3rd Day of Filming - 18/01/14

Preparation: To prepare for our second and main day of filming, we created a Facebook group in which we advertised and invited friends to our day of filming and outlined their roles as extras. Some RSVP'd, many did not.
Before the arrival of most of our cast we set up the equipment and organised our travelling equipment bags, making sure to charge our two cameras as previous experience had taught us that technology has its definite limitations.
In order to to achieve maximum output in the shortest possible time schedule, it was agreed that each film-maker would film certain scenes separately, one having the tennis scenes and the other documenting social scenes. We organised the crew into two groups that would participate in either one of these filming sequences, the plan of action conveyed by a written presentation at the start of filming, along with some ideas of themes and characters.
Furthermore in this initial preparation stage, costume was important to establish. There was a descriptive 'street' dress code on the Facebook event, and the cast adhered to this to the best of their abilities. Knowing there might be some limitations, we supplied choice garments in order to maximise their 'street' look, as well as catering to the sports element with gym wear and tennis rackets. When all were assembled and dressed appropriately, we left for Dulwich Park.

Location: We chose Dulwich park because of its close proximity, sense of local community and availability of public facilities such as tennis courts. We were able to use these courts for our full advantage in shooting the sports scenes, as they matched our preconceived ideas of the slightly run-down, definitely not state-of-the-art or moneyed aesthetic. This was a nice contrast to the image of tennis as an exceedingly middle-class pursuit, played in spotless whites upon a freshly manicured astro-turf. Ours we gravelly, grey and bedraggled, but that added to its rough charm.
The social, 'human interest' scenes were shot in and around the Dulwich Picture Gallery grounds, which posses an timelessly beautiful and other-worldly quality that juxtaposed with our motley crew of extras milling about it.



Filming: A key element of filming was the use of candid camera; as a documentary we want our subjects to act as naturally as possible, particularly in a situation they may not be wholly comfortable in, such as filming. Thus many of our 'socialising' shots were recorded unbeknownst to the subjects, and I feel this was pivotal in securing the feeling naturalness and familiarity 'Backhand' achieves. Many of the cast were never even given direct instructions on how to act, and so instead made conversation with their friends to pass the time, yet unknowing using our time well.

SL. 

2nd Day of Filming - 06/01/14

This day of filming was necessary in capturing location shots and establishing background for 'Backhand', as opposed to excessive character study. In fact, we only had one extra who took on the role of "tennis racket dealer". 
The day started off on a slow note; charging cameras and assembling tripods. We then transferred this equipment to Dulwich Park. 
Initially, long-distance panning shots were taken of the waterfront, tennis courts and the luscious green fields, intended to be used at the beginning of our trailer. 
We also shot the tennis racket dealer exchange scene that could be used as our teaser trailer. This sequence sums up the interchangeable similarities between the conventions of the 'street' youth world and the street tennis world we aim to present. 

SL. 

1st Day of Filming - 20/12/13

All the cast and crew were arranged to arrive at my house for 11 AM, although admittedly we were not ready to film by at least midday. We first checked that all of our filming equipment was in order, checking the boom, directional microphone, camera, tripod, dolly wheels, micro-track and all the appropriate headphones and cables. After all of this was done we had to make sure that we had effectively collated all the necessary provisions, costumes and props for the scenes we hoped to shoot. This all consisted mainly of hats, coats and tennis rackets. Our actors arrived appropriately dressed for the shoot but also took to some costume enhancements. 

Once we were ready we made our way towards the estate in Dulwich which we had planned to use as our first location. The walk was not too long and we were able to share the load of the equipment between many hands so one could hardly describe it as gruelling. Upon arrival at the estate, we set up our first shot which is of Chris (Tom Hemington) standing beneath an underpass giving an interview on how he is struggling and so are many of his peers in the high pressure situation that they have found themselves in. Unfortunately an irate woman made us move from that particular area of public land and so we resumed filming soon after across the road, continuing on with Chris' interview. After this we filmed Robbo's (James Wilson) interview and then Carl's (Ranya El Refaey), both fairly near by due to convenience but also due to the area fitting our style and tone so seamlessly.

We continued to experiment with our character depictions, particularly Chris, for example switching from the initial, full-frontal camera long-shot we were using for his interview in the underpass to a side-on mid-shot as he leant against a brick wall, eventually zooming in for close-up. This felt like we were exploring multiple 'sides' of our character, as well as getting to grips with camera angling on a practical level.

During these interviews we used to boom pole to help us record sound on the micro-track, and having previously never used such advanced sound equipment we had to repeat several shots over in order make sure we had completed the task. Issues with wind interference were corrected.

CS & SL. 

Film Title: Plan

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The font used for this title is HeadLineA found on Final Cut Pro. The stylisation of the font reflects duality of the themes presented in the film, with the juxtaposition of lower and upper case fonts, and their contrasting spacing and size.


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According to Wikipedia, a backhand move in tennis: "Because the player's dominant hand "pulls" into the shot, the backhand generally lacks the power and consistency of the forehand, and is usually considered more difficult to master. However, the two-handed backhand provides more stability and power for the shot, and is increasingly used in the modern game. Beginner and club-level players often have difficulty hitting a backhand, and junior players may have trouble making the shot if they are not strong enough to hit it. Many advanced players still have a significantly better forehand than backhand, and many strategies in tennis aim to exploit this weakness."
The idea of backhand acts as a metaphor, as the kids are not professional tennis players in any capacity, although some may secretly dream to be. In relation to their background, they are disadvantaged as players, and there are more struggles when it comes to mastering to the game, but if one of them was to overcome these obstacles and master the game, then it would be considered a triumph. In the end, many  of the kids are on different paths, but for some tennis may be the one to follow.

SL. 

Ident Influences

They are a New York-based studio producing independent films and documentaries and, according to the Zeitgeist website: "Bringing quality foreign and independent feature films and documentaries to American screens since 1988". Six Zeitgeist films have been nominated for Academy Awards and one (Nowhere In Africa) has won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Their films have been honored by festivals throughout the world with Grand Prizes at Cannes, Berlin, Sundance and IFDA in Amsterdam. In an ideal world we would model our own production company on Zeitgeist.

The style of their ident has a more 'retro' feel than an overly technological one, with its handwriting-style design, which gives the impression that they are a laid-back independent studio, producing films and documentaries similar to ours.

('Examined Life' Documentary Produced by Zeitgest)

SL.