Production: Filming of The Girl That's Doesn't Speak

How Day 1, 2 and 3 went: challenges faced prior to filming such as finding cast and crew, times of filming 10-5pm, behind the scenes problems like cast/crew management, overall opinion on outcome of filming, what would be changed if was able to do again, what did i learn and would the second film result in the same style.

Filming dates: 15th April-16th April

The Cast:

Dad- played by Mushi Noor

Daughter - played by Jas Chattha

Sister - Sobia Jones

The Crew:

I was the sound, camera and lighting person for this project. I asked on Facebook groups and friends for assistance but during the Easter period, many were busy so I filmed the project on both days.

Day 1

The location for the whole shoot was at my flat in Headingley. I was not able to find a film crew to help on the shoot days, but the actors helped out during filming as much as they could.

I planned all the scenes that needed food because this made is easier when they were needed for props. I did three shots for each scene to give variation for editing but I did try to stick with my shot list. The first day I used the animation LEDgo lights but when I was watching the footage back, the lights were not strong enough to use and I decided to go and book out redhead lights instead for tomorrow's shoot.

Day 2

After watching some of the footage from Day 1, I decided to re-shoot the scenes from Day 1 today but after shooting the scenes that needed to be done for Day 2, I still had time to re-do the scenes from yesterday so there was no need to film on Friday 17th like I had planned.
On this day I had the actress who was playing the Aunt, as this was the only full day for availability. On the day we decided that since the woman playing the Aunt was much younger in appearance than I thought and the previous actress I had contacted couldn't make it, I changed the character from an aunt to a older sister which worked out well I feel.


Overall, I thought filming alone would be much worse and it did make it hard for me because I felt I was not skilled enough to use a camera but I re-shot the scenes I was not happy with and I think they came out better as the redheads were a lot more powerful to light the scene. I know the footage could have been shot better but it was the best I could do with the time frame given and the circumstances.

Production: Filming of Stolen Goods

Filming dates: 31st March - 2nd April

The Cast:

Aje - played by Lulia Togara from CCP
Ronke - played by Candy Young from Facebook
Friend - played by Jas Chattha from Facebook

The Crew:

Cameraman - Elliott Tebbs
Grip- Me and Bhakti Mistry from Visual Communication course

Day 1

The location for the whole shoot was in the lecture theatre at Leeds College of Art. I was able to find help on the day after a Grip member dropped out. I used set up the lights and props for the set. The first day went well, the actors got on well with each other and I was able to get the shots I needed. The only complication was working around the actors' schedule because one had to arrive later than the start time and I could not wait long so while I waited, I filmed the scenes that they weren't needed and at the end of the next day I re-shot the scenes with them. This did not end up going over the scheduled time and on a positive note it gave me more options in the editing room.

Day 2

I re-did some shots from Day 1 because on this day I was able to have all three actors from the scheduled start time. The set stayed the same for the shoot as most scenes took place there.

Day 3

This day was a short filming day because I only had one scene to prepare for. I decided to create a bathroom on the back of the boards I used, but my mirror broke even after using adhesive hooks. I went and quickly got permission to film in one of the toilets in college, and I was able to get the shot I needed. I think the bathroom scene came out a lot better even though it did not go with the theme of a minimalistic look, it still worked well.

Set Up Bathroom

Overall, when complications such as time, equipment and other factors affected the shoot I was able to think of quick solutions which I was happy about.
If I had the choice of shooting on a minimalistic set I would do it again because I enjoyed having a built set and it allowed me to focus on the lighting. However I would have had more props on the set even though I researched into different types of theatre sets, I think having more props would have given the actors more to work with. Elliott was a great cameraman who gave some advice on set when needed and I was able to get the shots I wanted.

Research & Development: MoodBoards of Lighting Styles I Want

These films, for most of them I have focused on their lighting and set design. For my films I would like to have saturated colours because I feel that it would compliment the exaggerated actions of the character.

In films like Nikita (1990) and City of God the costumes and locations play a big part in enhancing the lighting. The colour palettes in City of God and Nikita are in my opinion deep shades of colour.
This has given me ideas about how to design the costumes and when choosing location to make it aesthetically pleasing. The storylines of the films are to be lighthearted so I am aiming to have colours sets.

Research & Development: Problems Finding Actors for Film

From deciding what I would do for my extended practice, I knew that I would want African or Asian actors to be in my film. This is because from interviewing people for my dissertation and researching into how Africans are portrayed in films I wanted to be able to produce a film that many black actors are not given the chance to play. Many are stereotyped in films to play a thug, comedian, side kick and for females a sexual character.

I started looking for actors at the end of January, I emailed these courses at universities first to see if I could find students so instead of payment I would provide a showreel that they could use:

University of Leeds - Center of African Studies and Faculty for Performance Visual Arts and Cultures

Manchester School of Acting

When it got towards the end of February and I still did not get replies from the universities even after emailing again, I tried these acting networks and academies:

Actors Lab

Ology Kids Casting

Star Casting UK

Casting Call Pro

Northern Lights

Mint Casting

ActUp North

West Yorkshire Theatre Network

IPM Academy

Last Minute Short Notice for Film/TV Group

I found one actress on Castingcall Pro (CCP) who I searched for because the views I received on the advert did not generate any interest.  

I found one character on CCP, and the rest on Facebook through friends both in the theatre and entertainment business.

For the second film, I found that through Actors Lab, Last Minute Short Notice for Film/TV and Facebook friends.

Overall, it took me 2 months to find actors for the first film and for both films I found actors a week before which was very lucky. However, I finished my script and shot list but could not film in the middle of March because I had no actors. I managed to only have to push the second film to the last week of the Easter holidays, but it did complicate the overall time I had to edit the film.

I have learnt that even though I used many resources to find actors, a lot of them wanted payment so the budget spent for actors was:

Stolen Goods: £194.50- this was to pay for travel and food expenses for all three actors

The Girl That Doesn't Speak: £260- again it covered travel and food expenses for all three actors

I had the money saved in case of an emergency when offering some payment helped to bring more interest so overall it cost £454.50. My budget for this was £500, and the rest of that went on creating the minimalistic set for the first film which I filmed in the lecture theatre at University.

I know that in the future I will need to continue networking so that when it comes to finding people with specific skills I will be able to ask more people which could have avoided having to push back the filming dates so late in the project.

Research & Development: Lighting Tests for film

This was a brief lighting test I did, where I mostly focused on shadows and making them softer.

At the time I thought I was going to be filming in a house so I carried out a test in a similar environment. In the video below I haven't tried out colour gels as I did not have them yet.

This test below was to experiment with the colour gels that I got for filming. Since thinking about how my stylised film might look like I thought playing with different colours and experimenting with various saturation levels would be interesting.

When it does come to the shoot, I don't think I will be going for the type of saturation in the film but I shall definitely be using the colour gels so when I move into colour grading in post-production I can play with the saturation of colour because it will be present in the scene.

The reason for these choice of colour gels is that I know these colours convey certain emotions or meanings. By doing this light test I can see how it might affect the character, in the image below the blue is slightly purple and green which I find creates a sinister look to the model which would work well if I was trying to make my characters mysterious visually. I really like the tests in the image above with the green colour gel because I think that green can mean gluttony or greed which are definitely traits of my characters in different degrees.

Research & Development: Preparing the Theatre set

I visited the Fabworks shop in Dewsbury to purchase the material for my curtains and I decided it would be quicker and cheaper to sew a makeshift curtain myself. This went alright and on the day I will place the curtains up.

I had Jonathan from wood workshop nail both boards together. The reason I wanted the boards was to create a wall and I felt it would help add depth on the set and act as the key symbol of the story taking place in a flat/house.

A friend of mine has allowed me to borrow her rugs, and pillows and I am going to purchase a table cloth from Yellow Sunrise, a shop in Corn Exchange, Leeds, where they sell colourful and sometimes embroidered home furnishings.

I thought the home furnishings from that store would go well with the African theme, even though I was mainly focusing on the theme of colours instead of having obvious African ornaments on set.

This will hopefully come together on the day of filming, but the main colours I have incorporated are red, orange, yellow and green. These colours are I feel are bright and therefore will stand out on the set.

As said in the image below, I decided not to hire wardrobes and beds, instead I used sofas and tables from the University canteen and I feel that this enough works with the minimalistic idea of a theatre set. This will also allow me more freedom with the lighting set up.

Rough model of what I want the board to look like when it gets made

I just quickly modelled the main props I am going to have for filming, and a basic idea of where I shall be placing the lights. 

Research & Development: Suspiria by Dario Argento

This film was suggested to me to watch for the lighting and general appearance of the film.

The story is about a young girl who moves to Germany to start a term at a ballet school just as another girl has dissappeared. As the film progress, Susy learns of the secret to the school.

Focusing on the lighting and set design, I felt that though the film's style is unrealistic and supernatural the set design is beautiful. The image below, the drawings on the wall are really detailed, though you do not really pay attention to it, the deep pink in the middle of the wall fading into soft purple works really well to make the character stand out.

The use of red is very bold in this film. The front entrance to the school is red, and some walls inside are painted in deep red. I am not sure if that is to emphasise the feeling of danger or make the audience unsteady but it works really well. Since watching the film, it has given my ideas of how I can experiment with lighting and the background. Though my film is very lighthearted and not a horror film like Suspiria, there are techniques from this film that I really like.

I have done a simple lighting test in my room, but now I am going to do a lighting test in the location I wish to film, where I will be experimenting with colour gels and spacing. I am going for a stylised appearance, I do want the setting to be influenced by African art and props but not overly expressed because the story is set in England and in modern times.

I am going to experiment with different types of lights such as redheads and LEDs because since colour gels are going to be used, using lights that get hot quickly won't be beneficial but deciding exactly how I want to light my scene and what lights would work best on producing the softest shadows is what I am looking for. 

I noticed that shadows were heavily used in scenes where the walls were bold colours without any patterns, I know that I shall be having soft shadows in my film but it was good to see how harsh shadows can be used in a film like this, especially in the image below with the blue lighting.

Research & Development: Change of Location for Filming

I decided to change the style and location of my film. After the research and development presentation, it was suggested that I consider filming with simplified location and props, which would allow the focus to be on the acting and narrative.

I was not too fond of the idea but after looking at films like Dogville (below), I did like the minimalistic theatre style setting it was placed in. I thought it worked well and though my film will not use the same techniques that are laid out in the Dogme 95 filmmaking techniques, I can really experiment with the lighting.

I know I will find difficulty in approaching this route but I think that it is very possible to complete. The positives filming in a lecture theatre as my chosen location is that I can set up the scene in the way I want. There is a larger space to allow for different equipment such as the crane and since I will be experimenting with lighting, I am going to be using many lights so the bigger the space, the more safe it will be for everyone on set.

I did read the guidelines for making a Dogme 95 film, created by Lars Von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg, however I felt that those rules would restrict me and given the time I had to prepare, it was not feasible to stick to those rules.

I shall be bringing these props onto the set, some are large in size so I shall be hiring a van to move it, but since I am filming 3 days in a row, once I have set up the scene there won't be any changes to it until everything is taken down.

• Cooked Food
• Purse
• Rubbish Bag
• Table + 3 chairs
• Cooking Pots +2
• Long Mirror
• Curtain
• Couch

The problems I am facing currently is working out how to fill out the space. I am deciding what props are actually important to the storyline, for example some scenes are set just outside the characters bedrooms but I do not have to use a bed to signify that it is their room.
I am still deciding how to light the scene so until then I won't know what colours curtains and chairs should be.

Research & Development: What I Am At

For the research stage of this project, I have been behind with the workload. I did seek out help and advice from colleagues and tutors but I felt that I could not get over the obstacle. I have decided on both my stories and how I want to interpret them but it was very difficult to adapt the stories that I thought would be the easiest stage of the project.

Currently, I am scouting for locations, actors and crew.

While in the research stage, I have split up my time helping film crews from other universities; this has helped me gain contacts for when I carry out my filming. I think I have enough contacts to ask for help. For actors and actresses I have been emailing University drama courses and drama schools around Leeds to find people.

Research & Development: Ghana Youtube Series: African City

This show is about a woman who decides to go back home to her country to start a new life. I enjoyed watching this series because I could relate to the homesick feeling the main character, Nana Yaa. It doesn't have folktales as the basis of the storyline but it does put into perspective the complications or clashes that Africans face when they travel back home, it conveys the differences in Western culture to African cultures and highlights how that affects each woman in their relationships, and everyday life.


The production quality is very high, which is the same for many other Youtube web series, again the lighting is not used here to support the narrative but used to establish the location and time. I have included this show because compared to Papa Ajasco, this is a new and modern show but it does influence my African theme project. I feel that this is the type of show that shows Africans in a different light than what is commonly seen. I know through watching these series that I definitely want to make my films more light-hearted with a hint of seriousness, but I would like the acting exaggerated like the show Papa Ajasco.