Filming Session: 08/3

This filming session we worked on the teacher’s feedback, which was to add two POV to add variety and let the audience see the actors. I feel it went well as we used a LA POV to add variety within our shots and build the pace and tension. We also filmed another shot however this time we did not do a POV as we were unable to get the height in our shot, as the tripod did not extend high enough. Therefore we filmed the shot from a different angle, to show another angle of the death which adds diversity.  We also added a pan of the dead body in the specific death location, the pan was smooth and steady, as the bench was circular, and the pan looked effective as they were both spherical.  We also added a ending shot which was of the antagonist walking away, this was shot from a LA and the camera gradually tracked upwards so the antagonist became in full view. The title will appear over this shot, to finish the opening effectively.  I feel this is an effective ending shot as it would lead into the narrative well.

Filming session: 01/03

During this filming session we were able to re-shoot some significant shots, the shots were noticed when editing the footage, they weren’t smooth and therefore inadequate for the film.  The shot we filmed first was from the prospective of the antagonist (a POV shot) in the film, it was shot as if the audience is placed in the view point of the antagonist to connect the audience to the tension and suspense that is being withdrawn in the film. We repeated the shot over and over again to make sure it was the best possible quality, keeping the camera level took a certain amount of difficulty as we wanted this clip to be fast paced to again adding  to the anticipation.  When editing we will have to make sure the transition from the fast paced POV shot into the next shot is smooth and of good quality.

The next shots we were able to complete was a Low angle MS of the characters, the problem we had was keeping the camera straight and the actor was wearing different clothes from the last time we filmed, however we were able to conceal this by making sure a jacket was placed over his body, making the continuity is flawless. As this was one of our targets in the previous filming session. To add variety to the shots we placed the camera on the floor and shot from ground  level  to place

Teacher Feedback:

Feedback on Opening so far:

The teacher feedback we received was that our editing needed to be smoother and we needed to slow down the pace of the opening, by adding a POV of Luke to add to the tension and suspense and slow down the death. Also we need to add a shot of Callum, POV, to slow down the pace. The cut of Callum holding Sam needs to be quicker and briefer so the audience understand the narrative. 

Another piece of feedback we received was not to have the cuts of the dead bodies in the basement instead to have the camera panning over the bodies in the specific area of death at the end of the opening with the titles fading into the black screen.

We also need to add some dramatic music to add to the tension and suspense and build up the atmosphere, which we need to research to find a particular piece that works well with our opening.

Filming Session: 15/02

This filming session went well, however when we do our next filming session we must have a clear idea of what shots we are going to use and how the audience will respond to this as this will convey a suspenseful atmosphere at the start of the film which is shown in many Thrillers. In this session we started to film the next 30/40 seconds of the next killing, we used a mixture of shots for example LS’s and MS’s were used to add variety and place emphasis on important characters.  In the next session we must have a key target of what needs to be done and how we are going to convey this in our opening. Another key point which we learnt from this session is that the continuity must be flawless and that we must not break the 180 degree rule when filming.  The level of the camera when using the tripod must be completely straight otherwise we will be marked down.

Aspects of consider when next filming:

ü  Continuity must be flawless (180 degree rule, keeping the camera perpendicular.)

ü  Having a plan, avoid losing time.

Editing session: 14/02

I feel this Editing Session went well, as we were able to edit the first 40 second in and put the footage in the right position making it look as smooth as possible.  This will make the project move forward and then we will be able to move onto the next task. We managed to put the titles in over the top of the footage, which was our main aim. A difficulty we had was changing the footage to black and white within the post-production stage of our project, however we re-evaluated what we were doing and managed to work out how to change the footage’s colour. We had a lot of footage so the difficulty we had was choosing the right shots to use, it was helpful to have variety to choose from, so therefore this reinforces the fact that our filming was good as we had plenty of shots to work with. Therefore we learnt from this editing session that the more increasing number of shots you have makes it easier in the post-production stage when editing as you have more choice.

In the editing stage of the post production, we changed the second shot at the beginning as we feel this is an improvement to our opening. We were initially going to track over the dead bodies on the stair case and then cut to the flashback, however after re-evaluating this with my peers we have decided to go straight into the flashback and use a ‘dip to black’ to show the body at the end. This means that the action will start right at the beginning of the opening, catching the audience’s attention and enhancing the quality of our opening.

Filming- 07/02

As this was our second filming session we achieved advice from our first shooting, this meant that time was spent doing a lot more productive filming rather than wasting time. In this session we filmed the first 15 seconds- 30seconds of our opening, as we had to re-shoot this again. However this time the high-key lighting was much better which meant the footage was clear and of high-quality. This was because we used a small lamp and moved the light about to see the different effects we obtained. As I said in my last evaluation we took back the feedback from the first filming session and used a variety of different shots, we took close ups and mid shots of the actors as we felt this would increase the audiences attention. Once this scene was done, we were able to move forward and shot another scene, this was of the main antagonist character. We wanted to make sure he had the dominance of the scene as he is the foremost character; therefore we made sure he had the most screen time as this connotes this importance in the rest of the film to the audience. In this scene we will be using back and white as it’s a flashback, we feel this indexically implies that it happen in the past connoting that it had already happened.  We used a variety of shots in this scene including mid-shots, long-shots and Point-of-view shot to add diversity within our opening.  Overall I feel as if it was a good filming session, whereby a lot of high-quality material was produced. However when we next film all of our shots we will have a purpose to the variety that we use, to keep the audience engaged. We will also set a time during the day that will be suitable, for example light weather no rain/ darkness. We will guide are actors so they know exactly what they have to achieve in each scene.

Aspects to consider for the next filming session:

ü Guide the actors so they understand exactly what to do in their scenes.

ü   Make sure the continuity of our opening is of high-quality.

Filming 31/01

In our first filming session we tried to shoot the first 15 seconds of our opening, this is the part in the animatic located in the corridor/stairs scene, where the camera tracks along the dead bodies. As a group we realised that we could use new shots such as close ups and mid shots to create more variety, we began to consider our audience more and what would suit the genre more superiorly. We used a variety of shots to help engage the audience and avoid repetition and help them "guess" what they are seeing rather than being too obvious.  The location is a basement; therefore we wanted the lighting to be high-key artificial lighting, when filming it was noted that the shots were dark and burry because we were shooting in a dark room. This meant that we had to re-evaluate the lighting that we shot in and look at a way to solve the problem. We therefore came to the conclusion to use a small lamp to light the stairs well enough to see the faces and bodies of the actors in the scene. When we next film we must make sure the lighting is good enough to see the bodies and the footage isn’t burry, this means that we won’t be wasting too much time and hopefully the shots will not be too time consuming as we will know what to do. Also it will mean we can focus and direct are concentration on the smaller features of our opening such as the continuity and stability of our piece.

Aspects to Consider for the next Filming sessions:

ü  Lighting- making sure the footage is of high quality and the lighting is good enough for our opening.

ü  Using a variety of shots, such as close ups and mid-shots.

ü  Having a plan for the filming session to waste less time.