Rough Cut
Final Edit
Pre-Production
This pre-production pack contains all the key documents we needed for planning our shoot at Mockingbird, from risk assessments to equipment lists.
Pitch
Purpose of the Project
Our original brief was to make a short 4-minute micro documentary about Mockingbird Cinema, located in the Custard Factory in Digbeth. Commissioned by Lee, who runs the cinema, this documentary would be going up to their social media. It’s intended to show the atmosphere for Mockingbird Cinema, and how its more intimate environment that embraces film fanatics makes for a more interesting cinema experience compared to the standard cinema chains.
The aim of this brief was to capture that atmosphere and portray it through that micro doc medium. This would involve showing the facilities, such as the bar, and spaces where people can hang out before and after a film to talk about it.
However, this initial brief has now changed. We will now be creating a new pre-roll video played before every film that essentially acts as a “welcome to Mockingbird Cinema” for viewers. This helps towards my progression as, similarly to the original micro doc idea, it gets people excited to see films and gives the experience that special feeling.
Breaking into a new industry for me means that I can also get more contacts, which can further widen the industries that I have marketing experience in. Creating pre-reels for cinemas is a rare opportunity as it is, so being trusted with the creative process of that determines to other potential clients that I understand how to juggle creativity and professionalism. It further sets Mockingbird apart from other independent and, perhaps, the chain cinemas.
Client & Brief
The final creative brief for this project was to create about a 1-minute pre-roll video played before every film that’s shown at the Mockingbird Cinema at Custard Factory in Digbeth. We are working closely with Lee Nabbs, who is the owner of the cinema and also the one who schedules the films that are shown. While they do occasionally show larger films, they will usually be from more niche genres such as anime, indie, and international films.
We were not given much specific instruction from Lee, other than the preempt to make it capture the intimate environment of the cinema as best we could with the short timeframe of the pre-roll, and to get people to settle down and be ready for the spectacle that’s about to show before them.
We will request the cinema’s brand kit and maintain the same colour scheme in order to keep in line with the brand’s established visual identity. We have been able to present this initially through our pitch, and hope to continue so through the graphics we intend to show on screen.
The Mockingbird Cinema’s key selling point is the intimate and exclusive environment that it offers for avid cinemagoers or fandoms.
Target Audience
According to Digital Cinema Media, who run the adverts that play before films in cinemas like Odeon and Cineworld, the age range of 16-34 years old has proven to see an uprise in cinema visits over the last decade. Even with the rise in the use of streaming services, these people are 20% more likely to go to cinemas in groups of three or more compared to other groups.
They also tend to be more interested in film choice and the atmosphere of the cinema, and these increased likelihoods also carry over into their influence from cinema advertising. Especially since Mockingbird pivots heavily around the independent and intimate aspect, we would focus further into this all-genders group and aim towards film fans. It’s a simple task for people to go to a cinema to watch a certain film, but we’ll be aiming for those who make going to the cinema its own special event. Thus, we’ll also target an audience of Midlands-specific people too.
The great thing about Mockingbird Cinema is the variety of events and showings that they offer. Teen and young adult audiences may be likely to enjoy the anime screenings done there due to the rise in popularity of Japanese animation. Older adults would want to go to a place like Mockingbird for its anniversary events that show older films in that new event. Young aspiring filmmakers may want to take inspiration from the various indie films created via the Flatpack Film Festival, which is associated with the cinema through Lee Nabbs. There’s a lot of choice for everybody.
In a similar vein, older audiences would be more tolerable with advertising in all forms, whether it be more long or short form. However, for teens and young adults, it would be harder to get any message across from advertising if not done in an engaging way. So, our pre-roll should explore those different methods of advertising, combining traditional, inspirational viewing as well as creative ways to present information that is otherwise mundane.
Representation
Even though we have this specified age group, we would still want to show all the diversity in both age and identity within this group. The cinema should be a place where people can see elements of themselves represented through a film, and so the people we show watching these films should reflect this impact. Film fans don’t have one specific look about them; everybody and anybody can be a film fan, and to various capacities. We should represent everyone on that scale, whether it’s those starting out in fandoms or those who are veterans in the cinema experience.
In coming to BOA Stage & Screen, there’s a lot of talent in our pathways, that specialise in different things, and that come from different backgrounds with different ways of enjoying films and cinemas. So, we’re going to be inviting these same people to be extras in our pre-reel. Similar to how Lee’s contribution to Flatpack Festival empowers aspiring filmmakers and bringing connections to existing ones, this reel is inclusive both towards the potential of young filmmaking talent and fanatics. While people are increasingly turning to streaming, especially younger people, it’s becoming harder to encourage them to come into the cinema. So, that’s the pull we want to have, using our own talents as young filmmakers to show how we still believe in the power of cinema, however close it is to becoming obsolete for our generation’s way of consumption.
Idea Generation
The format of this will be a pre-roll 1-minute advert that is played before the screening of films in the theatre. This means that we can capture the atmosphere and anticipation of the film about to play, without making it so long that people feel impatient.
As research, we’ve taken inspiration from AMC Theatre’s 1-minute Nicole Kidman ad that plays before films, which has turned into a social media phenomenon. At the end of the day, the aim of this advertisement is to show the anticipation and possibilities that the cinema experience can provide.
While it may almost feel silly to have an advertisement about watching movies at the cinema you’re already that, the fact that you’ll also be seeing this ad reminds the viewer that they are at an AMC Theatre. It’s inspired me to consider how we’re going to hone that for Mockingbird’s capabilities.
Having this choice between two audio means that I can A/B test this with the client, teachers, and classmates to see what works best. By using two different audio tracks in my editing software, it will be easy to export both versions quickly so I can adjust which track I want on the fly.
Editing
I will be editing this project using DaVinci Resolve Studio. In my opinion, this is the best software to edit this footage, as Resolve is managed by Blackmagic, who also offer the same Pocket Cinema Cameras that we are using as part of their pro suite.
Especially as our footage is in Blackmagic RAW, alongside the capabilities of my M3 MacBook Pro, it will be easier to create proxies if need be, and I can rely on Resolve being able to handle the footage in general.
One great feature of DaVinci Resolve Studio is that it can sync audio via waveform or timecode. So, for example, we would use the in-built camera audio to sync the higher quality audio from both the DJI mic and the narration, on separate tracks, and at the same time.
Resolve also has in-built AI speech recognition. This is great for two things. Firstly, it is able to create automatic subtitles, which can be customised by language and character limit for each subtitle line. This would be great for any screenings that are subtitled. Extra care of detail placed into something like this would also make it easier for all sorts of people to get further engaged in the pre-reel, given that subtitles play a big part in how we consume media, and in the cases when it may be a bit harder to discern certain words. This can all happen within just a few seconds.
Similarly, Resolve also has a transcription feature. I could select a clip in my media pool, get a transcription of it, and see what is said and not said. As we weren’t stopping the camera from recording after a mistake, it makes it easier and quicker to get my rough cut and getting rid of any bloopers.
Whenever I edit, I see the video and audio working in tandem, instead of the audio merely complimenting what’s on the video. Picking the right music was key here, and the ‘chaotic jazz’ track I had worked well for the short runtime and semi fast pace. In combination with graphics, it should all act as if it were one instrument, so I timed many of the graphics that popped up to the beat of the music. It gives the music more purpose, but also makes the text more dynamic and gives it that bit of a pop. Hopefully, this is what will make the audience want to read what’s actually on the screen.
This track has also been chosen carefully to encompass the structure of the video as a whole. As we sprinkled a few comedic beats within the video, there are also some apt breaks in the track before it starts up again with a more intense beat. It will accentuate any comedic moments, without just using pure silence. This would make the joke feel a bit janky, but the natural dips in the music mean that the delivery of the joke is executed perfectly through the power of post.
Research
As Halo (who I am working with on this project) has done work with Mockingbird Cinema and Lee Nabbs directly, we’ve already had an insight into the atmosphere of the cinema.
Mockingbird Cinema is based in the Custard Factory in Digbeth, Birmingham. They rely on events, such as TV festivals, anime fests, and more for their business. Lee specifically is the co-owner and programmer of the cinema, where he is heavily involved in the day-to-day running. This also extends to the events that take place.
Alongside this, he founded ReelBrum, which is a networking event for filmmakers based in the Midlands, which is hosted at The Bond. It houses over 200 people in the industry, from executives to producers and more.
This means that Lee himself knows the power of cinema, and how important the cultivation is of smaller individual talent that can allow innovative media to thrive in the right space.
As mentioned earlier, Digital Cinema Media has published information on an ‘understanding of the UK cinema audience’. Through a 29-page slideshow, they have various stats on the money that UK cinema has rolled in over time, as well as the sorts of people that have shown up over time. One of the slides above goes into depth about the 16-34 year old age range in cinema, and how they’ve been labelled as “the experience chasers” due to their emphasis on cinema experience.
This is what influenced our target audience, and it already lines up quite well with the ethos of the cinema, and it cultivates this age range so well, both through its facilities and film lineup.
As already listed above, “Pepsi, Where’s My Jet?” is a Netflix documentary revolving around a young adult who finds a loophole in a Pepsi promotional campaign that leads down to a path of legal action. While on the surface level the premise and outcome are rather simple, the documentary uses engaging visuals to keep viewers hooked.
It’s very stylised, with graphics reminiscent to the visual style prominent in the 1990s, of which the documentary is based from. I hope to use this to inspire the visual style of our own documentary, using our collective visual styles to make this documentary unique and give it a unique flavour to set it apart from the traditional documentaries you would see on TV. Documentaries on Netflix place a heavier emphasis on retention, so taking these elements would benefit our own product.
In this vein of creating fun visuals, I was hoping to do something similar for the credits. After all, I see credits as one of the most neglected elements of a piece of media. It’s the part the audience usually skips to their next binge, and where not enough time is given to highlight the work of small crews and contributors. So, while rolling credits will still feature, I’m hoping for there to be some stunning drone footage, with text that has been tracked to the footage so it moves in real time. It will also feature fun backgrounds and text effects for each member of the crew, and a dedicated section for the contributors featuring their images.
Alongside this, while PWMJ had these people go out of their way and jumping through many legal loopholes, they are still normal people at the end of the day. We wanted to humanise our own contributors, to ensure the doc stayed relatable and that the audience would see them practice what they preach. As such, we filmed tours with some of the contributors, giving a little insight as to what they do on the daily basis with the video evidence to show that. It says to the audience that yes, it’s the proof in the pudding that there is creative work to be done.
Pitch
One of the strengths of our pitch was how our information was presented visually. When it comes to pitch decks, the typical approach is to have paragraphs of text that sum up key facts. While this works in reading format, this pitch was to be done in front of a live audience. And, with a presentation, these are intended to be ‘visual aids’, and not slides to be read from. So, even with a way larger slide count than the usual, this included animations that made the information digestable and less monotonous.
A weakness of our pitch was a lack of timescales given. This was something that wasn’t considered originally due to the uncertainty of the filming date, however this is something we’ve now been able to get in place.
Feedback
Feedback for the pitch was very positive. Considering Halo wasn’t able to present alongside me in person, we were able to cover every topic listed in the pitch criteria. Even though, on the outside, the pitch had a lot of slides, everything fit well together and it made it that much easier to talk about these aspects of the production. The playful graphics also mean that the slides aren’t the typical blocks of text that some of them come out to be, making its usage as a “visual aid” a lot more justified.
Any questions that came our way had already been thought of, which means that we’ll be properly ready to start filming as soon as a date is thought.
To prepare for production, we’ve cast extras with a rapport that we can rely on in keeping production smooth. This will enable us to film more easily as they will have an existing knowledge of the sort of atmosphere we want to create with this pre-reel before production. We will also have multiple microphones on hand so we can ensure we provide crisp audio, especially when this reel is being shown using high-end sound setups. We also have backup cameras should our main one fail, one of which is an Osmo Pocket 3 capable of shooting in DLOG-M.
Risks
As we are working in the cinema mostly by ourselves, this means that we’ll have more than enough space to work with. This is also considering that a large majority of the theatre’s screenings take place in the evening or the night time, so we’ll essentially have all the space to ourselves in the morning, bar one staff member who may be supervising us.
We were also concerned that some people may arrive late, whether that would be transport delays or difficulties in finding the cinema. So, we factored in a lot of time, allowing people to come at 10 as opposed to the same time as us which was at 9 in the morning.
There were few safety risks when it came to filming, as the front of the theatre had more than enough space to fit our equipment, like lights and space for the cameraman top move. The only safety risk was difficulty navigating in the theatre during the dark, but the lights would only be turned off for points when I’m narrating to the camera.
I was working with Halo on this project, and Halo had already done some filming at Mockingbird Cinema, even down to the exact screen. So, with an existing risk assessment and prior experience of filming in that place, we were confident that we had assessed all the risks, and had little measures needed to prevent them.
Limitations and Issues
Some limitations were that we weren’t able to gather as many extras as we had hoped for our reel. We hoped that we would be able to get a large variety of shots with new faces to deliver new points. However, this is not a big issue, as we have three extras able to film with one on standby, so this did not pose a massive issue in the end.
Even with constant communication with Lee, there were some events out of both of our controls which meant that we would get responses later than we hoped. As Lee is a very busy man, working for a distribution network, running Mockingbird and ReelBrum, his monthly event that brings aspiring and veteran filmmakers into one room to showcase new talent, give awards, and bring prospective works to the professionals that can help nurture future talent. As such, it took a some time until we got resources, including fonts and hex colours. Thankfully, these resources were available freely online, so we didn’t have to worry too much about specific colour schemes and typefaces.
Experimentation
We experimented with using small portable LED lights. I’d previously used mostly light sabers, however having these lights meant that we could focus the lights more at specific points instead of having the wider and less bright light from the sabers. It was a lot easier to set the hues on these lights. They relied on their own internal battery, and they were able to produce a lot more brightness, which made it great for using as an accent light and portable version of a key light. We used these to display the same hue of pink as the cinema to set the tone and maintain consistency in how Mockingbird as a brand is presented, and an intimate cinema experience that one would get to love.
I also did something new in doing my own narration. There have been instances where I star in something, however I’m usually speaking within camera, or rarely saying anything of profound value. This includes the pitch video where I would talk about certain segments in regards to our documentary. I also starred in my own personal project for a cinematography challenge, where I acted as a bartender. This role allows me to experiment a lot with dubbing and voiceover, which I’ve found quite interesting as of late. Being able to do this for a client means that I can demonstrate to myself that I can use my voiceover in a professional piece of work, and it’s also another example of young filmmaking talent being showcased at every film played there henceforth. It’ll be great to hear this playing with their amazing sound system too.
Both of these allowed our project to look and sound great. Having the pink lights meant that we could find a creative way to light me as a subject in such a dark environment, where using just a regular white light would’ve looked out of place or too sterile. It conveys that magical cinema feeling while still showing people that Mockingbird is able to provide that experience.
Having the narration also means we can extend that magical experience to the sound, with that calm relaxing voice to get the audience to settle down, similar to those ‘put your phone away’ videos you’d find at ODEON or Cineworld, but with a more fun twist that asks to be listened to rather than be said in passing.
Feedback
One of the key pieces of feedback was had wasn’t in response to our own product, but rather a change in brief by Lee, the client. We were originally slated to do a trailer in preparation for the anniversary of the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre. However, this brief was changed shortly after we had intended to start pre-production for it.
We were actually very happy we were given this opportunity to be creating a pre-reel, as it doesn’t require any prerequisite film knowledge before making it. We’d already understood the sort of thing that Lee wanted, given that cinemas would always show them and how they didn’t really ‘stand out’.
We told this news to both of our Broadcast teachers, as well as a few other people within the class. They all thought it was a very cool project to be working on, and that it was very nice for Mockingbird Cinema to give us this opportunity to work on something that otherwise isn’t usually thought of as a creative opportunity.
It’s also a chance for Mockingbird to upgrade their older Pearl & Dean ident, and have their own pre-reel that they can call their own. It further adds to the charm of independent cinema, and proof that their screenings can show that before the movie even begins.
Equipment & Setup
Camera
We only used one camera for this, which was the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera. This was capable of filming in Blackmagic RAW, making it a lot easier to colour correct to our liking and maintaining that crisp image quality which would pop on the big screens.
We are recording in 16:9, but will be digitally cropping it to 1.85:1, which is cinematic ratio. It gets the audience ready to see the film, as they don’t have to wait for the screen to reformat the image from the adverts into the cinematic ratio of the film, as it starts to ease them into the actual film.
Lighting
We used one main warm-ish key light angled above the subject at 45 degrees. However, the main lights we used were 2-3 compact LED lights. We adjusted them to the same pink hue as Mockingbird cinema for the majority of shots, but also added purple to add some more depth to the colour profile, as well as a mix of red and blue to act almost as shadows from the movie that’s playing in front of the subject. These lights would be arranged similar to a documentary setup, with one at a 45 degree angle to the subject, one behind as a hair light, and another on the other side to act as a fill light.
It made it a lot easier to imitate a professional, large lighting setup, which was especially important as we didn’t want to let the lack of space between the seats allow us to miss out on good lighting.
Audio
For audio, we will have three copies. We have the in-built audio from the camera. This will not be used as the actual audio, but rather as a reference point for syncing up higher quality audio. To give us some more choice and flexibility in audio, we are recording both natively and in post.
While filming, I used the DJI Mic 2, which I hid from sight in my pocket, and attached a lav mic behind my lapel, which is also hidden. As I do not have the receiver for the DJI Mic 2, I recorded directly into the mic’s inbuilt storage, which is very handy as it enables recording of 32-bit float on the go. This makes it a lot easier to manage any accidental peaks and normalise the audio in post.
As I’d also love to have a go at narration, I also have a Samson Q9U XLR/USB dynamic microphone, which I’ll plug in via USB to my Macbook Pro to dub/ADR the original recordings. This will give it that music video/cinematic feel, having been inspired by online creators such as Gawx Art, who uses dubbing throughout his entire videos to achieve that cinematic feel.
The microphone will be able to give my voice more depth, taking advantage of the bass system in the cinema. It will be able to capture the lower register I’m speaking in a lot better, with a larger diaphragm and having the flexibility to get as close or as far from the mic as I want.
Having this choice between two audio means that I can A/B test this with the client, teachers, and classmates to see what works best. By using two different audio tracks in my editing software, it will be easy to export both versions quickly so I can adjust which track I want on the fly.
Editing
I will be editing this project using DaVinci Resolve Studio. In my opinion, this is the best software to edit this footage, as Resolve is managed by Blackmagic, who also offer the same Pocket Cinema Cameras that we are using as part of their pro suite.
Especially as our footage is in Blackmagic RAW, alongside the capabilities of my M3 MacBook Pro, it will be easier to create proxies if need be, and I can rely on Resolve being able to handle the footage in general.
One great feature of DaVinci Resolve Studio is that it can sync audio via waveform or timecode. So, for example, we would use the in-built camera audio to sync the higher quality audio from both the DJI mic and the narration, on separate tracks, and at the same time.
Resolve also has in-built AI speech recognition. This is great for two things. Firstly, it is able to create automatic subtitles, which can be customised by language and character limit for each subtitle line. This would be great for any screenings that are subtitled. Extra care of detail placed into something like this would also make it easier for all sorts of people to get further engaged in the pre-reel, given that subtitles play a big part in how we consume media, and in the cases when it may be a bit harder to discern certain words. This can all happen within just a few seconds.
Similarly, Resolve also has a transcription feature. I could select a clip in my media pool, get a transcription of it, and see what is said and not said. As we weren’t stopping the camera from recording after a mistake, it makes it easier and quicker to get my rough cut and getting rid of any bloopers.
Whenever I edit, I see the video and audio working in tandem, instead of the audio merely complimenting what’s on the video. Picking the right music was key here, and the ‘chaotic jazz’ track I had worked well for the short runtime and semi fast pace. In combination with graphics, it should all act as if it were one instrument, so I timed many of the graphics that popped up to the beat of the music. It gives the music more purpose, but also makes the text more dynamic and gives it that bit of a pop. Hopefully, this is what will make the audience want to read what’s actually on the screen.
This track has also been chosen carefully to encompass the structure of the video as a whole. As we sprinkled a few comedic beats within the video, there are also some apt breaks in the track before it starts up again with a more intense beat. It will accentuate any comedic moments, without just using pure silence. This would make the joke feel a bit janky, but the natural dips in the music mean that the delivery of the joke is executed perfectly through the power of post.
Roles
I am the producer, writer, narrator, star, and editor for this pre-reel.
Producer
As a producer, I worked and delivered the pitch to my class which would’ve been akin to those that professional producers use for financing. I had to consider all aspects of the creation of this pre-reel, whether it be information on the client, our equipment list, and our budget. I also delegated any tasks to Halo of which had already been done during Halo’s previous production with Mockingbird, meaning we wouldn’t waste any extra time redoing very similar dossiers.
During idea generation, I also came up with the creative ideas for the reel, such as using inspirations to influence the style. This includes inspiration from creative airline safety videos. I’ve used this inspiration in the past for a pitch video for a different project, more specifically my documentary project. I then execute this through my other roles.
This really helped me develop my creative process, as I find a way to take something that’s standard and more of an afterthought in cinemas, and make it fun and engaging. This is the sort of content I love to work on, as there’s a larger call for creative ideas which I’m able to enact as a result of my other specialties in post production. It will allow me to fine tune my creative process in time for professional, paid producer roles.
Writer
While writing the script, I didn’t want to add too much unnecessary dialogue, as ultimately we just want to thank people for watching in Mockingbird, and to relax and stow away their phones in preparation for their film that plays right after. It took me two versions of script to get satisfactory dialogue, and the script also includes a foundation for camera movements and graphics.
The skills I developed was being able to adapt my creative ideas from my producer role, and put pen to paper. This involved drafting up how graphics would appear on the screen, and also the various B-roll to be shot that will compliment my narration.
Narrator
In order to have some flexibility when it came to audio options for the reel, I am also going to be narrating my own script as I dub over myself from when I was filming at the cinema. After filming, in post, I would record myself saying the lines while playing the original rough cut at the same time. Hopefully, if lip flaps are synced up right, it will look natural and as if it was never voiced over in the first place.
This will enable me to brush up on my diction for recording, as I have noticed in the original recordings that some words aren’t enunciated properly. This is made quite a bit harder because of my imperfect teeth. I hope to prove myself that this won’t be a massive barrier in allowing me to do the voicework that’s intrigued me for some time. I also like to use a lower register when doing voiceover, so I can train that aspect of my voice too.
Starring
Originally, we were thinking that the main character who would be saying the script would be played by a different person. However, a few days before, he unfortunately wasn’t able to make filming. Thankfully, as I have a good knowledge of the script as I made it, as well as an affinity for talking on camera, I took the helm instead. I would essentially be the mascot of the pre-reel who speaks on behalf of Mockingbird.
At the start of filming, I was still getting used to being on camera, as it had been a while since I last starred in a project. So, I was messing up on my lines every now and then. However, I started to get more familiar as we filmed, and I can always use my narration to make up for any lines.
I was able to understand more just how differently a line can be delivered to determine a certain mood. However, it does also mark me doing some sort of acting in a professional context. With this project, I’m able to exercise some of the creative roles I’ve wanted to try out, and I’m able to do so while acting in this and it’s a good amount of fun.
Editor
My final role is that I am in charge of post production. I’ll be editing the rough cut, as well as creating the final edit with music and graphics. This is what would make a standard cut between clips feel more exciting and engaging. After all, one of the ethos that drives me in being creative is to take ordinary things and tweak the details into something extraordinary.
Using the right balance of music and cuts will change how people perceive the importance of the pre-reel. At the end of the day, we want people to listen, relax, and get ready to watch their film. Doing so in a creative way means that the pre-reel will actually follow through with its purpose.
I hope that my experience of editing short-form content for social media marketing will be able to do this justice, as I’m essentially doing marketing for Mockingbird through this anyway. Through this, I can develop my editing style for professional work and build on what I’ve done for other projects, in which I focus more on the emotional beats and using suitable graphics.
Speaking of graphics, I will also be able to get a better understanding of the consistency needed within branding. It brings about creative challenges when you can’t just use your favourite colour or font in a project, meaning that I get to experiment a bit more when it comes to adjusting them for one of my products. I’ll learn how to create graphics for informative purposes, as well as adding motion and fun effects to integrate it seamlessly with live action footage.
Responsibilities
As a producer, I had to present the pitch for the brief. This is what will set the mood and how we’ll be approaching the project. I used Canva to put a lot of detail in the animations and the way that certain images are presented. I found that images are a lot more effective at conveying messages than just plain text, so it was a good determiner of my ability of making something normal more interesting. This skills are what I can carry over to be successful.
As a writer, it is my responsibility to make sure the right information is told in the right way. This means that our client will be able to greenlight it as soon as he can instead of having to wait longer for another version to be made. We have a faster output, meaning that we can get this pre-reel out to the cinema as soon as possible, for when new movies start popping up.
As I’m starring in this, it’s my responsibility to ensure that I act my lines and film any B-roll without getting the theatre dirty nor breaking any equipment. This meant that Lee can have full confidence in our product and consider working with us in the future, as it builds up this trust system that we can respect the space, as well as the product, which can lead to future work with him.
As a narrator, I’m responsible for saying my lines in a professional way, without saying them in a childish or unintelligible way. This means that the whole point of creating the pre-reel is preserved, and words enunciated and dictated in the right way will set the tone that engages the audience in the video.
As an editor, I’m responsible for taking the footage and cutting it at the right points, using appropriate music and sound effects that don’t stray from the main intention of the reel, as well as respecting the brand assets that have been given to us in line with Mockingbird’s visual identity. This solidifies the pre-reel as exclusively Mockingbird’s, and will be effective in subtly pitching to the audience that Mockingbird is a unique cinema with a unique system of showing both blockbuster and student films.
Organisation
We managed most of our pre-production in OneDrive. We split it up into three folders corresponding to pre-production, production, and post production. This would also contain the key documents for pre-production, such as risk assessments and equipment lists. Most of these were done in Word. However, for rougher documents or laying out ideas, we used Notion. For example, our script was done in Notion, as it was a lot easier to write down the dialogue I had in my mind on the fly, without having to worry about formatting in the same way you would have to do with Word.
Our pitch deck for the original brief was fully completed in Canva, as it has a suite of tools to create great presentations, and give me the flexibility to add simple, but effective animations for any presentation elements.
For production, we were able to finish the production in a lot less time than we had originally anticipated. We gave a very generous call time for our extras, with lateness taken into account. Having less extras meant that we were less reliant on a certain number of people popping up for shots. We didn’t film in chronological order but, rather, whatever could be filmed faster and more efficiently. An example of this is when I do my pieces to camera from the script, with a multicam setup emulated as I do the same thing, but the camera is at a different angle. As we don’t need to film a lot of footage, and there were not many occasions of dialogue slip-ups, we’d be able to get an edit out for this pre-reel relatively quickly.
Halo and I work very well, and I have worked with them for numerous months on both projects and also other school-related endeavours like A-Levels. I know I can rely on them to produce high quality work, while considering all aspects of the production, from initial creative thinking to structuring and edit. We also got three extras in, who are Leorge, Gaddu, and Martha. Both of us have an existing connection with this three, and have worked with one or the other on a project before. They were able to do their acting instructions to a T, and it was very easy to organise what shots of them we needed and get them done efficiently.
Organisation issues were very minor, for example when I was having difficulty obtaining a brand kit from Lee as he was so busy with his other endeavours. However, this didn’t end up affecting production, as we already had a good idea of the desired pink colour scheme wanted for lighting. We were eventually able to get one just in time for the editing process.
Professional Etiquette
As Halo already had done work with Lee Nabbs before, a working relationship had already been established on their side, thus all communication was done by them. We didn’t have to worry too much about being super professional as if we were working with them for the first time. He already had trust in our creative process, as not much back-and-forth via email had to be done except when our brief was changed early on in pre-production as well as to request a brand kit. He also requested that we continue working on that trailer for Texas Chainsaw Massacre, but in a smaller and more casual format.
Halo and I had already mutually agreed on how certain things would be shot prior to filming, so we didn’t have a hard time at all during filming, and was able to freely suggest additional ideas, such as filming that emulated multi-cam setup, while we were filming. Similarly, for our extras, we were able to communicate our needs for the scene simply, and no further clarification was needed for them to deliver a satisfactory performance. We were all upfront and honest about how we wanted the shot to look, and there was no pushback from any party.
Meaning to the Audience
One creative choice is that we wanted the music used to indicate that this wouldn’t be a long-winded, overly cheesy reminder to turn their phones off. I wanted music that was decently fast paced, but also unique compared to other cinemas. I found that other cinemas used more ethereal and small emotions music. This certainly goes along with the cinema theme, but it wouldn’t make Mockingbird any different. So, I went with a track that was more like ‘chaotic jazz’, which isn’t too distracting from any dialogue or footage, but also maintains a pace and a rhythm. It also contains certain breaks in the music which allow for funny moments within the pre-reel to feel more natural. In a way, it takes all the pent-up tension and excitement from the audience and places it on the big screen for them to see. It’s intended to be the final thing shown right before the movie, so when we say to ‘stop your conversations’, we really mean it, and the audience will actually see the purpose of this pre-reel.
Other creative choices involved using pinkish lights as the main lighting setup. Not only is this consistent with the branding, but it also provides a more vibrant colour palette to the scenes visually compared to the likes of Cineworld and Odeon who use darker colours. Pink evokes playfulness and adoration, an ethos that Mockingbird swears by. It’s also what we’ll be using to show that we love how unique what we’ve made is, and hope the audience can love that too.
The messages of the reel are overall rather simple. We want to show our appreciation to the audience for coming to Mockingbird (and giving a brief overview as to why), and tell them to relax and wind down to get ready for the film that is intended to play right after. The themes in the video we hope to convey are very similar as to how and why Mockingbird operates: a unique offering that some independent cinemas may not have; which showcases young talent, both on screen and behind the scenes, as well as a casual yet intimate way to experience cinema.
This reel is sure to bode well with 16-34 year olds, given it’s starring and made by people who are also within that age range. With the pre-reel embracing youthful and optimistic excitement for cinema, it’s sure to reward these younger people from coming into this different type of establishment, and to also bring hype before the movie starts, which can make that cinema experience be that bit more memorable. Through the music, corresponding cuts, and unique graphics style, alongside a short runtime with a simple message, it’s easily digestible, but also a lot of fun to see something as simple as a ‘wind down’ reminder be made into its own cinematic masterpiece.
Meeting Intentions
These pre-reels are generally made for informative use, with the main message usually being to ‘turn off your phones’ and ‘stop your conversations’. That was the core of this reel so, through scriptwriting and filming, I ensured that focus was put on these lines throughout the script, as opposed to skimming through them quickly for the sake of a joke.
They also rely heavily on graphics. This has been seen in both Cineworld and Odeon’s reels, with Cineworld’s featuring a simple graphic of a phone with text saying ‘turn your phones off’, while Odeon does it through their blue graphics and no text at all. We have shown a deep understanding of the importance of graphics, but feel that graphics alone will not make the reel engaging enough. This is why, in contrast to the reels of the major cinema chains, we have also included live-action footage specifically for Mockingbird, as well as referencing Mockingbird directly in it.
These reels tend to be rather moody and majestical too. Cineworld does this through the music, while Odeon does this through both the music, Taron Egerton’s narration, and magic-inspired graphics. It would be too uninspiring to keep our style in the exact same way, but used it as a guide during production to show how people react to those focus-on-the-screen beats of a film. My narration also wants to embody a lower voice, as it simultaneously relaxes what the audience is doing and increases the anticipation for the movie they’re about to see.
Besides not getting a larger amount of extras, I do feel this reel reflects my initial plans and intentions. We maintained the informative aspect that we were meant to have in the first place, but also find the right music and cutaway shots that we had already hoped to get. It follows through with the goals that Lee had set us, while also having a bit of extra creative flair that is harder to envision at earlier stages of the production process.
Our client Lee is very happy with how our reel turned out, as it marked a big shift from the previous Pearl & Dean ident he had been using which was starting to show its age. Especially with his increasing workloads and responsibilities, it gave him one less thing to worry about when it came to maintaining the cinema, and was glad that he could continue his support for young and aspiring filmmakers through a project like this. He liked the pace of the film, and the overall polish through the graphics done through the small details that are usually not considered for a project of this smaller scope.
Platform & Distribution
The platform we mainly intend to see this distributed is within the cinema screens. This type of video is very specified, so we could not see this being used extensively for things like social media marketing, which was to be expected for this project. However, as Lee has all the rights to the video, he may wish to upload it on social media when it launches to celebrate the new look of Mockingbird cinema pre-rolls.
It will fit the cinema screens perfectly, as only one of the two screens at the cinema plays the old ident, and both of them would be able to display the cinematic ratio and full picture quality of the pre-reel. For social media platforms, it will be naturally harder to view, due to the smaller viewing size on a portrait screen like a phone. However, this was never meant to be intended for social media, so our reel lives only to be shown on those Mockingbird Cinema screens.
For added flexibility, I have uploaded the reel in the .mov and .mp4 files in 4K cinematic ratio. As movies are essentially played from a computer, it will accept these files. MP4 is the standard, however MOV maintains more image quality retained after compression. This means Lee can choose the file format that’s more appropriate for the computer to run, as we do not know fully what the specs of it is. It will also use the H.264 codec for the MP4 file for further compatibility. The MOV file will be colour graded in H.265 for reducing file size on this 4K video, and maintaining colour information. 4K is the maximum resolution that are cameras can record in, and so want to make the absolute most use of the camera quality to show on the equally high-quality projectors.