Major Collaborative Project

For our major collaborative project, we have been commissioned to develop and execute an episode to an anthology series called ‘Digital Shadows.’ We had been split into eight diverse groups where we picked a random note from a hat. The theme that we got was “AI companionship” and so from there we were able to start pitching ideas. The episode will be inspired by sci-fi and futuristic programs and films such as ‘Black Mirror’ and ‘Wanda vision.’ Our group consists of two writers, an assistant director, two visual production artists, a producer and a BTS director. We plan to collaborate with each other as well as camera workers and editors to successfully create an episode which matches the brief.

Interpret Brief & Ideas Generation

"Bicentennial Man" is a sci-fi film that stars Robin Williams as a robot named Andrew. The story follows Andrew's journey as he strives to understand what it means to be human and looks to achieve his own humanity. It is an exploration of identity, love, and being alive. The movie raises interesting questions about free will and the boundaries between humans and robots. The theme of AI revolves around the idea of developing human-like qualities and desires. The movie explores the concept of AI evolving its original programming and seeking to experience emotions, creativity, and the desire for freedom. The film beautifully portrays the journey of Andrew as he strives to become more than just a robot, highlighting the complexities and moral implications of AI development. Discrimination is an important theme that is explored. As Andrew strives to recognized as a human, he faces discrimination and prejudice from society. People initially view him as nothing more than a machine, incapable of having feelings or deserving of rights. The movie highlights the struggles he faces as he fights against this discrimination and seeks acceptance. It serves as a powerful message on the marginalization of those who are seen as different. The film encourages viewers to reflect on the importance of empathy, understanding, and equality for all beings, regardless of their origins or appearances. "Bicentennial Man" had a profound impact on society. It shed light on the harmful effects of prejudice and the importance of treating all individuals with respect and, regardless of their origins or appearances. The movie sparked conversations about equality, empathy, and the ethical considerations surrounding the treatment of AI. It encouraged viewers to question their own biases and consider the potential consequences of discrimination. Overall, "Bicentennial Man" played a role in raising awareness and promoting a more inclusive and compassionate society.

A Black Mirror episode titled "Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too". It features Miley Cyrus as a pop star named Ashley O. In the episode, Ashley O's fans are obsessed with her, but behind the scenes, she feels controlled by her management. The story takes a twist when Ashley's consciousness is transferred into a robotic doll called Ashley Too. The episode explores themes of identity, fame, and the dark side of the entertainment industry. Black Mirror is known for its thought-provoking exploration of the impact of technology on society. It dives into themes such as the dark side of social media, the ethical implications of artificial intelligence, and the consequences of our obsession with virtual reality. Each episode presents a different story and setting, but they all share a common thread of consequences in a technology-dependent world. It is a fascinating and sometimes unsettling series that really makes you think about the role technology plays in our lives. Black Mirror explores various themes related to AI. It often raises questions about the impact of AI on society, such as the loss of privacy and the dangers of unchecked technological. The show often portrays scenarios where AI systems, robots, or virtual beings challenge our understanding of consciousness, identity, and the nature of humanity. These episodes serve as cautionary tales, reminding us to consider the ethical risks as we continue to develop AI into our lives.

Concept Development & Working with Others

Our given theme for our episode is ‘AI companionship.’ Initially we produced three different concepts but narrowed it down to one which we all agreed on. To start with, my team and I created a story circle. This consisted of the different plot points within the narrative and overall, it effectively helped us to further develop our characters and their backstories. We plan to follow the story of a girl and a robot who fall in love but live in a society where it is forbidden. As one of the visual designers, I started to create mood boards on costumes, makeup and settings of the characters and places. As a team we also created a story circle which helped us to break down our episode into plot points. We started to create characters and their descriptions as well as developing a logline. Below is a link to our document with our initial creative visions.

(Group 5 episode 7 – Ai Companionship)

Once it came to writing our script, we realized the storyline had too much happening in such little time. To fix this, we kept the initial idea of a robot and girl love story but twisted characters, themes, and plot to a 1950s suburban tone. After we were set on a storyline, our writers started to develop a script. In our story, there are six characters. Eleanor and Robert, Barbara and Dr. Reign and Ricky and Ruth. The ten scenes develop to showcase our theme AI companionship. The story involves a newly moved Eleanor and Robert, an unusual couple new to chardonnay lane. What makes them unusual is the fact Robert is AI while Eleanor is human. They meet their snarky neighbor, Ruth, who exposes the couple’s secret.

Click here to see our final script!

After writing up a logline, synopsis, and character bios, we had to prepare a pitch deck to present to broadcast students. In this deck we covered our roles, logline, synopsis, characters, mood boards and what we needed from broadcast. We ensured that our presentation looked organized, colorful, and easy to understand. As I was production manager, my role included designing the Canva but also the slide talking about visual elements as well as color gradings. and making it look engaging and interesting. Each slide was dedicated to a person in the group so that way our presentation was structured. Here is the link to our pitch deck:

We felt confident as we had practiced beforehand however it made us slightly nervous that we had not met any of the broadcast students. Overall, our presentation went well. Our feedback was positive, and it flowed smoothly. There was sometimes a lack of communication within the group which led to a few mistakes in the presentation such as people reading the wrong slides. However, I felt that other than those mistakes, we were well organized and thoroughly explained each designated slide.

Here is the link to our live presentation:

After the pitch, we were then able to have our first production meeting. Our first step was to create a shooting timetable. We had to ensure our shooting days did not clash with additional lessons, jobs, and any pre-planned events. We went around and listed times and days we were available which resulted in arranging 5 days for filming. In this stage of pre-production, we must ensure each department did their part. The writers added final changes to the script and worked alongside the script supervisor to create a line script. The producer worked closely with the production manager to scout locations and fill out permits while the assistant director completed risk assessments and call sheets. DOP, editor, and sound hired out equipment and completed the correct documents. As production design manager I filled out a costumes and prop list and hired out vehicles to transport large props. I also had to organize a makeup team for on set. Some constraints that broadcast identified was hiring out equipment. Some equipment would be booked out, so we needed to ensure that dates were confirmed, and filming equipment was booked out ASAP.

Responsibility of Role

Budgeting was a key responsibility as a production designer. I oversaw managing and allocating the budget for production design elements. This included props, costumes, and makeup. For example, while organizing props, I had two large piece of furniture that could not be moved in a car. I had to then arrange for a van to take the props to location and add the cost to our budget.

I also had the responsibility of creating a color palette and thinking about lighting. During our pitch, I had created a variety of mood boards which I then presented to the cinematographer. This supported him in creating establishing a cohesive palette and lighting scheme which enhanced the mood and atmosphere of the film.

Collaboration played a huge part within our production. I collaborated with the director to ensure their artistic visons were executed well through visual elements such as coloring, props, costumes, makeup, and lighting. My role also involved organizing a team of makeup artists on set so that actors could achieve the look based on the 1950s era. The producer and I collaborated in finding locations that matched the aesthetic if our scenes. By working closely with different departments of the team, I would say we created a cohesive visual storytelling experience.

As a production designer, my first task was to create mood boards. I collaborated with the directors to ensure that the themes and color palette matched the creative visions. I created a range of mood boards and shared them with the team. This helped in creating the overall aesthetic for the film. I then invested my time into learning about the 1950s fashion culture. I elements such as hair, makeup, clothing for both men and women. This helped our makeup team create some beautiful looks for the actors.

This research allowed me to find clothing for our characters, for example all women were dressed in tea party dresses with assorted designs as it was commonly worn in that period. I then moved on creating a prop list. To do this, I used the completed script and went through it to check what props were needed for specific scenes. Once this was done, I started to think about the setting and background. I had to grab multiple props from production arts. Some props arrived later so I had to keep track of dates and which props were missing. Some props I had to create myself, such as the business cards and mugshot posters. I did the same with costumes list and ordered a few bits from amazon. Budgeting was key and we were trying to minimize the cost as much as possible, so I had to see what we already had and decide if it matched the aesthetic. After all my main tasks were finished, I focused on supporting the rest of the team with any additional tasks and kept on track with my responsibilities as a production designer.

The process my team took in making our project had a few constraints. Our first obstacle was changing one of the filming dates. Our director had a last-minute event which clashed with the filming times. As a result, we had to change the day 3 weeks forward. Another issue we also had was getting to location on time. Most of us took public transport to the sites which meant that we would be late as transport was not dependable. To resolve this, we had the college arrange taxis in advance which helped us be punctual and use our free time effectively. There were some clashes within the team itself. Due to lack of communication, a team member was not pulling their weight which resulted in us having to replace them. This meant we were set back slightly with our pre-production process. Fortunately, the rest of the team did their roles, and we were able to move onto the production stage. Although there were many constraints, it was balanced out with many positives. The team collaborated well together and alongside the broadcast team. We were able to voice our opinions comfortably and there was good team spirit. Our actors all learnt their lines and took time to block out scenes which meant they were prepared and did not waste time on filming days. Our visual elements play a huge role. It supported the film in setting the theme and atmosphere and was well done. Overall, our process had its difficulties, but it prepared me for the industry and what difficulties to expect.

In my opinion, id say that our film partially met original intentions. Initially we wanted to create a heavily sci-fi themed episode as mentioned above, however we ended up with a romance mixed with sci-fi. I feel this was executed successfully as it gave out an emotional effect on the audience and helped them connect with both the storyline and characters. We also did have to replace one of the actors due to some miscommunications, but this gave us skills in adaptability as we worked with a new actor who took a new approach to character preparation. Comparing our initial mood boards with the ones we ended up using, there were drastic changes. Our first mood boards focused on neon, galactic tone whereas the new mood boards had a pastel, suburban 1950s tone.

This hugely effected elements such as set design, color grading, costumes and makeup. Overall, I feel that our process to get to our final film not only taught us skills in versatility, organization and communication but also allowed us to successfully execute a film which matched the brief.

Our team have developed many marketing materials to promote our film. All groups have access to an Instagram page called “Digital Shadows,” where we can upload BTS photos, videos, and engaging posts such as TikTok’s.

We also dedicated a day for photoshoots of each character. These pictures came out amazing and we were able to edit them to make a poster. We stuck some of these posters around college and posted them to social media, which helped audience get an idea of what our episode would be about.

Reflecting on the outcome of my project, I am incredibly satisfied with the final product. My intentions for the film have been met through the acting, set design, costume/makeup and storyline. As set designer and costumes/makeup manager, I feel that I perfectly executed the themes. Immediately audience can pick up the tone of the film, which supported its storyline. Although there were some obstacles regarding a lack of team cohesion during pre-production, we overcame it through learning how to communicate effectively as well as showing respect through punctuality and organization. We were also able to gain some feedback from class peers on our rough cut.

We were told that the strengths of the film were its visuals, acting and storyline however it could be further improved by slowing down near the end of the film as it was described as “moving very quickly”. From this feedback I’ve learnt about what key areas to consider on our next project but also helped me identify areas of strength. In conclusion, I enjoyed working on this project. As an actress I was able to work with people I hadn’t before and showcase my skills. On the other hand, I worked as a set design and costume/makeup manager where I learnt that this is one of my strongest strengths and id love to have this role for future projects.