moment im proud of

the part of my filming that made me feel good was when i was prepping my actors on what they had to do for my scene. when i went to film it they did exactly what i wanted so it made me feel as if i was doing a good job. unluckily the scene that i'm referring to didn't film because i had problems with battery and it didn't record which is a shame.

tips for next time

always give yourself enough light to film at night

don't be afraid to change your ideas

look back at what you've filmed before you go to upload it

overall, how did the shoot go?

overall i think the shoot went okay. it could of gone better but i managed to get everything i wanted done. even with the problems i faced, i managed to still get some footage of the same idea. the problem i came face to face with tought me that things don't always go the way you plan. you need to be smart though and rethink what you can do with the resources you have.

i enjoyed filming and found the camera to be easy going. didn't have any problems with it at all. if i were to do it again i don't think i'd change anything. i might try and film the hole in the ground if the water was evaperated but i'm happy with what i got instead of it.

how i overcame my problems

due to the hole in the ground being full of water, it meant i had to find another way to shoot that scene. there were a number of ideas i got. one was to use this old crate i found and lay in it, putting wood over it. the crate was coffin sized and was big enough for me to lie in it but it was stuck and therefore we could get it out to use. it also had nails in it so it was proberly for the best.

another was to use bricks stacked up on one another and then rest the wood on top of me, with me lying under it again. there weren't enough resources for us to do that though. there wasn't enough wood that we could have used and there were few bricks we could have used.

the last idea we had, and the one we stuck with, was to use an old table and to break two of the table legs off. then i lie underneath it and the cameraman could track up the wood. we decided to use this idea and it worked really well. it did take a while though to make it work as the first table we found wasn't good enough. we had to scout around looking for aothr table. luckily we found one and used that to film the scene.

we rested the table against a metal frame and then put a piece of thin wood over the metal frame. this piece of wood would be the wood i was going to punch my hand through. we put twigs and leaves and soil over the table to make it blend in with the ground. the end results were great. it looked fantastic on the camera. although i was annoyed about not being able to use the hole in the ground, i'm pleased i managed to find a way to get the same thing done. it also meant nobody was burried alive which was good.




instead of using a bench for my scene i decided to use a bus stop instead. this way i could have the same storyboard idea but in a different location. it also had a street light nearby which was good. i managed to film the teenagers in clear enough light but i couldn't film the reaper because he wouldn't show up on camera. it was too dark. i decided to film the rest the next day. it only took 5 minutes the next day so i wasn't bothered.

problems i faced on day 2

there were numerous problems i faced on my second day of shooting.

when i arrived at my location the hole in the ground was still full of water. luckily i brought a bucket so i began to bail out the water. after about 40minutes the water still hadn't got any less deep. i had to come up with another way of shooting my scene beacause it's the most important scene in the opening. without it my opening wouldn't count for anything.




i also didn't know where i could film the last scene with the two teenagers. i couldn't find a bench i could film. i started setting up with one bench and then two men asked me to not film there because i didn't have permission. i did scout around for a bench with the right space i needed. i neeed a street light nearby but there weren't any so i had o come up with a completely new idea.

it also got dark really quickly. i started filming at about 5 o'clock in the evening, and by that time i couldn't see the reaper through the camera. i was dressed up all in black and my girlfriend was filmin and operating the camera. the footage we got was terrble because it was just a black screen. you couldn't see anything. we decided to come back the next day and film then instead. there was nothing else we coul do really.

2nd day of shooting

i got up early and made sure all of my eqiupment was ready. i made sure to put the camera on charge during the night so it was fully charged by the morning. i also made sure my props were ready and i got a bucket to take as well in case i had to bail out the water from the hole.

i also made sure my actors were available to star in my film. i arranged a time and that was all sorted out.

2nd day of shooting

when i go yesturday t to my location and realized that part of it was flooded from the recent snow, i told myself that i would come back the next day hoping it would have evaporated. i have to take into account that it might not be evaporated. if not i'll take a bucket with me so i can bail out the water. i'm not sure what to do if that doesn't work. i'll have to try and find another place to film the same shot. the shot is of the hand its the main shot in the opening. there's no way around not getting it.

outcome of first days shooting

i'm happy with what i got done but a bit anxious to get it all done. there isn't much more to film but it's going to be tricky.

i need to film the hand popping out of theground scene and the dialogue scene with the two teenagers. it shouldn't take too long so i'm not too worried.

i hope the hole at the location still isn't full of water. if it is i'll have to bail it out or come up with another idea on how to do it.

using my storyboard

because of my storyboard being heavily involved with tracking shots, and me not being able to achieve them, i had to rethink how i culd do what was on the paper. i decided to use all the same ideas, just move the positioning of the camera.

some of the locations for the shots on my storyboard i was unable to do because i could never get it in the shot. there wasn't enough room to put the camera because of trees and other objects. i just filmed other things that would tie in to my idea and compliment the location.

i did the shots in order aswell. it was just an easier method rather than watch over what ive filmed. this way i could tick off what i'd filmed and moved on. my storyboard was really helpful whilst i ws out filming because it meant that i could just refer back to my storyboard instead of making up shots.

problems i faced on day 1

there were a number of problems i faced on the first day of shooting. a few of them were the reason why filming took me 2 days longer than it should have. i could have easily done it all in one day but because of the time of day i had to film, it narrowed down the amount of time i had to do it.

one problem i had was that the hole in the ground that i was going to use for the hand popping out scene was full of water due to the recent flood of snow. when i saw it i thought i'd leave it a day and then go back to it. possibly bail out the water. i decided to leave it and do it the next day.

another problem was that because the ground was so unstable and covered with rotten wood and rusty metal, i couldn't do my tracking shots. i decided to do zoom shots of everything instead which initially would provide the same effect if done correctly. it also meant that i would need to get the zoom to look as smooth as possible. that was a challenge because operating the zoom is rather fidly. i did numerous takes on each shot so hopefully the outcome will look promising.

setting up for shoots

on the first day of my filming during half term i went to my location early and began to set up for the scenes i was going to film for my opening. early on i realised that some of the shots i had in mind were going to be impossible for the technique i had in mind because of the ground area. there were no level areas big enough for me to attempt to do a good tracking shot, so i had to come u with a new way of filming it staying as true to the storyboard as i could.

i got props and packed them ready for filming. i gathered the crew together a couple hours before filming as well. they were helpful with getting the equipment from and to the location. it required a wal through a field but they did alright. i also knocked on the neighbours door to check and see whether the dogs were home but luckily they weren't so i wasn't interrupted by barking dogs during filming.

my girlfriend helped me do some of the filming so i went through how to use the camrea with her and made sure she was comfortable with doing it. i also looked at the storyboard with her so she knew what i wanted things to look like. she was comfortable doing it all so i was happy.

DV version of continuity task

this is the continuity task i acted in. the other one (HD version) i filmed and directed with matthew hornby.

sound test

continuity task - HD version

continuity task

because we have access to good quality cameras, we decided to do our continuity tasks again. the ones we did first time around weren't of a high enough standard so i was happy with the decision to redo them. it was also the first time i used the cameras so it was good experience and practice, getting to grips with the new equipment. 

the good quality cameras we used are the ones we're using for the film opening, so the continuity task was a way to practice with them. it was also a way to find out any issues with them so we'd be ready when we used them for the opening task.

problems with the camera:

the problems i found with the camera was that the microphones picked up surround sound so on the final cut of my sequence, there's a fuzzy sound throughout. we didn't use the wind guard during filming. if we used that it might hide the fuzzy noise. dialogue is too quiet as well but that's because we used the microphone on the camera. if we used the extension microphone, we could pick up sound better.

apart from sound i didn't have any other issues with the new camera. the picture quality is brilliant and the settings the camera has means that i can experiment and hopefully get some good results.

fonts for title

i have looked at a number of titles and have researched which ones i like.

metal lord

arnold boecklin

sidewalk

titles for credits i like:

dotum

adamgorry - lights

bradley hand itc

what i'll need need to do before filming

there are several things i'll need to do before the day of filming to garuntee maximum time for shooting. things include:

-clearing away any unwanted junk from floor that will appear in shot
-bury someone ready for shot
-make a scythe
-tidy up the bomb shelter ready for shooting
-make the reapers costume
-scatter guns around where shots will take place
-drop a gas mask on the floor
-drop a helmet on the floor
-tie a piece of rope round a tree
-prep my actors

major issues

lighting - to overcome the problem with lighting, i could have a practice shoot using the less expnsive cameras the week before my actual shoot. this means that i'll have a week to look over my shooting and i can determine what times to shoot.

tracking shots - some of my tracking shots are going to be impossible to do using a crane or a track, because the ground is so rough at my location. one thing i could do is move the camera slowly during my shots and then speed up later on during editing.

i could also construct platforms for the camera to move accross for the straight tracking shots. there's scrap metal at my location. i could use this to construct my platforms and then have someone move the camera along one with minor movement.

time i need camera - i can share the camera with philippa. because there's only a few good cameras, if i share it with philippa, i can still use it with out having to travel a great distance to ge it. philippa lives about 4 miles away. an easy distance to travel.

weather - although februray isn't the best month for shooting in, all i need is for the weather to be consistant so my shots don't look silly when some are of snow and some are of clear skies. i would rather have is clear and dry, but nobody can pretict how the weathers going to turn out.




who can help me during filming -

most of my friens live in the same village as where the location is for my shoot, so finding people to help me shouldn't be a problem. they can help me by steadying the camera during tracking shots and help me construct the platforms for some f the shots. i'll also end up using some of my friends to act in it as well. i need two rough looking teenagers, i know just the two.

problems while shooting

nuisances:

the neighbour of where i'm shooting has two vicious dogs. although their not always there this could turn into an issue.

i need someone willing to be buried alive in a hole.

everythings rotten. if something breaks, i'll need to re-shoot



minor concerns:

finding a scythe

who's going to act? i need convincing, yet laid back looking teenagers

i'm going over the 2 minute film time so i will need to make the finished outcome look good


major issues:

while shooting, i need the lighting to be consistant and the same for each shot. this will lower the amount of time i can shoot each day.

need smooth looking tracking shots. rough looking ones are un exceptable.

need my camera in half term.

weather needs to be consistant.

location/ the hole

this is the hole i'm going to use in my film opening. when the hand pops out of the ground, this is going to come in 'handy'. what i'll do is i'll make someone climb into the hole. then put a piece of thin wood over the hole and then put a thin layer of soil over the wood to give the illusion that someone has been buried. 

at the weekend i had a go at this myself and it works really well. although the hole is very small, i was in and out in less then 8 minutes and i was fine.

location shots

location shots

i'm going togo to my location and scout around for the shots that are on my storyboard. if i can't find the exact shots i'll look for something is similar but works with the narrative as well. reaper was a war veteran so the location needs to look deserted and look gritty as if there was a past war.

prop list

because most of my shots are tracking shots over ground and terrain, most of my props are weapons that have been left behind. this suggests that there has been a war which reflects my heroes past.

props:
several rifles and shotguns - i shall need my friend to be with me who has a gun license for his gun.
a scythe - i'll make one from a piece of wood and metal or foil
a helmet (if possible)
gas mask
rope - to tie on a tree


these props are for the heroes costume. all clothes are for the reaper to wear

clothing:
a black hooded jumper
black silky clothe
a black balaclava
black jeans
black shoes



clothing for teenagers:
teenager 1:

blue jeans
green hooded jumper

teenager 2:
black faded jeans
red top and grey jumper