Filming Plan/Last of the Filming - 23/02/12

In today's lesson, the rest of the class continued with their editing but because we still needed to finish filming, we decided to use our time differently but still effectively. We created a timeline of everything we wanted to happen in our trailer. The list looked like this:

• Placebo's "Running up that Hill" begins
• Shot of the back of Scott as he walks down the corridor, low angle
• Cuts to a stationary high angle shot of Melissa tied up, struggling
• Cuts to another shot of Scott walking at a low angle
• Cuts to a similar stationary high angle shot of Melissa, getting very scared now
• Cuts to the penultimate shot of Scott walking
• Cuts to the panning shot of Melissa, can see the fear in her face
• Cuts to the final shot of Scott walking
• Cuts to an extreme close-up of Melissa, can see the fear in her eyes
• Cuts to Scott abruptly halting, the camera pans round to his face, he smirks
• Cuts to Melissa, light hits her face as the door has opened, see her panic
• Fades to black with a booming non-digetic sound
• Cuts to Scott noticing the camera as he sharpens his tools, slams the door angrily
• Cuts abruptly to "Black Magic" title screen with booming non-digetic sound, then it fades into -
• A hammer being held by Scott, dripping with blood, we can hear Melissa's muffled crying
• The crying continues as the next title screen, "coming soon", appears on screen with no fad
• Cuts straight to the glove being thrown on the floor, covered in blood, we hear footsteps getting quieter
• Fade to end

We were able to find a decent top hat in the performing arts cupboard, so we were able to add into the scene where the camera pans round to Scott and he smirks that he also takes off the hat he has been wearing up until then, so that we wouldn't have to film everything where he hadn't had the hat all over again. 

After school we completed our filming. Before this, we took a picture of Scott wearing the newly found magicians hat for the magazine and couple more for the poster, and then we went to the D.T. corridor to film the "walking" scenes. Like we had planned, we filmed low angle shots of Scott walking whilst following him with the camera. We managed to get it all in one shot - following him with the camera, panning up to his face and he smirks, takes off the hat. Once we knew we were able to do this all in one shot, we filmed it twice more. Later we will be able to edit this properly and create the trailer we bullet pointed earlier in class. Next, we went into our favourite set, the D.T. room, and began to film our new idea that was born from the jump cut idea. Instead of a traditional jump cut, we decided that occasionally during the trailer, an image of Scott screaming should appear for a split second, so that his characters insanity can be conveyed in this way instead. To do this, we put the room in complete darkness, with a torch place just below Scott's face in the classic "ghost story" position, and filmed him screaming with his head in different directions. We can later edit this into our trailer and it should hopefully look good. The filming is finished now, the only thing left to do is take a photo of me dressed in my character for the poster. 

Clipping Footage - 16/02/12

Once again, our class was editing in todays lessons but we still didn't have all of our filming completed so instead Daniel and I decided to get the footage we already had in chronological order and then cut them down to desired length. Once we had done this, we discussed how to film the next set of clips, such as the 'walking' scene as well as our new location. We discussed this at length, going to every last detail so that we could be prepared in case anything went against our plans.

We decided that the filming had to be done within the next four days. During this filming we also had to take photos of our villain and victim for the magazine cover and film poster. These images would be of the villain looking at the camera and tilting his head - for the magazine cover - and half of his face, looking evil - for the film poster.

Editing Begins - 09/02/12

In today's lesson, our teacher decided that editing could be started for the majority of the class and so she brought in two laptops for two groups to use, but Daniel and I, and another group, wanted to use our own laptops. Everyone was using iMovie to edit together their clips, but Daniel and I decided to use Premier Elements, an Adobe package for editing.

As we hadn't finished filming yet, we couldn't edit everything so we decided to attempt the jump cut idea that we had previously scrapped because we still had the clips. To do this, we snipped the clip using the Split Clip tool until we got the correct starting and ending points of each clip, deleting anything we didn't need. We then placed the clips in random order so that we would get different emotions at different times, creating an insane/disorientated feel, which mirrors the mind of the magician - very unstable. Once we had randomly placed them perfectly, we played it to see what had become of them. Unfortunately, it didn't work, as the clips were too sudden and harsh with not enough fluid movement for it to look good or professional. Once again, we scrapped the jump cut idea, but it will always be in the back of our minds.

Editing Process - 19/01/12

In today's lesson, our teacher began to introduce us into the world of editing. We discussed the mail elements that needed to be within our trailers, which were transitions, sound, cutting and image. All four of these elements need to work in harmony together for the trailers to work perfectly. In consideration to sound, Daniel has emailed the record label that handles Placebo so that we may gain permission to use their song "Running up that Hill" for our trailer. We chose this song because it is slow, progressive, creepy and the lyrics even fit the theme of our film trailer: "so much hate for the ones we love..." Our teacher also told us how important image is to our trailer, for instance, getting the right verisimilitude to suit our genre. Obviously, having lots of bright colours and lights is not the image that we would want for our horror trailer!

We discussed the different transitions that can be used in all trailers, as well as short films as one group in our class is creating a short comedy film. There is the most popular transition, the fade in/out, which would be a useful for a horror trailer like ours, as it gives a supernatural/ghost-like effect and creates a build up of tension. Dissolve is another good transition, however it would not be suitable for our trailer as it doesn't have a scary feel to it. For a comedy trailer, the wipe transition is perfect and preferably used. It would definitely not be suitable for our trailer as it would make it too childish or parodied.

We discussed the different types of cutting techniques that we could used in our trailers/short films. A shot/reverse/shot is a cut used for filming conversations, as it films something, then cuts to another thing, that cuts back to the original 'something' for example, a frame of person A would then cut to person B and then back to person A, to show the audience that they have some form of relationship as they are in conversation with one another. An eyeline match edit is where there is a shot of someone's face in close-up, then it cuts to the thing that the person is looking at, so that the audience can see that they looking at it, and it highlights the objects importance in the scene. For example, a close-up of a persons face, that then cuts to a telephone. Therefore we can assume that the person is about to use the telephone. An action match is similar to this, with the difference that it simply matches the action that happened in the previous scene. A good example of this is when a person is filmed about to open a door, and the scene cuts to the other side of the door, being opened by the very same. Sometimes it can also be that the first scene is of person A about the open the door, and the next scene is action matched by person B walking through the door.

Daniel and I also decided to create a bullet pointed list of what we still need to do. The list looked like this:

• Take photo's for the magazine and poster
• Get footage of mise-en-scene/filler scenes i.e. weapons, the clock etc
• Get some more shots of the magician and finish his filming
• Attempt a different jump cut

Filming the Villain - 18/01/12

Finally, we were able to film our villain today, Scott Isle. We stayed after school so that we could use the natural darkness that winter brings and went back to our victim's set, the room in D.T. Our friend Luke Stubbs joined us on this occasion so that we could use his point of view as an audience member to help us film what we need and what the audience wants. He was the perfect person for this job as he perfectly fits our target audience profile - a teen/young person, male, student. Whilst filming, he did help us to review a scene where the magician closes the big industrial door, explaining how he would expect to see the trailer; for this, we had to change our original storyboard idea. We filmed the way that he directed and it turned out to be better than our original idea. Our original idea was that we would film a close-up/mid shot of Scott simply shutting the door with an angry expression. Luke told us that he would expect that the magician would be busy sharpening his tools, would notice the camera and then slam the door as if the audience are intruding on his work. We shot this three times - an initial film, one where Scott turns his head slowly to look at the camera and one where he quickly turns his head towards the camera. This was so that later, during editing, we could choose the best clip and keep it, deleting the others.

The main scenes we filmed today were, as already explained, the villain closing the door, but also the weapon he uses dripping with blood and the glove dropping on the floor, also covered with blood. For this, I previously purchased a 50ml bottle of "special fx theatre fake blood" and a pair of white magicians gloves. I found some tools in the D.T. area usually used in class and asked the teacher of this department if I was able to pour fake blood onto a hammer so that we could film it dripping. After getting this permission, I did exactly that - I opened the fake blood and poured some onto the hammer, so that when Scott held it at an angle, it would drip to the floor. Daniel filmed this happening from a low angle and poured more blood on it when needed. We shot this twice so that we could take the best one later during editing. We then poured the fake blood onto one of the white gloves, and dripped some on the floor. We then filmed the glove being thrown onto the bloody floor, to give the effect that he has just used his bloody weapon, and is carelessly discarding of his gloves. Later, we will add footsteps into this scene, to give the audience a sense that he is simply walking away from his crime.

After we had finished what we had planned, we still had a little time and so we decided to attempt filming for a 'jump cut' scene. This is a difficult shot to film, which we soon found out. At first, we thought of filming 2 second shots of Scott pulling different emotions that we would put together later. However, we realised that this would take too much time and be difficult to perfect, so we instead filmed constantly on Scott's face whilst he pulled different emotions. We later realised on looking back at the footage that it wasn't good enough, and so had to scrap the idea of a jump cut. Daniel still wanted a jump cut, however, so we decided to think of something else for another day.

Filming Begins - 15/12/11

On the 13th of December, after school, Daniel and I stayed behind to film some test footage of the D.T. room and the English corridor so that we had an idea of how we could film and where actors needed to be positioned for the best results. We found that the D.T. room was the perfect place to film the Girl scenes, as it had big industrial doors and looked like an abandoned warehouse or factory of some sort - the kind of effect we wanted for these scenes. We were pleased to see that there was a place where the Girl could be positioned where, when the doors were slid back, a crack of light would illuminate half her face, as specified in the storyboard. There was also a good section of the ceiling where we could tape a torch for the effect of a swinging light bulb. With all of this in mind Daniel began to take pictures for reference, such as the clothes I would be wearing, where the stool and torch would be placed, the doors... he then filmed me opening the doors and the effect that they create of my face when I am sat on the stool.

On the 15th we began to look at film posters and film magazine covers to help us to create our own. As a class we criticized each others drawn out drafts and left post-its with good and bad feedback so that we can work on them and meet specifications. We received all good feedback from our film magazine cover with no areas where we needed to improve which pleased us and our teacher. However there were a couple of things that needed improving on for our film poster - it needed an age rating, producer information, newspaper reviews and when it is coming out to appear on it. So I made these changes swiftly; remembering my target audience being 15-25+, I put the age rating as a 15. I then added 'coming soon' and 'from the producers of...' on it and made up some reviews from The Times newspaper and Total Film magazine.

After this exercise we looked at some professional film posters and magazine covers. The posters were for "McGruber", "Crazy Heart" and "Never Let Me Go". We analysed them as a class, noticing that "McGruber" was an action comedy as there was a rather large explosion in the background and each character had a mock 'serious' face. The title suggested that the film was a spoof of well-known action programme "McGyver", and spoofs tend to try and be funny. We said that "Crazy Heart" was probably a feel good country and western themed film about a man and his love for music, as there was an old man with a guitar and the font for the title was in a font that if often used on Cowboy films. Therefore the film had no age rating on the poster as it wouldn't appeal to a younger audience anyway. "Never Let Me Go" had the appearance of a romance film as the colours were all black, red and white which is conventional of this style of film. Keira Knightly's award was advertised under her name on the cover to show people that she is a very good actress, therefore this is a serious film with good acting involved. We knew that it wasn't a Romantic Comedy, as there were no smiles or laughing on the cover. All characters looked either serious or sad.

We looked at some issues of Total Film and Empire. We saw how each main image was central and mostly had direct mode of address. The conventions of the magazine were sometimes subverted in order to fit with the genre of the film in the main image, for example, when 'Inception' was the main image, the subtitles and surrounding text was given the effect of being sucked into the centre of the magazine. The conventional colours seemed to be red, white and black with the occasional blue. The title of the magazine is always in the top left corner and the bar code in the bottom right corner.

When school had finished, Daniel and I came back at around 5 'o' clock to begin some filming. I got changed into the clothes of my character - baggy, scruffy jeans and a plain white t-shirt - and put on some eye liner and mascara to smudge down my face to give the effect that I have been crying. I then back combed my hair to make it look incredibly messy. We went to the D.T. room and my feet were duck taped to a stool that I was sat on, and some duck tape was placed around my mouth to be used as the gag. I was the Girl, and ready to be filmed. Some string was placed on our torch which was then taped above my head but out of shot so that it looked like a swinging light bulb above me. Daniel used his camera to film me acting distraught with the help of extra lighting from Russell Shaw and Ashley Pitt who used other torches and their phones. Daniel filmed a close up, mid shot, long shot, high angle shot and panning shot using a trolley. All these shots were repeated at least twice so that when it comes to editing, we can pick the best take. After these shots were done, we went to the English corridor to do some test footage how to film the Magician walking using Russell Shaw's feet as our real actor was unavailable. We realised that a skateboard would need to be used to give the effect that the camera is following the Magicians feet, otherwise the camera is too shaky and it looks unprofessional.

On the 16th Dec, we filmed some of the Magicians scenes before our classes begun. Because we only had a top hat and blazer available at this time, we said that this would simply be test footage. We only filmed Scott as the Magician opening the big industrial doors. We filmed his face in a close up and then a mid shot from the back so that we didn't get any incorrect mise-en-scene into the frame.

Filming Schedule - 08/12/11

We would be starting to film our trailer very soon and so we decided to create a 'filming schedule' in order for us to film efficiently. Daniel and I decided that every time we finished part of the schedule, we would tick off that part, so that we didn't waste any time going over things we had already done. Our schedule was simple and easy to understand, and was as follows:

Actors: Scott Isle - the magician
             Melissa Hollingworth - the girl/victim
9th Dec: Ask permission from Mr Blackett or Mr Bulmer to film in the D.T. area of school. Gather all props
               needed for next week; chair/stool, duck tape, torch, string, eye liner/mascara.
12th - 16th Dec: Start filming after school at around 4-5pm. Take reference pictures and test out the English
                            corridor to see if it is the correct location to film for the Magicians scenes.
January: Gather all props needed throughout January; top hat, suit. Take pictures of both the Girl and the
               Magician for poster/magazine cover. Film the Magicians scenes. Editing - sound effects, voice
               overs, fitting the clips together.
Due to exams we cannot film on the 12th, 13th, 19th, 20th, 23rd, 24th or 25th of January.


Our actor and some of our props have changed as we realised that some things weren't available and our actor dropped out. We replaced Thomas Webster with Scott Isle and ditched the idea of using a cane as it was impossible to find one that we would be allowed to use on such a small budget.