Gary Halvorson | Director

Halvorson is a director and producer who is mainly known for his work on 'Friends', 'Everybody Loves Raymond' and 'Two and a Half Men'. He won an Emmy for Outstanding Special Class Directing for the 78th Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade which was shown on NBC.

Friends

This is a very well-known American television sitcom which was created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman. It originally aired on NBC from 1994 to 2004 and it lasted ten seasons. The show revolves around six young adult friends that all live in Manhattan and it explores real life situations within relationships and work life through humour and comedy. Halvorson directed 56 episodes within 1997 and 2004.

The series was nominated for 62 Primetime Emmy Awards and have won 6 including one for Outstanding Comedy Series. The series has also won an American Comedy Award, a GLAAD Media Award, a Golden Globe Award, 3 Logie Awards, 6 People's Choice Awards, a Satellite Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award.

Everybody Loves Raymond

This is an American television sitcom which was created by Philip Rosenthal. It ran on CBS from 1996 to 2005 and had 9 seasons. The show revolves around the life of an Italian-American sportswriter who lives with his family and has to deal with his controlling parents living next door. Halvorson directed 61 episodes within 1997 and 2005.

The series was nominated for 69 Primetime Emmy Awards and have won 15 of them, including 10 for acting. The series also won a Screen Actors Guild Award while also being nominated for 21 of them and have also won a Writers Guild of America Award for Episodic Comedy.

Two and a Half Men

This is an American television sitcom that was broadcast on CBS starting in 2003 and ending in 2015 with 12 seasons to it's name. The series is initially revolved around the life of the Harper brothers, Charlie and Alan, and Alan's son Jake. The show deals with real life situations such as divorce, relationships and deaths but in a humorous way. Halvorson directed 34 episodes within 2004 and 2007.

The series has won 9 Primetime Emmy Awards, it has been nominated for 2 Golden Globe Awards, 3 Screen Actors Guild Awards, and has won a Teen Choice Award, 4 People's Choice Awards and a ALMA Award.

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I am particularly interested in Halvorson's work in 'Friends' due to the way he creates a clear difference between the comedy of the show and the serious parts that the show also explores. Although my chosen TV series isn't based on comedy, there are a few humorous moments in some of the scenes to help the lighten the mysterious and dark mood. This something I might use within my work to balance out the darkness of the scene and the humour side of it as well.

Rob Marshall | Director

Rob Marshall is an American theatre director, film director and choreographer. He is best known for his work on 'Chicago', 'Annie', 'Pirates of the Caribbean' and most recently 'Into the Woods'. He won a Directors Guild of America Award, and an Academy award, a BAFTA and a Golden Globe for Best Director for his work in 'Chicago'.

Chicago

This film is an adaptation of the 1975 Broadway musical with the same name, with the combined genres of musical, comedy and crime. It explores the themes of celebrities, scandal and crime in Chicago during the Jazz period. 

It won a Golden Globe for the Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy, and was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Film.

Annie

This film is also an adaptation of the 1977 Broadway musical with the same name which was also based on the 1924 'Little Orphan Annie' comic strip by Harold Gray. It is also seen as a remake of the 1982 film of the same name, directed by John Huston.

It won a TV Guide Award for Favourite TV Movie or Miniseries and was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Made for Television Movie.

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

The whole of the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' series are fantasy 'swashbuckler' films. based on the Walt Disney's theme park ride of the same name. 

It was nominated and has won a variety of awards such as Academy Awards, Golden Globe Awards, MTV Movie Awards and Teen Choice Awards.

 

Into the Woods

This film is a musical based on the book by James Lapine. The musical shows the plots of several Brothers Grimm stories such as Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk, Rapunzel and Cinderella.

It won a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Musical and it won a Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical.

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I am particularly interested in Marshall's directing work in 'Annie' and 'Into The Woods' due to the way he has shown the music numbers. 'Into the Woods' has a dark and mysterious ambience throughout the whole film due to the stories being told. This is something I want to use in my work for this unit. 'Pretty Little Liars' is meant to be mysterious so I want to make the lighting quite dark and experiment with similar camera shots that Marshall has used within 'Into the Woods'.

 

Pretty Little Liars | Chosen Drama Series

'Pretty Little Liars'

American 7 Season teen drama mystery-thriller TV series from ABC Family, between 2010-present.

A group of four friends battle with an anonymous foe who is threatening to reveal their darkest secret, while figuring out the mystery of the murder of their best friend. The series was developed by I. Marlene King and it is loosely based the book series with the same title written by Sara Shepard.

The most regular director of the series is Norman Buckley who has also directed TV series such as 'Rizoli & Isles', 'The Carrie Diaries', 'Gossip Girl' and many more. Other regular directors are Ron Lagomarsino (directed episodes of 'The Fosters', 'Switched at Birth', etc.) and Chad Lowe (directed episodes of 'Bones', 'Brothers & Sisters', etc.).

Season 3 Trailer



I chose this TV drama because it's a genre that's out of my comfort zone. I don't usually watch or create crime genre films/TV series. Recreating this will be a task for me as it will challenge what I'm used to, and also I will get the chance to experiment with interesting camera angles in order to create mystery and drama.

Red Riding | Prep Project

Crew

Director of Photography:
Julian Court - Nominated for 'British Academy Television Craft Award for Best Photography and Lighting - Fiction'. Has worked on Crime Drama series such as 'Luther', 'Ashes to Ashes' and 'Prime Suspect'.

Production Designer:
Paul Cross - He is well-known for his work on 'MI-5', 'Primeval' and 'Hustle'.

Editor:
Katie Weiland - She is well-known for her editing work on 'Game of Thrones'.

Locations

River Edge - Late Evening/Night.

Police Station.

 

Tone and Style

 

Create an Eery atmosphere through the editing.

"Jobson watches Eddie head through the smoky room packed with beery JOURNOS. TV lights, notebooks, memo recorders." - Taken from the script.

A blue tint with a faded look, similar to Broadchurch.

 

Cast

 

Eddie Dunford (Youthful, ambitious, libidinous. Elongated shirt collar and kipper tie.) - Danny Dyer

 

 

Bill Hadley (Grey beard, grey eyes.) - Roger Allam

 

 

Detective Superintendent Maurice Jobson (Owlish, bespectacled.) - Hugh Grant

 

 

Barry Gannon (Skinny, single, obsessed.) - Tom Hiddleston

 

 

Bill Molloy (Late 50's, a big man, a dangerous man.) - Anthony Hopkins

 

 

Police Woman - Katherine Parkinson

 

 

Mr and Mrs Kemplay - James McAvoy and Carey Mulligan

 

 

Kathryn Tyler - Crystal Yu

 

 

Work by Ellen, Nisserin & Becca

Directions | New Unit

Following on from our first unit, storytelling, we have started our second unit, directions. In this unit we have been given the task to create two different films.

Film 1:

Director Self Portrait
I have to create a portraiture film of myself. I will have to appear in the video, but I don't have to be in the whole thing. This film should share what I admire, how I see the world and how the world sees me. I need to be the director for this film so I will need to arrange a camera operator, a sound person and any other cast and crew I will need in production. Sound design should play a big part in this film, so there should be no dialogue and no music.

Film 2:

The Drama
I will have to choose a television drama series, select a scene or a few scenes and translate that into a 5-6 page script while also recreating the scenes from my own point of view. There should be both opening and closing credits within this film, and music should be royalty free or from the series itself. hen selecting the scenes I need to choose scenes that have very little dialogue or no dialogue at all. The scenes should enable me to explore interesting locations, production and sound design, and I should be able to challenge myself within this film.

I'm looking forward to experimenting with each film within this unit. For the first film I am looking forward to being creative and thinking outside of the box, and for the second film I am looking forward to putting my own twist on a well-known TV drama series.