Group: Evaluation of Shoot 28/03/11

On the 28/03/11 we returned to the Scout Hut in Southborough to reshoot some of the footage that we weren't completely happy with, as well as film the shots that we had ran out of time to do in the first shoot at the Scout Hut.

Because British Summer Time had begun, we

had an hour more light than at our previous shoot, which meant that we could set up and film some exterior shots in dusk, so that we can edit the colours to make it look like night but still be able to see everything. One of our

problems previously had been shooting at night and not being able to see clearly.

The shoot went very well, with everybody on t

ime and knowing what to do. We followed our storyboard and call sheet closely, so were better planned. As we had more time do film less footage this time, we could concentrate on getting better shots, as well as good quality sound. We also had time and enough hands to use a clapperboard this time.

The footage itself came out well. Lighting was as ever an issue, but we were by this point fairly used to adjusting light in order to film so that the camera can pick up the subject but with the illusion of complete darkness.

We were also able to get some close up shots of Ali, which we had not been able to get at the very first shot in the woods, and hope to change the colours to make it look darker.

Overall, we were happy with this shoot. We had more time and were used to working together, so it was relaxed, and although we were slightly pushed for time, we had enough time to get good shots of everything we wanted.

Below is a still of us assembling our set. This is the third time we have made the set, so by this point we were able to do it quite quickly.

Group - Plan for shoot Monday 28/3/11

We have decided to return to our shooting location at Southborough scout hut on Monday in order to clean up some shots we took on the previous shoot, and so that we can finish shooting the remaining unfilmed shots on our storyboard. We are still set to arrive at 6:30, as the location is indoors meaning that we do not need to account for daylight saving in terms of continuity shooting.

The main shots we would like to have filmed by the end of the shoot are;

• ...the main shots of our lead character opening and closing the double doors, which we were not able to achieve last time due to the doors being locked. 
• ...more close ups of various items of clothing/objects to bulk out the narrative and to provide an artsy overall feel to the clip.
• ...(poss.) some closeups of our main character in order for us to make use of our gore makeup.
• ...(poss.) the driving shots. This is based on Connor's availability and a group creative decision on whether or not they are necessary.

We do have a fourth and final backup date as standby in case there are any further shots that are required, but at this time it seems unlikely that we will need any more shooting time after Monday.

Group: 2 Weeks to go!?

List of things that need to be done by the deadline:

• Complete all call sheets and risk assessments for all 3 shoots.
• Write up a plan for our shoot on 28/3/11 and then write up an evaluation.
• Chris is going to create horror music to be played during the opening.
• Go through the blog to make sure everything has been uploaded and to comment on each others posts.
• Upload pictures and stills to our posts on the blog.
• We still have a few shots to re-shoot of Ali arriving at the barn and of him watching the TV.
• Lastly, we will need to finish editing our footage.
  

Group: Evaluation of Shoot 23/3/11

Our shoot on Wednesday 23rd March 2011 was our second shoot and was based at the Scout Hut on Ridgeway Field in Southborough. We met at 6:30 pm, but we came across problems from the very start.

Firstly, as we arrived Chris phoned and told us he was stuck in London and so Ali and Ben had to start the shoot without him. A second problem was that at first we were unable to connect the camera through a scart lead to a TV. We were able to overcome these problems, however, by changing leads and with Chris turning up around 8:00 pm.

Similar to the first shoot, we again had some problems with lighting and it took a while for us to figure out the best position for the lighting. To overcome this we simply filmed everything twice with more lighting and then less lighting. This would enable to decide during editing which looks the best and we could always alter the lighting during editing as well.

Below is a picture of how we reflected light off a shiny surface to make the light dimer and less obvious that it was coming from a normal bulb.

Ali and Ben were able to make up the set in Chris's abscence and were able to film a number of shots with Ali watching footage and playing around with the camera. Once Chris had turned up, we moved on outside to a football hut to film Ali arriving at the hut. The main problem for this part of the shoot was that since we did not have the key for the football hut, we were unable to film Ali opening the doors. This problem became further frustrating as the doors in the Scout Hut could not be opened either since again we did not have the key. We then decided it will probably be best to finish shooting and to see how much footage we had shot so far and go for a third shoot on another day when we did have the key to the big doors in the Scout Hut.

However, there were positive aspects to the shoot too. We were able to get some close extreme close up shots, including of the barrel that Ali sits on, and of the rope which decorates the set. By having a power supply, it allowed us to be free with the camera and for the 3 and a half hours we were filming, we did not have to worry about running out of battery. We were pleased with the footage we shot, but as mentioned above, did decide that a third shoot will be required.

Below is an image of Ali watching back some of the footage which will be a shot used in our opening. This was a shot we were particularly pleased with.

What we learnt from this shoot:

• It is easier to film inside as it allows us to alter the lighting easily.
• Having the storyboard with us and having a good plan is very useful as it allows us to know what exact shots we need and what we have left to film.
• Have all eqipment ready 24 hours before shoot, to allow time to make changes if there are problems.
• Test equipment before going on the shoot to ensure it works.
• If somebody is late or can't come, continue and do as much as is possible without them.

For our third and hopefully final shoot which we will plan very soon, we will have with us a more precise storyboard which shows us exactly which shots we need to get, so that when we are there we can focus on filming and not trying to work out what looks best.

Group: Plans For Shoot 23/03/2011

This will be our second time of shooting and we will be filming in a Scout Hut to film our interior footage of Ali arriving at the hut, proceeding inside, hearing someone outside and then watching footage on a TV obsessively. We are hoping to also film some more close ups of Ali to add to our footage from the first shoot since inside, it will be much easier to control lighting and get much clearer shots.

The overall plan for the shoot is:

1. Filming Ali arriving at the hut in a panic with the video camera and going towards the large green doors at the nearby football container.
2. After this, we will have to set up props and the scene inside the hut so that we are able to begin filming.
3. We will then go inside the scout hut and film him placing a large wooden plank across the inside of some green doors .
4. After this we will be filming a number of shots of Ali obsessing over the footage on a TV screen which will add up to create a montage.
5. Then, we will film our opening credits using the fake script that we have created.
6. Lastly, we will film some close ups of Ali so that we can have more shots for our previous shoot in the woods.

Group: Evaluation Of Shoot 18/03/2011

On Friday, 18th March 2011, we went to the woods between Southborough and Speldhurst in Tunbridge Wells, and filmed on a public footpath which runs parallel to Benthan Road.

We met at 7:30, but didn't start shooting until gone 8:00 because we had to walk to our location, so we were fairly quickly behind schedule. We began shooting, but it quickly became apparent how many problems we would have shooting in the dark without professional lighting equipment.
The shot of the car through the viewer of the second DV camera (below) was particularly hard to film, because we were not able to light the entire car as we had initially hoped.

However, with the torches and video lights we hadwith us, shining both in and out of the car, as well as the brake lights of the car on, we were able to get the shoot we wanted, however it took a lot longer than we had anticipated so we had less time to film to do the rest of the shoot. The slow pan shot of the car was close to impossible to shoot perfectly smoothly without a track and dolly which we did not have, so in the edit we have decided to speed up the slow pan, to make it a fast zoom.
The rest of the filming, mostly shots of Ali waking up in the woods and walking quickly towards the car became far smoother once we
got into into it. We found the wires from microphones, headphones and cameras too difficult to maneuver at our pace, so stopped using them. We also found using a clapperboard tiresome, and although it speeds up editing, we found that with all the equipment in the dark, it slowed down our shoot a bit too much so we stopped using it.

Learnings from the shoot:If filming outside, try to have lighting planned prior to shooting.

• Plan more 'setting up' time to get everybody together and allow for people to be late.
• Give about twice more time for each shot than you think you need.
• Have a safe, dry area to store all expensive equipment when it is not in use, so that people do not always have to hold it.

In conclusion, we were pleased with the footage that we got back from our shoot, and although it was hard work and we had a number of problems, there were no barriers that we didn't eventually solve. We spent more time than p

lanned shooting, but this meant that we didn't have to compromise so much on the quality of the footage.

Below left: struggling to correctly light Ali as he was walking along.
Below right: the clapperboard on our very first take, before we gave up on it.

Group: Storyboard

This is our animatic showing what we are hoping to film and in which order:

Group: Preliminary Shoot Evaluation

There were a number of things that the group learnt from making the preliminary task such as:

• How to edit footage to give it a continual line of action and using continuity editing. This would be useful since we have been planning to use some continuity editing in our opening and this task gave us good practice in doing so.

• Furthermore, the preliminary task gave us a chance to try out some shots we had been hoping to use such as the canted angle and panning shots.

• We were also able to practice editing our footage in terms of lighting and effects. One particular effect is that we used ghosting by placing the same footage on top of one another, but moving one of them slightly and blurring it giving a ghostly feel.

• This task allowed us to understand the number of shots that are needed to make the footage seem continuous and look aesthetically pleasing.

• Lastly, we were given the chance to practice our acting skills which were in need of refining as some of the group have very little experience of acting.

However, despite these positives, we did come across some problems:

• We had not had large amounts of practice at editing and getting the footage to flow continuously was difficult and some shots were too long and not cut quicker than they should have been.

• In the opening shot, we attempted some effects to make it more interesting to watch. For example we used a couple of zooms, but this proved to be a problem as the border around the screen disappeared and to overcome this we drew our own borders on using black shapes. This did not work however and after finishing we realised that part of the border was still missing in the zooms.

• Sound editing was another problem mainly because it was difficult to mix two different sounds together to add suspense to the footage.

Feedback

Well done - very thorough research - although you have not had any posts since 14th? You must document all processes, including storyboarding, animatics, discussions in group, practice shoots.

Also - to achieve a L4, you must demonstrate excellence in ICT for planning. This means carefully customizing blog too. Think about making design reflect your project.

BW: Plans for shoot 18/03/11

Today, we are doing our first shoot.

We will be filming in Speldhurst, on Bentham road. We will film the sequence where Ali wakes up in the woods and gets in his car and drives off. For the car driver, we have a stunt driver, as Ali cannot yet drive.

We will also be shooting the important first scene, where a character climbs in the boot of his car.

Below is our risk assessment and call sheet.

BW Location Recce - Abandoned Hut

Here are three photos from the recce to a football club room, which we could potentially use as our 'abandoned hut'. I think that in the dark with limited lighting, as well as inventive camera angles (I was thinking shoot it from a low angle to make it look powerful and intimidation, typical convention of a horror film), then it would be atmospheric and work well for us.

I think it looks better than the exterior of the Scout Hut, although we as we don't have access we will have to be careful with the shot / reverse shot as he walks through the door.

The interior of the Scout Hut will have very little lighting anyway, so I think we should be able to get around this.

BW: Recce For Shoot

These two photos were taken on a small road in the woods between Southborough and Speldhurst. This is the potential location for the part in our opening sequence where an abandoned car is alongside some woods, before our antagonist drives the car off.

This is one of two locations that we are considering for the scene, the other one being Haysden Country Park.

BW Film Analysis - The Hole

The Hole (Nick Hamm, 2001)

I recently watched the psychological thriller film, The Hole. I thought the film would be useful in terms of film research as it follows an asynchronous film narrative, starting at the end of the story and slowly working it's way back through in the same way that we plan to make our opening.

I noticed the following points:

1. If we are jumping between time zones or points in the narrative, these need to be made clear using titles. As well as this, sharp contrast in colours often suggest a change in the point of narrative.
2. Starting with the ending works well. Although it means that the audience knows that the character in the end does not die, it retains the mystery and the suspense as the audience knows that something will happen to the other characters.
3. The film will become confusing and disorientating if the narrative jumps between time zones too many times in the opening sequence. We need to keep this down to a minimum.
4. Having the end as the start is engaging and is likely to 'grab' the audiences attention quickly.

Group: Pitch - The Rushes

• We found we mostly got positive feedback from our pitch, and were pleased as a group with how it went.
• A potential issue we discussed was the main light source when the protagonist is watching the television, as it really needs to come from the television itself. This means we will have to shoot our woodland footage first.
• It was also pointed out to us that when the protagonist is watching back footage, it will be very static. To try and combat this, we will be using a lot of extreme close ups to make the sequence feel less static.

Group: Preliminary Task - "Wake Up Call"

This is our preliminary task named "Wake Up Call" showing continuity editing in a conversation.

Learnings from preliminary task:

• We were pleased with how our preliminary task turned out, and like the look of the HD footage and music to enhance our piece.
• We feel that the whole task could be 'smoother', especially in terms of camera movement - the slow pan at the beginning in particular.
• To make future footage feel smoother, we will try to use a track and dolly, especially if we want another slow panning shot.
• One of the biggest lessons was the importance of storyboarding. Where we had planned well ahead, the footage looked better, and the parts we tried to 'improvise' came out looking less professional.
• We also realised how long editing takes, however simple the line of action, especially in overlaying music.

Group: Concept Development

Concept Development on Prezi

Above is our Concept Development presentation which we made on Prezi. The concept development outlines what we plan to do for our opening, and how we reached some of the decisions that we did. The ideas outlined here are still being worked on.

Group: Audience Research

For our audience research, we have created a survey using the online survey creator Survey Monkey. We've asked a number of questions, including how people rate our film, our title and the font we have chosen.

Below is a link to our survey.

Click here to take survey