Saturday, 5 March 2011

Shooting Day 2 - Friday 4th March 09

Today we met for the second day of filming. We first headed to canterbury road to film the outside scene where hannah drops her phone. One of the first shots ed wanted was a long shot of the girls walking round the corner in to shot, with the idea of jump cutting this in the edit. Picking up the sound here was hard as they were so far away and there wasn't really anywhere close i could get with the boom, so i recorded the best i could, and then recorded wild sound of the traffic as a back up. The next part went rather better and we used some interesting shots. One of the hardest to get right was the tracking shot in front of the girls, as we didn't have a track, so David had to walk backwards with the fig rig, while myself and Ed directed him, and i held the boom over his shoulder. It took a few shots to get the hand of but I'm fairly confident the later takes went well. A track or dolly could have improved this shot and would have been better to use than the fig rig. It was also hard to get this shot right because we had to judge the distance between dan and the girls from the previous shots. In the previous shots he had been fairly close to them, so we chose to film it again with him a lot further behind, so that when hannah drops the phone we can cut to a close up of it, and then in the next shot of him picking it up it doesn't matter if he skips forward a bit. Well i though it would be better to do this way that have him to close to them, because then in the shot of her dropping it he would be right behind her. There were also problems with Dans acting when giving the phone back to her. This scene is supposed to show him being quite apologetic when he gives the phone back, and to show he's empathising with her disability, but after around six takes I'm pretty sure they will all look the same. He was blunt and emotionless and we should have thought about getting an actor even just to play this minor roll, as I'm not sure its significance will be the same as it should be in the edit. We did however try to get a varied amount of shots for this scene but I'm not to sure we got enough decent angles.

We then went to Mikes house and firstly filmed the entrance scene (girls arriving and knocking on the door) which didnt take long, while we waited for the extras to arrive. Slight issues with traffic interupting the sound, but we had it after 3 or 4 takes. We then filmed the rest of the scenes with chris and hannah, to use the time wisely. The extras arrived shortly after so we were able to start filming the party scene. We got the wide angles fist so the extras wouldn't have to stay very long, and we could focus on the fridge and sign scenes. The turnout of extras wasn't great and we could have done with a lot more to fill the space, hopefully ill be able to cover this up in the edit. For the party scene i recorded a buzz track, to lay over a montage sequence if i choose to do one, or to maybe have running throughout the scene, to give an even level and avoid jump cuts in the sound.

The Scene with the girls on the sofa went well, i thought the signing came across really well, and the acting was good. After this scene the extras left and we were left with Chris, Hannah and Jojo to do the fridge scene. It took along time and near the end i think everyone had lost their enthusiasm, as I'm sure will come through in the footage. It was a long day and shooting for so long in the same room really started to grind. I don't think the footage will be great for this scene, and may need to be redone altogether. There were also issues with the fridge 'humming' which i could pick up on the mic.

Thursday, 3 March 2011

Shooting Day 1 - Thursday 3rd March 09

Today we met up in oldfield park at 3pm to start filming for silent disco.
The first scene to be filmed was the opening scene, in Hannahs bedroom. The room worked really well and because of its length we were able to get a varied amount of shots from one end to the other. One shot that we tried to get was a pull focus, from hannah sat in front of camera, doing her make up, to her house mate walking through the door behind her. I really hope this came out alright because it was a really nicely framed shot, and will be an interesting way to bring a new character in to the scene. Looking back I would have liked to have done more takes to make sure we nailed it, as it might not come out perfect, and could look shoddy if it wasn't executed well enough. As my job was sound for the production stages I was opperatig the boom, although in this scene sound wasnt really too important, as it consisted fully of sign language. However i did still record sound to capture sounds from the characters movement, and doors, footsteps etc.



There were a few shots when getting the boom close ehough to pick up the sound was hard, as the shot above shows. I think i should have stood with the mic further out of teh frame but higher up rather than lower, this way i wouldn't have had to move it as much during the scene and would have picked up more sound than i did from this low angle. Looking forward to the edit im not sure what to do with the sound in the opening scene, as i think it might be good to have it silent to really ehance the fact she is deaf. Although i really want to make sure i record the best sound possible so we are not limited with our decisions.

After finishing the opening scene went on to our next location (Eds house) to film the morning/night before scenes, but after setting up and running the actors through scene directions we were losing light. And a few takes in to the scene we decided to scrap it and film on saturday. Which meant we filmed the night scene first, which was something we originally wanted to avoid because it was the first time 'Hannah and Chris' had met, and because the scene involves a kiss we thought it might be a little awkward for them, and hinder the realism of the situation. But alas they did a great job and i was really surprised by how much they went for it, and improvised the situation. We tried to get a lot of shots for this scene so there were options in the edit, we used the fig rig to get some moving camera shots and some static shots. The lighting wasn't very good in this scene as we were using an over head light. I would have liked to have used some seperate lights, a back light to bring the characters out of the frame and a softer fill light to light their faces, as they looked pretty dark during the shoot. Although the dark lighting should contrast well with the light in the morning scene (which is the scene after in the film) as we will be shooting it in the day.

Tuesday, 15 February 2011

Location research

Possible Street locations:

My road (probably the most suitable in terms of how little traffic there is)
Canterbury road.





Theres also ST. Kilda's road, which is quite quiet at the right times.



And then theres another road near which is just terrace houses, and during the day is fairly quiet, could give more of a city vibe, and could maybe contrast this with my road to show there in a different part of town in the film? when really there next to each other. Also makes permission easier to obtain and less distance between locations. However it depends on the girls house, although we could just cut from interior in her room, to exterior somewhere else?



For the Bedroom:
Here is mine, its fairly big, and as its on the lower floor we could get shots from outside looking in, to maximize the space.





I was also thinking maybe Ed's room? It's a good size and offers space to get a lot of varied angles(which we will need as theres a big portion of the film is in this room) plus we know we can get permission to film there.
The girls bedroom is sorted, I've asked my mate and shes fine with it, Its a nice shaped room with the desk half way down the room, so we can shoot from infront of it at the rest of the room. (you'll see what i mean when we get there) and will be good to shoot in.

Friday, 12 November 2010

Choices Filming Day 2 (12/11/10)


Today we met in bath at 9: 30 at Wetherspoons, where we had breakfast as a crew and discussed the previous days shoot and plans for today's. The first scene we shot was a short scene, where Dan shows Greg he can teleport. This didnt take to long and soon we moved on to film the next scene (where dan see's Olivia down the ally). The original place we had planned to film turned out to be to busy and soon after arriving we decided it was not suitable. A few shops opened out in to the ally and it would have been a nightmare trying to keep the continuity consistant with pedestrians/shoppers constantly walking through out 'set'. Also as Ed had not heard back from the Bath Film Office we didnt know weather we should film in a location we didnt have permission to. And also our main character had to go for an hour to help another group with there film, so we would have been pushed for time anyway.

So we instead decided to go to the Wier with the idea of filming under the bridge on the river. But shortly after arriving we saw a good looking ally way under GG's Steakhouse. Dani went inside to ask if it would be okay to film there, and as she did the owner came out and asked me what we were up to. So i told him and he was happy to let us use it, and to sign a release form, which was great as we were yet to be granted permission to film anywhere else. As our 'Dan' was not yet back we made a start by gathering the CU's and any shots we could of the other characters, to make the most of our time on location. After getting all the shots we could without Dan present, we took a short break to wait for him.



Once he was back we met him and headed for the location. We had already told the owner we would be back later on, so he was expecting us, but when we arrived he asked us how long we were going to be because he had to leave. So we quickly filmed all the shots with the ally in the frame, so he could lock up the gates and leave. By this time it was begining to rain and this conflicted with the earlier shots we had filmed. So we did our best to keep the actors and equipment dry (as you can see in the image below) but after a while there wasnt really much we could do. However we finished the shoot anyway and gathered all the shots we needed. I just hope that the change in weather is not to apparent in the edit, which im hoping it wownt be as it was overcast all day. So atleast the lighting will be similar from shot to shot.




The plan was to then walk to Dans house to film the remaining 2 scenes. But due to the heavy rain and having to carry all the eqipment, the group decided to get a bus there. I didnt have any money so i would have had to walk there, so everyone was happy to do the remaining scenes without me. Although i said if they needed any help they could ring me, and id go there if there were any problems. But in a way im glad i wasnt going to be there because i feel like ive had a strong input through out the filming so far, and this way itll be good to see how everyone handles there roles without me there. And i think they will do well, everyones taken on there roles very well and really adapted to working as part of a team. Im also looking forward to editing a couple of scenes that i didnt witness being filmed, as i think this will improve my editing skills, and be more like a proffesional editors role.

Thursday, 11 November 2010

Choices Filming Day 1 (11/11/10)

Today we met at 10AM at newton park to get started filming our version of Choices. Dani did a great job of sorting out the cast and equipment and by 10:30 we were started. Originally i was meant to be directing for todays session, but when i arrived i found out Hope was here, so i filled in sound recording as Ed wasnt available until the afternoon. I also helped with directing/ and setting up shots.

Unfortunatly the Sony Z1 was only available until friday and we had scheduled to film over the weekend, so we instead chose to use a Sony 3cmos which is of a similar spec, and is available to use for the whole of our production, this prevents having to use a different camera for different scenes.

I enjoyed doing sound for a few scenes and found it interesting seeing the production from a different view point. For one of the scenes we shot outside i thought it would be nice to use a high zoom from a long distance to create a real depth of feel in the frame. The only problem with this was that once we set up the shot, the boom mic lead wasnt long enough to reach the subjects! so i got as close as i could without getting in the frame. And just incase the sound wasnt strong enough i then asked the actors to record there lines a few times to the camera, so i then have some dialogue to fall- back on if i have to dub it in the edit.

We then had a couple of hours break, due to the fact we had to wait until 4PM to use Mike Johnston's office to film. This was because the office contains private/confidential documents so we had to be supervised while shooting. ALthough mikes current office was not the one we were intending to film in, so we asked and he kindly sorted out the other room for us. We completed the scene a little later than we had planned but we managed to get all the shots we needed, plus some extra shots we improvised on set, that i look forward to playing around with in the edit. We are next meeting tomorrow at 9:30 to film the scenes in town, so hopefully the weather will be kind to us!

Choice's Roles

I am happy with my group for the choices script, after the first few meetings its clear that everyone wants to do well and are coming up with good ideas. Weve spoken about the script and decided that we want to end it with a bit more of a twist. So instead of both Greg and Dan getting stuck in the class room at the end, we are going to have dan escape without Greg, by using his power through a closet door. i think this will work well because through out the film we see Dan being pushed around by greg and never really standing up to him, so i want to make the ending show that Dan has the courage to stand up to him and NOT be a loser. I think this will also make the audience connect more with Dan and respect him, but also empathyse his position with Greg and understand why its such a big thing for him to stand up to him.

Dan is going to rewrite the script with this ending, and Kay is going to do casting. For the production Ed is going to take on the role of sound, David is going to be the camera man, and Dani is going to be the producer. I originally wanted to Direct the film, but after finding out Hope wanted to aswell, i decided to let her as she hasn't done it before, and instead i will just help with the over all production as ive had alot more experience with the practical side of things than anyone else, and am comfortable with any of the roles. My main role is going to be editing, which i am happy with as i think this is going to be an entertaining production and im eager to see how our script comes together.

Were planning to film on the thursday due to some of the actors/crews availablity, instead of the saturday. So we will aim to shoot all of the scenes at the uni then, this is also when weve been able to book Mike's office. Friday we will do all scenes in town and the scene at Dans house. And if all goes to plan we wownt have to film after that. Although we have scheduled to shoot on sunday just incase we miss anything, or cant fit it all in to friday.

Thursday, 19 August 2010

shot list

Shot List - Easy Money

Scene 1: INT: Adrians house

Shot :
1: CU Jonny flicking kettle on
2: MS Adrian asleep on sofa, jonny throws bills at him, he wakes up. Pan to shot 3
3: MS Jonny sits down looking over Adrian
4: Over shoulder shot, Adrian looking at a stern Jonny.
5: Over shoulder shot, Jonny looking at a tired Adrian.
(Cut between shot 4/5 for dialogue, with cut away's in between)
6: MS Jonny sitting infront of Adrian, who asks him 'whats the time' then leaves the room in a hurry, camera pans to follow him.
7: CU Jonny drops Head in to his hands and looks worried

Cut aways for Scene 1:
1: Low pan of messy floor
2: CU's of empty alcohol bottles/cans
3: MS of messy Kitchen
4: MS/CU of washing up

Scene 2: INT: Pub

Shot:
1: LS pan to follow Adrian run around corner and up to pub entrance, takes a moment to sort his appearence then walks up the stairs to pub and enters.
2: MS Adrian Walking through pub door to face an angry cheryl sat on a table opposite.
3: OS shot Adrian, takes his place sat opposite Cheryl.
4: OS shot Cheryl, we see a pleading Adrian
5: Two Shot, Adrian and Cheryl sat facing each other.
(Then cut between shots 3/4 as dialogue progresses)
5: CU (mid argument) Adrian tries to hold Cheryls hand but she pulls away
6: OS Shot Adrian, Cheryl tells him its over
7: MS from next to the door, Cheryl gets up and walks out, Camera pans to follow. Adrian is left central in the shot looking upset/annoyed.
8: LS of Pub entrance, Cheryl walks down stairs and out of shot.
9: MS Adrian sat at table looking upset, until his eyes notice Cheryls purse.
10: CU of purse. Adrians hand enters shot and slides purse back out of shot.
11: Cut back to shot 9. We see Adrian pocket the purse as he gets up to walk out
12: LS Adrian walks out of the pub and down the stairs, has a look to see what direction cheryl walked in and walks in the opposite.
13: XLS Adrian walks around street corner and walks straight toward camera, whilst getting his phone out and dialing a number
14: Camera follows along side Adrian whilst he speaks to Jonny on the phone.

Scene 3: INT: Oily Pete's House

Shot:
1: MS square behind Pete looking over his head at TV on which hes playing fifa.
2: MS Low angle looking up at Pete, with posters of interests in background
3: Front shot (as if the camera is the TV) of pete with controller intensely playing fifa, Jonny and Adrian enter after knocking and sit either side of Pete.
4: Shot of the 3 of them watching the TV, Whilst Pete has conversation with his mum through the door. Followed by banter with Adrian and Jonny
5: MS from the left, See all 3 of them sat on the bed talking, jonny picks up spliff...
6: CU of Jonny's face
7: Cut back to shot 5, conversation continues up to 'if he cuts your balls off..' followed by arkward silence
8: Two shot Adrian and Pete, look at each other
9: CU jonnys reaction
10: Cut back to two shot (shot 8)
11: MS from Right. Jonny and Adrian get up and leave the room.
12: Adrian reenters room to give pete his tea, and ask the address of raggy.


Scene 4: EXT/INT Raggy's House

Shot:
1: LS Adrian and Jonny walking up road (toward camera) to raggys, talking.
2: MS High angle Jonny and Adrian walk up past camera toward Raggys door. Camera pans to follow
3: CU from INT, Lawrence's hand on door handle, opens door and tracks outside to show Jonny and Adrian stood there.
4: CU nervous Adrian
5: CU nervous Jonny
6: MS head level behind Jonny and Adrian with Lawrence stood in the doorway down at them, he looks around to make sure noones looking before letting them in. Camera follows them in.
7: POV Adrian, follows Lawrence up to living room door, he then turns and talks directly to Adrian(Camera) 'wait here'
8: Two shot, high angle. looking down at Adrian and jonny. who nervously listen to whats going on inside the room.
9: OS of Raggy, we see a beaten up body on the floor. he orders lawrence to remove him. Then see lawrence drag him in to another room. Raggy then tells them to enter.
10: Same as shot 6, they enter the room.
11: MS from inside room, Adrian and jonny enter, camera pans to follow them, Lawrence emerges from the room he took the body into and stares at them.
12: MS of Raggy head on, wiping blood of knife.
13: Raggy POV, looking at Adrian and jonnys scared faces.
14: Cut back to 12, Raggy walks to the table and sits down, lawrence walks over to stand behind him. Raggy then tells them to sit down. Then asks 'what brings you here'
15: CU jonny looking at knife in raggys hand
16: Knife POV pointed at Jonny as Raggy asks what he has to say for himself.
17: MS of Adrian as Raggy tells him to let Jonny talk, and points knife at him threateningly
18: XCU Raggy's eyes, scoping them out
19: Wide angle with all chars in shot, as they hear a groan come from the next room. Raggy tells Lawrence to sort it out.
20: MS Lawrence leans over jonny threateningly as he passes him.
21: Wide angle
22: CU Raggy's eyes as he tells them he doesnt like being messed around.
23: Raggy POV, looks at them both
24: Zoom out from raggy back to the wide angle.
25: CU Jonny ' you can trust us'
26: Wide angle, Lawrence reenters to get raggy. PAN to follow an angry raggy enter room with random guy in. Closes door behind him. Aidrian spots an opportunity and runs out with drugs. closley followed by Jonny.

Scene 5: EXT: Chase Scene

1: XLS Adrian and Jonny running toward camera, away from raggy's house.
2: improv Chase scene ( on planned route, still need to decide on shots)
3: LS Jonny and Adrian get split up, Jonny runs in the opposite direction from Adrian.
4: LS Aidrian running away from camera and in to an ally.
5: INT: Low angle MCU Raggy. Phones a contact to make sure they are caught.
6: INT: MCU Shoulder level, Raggys contact picking up phone, cut between 5/6 for conversation.
7: Fade to XLS of jonny running through abandoned factory car park, runs through and towards the camera until he passes it, we then see the mob chasing him.
8: Improv shots of him trying to escape/ run away examples, running over a bridge, around corners, down paths, and a shaky cam of him running away, with his face CU and the mob over his shoulder chasing him in the background.
9: LS jonny runs round corner in to one of raggys men, the rest of the mob catch up and start to beat him up, ( quick cuts between puches and kicks until we see jonnys POV as he wets thrown to the ground,
10: POV Jonny looking up to see him getting stamped on. fade to black.