Problem Solving Log- Wes Anderson short film

Problem Solving Log

This is where ill be logging any problems decisions or issues I come to face during my Production

My first problem that I encountered for this project was that I did not have any free access to Wes Andersons film "Bottle Rocket", this is one of his first films and I wanted to watch it for my theroretical research into the Auteur theory, since it one of his first films I thought watching that would help me understand when he started to adapt/create his film style. I checked on Amazon Prime, BBC Iplayer, Disney Plus, and netflix but none of these streaming sites have it on them for free to watch. To solve this my options were to either buy the film on Amazon Prime, or DVD, then another option I had was to watch his first version of that film which is one of his student films, thats available on YouTube. The most effective choice was to watch his student film [on YouTube] for my research, but eventually I most likely would end up buying the final "Bottle Rocket" film so that I can see if theres any shots I could take inspiration from. The impact of my choice was that I had an even earlier edition of his work available, for me to analysis and understand when his style started to form.

27/02/25

6/3/25

This week the issue that I had was that one of the three days we have in college was cut short due to a college parents evening, therefore I was not in college on Tuesday 4/3/25 which is a problem because I struggle to maintain focus, and be motivated to do my work at home due to distractions, so I coudn't get much work done that day. To resolve this I could have tried doing my work in another room in my house with less distractions such as no TVs or my phone in. I could also have gone to the local cafe to do my work their alone. In the end the decision I made was to turn my phone on silent and put it across the room from me, whilst I was working, I chose to only do a small amount of work [2 bibliographies] because I was struggling to focus and I didnt want the quality of my work to go down. The benefit of making this decison was that I manged to get some of my work done which meant the day wasnt wasted and it helped me to stay on track of my schedule rather than falling behind.

13/3/25

This week an issue I ran into was that once again we had our college working days cut short because on the Thursday [13/3/25] there was another parents evening so our day was cut short, however I came in and did as much as I could within the two hours we had. Then I went home to do more work but what I had done that morning was not saved. My options to solve this were to either wait until we returned to college on the Monday and see if it saved on the computer I was doing my work on, or I could have tried searching on my office 365 files hoping that I would find a recent save. In the end I attempted searching for the save, but I could not find it so I just had to redo the work that I had done. The result of this was annoying because I had to waste my time rewriting work that I had already done, but I still ended up finishing my tehcnical research on that day which helped me stay on course to meet the next deadline. I also had work the next two days so I wouldn't have been able to complete the technical research until Monday which would have made me fall behind on my scedule.

20/3/25

An issue I ran into last week was that our pitch presentations had been adjusted and instead of doing them in an interview style infont of our teacher, we had to film ourselves going through the presentation. This is an issue because I needed to get the pitch done this week and the day I had org inally planned to do it was in person on thursday, but due to talks and other work I didnt have the time, but I was unaviable to do work on the friday to sunday that I had off and the date to have it due in was the monday [24th]. What I could have done was left it until I could film it, Wednesday, but that would make me full behind on the hand in and other tasks. What I ended up doing was filming it tonight [20th] after I got, orignally I didnt think I would have had the time because of how late I get back home from being on the bus, but I just stayed up later and got it filmed, then I could edit this monday morning. The benefit of this choice was that it helped me stay on track of my progress and will help me meet my weekly hand in.

20/3/25

An issue I ran into last week was that our pitch presentations had been adjusted and instead of doing them in an interview style infont of our teacher, we had to film ourselves going through the presentation. This is an issue because I needed to get the pitch done this week and the day I had org inally planned to do it was in person on thursday, but due to talks and other work I didnt have the time, but I was unaviable to do work on the friday to sunday that I had off and the date to have it due in was the monday [24th]. What I could have done was left it until I could film it, Wednesday, but that would make me full behind on the hand in and other tasks. What I ended up doing was filming it tonight [20th] after I got, orignally I didnt think I would have had the time because of how late I get back home from being on the bus, but I just stayed up later and got it filmed, then I could edit this monday morning. The benefit of this choice was that it helped me stay on track of my progress and will help me meet my weekly hand in.

24/3/25

To start this week I was trying to get my equipment ready to be booked out for easter which was when I planned to fo my filming, but then the issue I ran into was that due to insurance policy's I was not able to book out the Black Magic camera for over the easter term. The porblem with this is that I had planned to do all my filming on that camera over the term off which I now coudn't use. My options to resolve this issue was to either book out on of the DSLR cameras instead since you can book those out for longer periods. Another option would have been to look on the "Fatllama" website, which is a website where you can ask a hub of people to book out certain equipment such as cameras for a few weeks for a small fee. The problem with this was I couldn't find many of the Black magic models im used to on there and the fee to hire them was quite expensive. A different choice I could have made was to cancel filming over easter and too film certain scenes on different days, because I could book out the Black Magic camera from college for during the day [but it has to be returned that night]. Ultimetly I decided I would film on the DSLR cameras we have at college since I have used them before so I briefly know how to operate them. The benefit of making this choice was that i could ontinue with my original plan and film over easter, and these cameras do not shoot in RAW footage so I wouldn't have to spend a lot of time colour grading. Hin.

3/4/25

This week an issue I encountered was that the light I had booked out to do my experiments with was not as good as the RGB and LED lights that I had used before to do my experiment filming. This was because the light it self was a smaller square, camera mounted light which wasnt as powerful as the other two lights I used for my experiments. As a result of this, the blue colour tone emmitted was not as powerful and it would be harder to light the scene since id need to block out any natrual lights or other lights that do not have the blue tone. To solve this issue I could try to book out the same mounted RGB light that I used for my experiment, however im not sure if I can book out that light to take home due to the insurance policys the college have. Another option would be to use the LED strip lights that I prevousily used, but the issue with this is that those LEDs were set up at a different location to where im filming. I could change where I film but I would still need to buy another set of lights because once the strip is stuck down it cannot be removed and I need the LEDs for two different locations, one in a bedroom and the other in a bathroom. In the end I chose to buy two sets of LED lights so that I can film in my desired location which is my house. I chose this option because the LED lights created the most appealing blue colour tone which both me and my audience agreed was the best option. The benefit of making this decison was that I got to stick to my orginal filming location and I can achive the most appealing colour tone for my audience to appreciate

10/4/25

This week I was on my Easter break, and I had booked out equipment for my experiments, I had booked out a tripod, camera, and a RGB light box. I needed to have a tripod that could rotate because I was experimenting with Whip Pans, which require free and swift movement using a camera and tripod. However the issue I encountered was that when rotating the tripod usings its arms, the camera would be jogged or move up/down depending on the movement. Which is an issue because when whip panning right for example it needs to be smooth, quick and stable, but it couldn't be. I adjusted the arms as much as I could but any quick movement left or right would make the camera tilt, and once locked in a position you could not make any movement in any direction. To solve this issue I discovered that you can adjust the tripods arms so that there nearly locked but not all the way this holds its position but also allows slow movement without causing the camera to tilt. The issue here is that the whip pan would have to be slow which doesnt fit Wes Anderson cinematography style since his whip pans are always quick and snapping. In the end the resolution I made was to cancel doing any actual filming in the Easter break [which I orginally planned to do] and wait until I return to college then I could hire out a different tripod and ensure my Whip pans can be quick and smooth.I didnt waste having the Easter holiday though, I still filmed my experiments withthe first tripod I was having issues with. The benefits of making the desion to wait would be that I could have more time to plan and schedule my production and importantly my whip pans could be quick, snappy, and completley level just like Andersons.

An issue I faced this week was that my actor for one of the tennis player characters had dropped out of filming last minute since they had made other arrangements the night before the day I had planned for filming. This is a problem because I had scheduled the monday to do filming and I had got all my equipment ready and booked the tennis court court to use, but then with my actor being unavailable that would mean I couldn't film, since they are the main focus of the scene, and I would also loose out on the money I paid to book out the Tennis court which was non-refundable. To solve this I could have, done filming on a different day such as the tuesday instead, even though id loose my booking and money it would still mean I could film the scene fairly early on into production, which is important for me since its one of the longer scnes which is going to be harder and take longer to film due to all the different whip pans that I'll have to play around with. However later that day I came to a effective solution which was to switch my actors for this role, my actor who was originally playing the cowboy character for a different scene was going to switch because he was free monday to film, and then my actor who dropped out could later film as the cowboy instead. The benefits of this solution meant that I could stick to my orignal schedule plan, I wouldn't loose my booking or any money, and I could still get the most difficult scene filmed first,

24/4/25

An issue I faced this week was that my actor for one of the tennis player characters had dropped out of filming last minute since they had made other arrangements the night before the day I had planned for filming. This is a problem because I had scheduled the monday to do filming and I had got all my equipment ready and booked the tennis court court to use, but then with my actor being unavailable that would mean I couldn't film, since they are the main focus of the scene, and I would also loose out on the money I paid to book out the Tennis court which was non-refundable. To solve this I could have, done filming on a different day such as the tuesday instead, even though id loose my booking and money it would still mean I could film the scene fairly early on into production, which is important for me since its one of the longer scnes which is going to be harder and take longer to film due to all the different whip pans that I'll have to play around with. However later that day I came to a effective solution which was to switch my actors for this role, my actor who was originally playing the cowboy character for a different scene was going to switch because he was free monday to film, and then my actor who dropped out could later film as the cowboy instead. The benefits of this solution meant that I could stick to my orignal schedule plan, I wouldn't loose my booking or any money, and I could still get the most difficult scene filmed first,

29/4/25