Behind the scenes - video

We actually did it!

At the start of the week we were all ready and raring to go, excited about the task in hand. Monday’s shooting took it out of us by five o clock we’d had enough. I don’t think any of us wanted to see another camera again. We didn’t realise it was so much work. A whole day of “Camera rolling”, “Rolling camera”, “Up to speed”, “Edge of frame”, “ACTION”, “CUT!”

For five young females who’ve never been involved in media before, it was a lot to take in. Although we were knackered, we were proud of ourselves, in one day we’d set up, rehearsed and filmed three scenes. Not too bad for amateurs. Tuesday and Wednesday went by in a blur; we just felt we were moving on auto pilot. We were running behind on schedule so we had to put in extra work to catch up. You could tell at times people were getting ticked off but that was to be expected, we were all working so hard.

By Thursday we were worrying we’d never get it done in time but we pushed on and somehow we finished before lunch. We had a great team behind us, a great team of mentors and actors on board.

For a group of people who only met at the start of the week by Thursday, if you saw us you would have thought we’d known each other for years.

So to celebrate our success we had a chip shop lunch and a great afternoon in the park, playing football and hula hooping. So I’d like to give a big thank you to everyone you were great we couldn’t have done it without each other.

Now filming has finished, let the editing begin.

Hackney Hounds- Life’s a Bitch! Coming soon to you.

Life's a Bitch- Music Video

THIS VIDEO WAS MADE BY ZOE, 15. WHO IS THE EDITOR/ CAMERA ASSISTANT FOR THE HACKNEY HOUNDS PROJECT. SHE MADE THIS ONE MINUTE VIDEO AFTER ONLY ONE HOUR OF TRAINING.

Scripted

Two solid days of scriptwriting and it's really starting to take shape.

One more day of camera training next week then we start filming.

Tom Fry, our scriptwriting mentor says:

"I’ve so enjoyed working with you and get the feeling that the team are going to produce a terrific piece."

Cool.

The proposition: Control = Respect

Male, urban, hyper male audience, into sex and violence and female film crew? Hmmm. How's that going to work?

What's our proposition? Real men can control their dogs, because control = respect.

What action do we want our audience to take? We want them to seek free training help, visit our blog so we can sign post them onto people who can help without embarrassment or loss of face.

Secondary audience: The Hackney community, short film makers, people who work with young people or dogs, politicians, media.

Finding the story

If you want to make a film - and we do - you've got to find people to help you tell your story. And you don't have to be good at English to write a script. Here's a rundown of what we learnt about scriptwriting last week.

Find your character
Scriptwriting is about characters. Characters who'll conflict with each other and be interesting. You need someone the audience will connect with instantly. Our task: find an interesting person or group of people or even a dog that will help us tell our story. Often, the most interesting thing about us is our secrets so ideally we would find a complex character who surprises us.

For characters that confound expectations, take a look at the opening scene of Reservoir Dogs.



Seven minutes
The other thing is, we've only got seven minutes so we have to be able to get that character across quickly. Constantly ask - how can I do that visually? We need an engaging visual image that tells the story - and we need to try to allow a way in for everybody.

What's your theme?
Find something that lots of different people can relate to. Being misunderstood. That's a possible theme for dogs and young people.

Change your mind
Be open. Challenge your own preconceptions. It may be that the story you didn't expect comes out of it that might be better than anything you can imagine. It's great if you can find a turn or a twist.

Get an attitude
Focus is important. At the end of the day, you have to decide what your attitude is. What's interesting is how a character develops from beginning to end so you need to think about where you're starting and where you're going to get to.

Hear me
You also need to get your voice across. Ultimately you'll come up with something that's personal and important to you and you'll bring that in by the unique way you approach the topic. Anything you make is about you, in a way. Every piece of art is a biography. You need to find your vision - know what you want to say. You won't find it immediately, it's the writing that finds the voice.

Involve others
In any film project you've also got to work with other people. A script is like an architect's blueprint for a building. You still need someone to build it. You'll do your first draft and hand it over to your producer. They'll add their notes. You need to accept ideas and criticism but hang on to what you really care about.

Final tips for a great script

• Show, don't tell.
  
• Conflict is important, and change is important too.
• Confound your audience's expectations (in other words, surprise them!)
• Go against the obvious - shock us
• Tell your version of the truth
• Always ask - how can we make that more interesting?
• If you can tell a story then you can write a script.
• Don't worry about getting it right. Write!

If you (or your dog) could be our character or you want to find out more about Hackney Hounds, email us.

What we're watching

What sort of video do we want to make? Here are a few short films we found that other people have made.