Welcome to the blog OliRic Production's Richard Mclachlan, charting the evolution of the opening to the new feature film Acts of Repulsion, jointly produced with Oli Preston, click here to view his youtube account. You'll be able to see the final cut on my youtube channel, click here to view my youtube account, as well as various short videos and podcasts right here on this blog! Enjoy, and please feel free to comment/add suggestions!



Thursday 24 February 2011

RM - How Filming Went -13th February

Filming Date: 13th February.

How did the shoot for this go?
This time we decided to film inside Richard’s house. This meant that we had a larger time frame to shoot in. We also had greater control over timing and could shoot at a time which would be reflected in the film. This was a disadvantage of the first filming of our production, filmed on the 22nd January where availability of the location was limited.

What lessons did you learn from this?
One lesson I’ve learnt is that you have to expect the unexpected. In the future instead of getting the minimum number of cast it would be better to try and seek out more, probably with at least 1 more person who would be able to fill in at short notice in case one of the actors/actresses have to pull out. If this can’t be done, for whatever reason, make the script and storyboard capable for these changes.

Make any changes to idea/storyboard/cast/roles/production schedule etc?
From the previous idea we moved production from an empty house into a house that is currently occupied. This allowed us to have a larger timeframe for shooting which in turn meant we could shoot at which would reflect the time in the film. We also changed the script because with the original idea we thought it was too “cheesy” - we found people thought it was more of a comedy rather than a slasher film.

We also changed the entire cast with exception to the killer. There were several reasons for this -one of the original cast was busy, others realised they didn’t like acting or feedback received. Although we had the full cast two hours before the start of the shooting one of the cast had to pull out because she sprained her ankle. Therefore we had to remove the role from production because; due to short notice we couldn’t find anyone available.

What do you intend to add/change/re-do now?
We intend to use the feedback we have received to improve it and explain what we have received and done to the film in either a podcast or vodcast.

What works and what doesn't?
By moving the film location, again, we were able to gain a greater variation of shots compared to. However due to the changes in dialogue the original establishing shot was no longer suitable. In the latest version the cast were more professional. We feel that the false scare is well executed and the new sound effects add to the atmosphere

What audience feedback have you received, and what influence has this had?
The audience feedback we have obtained so far is that:
• some of the shots are too long,
• apply a soundtrack,
• false scare too short,
• add fake blood,
• a few continuity errors,
• extra dialogue and laughing.

With this in mind we have edited our project by cutting the shots suggested in the feedback as well as shots we feel are too long. We have also edited out the continuity errors and the extra dialogue and laughing. For the soundtrack we have added sound effects to the idents as well as the film production in certain places. However we chose not to use a fake blood effect because the house is occupied and we didn’t want to damage the furnishings.

All - Treatment Finalised

OliRic Treatment Acts of Repulsion Final

Tuesday 22 February 2011

All - Acts of Repulsion Rough Cut 2 (After Feedback)

Here is the second rough cut of Oli and mine AS Coursework task titled 'Acts of Repulsion', we have both uploaded the footage onto facebook to get feedback on how we could improve it. We have now added a soundtrack.

The reflects feedback received on Wednesday 16th February.



We will upload this onto facebook again to receive more feedback on how we could improve it.

Click here to view feedback for this rough cut.

Wednesday 16 February 2011

All - Acts of Repulsion Second Rough Cut Feedback

All - Acts of Repulsion Second Rough Cut

Here is the second rough cut of Oli and mine AS Coursework task titled 'Acts of Repulsion', we have both uploaded the footage onto facebook to get feedback on how we could improve it. We have yet to add a soundtrack. We are hoping to get this done within the next week.





Click here to view feedback for this rough cut.

Monday 14 February 2011

All - Script Updated

Due to unforeseeable events one of our cast members had to pull out because she sprained her ankle. As this happened two hours before filming and we have till the end of this week to finish our coursework, we had to change the script taking out any parts of her character.

These changes included:
  • When Boy 1 and Girl 2 leave the room, Boy 2 and Girl 2 start talking. This is where Boy 2 tries to show to Girl 2 that he isn't scared but she (Girl 2) doesn't care.
  • Another part of the required changes of the script is where Girl 2 trying to comfort Girl 1, by saying "It'll be alright you don't know its him", however we changed this to Girl 1 screaming Jason.

Here is the updated script:

Script - Updated

Friday 11 February 2011

All - Acts of Repulsion Filming Date

After receiving feedback after our first rough cut we decided to re-film on Thursday 10th February. However due to most of the cast pulling out at the last minute, we have moved the date of filming to Sunday 13th February.

Thursday 10 February 2011

All - Podcast 3: Feedback Received


The podcast is about the feedback we received for our: distribution ident ($lash Films), the production ident (OliRic) and the opening to our feature film (Acts of Repulsion).

Monday 7 February 2011

RM - How Filming Went - 22nd January

How did the shoot for this go?

Considering it was January and we had to film in the day (although the film was set at night otherwise the production of the film and filming wouldn’t of worked). We fell that the shoot went well.

What lessons did you learn from this?

One of the main lessons I’ve learnt from this is that whilst it is important to plan in great detail it is also to be flexible to overcome unforeseen problems or challenges. Casting is also extremely important and attention needs to be paid to the strengths and weaknesses of the cast.

Make any changes to idea/storyboard/cast/roles/production schedule etc?

We had to develop the original idea. One reason was due to the month being January. For example our original idea was to set the film in a camp site in the local woods but because of the time of year, January, we moved the location to a deserted house, that a local estate agent gave us permission to use. We changed our storyboard to reflect this as well as creating a new idea by incorporating what we thought were the best parts of the original idea, if we didn’t manage to obtain the house.

What do you intend to add/change/re-do now?

We intend to gain as much feedback as possible and present it in either a podcast or vodcast. The feedback will enable us to improve the opening scene of the film. After receiving the feedback we decided we needed to do a re-shoot. However due short time scales and problems with the layout of the original house, it was decided to change the location. We will film in Richard’s house but this does mean that we will have to reshoot the whole sequence again.

What works and what doesn't?

In the original idea we intended to have a shot from inside of a tent looking at one of the sides with someone walking past in silhouette. However this did not work in the daylight which made it impossible to shoot. Moving the production of the film inside caused some problems. As time progressed the cast and crew started to get cold as well as some impatient on how long the filming was taking. For some of the shots we were unable to view the entire cast in the shot so we had to decide on the most important character. However we do feel that the false scare and the close-up of the victims face having a cloth put to his face and losing consciousness are well executed.

What audience feedback have you received, and what influence has this had?

The audience feedback we have managed to get so far is that
  • some of the shots are too long,
  • some are too obvious,
  • there is some dialogue that needs to be taken out,
  • there is sunlight in some shots and its meant to be the middle of the night,
  • there isn’t any blood. 
This upcoming week we will discuss how we will be able to use this feedback to improve our project. There are some aspects of the film we will not be able to change. For example, although it is meant to be night, we will have to film in daylight as we do not have access to lighting equipment. Our experiences with the micro-drama filming taught us the difficulties of night time filming. Blood effects are difficult because both the original location and the new location are private property and we do not want to damage the furnishings. However as a result of feedback, we intend to use location of the original house in the cemetery and have recorded some footage. Our original rough cut was too long, 2mins 30secs but an advantage of refilming the whole sequence is that we will be able to incorporate the cemetery footage.

Saturday 5 February 2011

All - Acts of Repulsion Rough Cut 1 After Feedback

Here is the rough cut of Oli and mine AS Coursework task titled 'Acts of Repulsion', we have both uploaded the footage onto facebook to get feedback on how we could improve it. We have yet to a soundtrack. We are hoping to get this done within the next week. Our idents are included in this rough cut.

This reflects feedback we received on the Monday 31st January.

All - $lash Films Ident (After feedback)

Here is Oli Preston and Richard McLachlan's first company ident draft for our distribution company ($lash Films). This will be used in the opening 2 mins to our feature length film 'Acts of Repulsion'. We needed to create 2 idents, 1 for a distributor company and 1 for a production company. We had to come up with the two names ourselves and design the idents on LiveType for Mac. These will be played at the start of our film.

This video reflects feedback received on the 2nd February 2011.

Wednesday 2 February 2011

All - OliRic Ident

Here is Oli Preston and Richard McLachlan's first company ident draft for our production company (OliRic). This will be used in the opening 2 mins to our feature length film 'Acts of Repulsion'. We needed to create 2 idents, 1 for a distributor company and 1 for a production company. We had to come up with the two names ourselves and design the idents on LiveType for Mac. These will be played at the start of our film.




Click here to view feedback for this ident.

All - $lash Films Ident

Here is Oli Preston and Richard McLachlan's first company ident draft for our distribution company ($lash Films). This will be used in the opening 2 mins to our feature length film 'Acts of Repulsion'. We needed to create 2 idents, 1 for a distributor company and 1 for a production company. We had to come up with the two names ourselves and design the idents on LiveType for Mac. These will be played at the start of our film.



Click here to view feedback for this ident.