Raw Footage From Our First Shoot

Laying out all of our shots in order, has helped us to quickly identify what was missing and which parts needed to be re filmed straight away. However, we were happy with the quality of our shots because we didn't know what it was going to look like on a computer. We also realized that this video of raw footage was 7 minutes long which was a lot more than we expected, but after a couple of lessons editing, we have managed to shorten the sequence significantly. Overall, this has been a successful task and start to filming because we included a variety of shots and know exactly what we need to do to improve in our second shoot.

Film Diary: Saturday 19th November

We began our first shoot on Saturday. The weather was overcast mostly but we did encounter alot of rain. Thankfully, we filmed in intervals from 12-4 when it was dry so the equipment and footage was not damaged. The area was slightly waterlogged and the lighting dim which helped us present a thriller setting and uncomfort to the audience. Here are several shots of the setting and protagonist on the day of filming.

Camera Equipment

We were lucky enough to use some very advanced and expensive camera equipment as our actor, Joe, was a keen photographer. This allowed us to try some more interesting and difficult shots which could not have been achieved using an iPhone which we had previously used at the research and planning stage. For the majority of the shoot we used basic setting however we took advantage for particular shots, for example a Pull Focus.

The camera we used was a Canon 700D . This allowed us to explore different techniques which we have never tried. The two main settings we used were 'auto focus' and 'manual focus'. The auto focus made simple shots easy and this helped us finish all the shots in a reasonable time. The manual focus was very useful when we wanted to focus on a certain item, for example a tree, instead of the protagonist. This gave the shots look more professional and creative. The zoom on the camera was also very useful as it kept a good quality resolution throughout and meant we could film from positions further away.

In additional, we used a separate lens for certain shots to keep a high quality while zooming, for example the pans. They were very simple to replace and swap over which helped while we were filming in the cold as it wasn't fiddly.

As both of us didn't have any filming experience, we were often shaky in previous task while using the iPhone. To counter this, we used a tripod with a lever attached which helped us smoothly pan up, down and across seamlessly. The Tripod even had a spirit level on so we could make sure shots were level on the uneven surface. Lastly, we could adjust the height and keep all the shots at the same level when wanting to keep consistency, for example a match on action taken from a different angle.

The last item we used was a 'steadicam'. We only used it once for a tracking shot as it made a lot easy then doing it handheld. Hopefully this is clear in the video and adds a professional feel to the opening.

What I have learnt:
I was very uneducated in camera technology before researching and starting to film. Learning more has allowed me to focus on  certain and more creative shots to engage our audience. Furthermore, it has shown me that filming on a mobile phone limits the quality and what you can achieve as it only has very basic settings. Similarly, the video quality can only be as good as the camera you use, as the higher quality resolution adds great realism to our opening. Lastly, the weather can affect how well the equipment works, for example drops on the lens ruined many shots, so they had to be redone.

Contacting Our Actor

What I have learnt:

Luckily, our actor was free on the day that we wanted to film and was able to provide a sim card and camera equipment. Therefore, it was easy/quick to contact him and ask Joe if he was able to film which meant that we could started shooting on a day that suited all of us.

Buying Props

Because our protagonist has escaped from a hospital, we needed to make sure that he looked like a patient and therefore our actor couldn't wear ordinary clothes. We had to buy some props as they were not easily accessible to us.

Hospital Gown

This item was easy to get because there were lots of search results on eBay. The gown also arrived before the day that we were filming which meant that we didn't have to worry about having the props before then. The one that I chose was exactly the same as the NHS hospital gowns which means that it will be easily recognisable for the audience.

Hospital ID band

We experienced issues whilst trying to get an ID bracelet because we were not aware of the dimensions of a band that would fit an adult. We decided to order this bracelet hoping that it would be the right size, which it was. This was a crucial prop for our sequence because this was thing that would reveal the protagonists identity.

Medical Tube

This item did not arrive before our first shoot which meant that we were not able to use it. Even though it was not a crucial prop, it would have helped the audience even more about where the protagonist had escaped from. However, we used a bandage instead as shown below which was still an effective way of displaying the fact that he was in hospital.

What I have learnt:

Purchasing these props has helped us to think about more shots that we can use to make it clear to the audience that he is from a hospital. We also made sure that we split the cost of the total amount of all the props so that one person was not paying for it all themselves. This worked well because the cost of all of our props was very low but was also exactly what we wanted.

Camera Movement Research

Despite heavy research, there are several movements that we have not come across or practiced. To add atmosphere and tension, we will need to explore different techniques to show the protagonists struggle. This shot is very useful as the pull focus allows us to focus on the protagonist and blur the surroundings, implying he is protagonist and the narrative will be about him and his life. It can also suggest the lack of clarity the character has about his position as the audience can not see clearly as well. The video above shows the use and how to successfully use the shot.

Here is an example of the technique in Jurassic Park. The shot allows the audience to see the item which the characters are memorised by without the distraction of the people and setting behind. This helps immerse the viewer in the narrative as the camera movement benefits there view.

This clip gives an overview of many techniques which we will use, for example point of view. We will use this as a guide to help and explore new shots for the opening.

The technique of tracking shots can be used effectively in our opening sequence because they can help build up tension and illustrate what the protagonist is seeing. This effect can help the audience relate and like the character which is what we are aiming to do in our sequence.

           

This diagram shows us the different heights and what they are called. A low angle shot often is associate with portraying power and authority. In contrast, A high angle shot can be used to show the character as weak and unstable. This could be used to show that our character is ill and needs support for his illness. We are unlikely to use a birds eye view shot due to the equipment and resources we have when filming the opening, as this would require a view from very high up. Therefore, our opening is likely to consist of neutral shot mostly as it is easily accessible for us.

What I have learnt:

This independent research of other unique camera movements has helped us think a bit more about how our sequence could look better or be improved. As we are starting to film this weekend, we now have a lot of knowledge and material to film and try lots of shots to improve the sequence. Some of the camera movements that were researched will fit perfectly in our sequence. For example the pull focus will help us hook and engage the audience to encourage them to continue watching.  

Mental Illness In Film

Many films have been made based around mental illness and a protagonist who has been disturbed. To make our opening a success, we will need to take inspirational from these films to make the narrative realistic and not disrespectful to people who are ill as we want the film to focus on the recovery of a patient. Here is a list of films that were based around this theme-

A 'Coming Of Age' film that features mental illness and disorders is Perks Of Being A Wallflower. The protagonist, Charlie,  shows symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and anxiety. He seems to also suffer from depression. He became mentally unstable as a result of being sexually abused as a child. This causes him to relive the abuse through flashbacks which come later in his life. Charlie. He tried to hide the issue and deny experiences such as his Aunt molesting him at age five, which caused him some serious trauma, especially as a young boy. Charlie blames a lot of problems on himself, and sees others of having absolutely no faults. He didn’t want to believe that he was a bad person and just wanted to make friends. The flashbacks increase later in the film. He felt helpless and kept blacking out. He had more flashbacks of memories he did not want to remember and kept persuading himself to believe a truth that doesn’t exist.

After watching the film, we have decided to include a series of flashbacks to the event which caused our protagonist to become mentally ill. This will be to a car crash where the protagonist lost his father. This will create an enigma code to the audience as they will want to watch on to see if the character recovers. The flashbacks will be included by using a blurred effect so it looks connected to the rest of the opening, and not separate videos placed in.

What I have learnt:

This piece of independent research has helped us to look at the conventions of coming of age films which feature the theme of mental illness. We found a lot more films than we were expecting which meant that we had lots of examples and narratives to analyse and look at. One particularly good example was the one we analysed above due to the frequent use of flashbacks to bad experiences for the protagonist. Therefore, we will use short flashbacks of a car crash in our opening sequence to slightly reveal to the audience why he has become mentally ill.

Task 19: Sound

What I have learnt:
Sound is very important for the sub genre, thriller. We will need to select the correct effects to build up suspense and add tempo to the narrative. This task has shown me that we will need to consider carefully what effects and soundtrack we use as many are copyrighted meaning we cannot use it. Therefore, we will use copyright free sites to download effects and also the ones that are already imported into iMovie. However, from my earlier research, Coming Of Age films do not use too many effects as it affects the realism and quality of the narrative. This means we will use them sparingly and use diegetic sound mostly.

Task 18: Typography

What I have learnt:

This task has allowed us to think carefully about the typography needed to portray and convey the genre. I believe that the fonts we have chosen fit our film perfectly due to the connotations that they hold. We have also thought carefully about the order which the credits will appear. One of the things that we made sure of first was that the title appeared near the start of the sequence. This is because the sequence could have looked like a trailer if we put it at the end which is not the task.  

Task 17: Props, Location and Fashion

What I have learnt:

This task has made me think thoroughly on where and how I will film the opening. It is important that we sort details such as the location as soon as possible as they are essential for the production of the opening sequence. We also have to order certain items in advance such as the hospital gown and wristbands so they will arrive in time for filming. We need to film as soon as possible as the weather may begin to become worse later in the year, which could affect the quality of the film. Lastly, the actor who will play the protagonist needs to be confirm so we can begin to arrange dates and times to film.

Task 16: Character Profile

Mind Map created by Alex Hall with GoConqr

What I have learnt:
Building a strong character is important when producing a film and this task has allowed us to do that. We will show this information to our actor who is playing the protagonist so that they will get a better understanding of their personality, physical attributes, emotional state and traits. This character profile is also fairly detailed and all areas about his life are covered so that me and my partner have a clear idea of the kind of person he is supposed to be.

Task 15: Shot Lists

What I have learnt:
Creating this shot list has helped us to clearly display the different kinds of shots that we are including in our opening sequence. This shows us the variety of effective shots that we are using in order to try and engage our audience. One of the shots that we found appeared a lot in our sequence was close ups. This is because they clearly show the protagonists emotions and also reveals their identity.

Task 15: Storyboard

Storyboard For Our Opening from Tom Cornock

What I have learnt:
Creating this story board has given us a clear idea of what our opening sequence will look like. We have included sound, the time of each shot, edits and camera movements in this story board so that we know exactly what to film when we start shooting our opening. Even though we included 40 shots in this story board, I believe we will have to film more shots because they are all very short to maintain tension and will need more to reach the 2 minute mark.

Task 14: Draft and Final Script

Recovery by alex on Scribd

What I have learnt:
Writing this script has helped us to picture what our opening sequence will look like and give the actors that star in the scene clear directions and dialogue to speak. The script is very short because we are planning to only use a police radio call and a fake phone call from the potagonists mum so that we do not give much of the narrative away, we can set the scene and make it easier for the audience to identify with the protagonist.

Task 13: Audience Profile

What I have learnt:
From this task, we have clearly identified our target audience and other potential audiences. This will allow us to focus our opening sequence on our target audience and include elements that will engage the demographic. We have also identified the social class and gender of the people that may watch this film and we came to the conclusion that the gender is undecided due to the multi-gender themes and narrative. Therefore, we will not have to base our sequence around a specific gender and can be more lenient although we may want to include more male oriented elements to attract a specific and large audience.

Task 12: Thinking of a concept for our new film

What I have learnt:
This task he's allowed us to come up with a final idea for our film. The main narrative of our film is about a young teenage boy and his recovery from a mental health illness. The opening sequence will display the protagonist in the woods after getting lost due to his illness and he will hear voices in his head and flashbacks to his childhood. This task has also allowed us to identify different elements that we need to consider like institutions, audience and characters with the help of two mind maps and a slide share. We also created a mood board in this task which helped us clearly identify the conventions and key ideas in our sequence. Overall, this task has helped me massively in thinking of a final idea and I will now be able to plan coordinately and effectively.

Idea Change

We decided to change our idea as we thought that it would be difficult to film, would not look very professional and would not engage the audience/ be interesting enough. Therefore, we thought that we would try to include some horror and thriller elements in our opening sequence in order to encourage the reader to carry on watching our film. During a lesson, we brainstormed some ideas and came to the conclusion that the film would be based on a mentally ill patient and follow their recovery. Opening sequence ideas instantly came to our heads and the one that we chose was following the protagonist in the woods after escaping the hospital due to their illness. This idea was much better than our previous film because we knew exactly what it could look like and use tense sounds to catch the attention of the audience and furthermore encourage them to continue watching.

Task 14: Draft and Final Script

The Bucket List by Tom Cornock on Scribd

What I have learnt:
Writing this script has helped us to picture what our opening sequence will look like and give the actors that star in the scene clear directions and dialogue to speak. The script is very short because we are planning to only use a voice over so that we do not give much of the narrative away, we can set the scene and make it easier for the audience to identify with the protagonist. We are also going to use a mum telling the character to get ready for school as this portrays the genre and is relatable for any teenager.

Task 13: Audience Profile

What I have learnt:
From this task, we have clearly identified our target audience and other potential audiences. This will allow us to focus our opening sequence on our target audience and include elements that will engage the demographic. We have also identified the social class and gender of the people that may watch this film and we came to the conclusion that the gender is undecided due to the multi-gender themes and narrative. Therefore, we will not have to base our sequence around a specific gender and can be more lenient.