Autobiographical Films
Thank you for your interest in making a film with us.
All our films are different and anything is possible. Prices varying according to the complexity of the project but we are conscious that you would like to have some idea about cost. Below therefore, we have described the process of making a film and some typical projects with prices. We hope this is helpful.
We look forward to hearing from you and discussing your project.
Suzanne Friend (Producer) and Richard Hill (Director)
Learn more about the process here
The Process
Setting up the studio in a private house
The pre-filminG process:
First, we discuss your vision for the film and how best to approach making it.
Next, we meet the interviewee in their home. This is mainly to discuss which parts of their life stories they would like to cover in the film . Getting to know one another in advance and explaining what will happen on the shooting day(s) means that everyone is relaxed and comfortable from the start of the filming.
This preliminary day is also an opportunity for us to plan how and where we will set up for filming. We also like to look at any photographs and archive footage which may form part of the film.
After the meeting, we draft an outline framework for the interview. This serves as a checklist to ensure we cover all the ‘must have’ memories during the filming session.
the filming process
On a typical filming day, we generally arrive at 9am . It takes around two hours to set up the equipment.
The interview is a relaxed conversation. We can stop, start repeat and, of course, cut things out. We take regular breaks.
Homes are full of memories and we try to capture images of these. We may film the interviewee walking in their garden, looking through photo albums or playing the piano.
We are a small and friendly crew of director/cameraman, interviewer and an assistant. Everyone enjoys the day!
the editing process
The editing process is by far the most time intensive element of the production, often taking many weeks of painstaking work. We continue to liaise with the subject of the film, during the editing phase.
We compile all the materials
We often visit the subject of the film to collect or return photographs.
We make high resolution scans of the photographs which we restore, eliminating dust marks, scratches and fingerprints.
We often research additional stock films and photographs, to illustrate our subjects’ stories.
We arrange for old movie footage to be professionally digitised using advanced frame scanning equipment.
Our editors watch the footage with a critical eye, making carefully considered edits, often re-ordering the interview to ensure the narrative flows logically
The restored photographs and digitised family footage are edited into the film.
Archive material is ordered, and then edited in.
Digital camera moves, pans and zooms, are programmed onto the pictures.
Graphics are designed.
Where possible, the subject’s ‘ums’ and the ‘ahs’ are trimmed out, one at a time.
We perfect every frame
The film is colour corrected, ie. the exposure and colour of each individual shot is corrected for consistency.
The film is then colour graded to create the “look” of each shot. For example, skin tones might be warmed, shadows lifted, clothes made more or less vibrant, etc.
We fine tune the sound
Music tracks and sound effects are laid.
The sound tracks are mixed, controlling the ups and downs of speech and balancing, for example, the relationship between speech and music.
Finally, we pay for the necessary licences for music and stock photos and footage.
delivery
We deliver the film to you as a digital file in whichever format you prefer. This can be emailed to you via WeTransfer for you to download, or we supply the films on memory sticks. We can offer bespoke personalised presentation packs of USB’s in a leather case as well as DVDs.
In editing, we choose the ‘best bits’ and put them into the finished film. This means that there is a lot of footage which may not make it into the film. If you choose, we can supply you with a hard drive containing all of the original footage from the interview for you to keep.
