Kitchen Sink Drink: Mop-Up

My finished film

The post-production process ran extremely smoothly. Using LumaFusion, I sequenced the 25 or so shots together, being sure to cut at the appropriate time for the two examples of match on action which I implemented.

I slowed the speed of one specific shot (throwing the squash down the sink) for dramatic effect. In addition, I added a title card, as well as credit titles.

Title card

Although I am pleased with my finished film, there are a number of things that could’ve been better:

• Making sure the focus is appropriately managed
• Controlled camera movements
• Background sounds should be lower in the mix, unless they are the focus

Overall, I think that the Kitchen Sink Drink project went relatively well. I enjoyed the conception of ideas, scriptwriting, as well as the filming process. My least favourite part of the project was definitely the floor plan and storyboarding.

I attempted to employ techniques throughout the film, such as matching on action and camera panning. In addition, I tried to obey the 180º rule throughout.

Kitchen Sink Drink: Filming

The process of filming ran relatively smoothly with no major issues. We filmed for around an hour, despite the final film being around 2 minutes long.

The main point of interest is that I decided to utilise a number of shot types and techniques that I hadn’t considered in the storyboard. This included filming from the bottom of the glass, as well as from inside the cupboard. I also tried including a body wipe, where Scarlett appears to walk through the camera.

In addition, the sun began to set after a period of filming so I was careful to not include any shots which pictured a window in the frame.

The two filming locations – dining room and kitchen

Kitchen Sink Drink: Storyboards

The next step was to storyboard the sequence of events, determining the specific shot types that I would use. Below is my completed storyboard.

Storyboard

Kitchen Sink Drink: Location Scout and Floor Plan

The next step in the process was to take photos of the filming location, in this case being the dining room and kitchen. In addition, I had to draw a rough floor plan of the area. Below are both the images taken and the floor plan.

Dining room chair

Dining room table

Kitchen angles

Floor plan

Kitchen Sink Drink: Screenplay

Next, I had to write a correctly formatted screenplay using Slugline. Below is my completed screenplay.

Kitchen Sink Drink: Treatment

My film will involve two characters, a father and a daughter.

We open on a closeup of an empty glass containing a few drops of water which the father then inspects to see if there is any water remaining. After discovering it is practically empty, he picks up the glass and he heads towards the kitchen. Before he reaches the kitchen, he encounters the daughter holding another empty glass. The father then asks the daughter if she can refill his glass, seeing as she is doing the same anyway. She reluctantly accepts the request and takes the glass from him.

We cut to the daughter in the kitchen pouring squash into one of the glasses, then diluting it with water. She moves onto the father’s glass and pours some squash into the glass. She then realises that he asked for water, and proceeds to carelessly throw the squash into the sink, unknowingly leaving a minuscule amount remaining in the glass. The camera focuses on this. She dilutes the squash with water, realising her mistake and masking the contents of the drink. The daughter enters the dining room and she places her squash down on the table. She then gives the other drink to the father. The daughter takes a sip of her squash, scrutinising the father. As he takes a sip of the drink, we cut to a reactionary shot of the daughter’s devious expression. The film ends on a closeup of the father’s confused reaction to the extremely dilute squash before any dialogue can ensue between the two characters.

Kitchen Sink Drink: Introduction

We have been tasked to plan, film, edit and upload a sequence featuring two characters in a kitchen, during which a drink is offered and accepted but secretly has something added to it.

The first order of business is to write a treatment. A treatment is a document that presents the story idea of a film before writing the script in its entirety. They are often written in present tense, in a narrative-like prose. Information included within a treatment usually contains the title of the film, a story summary as well as character descriptions.