Progress Update - Filming the final scenes

Yesterday I filmed the final scenes of the film involving the teath of Violet Andrews, Milton's wife. The location for the shoot was my local church and as such I had to gain permission from the local vicar and church warden in order to film there. I chose this location as the chosen title for the film is RIP and I thought that since RIP stands for Rest In Peace, a church would be a particularly poigniant location in which to conclude the short film. Also, the location was readily available and easy for me to access.

The scenes filmed are as follows:


The first scene filmed was an establishing shot showing Violet (Played by Lynne Wetherall) laying  dead in the middle of the aisle.

The second shot is a close-up of Violet's lifeless face.

This shot then shows the emotion on the detective's face as he sees his wife laying dead on the floor.








We then see the detective collapse onto his knees as the reality of seeing his wife dead 'hits home'...








and he tries to ensure that she is as 'comfortable' as possible.







The detective (played by Keith Wetherall) notices a calling card beside the body (close-up)

In this conclusive shot, we see the anger and vengeance on the detective's face.







Overall, in my opinion, the shoot went very well, and most of the shots were completed in one take. Also, the quality of emotion and facial expressions from my actors was superb and both actors in the scene were able to portray the characters exactly as I had envisiged in my initial plan for the short film.

Progress Update- Filming (21st October 2012)

Today I filmed two short scenes for my 5 minute short film, which would appear in between the shots showing the murder of Milton's daughter, Lillian Andrews (Played by Sophie Wetherall).

These shots were filmed in Lincoln, which is the main setting for the film, chosen because of it's age and old architecture, which I thought would provide an excellent backdrop for a film set in the early 1900's.

The first shot filmed was a shot of Milton walking down a street, and then breaking into a run after he heard his daughter scream.

This scene was quite problematic to shoot as the specific location used was on uneven ground, meaning I had to constantly adjust the angle of the camera in order to make sure the footage wasn't slanted. (This shot would then be split into two parts, one part, the shot of Milton walking would appear just after the villain had entered Lillian's room, the second part, Milton running, would appear after we see Milton's eye opening wide in shock at hearing his daughter's scream.


The final scene filmed today was an extreme close-up of Milton's eye opening wide after hearing his daughter scream. The expression that I was looking for with this shot as a look of shock, fear (for his daughter's safety) and protectiveness (wanting to protect his daughter from harm).

 

 

Overall, I think that the filming went very well, as both scenes were completed to a high standard and as such required very few takes.

Student Video Analysis- 'Survival' (Tom Easden, 2011/12)

For further research into similar products I decided to look at a short film from a former student at our school. I will discuss the micro elements used by the student (mise-en-scene, camera, sound and editing) as well as the structure of the narrative and how the characters are represented. I will also highlight any ideas I’d like to take into my own project, and the things I think could have been done better.

The video that I shall be analysing is ‘Survival’, a 5 minute short film created by Tom Easden in 2011/12. The film tells the story of the main character, and his struggle for survival in a post-apocalyptic world. The story is narrated By Peter Dodds who plays the main character. The script is good, but in my opinion, the narration does not sound rehearsed or revised, and this reduces the impact the film has upon its audience.

Another problem within this short film is that, in my opinion, the lack of transitions and the simplicity of the text design (i.e. credits etc.) along with the constant camera shake makes the film seem rushed and unprofessional. However, the camerashake also gives the impression that the film was shot as a ‘spur of the moment’ idea using a cameraphone, perhaps as a sort of ‘video diary’ for the characters. This works well in my opinion due to the context of the film.  

In terms of mise-en-scene, the lighting in the film is completely natural. This highlights the fact that, after ‘armageddon’, the characters can no longer enjoy artificial luxuries such as heaters or lights, as their main priority is merely surviving. This is also shown by the complete lack of make-up throughout the piece.

Also, one of the props in the film (i.e the handgun) looks very unrealistic, and this only further reduced the impact of the film upon its target audience

The costumes used within the film are stereotypical of modern-day teenagers. Also, Peter’s costume (a mainly black hoodie with a light purple inner lining) works well, as black denotes the characters loneliness, while the light purple of the hood’s inner lining denotes Peter’s inner hope now that he has found a comrade to help him. 

Lewis’ main costume, a black leather jacket, is also a good choice as leather is used by bikers to provide a high level of protection against the threat of injury. It signifies Lewis’ immunity to the disease that has spread across the entire planet.

The locations used within the film emphasize the plotline well. These locations include old, derelict buildings, that denoting both characters low quality of life and the lack of civilization due to 'armageddon'.) and  also the forests, which show how the characters have to rely on their natural instincts in order to survive)

Overall, while, in my opinion, the film has good points, (such as the costumes and locations), they are outweighed by the need for improvement on many of the shots, particularly in terms of the camerashake, which, although it works well on some shots, is vastly overused. This makes the film seem unprofessional and reduces the impact that the film has upon it's target audience.

Progress Update- Re-filming the execution of Frank Myers (9th October 2012)

Today I re-filmed the shots of the execution of Frank Myers, the main suspect in my 5 minute short film (played by Lewis Pickering, as before, the scene was filmed in the drama studio at De Aston. However, as the actress who previously played the executioner (Sophie Clarke) becoming unavailable at the last minute, I chose a new executioner from among the members of our class (Kane Guichard). I chose Kane because he, like Sophie before him, was enthusiastic about the role and already had a suitable costume, (a black hooded jacket) which enabled us to start filming as promptly as possible. I decided to make a few adjustments to the various shots that I had decided to re-take. The first major change was the lighting used. In the initial footage, the light stayed at it's highest setting, however, in this shoot I decided to make the lights flicker. This increases tension, and as tension is a typical convention of film noir style/detective films, I think this works well. I had to ask a volunteer (Will Davidson) to help me with this as I was operating the camera and could not perform both tasks at once. (I also required help with the shooting of the second scene as it required a low-angle hand held shot, and, due to the fat that I use a wheelchair, I was unable to perform this task, and as such, I required the assistance of another volunteer-James Quinlan. I did however, direct James as to where I wanted the camera to be positioned and how I wanted the scene to be framed etc.)

Another change I made in the re-shooting of the execution scenes is the positioning of the camera. Initially the camera was positioned to Lewis' right in the first scene and his left in the second. In this shoot, the camera stayed to the right of the suspect (played by Lewis) for both scenes. This was because in the initial shooting of the scenes, the camera, there was some modern artwork on the walls which was accidentally brought into shot, also there is a modern aesthetic patch on the left sleeve of Lewis' jacket which was shown in the second shot when the camera is to his left side.

Overall, I think the filming went very well, and I am especially fond of the lighting effects used in both scenes as they greatly increase the tension of the scenes, and as such keep the audience 'on the edge of their seats'.

The executioner, played by Kane Guichard

Progress Update-Filming (7th October 2012)

Today I filmed the shot of a clock going round, which I would turn into a time-lapse by speeding up said shot using editing software to make the clock hands look like they are turning faster than they actually are, making it seem take a long time has passed when, in reality, when edited , the scene will last only seconds. 

When filming this shot, there was an event taking place on location at the time, so I had to ensure that the camera was focussed solely on the clock and not on the faces of anybody else.

To create the time-lapse effect, I set the camera and tripod up at the back of the room, and zoomed in so that all the camera would see was the clock.  I then left the camera focussed on the same point for around an hour. (I could not film for any longer due to the camera’s battery power running out)

Overall, I think the shot went well, as, due to the fact that after recording started, no one touched the equipment, there was no camerashake. (This was a common problem among many of my previous shots). However, I fear that some of the attendees of the event may have accidentally walked into the cameras view, temporarily obscuring the camera’s view of the clock. This is something that I will check when further analyzing the footage using the editing software.

Short Film Feedback

In media class on 5^th October 2012, each group showed their work to the rest of the class and gained feedback in order to improve it.

When my video was reviewed by the class, it was highly praised on the concept, however, many said I needed to elaborate with the plot, by filming more shots to place a greater emphasis on both the characters and their situations. I agree with this, as during the review, I had to explain many of the scenes  so that they could be understood, which a film maker in the industry shouldn't have to do.

With this feedback in mind I shall film a number of extra shots not initially in the storyboard in order to make the plot more understandable to viewers. I shall also retake some of the  existing shots, as there was, on many of them too much camerashake, causing the film to look very unprofessional,

Progress Update: Filming (29th-30th September 2012)

Over the weekend, I filmed a large number of scenes.

On Saturday, I had planned to film the hanging of the the main suspect Frank Myers in the Lincoln town centre. However, when on location, we encountered some difficulties in terms of the legality of filming the scene in a public place, and as such I decided to film the scene at a later date.

I instead decided to start filming some scenes for the second part of the film: 'Arrest and Interrogation. These were at the same intended location as the 'hanging'.

We began by filming an external establishing shot in order to tell the audience where the scene is taking place. This involved panning the camera upwards to show the tower of a nearby church. I had to film the shot in multiple takes, as every time, the camera was too shaky. Eventually, we succeeded, by loosening the tripod for a smoother pan.

We then filmed a scene where an unnamed character drags the main suspect into the church for interrogation. We had to take several shots, as due to the fact that said un-named character was being played by my father (who also plays the main character, ex-detective Milton Andrews), as there was no one else available at the time, I had to ensure that his face was hidden, so that he would not be recognised, after around 6 attempts, we succeeded.

The next day (Sunday 30th), filming was resumed. I had booked out a local village hall in which to film the interior interrogation scenes, as the church  used for the external shots the previous day was unavailable. I told my actors that due to the fact that our time in the hall was limited due to another event, we should try to complete as many shots as possible in as few takes as possible.

We managed to film all of the interrogation shots, in no more than 4 shots each, including a close-up of the suspect angrily slams his fists onto the table as he is questioned by the main character, and a shot of the suspect being dragged off by an un-named character.

Overall, in my opinion, the filming initially as a little frustrating due to the various issues that I faced, the event in the local village hall that was due to start earlier than expected etc. However, in the end I think that the filming went well. I reviewed the shots in the editing software, and thankfully, unlike many of the other scenes that I have previously filmed, the camerashake was barely noticeable, meaning that no re-takes are required.