Monday's filming

We had three sequences to cover on monday that have already been mentioned by Stef and Helena.
My responsiblities during there filming were mainly considering the framing of the shot, lighting and using the resources we had available to create the desired shots.

Helena had an idea of using a fan to turn the pages of a book. We discussed what we wanted to happen and the type of book was best, but when it came to filming we found that the books we had chosen were too heavy and it was not achieving the shot that we wanted. I then suggested that we used a bible because it has thinner paper pages. This also had unexpected additional connotations for the sequence of supernatural manipulation of religion or faith.

During filming I took a few pictures and also Stef filmed me doing a small video log that is in production.

WonKEY

As Stef mentioned in her previous blog Stef, Jack and I filmed three different sections of the teaser trailer. My roles in the filming were actually filming the scenes, using my idea of holding the fan at different angles to move pages in the book, lighting and moving the key when filming the stop animation sequence.

We originally were going to use a piece of thread to move the keys but when the thread was attached it was very obvious that it was there so we decided to use stop animation and I was in charge of moving the key.

I found this role challenging as I couldn't move the key to fast as it looked unrealistic or too slow as there was no point in filming the shot. Another issue that I had with the key was that when I moved it too close to the edge, it fell off and it was difficult getting it back its original position.

The door shot and the book shots were completed successfully, however when we uploaded the stop animation of the key on to the computer, we had the problem that the footage was shaky as the camera was not attached to the tripod properly so we will film it again at a later date. Next filming is Friday and we will list the scenes that we will film after the next media lesson.

Helena

Camera's rolling...

Helena, Jack and I managed to film some more shots today including the key falling off the table (which was done through stop animation), the door slamming and the pages of a book blowing over (done with a fan). We even managed to suprise ourself with the book shot as Jack managed to blow the fan so that the book shut itself which looks very scary. Helena and I shared the role of filming and I also focused on the overall placing and framing of the shot.

We have more filming to do on friday with the two actresses so we are getting along well.

Stef

Picture Perfect

The Abandoned

This poster reminds me of the loss of innocence. The porcelain doll, is a symbol of childhood, but becasue it is shattered and cracked it shows broken child hood. They have used colour to specifically draw your eye to the eye with a tear of blood. This image also connects with the title 'abandoned' becasue there is often a theme when people move out of a house there is a doll or toy left behinhd that gradually builds up dust.

Autopsy
This is a very modern film poster by keeping the backgroud white it focuses the attention on the legs and text, it also is a signifier of the clean sterile setting of the hospital. When i first looked at this poster initially i didn't notice that the legs were cut off, so it allows the audience to look closer and examine the poster more seriously. However, when looking at this poster it has a slight comedic feel which may suggest it is a spoof rather than just a horror.


Saw III
This poster is the from the third film in the Saw series. Similarly to the Autopsy poster is uses a white background, however, the bottom of this poster uses darker tones that do not give promote the idea of the setting being sterile. The saw at the top of the poster, is used to create an uncomfortable feeling in the audience, it's rusty and dirty, which is clearly nothing you want to be associated with removing teeth, which is linked at the lower third of the poster. This creators of this poster has specifically used Golden section to hint to the audience the conventions of this film.

Get your make-up on!

So here are the make-up plans for our two actresses...

This is Alice's make-up plan, whom is playing the character of Catherine (the dead girl)


- black liquid eye liner on top lip following the lash line to depict out the eyes and make them look bold on camera

- white eye shaddow on eye lashes to give a ghostly feel

- nude lips blended to skin colour, but not overly so, to give a slight ghostly appearance to the face

- black khol eye liner under the eye, slightly smudged to again outline the eyes; almost a smoky feel to the eyes


- this look should give a slight ghostly look without being blaringly obvious




This is Lexie's make up plan, whom plays Mary

- natural looking bronze eye shaddow, giving a natural glow to the face

- black mascara and natural lip gloss to give an ordinary look

- black khol eye liner a quater of the way under the eye to open the eyes

-this look gives a natural look to show the contrast between the two characters




So there you go

Stef

UPDATE: We decided to change Alice's, (aka Catherine) make-up slightly. The only difference was that we used no eye shaddow as the white eye shaddow seemed to obvious that something was not quite right with her. The black eye liner remains the same, as does the rest of the make-up plan.

Poster pictures

As Stef has said in this post we have started to consider the posters. I took some pictures, which you can see below, to experiment with the angles and so we can compare our ideas. I have also uploaded them to flickr.




More poster discussions to follow, I drew a sketch and have annotated it on what each section of a proposed poster signifies for the audience and how it is appropriate to the audience. Once we have discussed this, I will upload a scanned in version of my work.

To redo do or not to redo, that is the question!

Well, in today's lesson Stef, Jack and I uploaded the footage that Nat, Stef and I shot over the weekend with Alice and Lexie. We were really impressed with the quality of the swing shot, as we had worried about that, but once on screen it was easy to see how we could edit it and the camera wasn't as shaky as we believed it to be.

Something that will needed to be re filmed however, are the scenes with the fake blood. The blood looked effective but Lexie's hands were not as covered as they could have been. However this is not why we will have to re film that sequence. We are refilming as the general mise en scene of the area was not appropriate as for example we had a Robinson squash bottle in the background and a food colouring bottle in the corner of the scene. So when we re film we will change the area around the sink to fit in with the character.

We haven't decided when we will be filming this scene as we need to consult with Alice and Lexie.

One last thing, we are really taken with the idea of using music that you hear in jewelry boxes. By its self or edited it can sound very scary.

Helena

It's poster time

In today's media lesson we not only uploaded the film footage we have recorded, we also began thinking of potential ideas for our film poster. We firstly decided that we want both of the actresses will appear on the poster, after we recieve their permission to do of course.
We are thinking of having it set in the forest we filmed in, as there was a clearing that would be perfect for the shot. Another possible location would be the park that we previously filmed in using the swings as our main focus. Our favourite idea is this:

--> Set in the forest with Mary (Lexie) standing straight on, facing the camera looking frightened with Catherine (Alice) standing behind with her hand on Mary's shoulder. We would only show half of Catherine's face to symbolise the mystery surrounding her character. The forest would also add to a mystery of the plot. Having Catherine's hand on Mary's shoulder symbolises the relationship they share, as shown in the trailer, and also symbolises the manipulation of Mary.

We did a quick tester shot with myself and Helena, which Jack will later upload onto here.

Also, I will upload the make-up plans here tonight if I can as I am away as of tomorrow.

Stef

Fake Blood Mmmm

We created 3 pints of blood on Tuesday to be used in the production of our teaser trailer. It was great fun, and as you have previously read we had great fun. I got involved a little with stirring the mixture and the amount of the mixtures we used to create our desired effect. Another responsibility of mine was to take some picture for our blog.

As you may know, we have our own Flickr account and personal sets and photostreams for your viewing. I have found a Flickr blogger module that has been added to the side of the website.


Below is one of these pictures.





The rest can be found on our Flickr Fake blood set.


Thanks
Jack

My thoughts on the day

Filming went very well and I think we are well on the way now. We are planning to show Jack all of our footage so far to make sure he's happy with it and anything that looks a bit odd we will film again. Our two actors were absolutely brilliant and weren't afraid to get stuck in. We are going to split their train fares between the four of us and also made sure we fed them during filming. They both turned up in the costumes we asked them to.
Some of our next shots will involve close-ups of the girl's faces so make-up will have to be considered. I am going to draw up a make-up plan for each girl and hopefully put it up on here as make-up can help to promote a certain character an actor is trying to convey...

Stef

Camera, Lights and finally Action

Well we have had a very busy weekend with our first official day of filming. Stef, Nat and I filmed today's scenes (Jack was on a uni visit) We started off on Sunday morning in Kemsing which was our first location of the day. We went through with our actors what we needed for the first shots.

I've just realised that we didn't post the list of shots we were planning to do on Sunday, I think that may have been my fault sorry! So I will list those and then list the shots we actually going to do.
These were the shots that we were planning to do
2) Fade transition into establishing shot of girl swinging alone in a park
3) Straight cut to wide shot behind the swing of Mary swinging with diegetic sound of chains squeaking
4) Point-of-view shot of Mary on swing leaning back, repeated four times with Catherine not there then suddenly appearing
5) Close up of Mary’s feet digging into ground to stop swinging
6) Over-the-shoulder shot of Catherine who says “Hi. I’m Catherine.”
7) Reversal over-the-shoulder shot of Mary replying “Erm, hi, I’m Mary.”
8) Long shot of the two girls talking along with non diegetic voice-over of “Mary’s mother” saying “You’re such a lonely girl Mary, why don’t you try and make some friends?”
9) Long shot of girls leaving the park as voice-over continues (sound bridge)

Our actual first shot was one that we weren't expecting to do.
21) Long shot of Mary running
24) Long shot of Mary running part 2

We did this as when we arrived at Kemsing park there were people on the swings as we were wondering what we could do while we waited we noticed this clearing inside a forest area. As a result, we decided to film the running shot.
When we had finished our filming of this shot, the swings were clear so we started on the main shots on the swing.
We had a second problem however which was a child arrived with their grandfather and was playing on the equipment, so instead of having a reversal over the shoulder shot (shot 7) we had to have a continued over the shoulder shot from behind Catherine. This was so you could not see the boy.
Another problem we faced with filming in the playground was the noise of the boy. We have decided that we will have to mute some shots and luckily he wasn't making any noise while we were filming the talking scenes.
Having other people in the park also meant that we could not film a long shot of the girls leaving the park as it would break continuity and also mean that they were not alone as intended. So we will either return to film this at another date, or substitute this with another shot.

When we had finished this section we decided that we still had quite a lot of time so we went back to Nat's house to film some of the shots we would have done if it had been bad weather.
We decided to film the scenes involving fake blood (which Nat made some more of). We have changed the scenes from the original shot list.
- Close up of tap running and a hand turning it off.
- High angle shot of the sink filled with water and soap and 'Mary' washing a plate.
-Tracking shot of 'Mary' taking the plate out and moving it the side and taking another plate and bringing it back to the sink filled with blood.
- Side reaction shot of 'Mary' with her hands covered in blood
We may not use all of these shots but we feel it has helped us to film extra scenes.

We started on the final shot of 'Catherine' sitting on the floor surrounded by candles but decided Nat's sitting room was too bright and so are going to leave it until we film on our next date which will be after school one day and so should be darker.

Roles I played in the filming was to help adjust the tripod, film certain scenes, keep the shot list updated or work with Alice and Lexie so they knew what they were doing. Stef, Nat and I all took turns in every single job so a fair amount was done by all.

Our next filming date is the 23rd of October and then the 1st of November with our actresses. On the 1st we will be going to Hastings to film.

Helena

We've ALL got email

We are preparing for the first offical day of filming. We have decided our shots if it is a sunny day and Stef is going to blog the shots we will do if it is a rainy day.

This is the email that we sent to the girls



Helena