboard we wanted to cut to a close up of his badge on his apron that reads 'Hello my name is Peter' but we had to move on and drop that shot so not to compromise other scenes. We were really that tight for time! Note to self - add an extra day. The twist is, Susan (mum) has killed many times before and it's Tony that's clearing her mess up. She's changed but this situation doesn't look convincing from Tony's eyes. Some feedback has suggested this is clear, but from your reply, it's not. Thanks again, really appreciate that fact you took time to watch. I'm working on another short where we hope to improve on the faults of this one. Best, Ash.

Any feedback on the story or technical side would be very much appreciated, if you guys have time to watch :)

Hi Redita, I was in a similar situation as you, except I had to keep working to pay bills. I couldn't afford the time nor money on a filmmaking course, it was my dream to do this. The truth is it would be a great benefit to you, but don't stop just because you can't get into film school. You will find you can get just as much information from the internet and books. Ask questions in the forum and around on various websites. Rent (or borrow) a camera at the weekend and shoot some experimental shorts. The key to good filmmaking is passion and the ambition to keep learning. No school can teach you this, it comes from inside. Put yourself out there as a runner on other productions and pull together your own projects, no matter how small. Watch films and write down the things you really like about each one and why, these littles things will help you begin to shape the tone and feel for the kind of movies you want to make. School is fantastic and a good start, but when the option isn't always there, nothing beats it like the real thing. As Kubrick famously said, "Perhaps it sounds ridiculous, but the best thing that young filmmakers should do is to get hold of a camera and some film and make a movie of any kind at all.” I agree with him. Wishing you the best of luck in your ventures, Ash.

Hey all, Just finished our most recent short film called 'Robbing Peter'. We're writing our feature which will be a different story, but run along the same lines in tone. It would be great to get some feedback and see what you guys think of it. Links- http://robbingpeterthemovie.co.uk/video.html YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/CottageIndustr...u/0/oZz4gtCiBRw Vimeo: http://vimeo.com/7416776 Cheers, Ash.

Thanks for the posts, both have been very helpful! My last question is about placement of the meter. Many articles recommend to place the meter by the object or actor, but a thread on here suggests the camera lens is the preffered method. Is there a right and wrong to way to obtain the reading, it must have an effect on the accuracy? Or is it dependant on the reading being spot or incident. Thanks again, Ash.

Hello all, I'm actually a beginner on the film front. I've used digital ever since I started making films six years ago but wanted to try my hand at the film process. I'm in possesion of a Bolex H16 Rx3. After doing some digging around I've stumbled upon a question I thought best asked here. Please excuse the simplicity of the question, this is all new to me. I understand there are different types of light meters you can get to get the right exposure on the film, spot and incident. My question is, do I need a light meter for the Bolex Rx3, if so which light meter would be best? Are there any particular models/makes that you guys can recommend. Cheers, Ash

Hi Kieran, Thank you for the kind words! It's good that you liked it, I'm always uncertain about how these things come across when we're so personally involved. We used the Sony EX1 with a Letus35. I was impressed with the quality Sony's camera produced but the 35 adapter was cumbersome, and we had a couple of focus issues which we managed to resolve . Overall we're happy with the results and will without a doubt post them for feedback. Cheers, Ash & Clay

Anyone?

Hey guys, We're in the process of putting our next short together in the edit, as it happens we have our 'Making Of' released online to spur interest in our filmmaking and so on. We wanted the doc to reflect the atmosphere on set as well as the quirky nature of the story. I just wanted some feedback on the content really. Do you think we're too silly, should we only show positive movement, keep it serious and remove any issues we had on set? We felt adding a mixture makes the 'behind the scenes' footage a bit more interesting, although I'm worried it might also show too much honesty so to speak. The feedback has been pretty good, but as always I'd value your thoughts and comments on the content. We want to push for a feature next year and have one more short in the pipeline for this year. These little bits of footage represent us so please, any feedback would be great. YouTube here: Facebook here: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=110...5011&ref=mf Cheers, Ash. (and Clay)

Howdy peeps, Written & Directed by - Clayton Fussell 'Disturbed' is a short psychological thriller. Feedback and constructive criticism would be most appreciated. What works for you, what needs improvement, do you think it holds up technically, is the story interesting to you? You can view the short here: Please note that YouTube HD files seem to stutter unless you let the red bar upload all the way to the end first. Seems to run smoothly after that. Thanks again and hope you enjoy the short.