Evaluation Q.1 - Use of Conventions

My Film - Final Cut

This is the final cut of my AS film opening.

The sound for this is my own version, recreated from the 'copyright free' (that turned out to be copyrighted after all) music I sampled in my 5th rough cut.
I used Logic Pro to recreate a similar sound, and I'm very happy with how it's turned out. The timing now works perfectly and there's a nice balance between the synth sounds and the beat.

Screenshot of creating the sound

And thus concludes my journey into making a film opening.

It's hard to believe it's over, but I'd like to say thank you to everyone who helped me along the way - I couldn't have done it without you.

Enjoy the film!

My Film - Post-production Summary Podcast

*An amendment: at 5:36 I say I feel defeated that I wasn't able to compose all the music myself. I made this post preemptively before my final cut, and before I realized the issue with the copy-right. The music in the chase scene of my final cut is now no longer the copy-righted music, merely a similar re-creation.

My Film - A Summary of Sound

Initially I had intended to use mixture of prerecorded and post-production edited sound to create the diegetic sound heard within my opening; but due to issues I've detailed in my production diary, this was not possible.
For this reason, all sound heard within my film opening has been added in post-production, using the Logic Pro sound software to do so.


Ambience/Sound Effects (Diegetic Sound)

Using Logic Pro I was able to find (almost) every sound I could ever want, allowing me to place them in order to create the general diegetic noise of my film world, and letting me adjust their volume levels and 'positioning' (where you would hear them in the film world.) 

To be as diegetically realistic as possible, I used separate background noise types for indoors and outdoors, and found sound bites that would fit with things like the jacket being zipped, the door locking, the running etc. A lot of the time the easiest way to make them seem realistic was to simply adjust the volume levels, but sometimes I also adjusted their positioning (e.g. to sound as if the door was being locked on the left side of the screen etc.)  

My favourite use of sound within this was the heartbeat sound effect during the monster P.O.V shots. While I initially tried to edit this to gradually speed up, as if it was the girl's racing heartbeat we could hear, I realized that it was a lot more ominous when it stayed at the same pace, because it was coupled with a drone sound effect to help things seem distorted, and this connotes that it was the 'monster's' steady heartbeat we were listening too.

I later added a breathing sound effect to the monster P.O.V shots helped anchor down the signifier that someone/something was 'watching' the protagonist.

The only sound I needed to record myself was the dialogue, and I did this using the iPhone app 'Music Memos'. To make sure the timing was right Rose and I watched the scene over again, but the process was simple and worked well, giving us clearly recorded dialogue. 

Soundtrack (Non-diegetic Sound)

Theoretically this should have been a lot easier than the fiddly process of creating the detailed and accurate ambient sound, but of course it was not. 

In the first rough cut of my film I decided to place the song "Run" by AWOLNATION over the top for a bit of fun; I knew that I couldn't use the song for my final product (due to copy right) and I never intended to keep it, but it did fit surprising well with the timing and mood of my opening.

For my film's second rough cut I didn't use 'proper' music, but instead layered synth sound effects to create an eerie alien-like feeling. While I actually liked the unusual, sheer quietness of this, the 'chase' scene was still missing the sound necessary to build the appropriate tension. 

For my third rough cut I spent ages combing through Logic Pro's various pre-recorded sound loops, even dabbling in recording some of my own original content using Alchemy, but I found great difficulty in getting the correct timing to create the tension and buildup I was looking for. While I was slowly improving I still hadn't quite found what I was looking for.

In the end I went to my teacher for help, which lead to the creation of my fourth rough cut. This time, the chase scene was changed to a much faster, more techno beat. I was happy with the timing (as it fit perfectly with the short chase scene,) but just couldn't help feeling it had the wrong atmosphere for what I'd spent the first minute building up to, despite the positive feedback I received from my audience. 

I was considering trying to strip back the techno and add some more synth to give it a grungier, more natural sound, when Mr. Van Zomerplaag found a piece of copy-right free music. I made a brief tester video (rough cut 5) to see if this music would work, and was satisfied with the potential it had.

The sound in my final cut is my own, recreated version of the 'copyright free' (that turned out to be copyrighted after all) music I sampled in my 5th rough cut.

I used Logic Pro to recreate a similar sound, and I'm very happy with how it's turned out. The timing now works perfectly and there's a nice balance between the synth sounds and the beat.

Overall I'm proud of all the hard work I put into creating the sound for my opening, especially as I learnt so much about using Logic Pro and Alchemy along the way. 

While it was an undeniably difficult task, (one that I dreaded even starting as the possibilities seemed to have no end in sight,) I did have some fun creating the diegetic/non-diegetic sound, and I look forward to using the skills I have learned in my next project.

My Film - Mimitís (Rough Cut 5)

Mr. Van Zomerplaag found some copy-right free music that he thought might fit with the chase scene, so (once I'd listened to it and agreed it had potential,) I used FinalCut Pro to put together a very quick rough cut to get an idea of how it might sound.
I'm quite pleased with the result, as it has the right tempo for the chase scene and its timings, and also as it fits relatively well with the genre and mood of my film.

My Film - Audience Feedback for rough cut 4

My Film - Mimitís (Version 3/Rough Cut 4)

As I've been struggling to find music for the chase scene that I was happy with, I decided to go to my teacher for help. 
Using Logic Pro we've given the chase scene a much faster, more techno beat. While I'm happy with the timing (as it fits perfectly with the short chase scene,) I can't help feeling it has the wrong atmosphere; to me, it feels too jarring compared with the eerie atmosphere of the opening, as if it's meant for the action genre instead. 
However, I did receive positive feedback I received from my audience. 
I want to continue to work on the music for the chase scene - I have an idea that if I strip back some of the more techno beats and layer in some synths it might give me the sound I'm after. 

For this edit I also adjusted the intensity of the lighting in certain scenes, to give my film an overall more consistent appearance in colour. This was necessary as I filmed outside, and different days produced different amounts and intensities of light (due to changing weather conditions.)

My Film - Mimitís (Version 2/Rough Cut 3)

For this cut of my film I spent ages combing through Logic Pro's various pre-recorded sound loops, even dabbling in recording some of my own original content using Alchemy, but I found great difficulty in getting the correct timing to create the tension and buildup I was looking for. 
I think I'd like to make the sound grungier in the next cut, to see if that will improve the tension. 

My Film - Audience Feedback for rough cut 2

• Niamh Egars
• Ciara Egars; 12 year old female from Ilkley Yorkshire England
• Mrs. Egars; in her 40's

Niamh Egars; 17 year old female
from Ilkley
Yorkshire England 

• Caitlin Westerborg; 17 year old female from the Cayman Islands
• Samantha Smellie; 17 year old female from the Cayman Islands

Audience feedback - Version 2 from ngalvin99

Rose Blackburne; 17 year old female from Scotland
(Also my actress)

Rose Blackburne

My Film - A Summary of Titles

As my film opening is quite eerie - and as it's in the thriller/horror/sci-fi hybrid genre - I wanted my titles to reflect this.
My analysis of films within similar genres gave me an idea of what font style, coloring, effect and size I was looking for.

After scrolling through the FinalCut Pro pre-made fonts, I settled on a simple sans-serif font called 'DREAM. I chose this font because the sans-serif style meant that it fit with what's typically seen within the genre, while the colour (a pale blue-tint that seems to glow ever so slightly) links to the Sci-Fi genre.

'DREAM'

                                                                                                                        

                                                        

I did consider using a font more typical of the horror genre (something clichéd along the lines of dripping blood,) but decided against it as I wanted my font to like to the Sci-Fi genre, to appear as natural as possible onscreen, and to not seem cheesy or comic.

The order that my title's appear in is as follows:

Appearing on the lower left of the screen, this title is larger than the F9 Films credit, as SilverSalt Studios (my company) were the main producers.

This title also appears on the lower left side of the screen, and gives credit to Charles Verfeurth's film company as he occasionally took on the role of being my cameraman.

Appears on the upper left corner of the screen; the actress playing the protagonist. As my film's cast and crew consisted of three members I was able to keep the number of titles fairly limited (typical of the genre,) while still giving credit to those involved.

I added my name as the final title to credit myself as the role of the antagonist.

My Film - Green Screening

I used green screening in FinalCut Pro to display text messages on the phone, (a decision taken as the lighting burnt out the screen, making filming it difficult.)

Using a youtube tutorial, I taught myself the basics of using a green screen process on Final Cut Pro.  First you select 'Effects', then click on the sub-heading 'Keying', from which two options will appear. Quite simply, I selected the option 'Keyer', dragged it onto the green screen clips (which was simply a green colour picture opened on my phone screen,) and watched as it magically turned black, ready to be edited. The next step was to insert the footage that would be shown on the green screen.  

Where to find Keyer

Drag and drop Keyer onto the footage

The Keyer effect will turn the green to black

Drag and drop footage you want to be in place of the green

The footage will appear where the green was

*(Screenshots taken from the YouTube tutorial linked above.)

My Film - Mimitís (Version 1/Rough Cut 2)

This is the first completed edit of my AS film "Mimitís". I've posted it on Youtube, and have begun to receive audience feedback. 

Final Cut Pro

All the footage (with the exception of my company ident (see process here,)) was compiled and edited using Final Cut Pro. One way in which I manipulated the footage was by placing the "film noir" effect over the 'monster p.o.v' shots, so as to make the lighting seem more vibrant and surreal, and to help make it denote to the audience that they were watching from the 'monster's' point of view (I also added a sound effect to help emphasize this, but more on that later.) 

For the most part I simply had to sift through the mountain of footage, looking for clear shots and good takes, a lot of the time cutting bits and pieces out (using the 'blade' tool) from various different takes and sticking them together until everything looked smooth. 

The editing technique I enjoyed using the most was the green screen effect. I had to use green screening to display a text message on the phone (something that was vital to the storyline making sense.) Of course, I could've simply turned the phone screen on with a text message already in place, but the difficulty was angling the camera in such a way that my overhead bedroom lights didn't burn everything out, and even then there wasn't much guarantee of what the natural outside lighting was gonna be like, (there was no specific lighting set-up used, given that my film had the enormous budget of £0.00 - impressive, right?) Therefore, the conclusion was to use green screening, something I was assured would be "super easy" to do using Final Cut Pro. But if you've followed my other posts, you should know that nothing is ever "super easy" with my luck...

Using a youtube tutorial, I taught myself the basics of using a green screen process on Final Cut Pro.  First you select 'Effects', then click on the sub-heading 'Keying', from which two options will appear. Quite simply, I selected the option 'Keyer', dragged it onto the green screen clips (which was simply a green colour picture opened on my phone screen,) and watched as it magically turned black, ready to be edited. The next step was to insert the footage that would be shown on the green screen. 

I recorded this footage by plugging my phone into my computer, opening QuickTime Player, and then selected 'File', 'New Movie Recording'. From here I was able to switch the option settings to record what was on the screen of my phone. Having successfully acquired the footage, I imported it to Final Cut Pro, dragged it down to its appropriate place and began to make the necessary adjustments so that it appeared realistic on the phone screen. 

The problem? Nobody warned me that for the footage on the green screen to look good (and by 'look good' I mean actually staying on the green screen) it would be vital to keep the green screen (in this case the phone) and camera perfectly still. Due to the very nature of my shot types (the close-up over the shoulder especially) I hadn't used a tripod - and while I'm pretty steady-handed, there was inevitably some slight movement. Long story short, while this by no means meant my plan was ruined, it did result in a very careful and time-consuming struggle to position the footage just so that it stayed (more-or-less) in place without any noticeable movements. While I still notice the slightly moving phone screen, it does appear I was successful, as so far none of my audience have commented. 

Logic Pro

Moving on to sound! Every sound heard within my film opening (excluding my company ident) was added in post-production. To the trained ear this may be obvious, but I'm hoping that most people won't notice (and so far my audience hasn't.) All the sound heard is meant to be diegetic, with the exception of the low drone noise used in the scene by the church as this was meant to be more of a subconscious noise and added to build tension/atmosphere. 

Using the sound production program 'Logic', I was able to find (almost) every sound I could ever want, allowing me to place them in order as a soundtrack of sorts to fit the film, and to play with their volume levels and 'positioning' (where you would hear them in the film world.) Due to my unfamiliarity with Logic I struggled with trying to edit the sound as precisely as I might have liked, but overall I am happy with the result. I may still adjust the sound in the chase scene, but I am satisfied with it at present because the sheer quietness of it creates a very eerie and unsettling effect (almost contradictory to the tense music you'd hear in other films within this genre,) seeming almost as if it's some terrible nightmare, and helping to raise the fear factor of my film.

To be as diegetically realistic as possible, I used separate background noise types for indoors and outdoors, and found sound bites that would fit with things like the jacket being zipped, the door locking, the running etc. A lot of the time the easiest way to make them seem realistic was to simply adjust the volume levels, but sometimes I also adjusted their positioning (e.g. to sound as if the door was being locked on the left etc.)  

My favourite use of sound within this was the heartbeat sound effect. While I initially tried to edit it to gradually speed up, as if it was the girl's racing heartbeat we could hear, I realized that it was a lot more ominous when it stayed at the same pace, because it was coupled with a drone sound effect to help things seem distorted, and this connotes that it was the 'monster's' steady heartbeat we were listening too. Overall, it threw my audience off, making them uncomfortable and helping to build tension. 

The only sound I needed to record myself was the dialogue, and I did this using the iPhone app 'Music Memos'. To make sure the timing was right we watched the scene over again, but the process was simple and worked well.  

Overall I am very happy with this version of my film - it's been such an incredible and fun process, and I feel like I've been quite successful thus far. I know I'll probably have to make a few more adjustments, but the bulk of the work is done.  

My Film - Company Ident

The idea for my company ident came from my company's name, 'SilverSalt'. The plan was to create a template of the words "SilverSalt Studios"and fill it in with salt to create the words; I planned to lay this template on a piece of black card under a spotlight in a dark room (to help create the black background.) I then used a Nikon D3200 to film, because it filmed at a rate of 50 frames per second, and when I would blew the salt away I would be able to slow the footage down in editing. However, as with the rest of my project, I had a few issues. 

Surprisingly, the problem came not with acquiring the template (which I was able to create using a laser cutter with the assistance of the DT lab technicians,) but with getting my hands on enough salt. As I was filming this during the school day I was unable to go out and simply purchase the salt, so I had beg for salt from the kitchen staff, and they were lovely enough to give me all they had. Unfortunately, 'all they had' was barely enough to fill the bottom 5mm of a coffee cup - but it worked! Somehow it managed to fill in the template enough to make it look solid, so I headed up to the photography rooms with my classmate Tash Whitham (a young photography student, familiar with how to work the lights and willing to help me,) and got down to business. 

I set up the camera, Tash adjusted the lights, and we filled in the template, ready for me to hit record and blow the salt away. With anticipation I sucked in a deep breath, and blew as hard as I could...

But the salt wouldn't move!

I'm not proud to say that there's footage of me huffing and puffing angrily at unmoving salt. The issue was that while I could blow some of the salt away in one breath, half of the words remained. But, not to be deterred I came up with the solution that I would blow it away from one side, and Tash would do the same from the other. But now there was also another problem, because during the first attempt, my salt had scattered irretrievably about the room and my limited stash was now depleted. The only solution at hand was a kindly teacher who gave us rock salt, but this also was a challenge as the large chunks of rock salt weren't as fine as the other salt. making my template look chunky and ridiculous. 

It was Tash who saved the day. She had the ingenious idea to crush the rock salt by rolling over it with a paint brush, until it was as fine as we needed. 

After a great deal of salt crushing, we were finally ready to film again. This time I'm proud to say the plan was a success.

With the assistance of my teacher, I used Premiere Pro to edit the footage. I re-centered the image so that the words were balanced in the middle of the screen, and adjusted the contrast so that the black looked solid. I also reversed the footage to make it look as if the salt was blowing into place to form the words. I also slowed the footage down so that it looked more dramatic.

Finally, I exported it to Final Cut Pro, where I chose a copyright free sound effect and slowed it down to 50% before putting it over the clip. 

My Film - Progress Check

"Nicola, your blogging so far has been generally thorough, well written and expressed using appropriate terminology throughout - well done. However, it has slipped a little since you went into production, which I’m sure you’re aware of. So far there is little evidence of all the hard work you have done on your film opening. i would have expected to see your pitch, screenplay, storyboard, photography of your locations, and a production diary detailing how each shoot went. You should also be adding rough cuts and edits, so that there is a clear progression shown through your blog. I’m sure you’ll get on top of this and I understand that you have been away over christmas; I also know it’s easy to get carried away with the production itself, but just don’t neglect the evidence to go alongside it."


Completed

• Pitch (edited, posted onto my Youtube channel, and my blog.)
• Screenplay (written, and posted on my blog.)
• Storyboard (hand drawn, and posted on my blog.)
• Location Scout (photos posted on my blog.)
• Production Diary (up to date, posted on blog.)
• Rough Cut (posted onto my Youtube channel, and my blog.)

To Do

• Compile and edit together the footage of my opening by 3rd Feb (complete)
• Record voices for the dub-over by 5th Feb (complete)
• Create soundscape for my opening by 12th Feb (complete)

My Film - Mimitís (Rough Cut 1)

This is the initial rough cut of my film. 

The music ("Run" by AWOLNATION) will not remain in further edits; I've simply used it here as I've yet to complete the background soundtrack, and without sound my film seemed a tad awkward. (Also, this is an awesome song and it fit almost perfectly with the current edit, so I thought I'd have a bit of fun.) The conversation scene has terrible audio at the moment (due to trouble with the boom mic,) so I've decided that the dialogue is going to be recorded and edited in later. 

The effect on the monster's p.o.v will also be changed in further edits, as I am not currently happy with it (it's too obviously alien - I'm looking for a subtler effect, possibly like a fisheye effect or an effect that raises the contrast of the colour, making it seem unnaturally harsh and bright.) The current effect is 'Negative', and is simply in place to give a vague idea of the contrast between the monster's p.o.v shots and the normal camera shots.

As it stands the timing works well and there is a good continuation throughout, so I'm pleased with that. The unfortunate thing is that I need to re-film the monster p.o.v shots, (as I was foolish enough to film the on portrait and not the necessary landscape, which means I had to reposition the footage and due to this the quality was reduced.) 

Once I have done this however, my filming will be complete! 

My Film - Production Diary

6th December 2015: Bedroom 1
This was the first shoot of the project; I'd drawn up the story board and written the screenplay and was ready to get going! Keeping in mind that there had already been a problem with my project when my actress dropped out last minute, (a problem rectified only when my amazing friend, Rose Blackburne, stepped in to save the day,) I should have expected that things would never go as smoothly as imagined...

The first part I scheduled to shoot was the scene in which the protagonist is preparing for her run; we shot in the evening as it worked best with our schedules, and as the bright lighting of my bedroom meant the darkness outside didn't matter.
All the shots at this point were static close-ups, as the exposition and focus on these reveals to the audience that the protagonist is a female teenager getting ready for a run, setting up the storyline.  
The shoot went quickly, (20 minutes tops,) and everything seemed well.

However, as soon I reviewed the footage the problems began.
I suddenly realized I had forgotten that my protagonist was meant to be wearing headphones, I hadn't focused the camera on the right section of carpet so my close-up shot of the protagonist tying her shoes was blurred, I had forgotten to film her checking her text messages (which is the key signifier for my film's plot...)
The list goes on.

I wasn't particularly worried as I still had plenty of opportunity to set my mistakes right, but it was irritating. Nonetheless, I chalked it up to experience, scheduled the reshoot, and moved on.



9th December 2015: Chase scene (w/ GoPro)
This shoot took place on a Wednesday from 2:15pm to approx. 4:00pm (which is about when the sun set and it was too dark to film further.) We were restricted to filming on Wednesday's after school, as my sole cast member, (Rose Blackburne,) and my camera man, (Charles Verfuerth,) both worked weekend jobs, making filming impossible. With such a narrow window of filming opportunity, my biggest challenge became nature itself; I had little choice but to cross my fingers and hope that we wouldn't be rained out of our slot.

And miraculously, the weather was sunny.
(I was actually annoyed by this, as it meant I'd have to add in the eerie gloominess in editing, but it seemed a minor issue in the grand scheme of things.)
The plan was to film the chase scene; we'd brought along a steady-cam rig to film close up shots of the protagonist's face as she ran, and a go-pro to get the 'monsters' p.o.v as it chased her.

Once the steady cam was set up, I talked my actor through her running route, explained what I wanted to my camera man (a mid-angle medium close-up of my protagonists face as she ran,) and stood back to watch the action and keep an eye out for problems.
Of course, we hit trouble instantly; it only took the first run to realize that the steady-cam we had couldn't cope with the speed of the sprint of my actor, as it spun round after a few moments, producing shaky footage. It was also incredibly difficult for my poor camera man to run with his arm at an angle to keep the steady-cam in the right position for a mid-angle medium close-up of the protagonist running, while still being fast enough to stay ahead of my sprinting actor, and to not fall over in the inconveniently muddy and slippy track we were on, (and his fancy shoes really didn't help either.)
Unperturbed, we simply ran it over and over again - sometimes with me working the steady-cam, as my shoes were more appropriate - with the idea that each time we'd get a few seconds of clear footage that could be cut in with the monsters p.o.v shots (which would generally be medium-long shots of the protagonist, following her from behind.)

The go-pro running was even more challenging. As I was playing the 'monster/friend', the job of the go-pro wearer was mine. Once I had it strapped onto my head, we began the chase - however, I could only ever go a few feet, as the bushes that I was meant to be running through, actually had little room to move past. It also proved difficult to hold my head at an angle that kept my sprinting protagonist clearly in shot, while not tripping over my own feet and avoiding my hands from being in the shot.

I had intended to also film the scene in which the protagonist meets her 'friend', but due to the difficulties in getting steady shots of the chase scene, we ran out of time.

While it didn't go exactly how I'd planned, I'd once again gained valuable learning experience, and achieved some useable footage.



13th December 2015: Bedroom 2
As I'd already filmed most of the 'getting ready' clips before, I now had a better idea of what to do and how to do it, meaning that this shoot went a lot faster than the first. I intended to use the same shot types from before, and also referred to my call sheet so as to guarantee I got all my shots this time.

This time I also adjusted the white balance so that the contrast between the inside and outside scenes wouldn't be as jarring.
For filming the phone screen I struggled to get the right angle where the overhead lights didn't reflect and burnout the text on the screen. The solution was to make my phone's screen green, and use special effects in editing instead.



14th December 2015: Shadow
For this shoot I wanted to film the pivotal moment when the protagonist realises she's being stalked. My location was the wall of the church building in the graveyard, and my original idea was that the protagonist would run up and pause to catch her breath. While she rests, she checks her phone, before becoming aware of something watching her. For a few moments she looks around trying to identify who or what it is, till something spooks her and she sprints away.
Initially I had hoped to use a powerful flashlight to project shadows onto the church wall, where unbeknownst to the protagonist (as only the audience would see this,) one of the shadows is not actually hers, and begins to move towards her threateningly. However this didn't work out as it was too bright to produce a shadow.

This scene relied upon close-ups (ranging from medium to extreme, sometimes static, sometimes zooming in) so as to capture the emotion the protagonist feels, and to help build tension. I used a trip-pod and sony camera, checked the white balance, and took multiple shots of the scene from different angles. This scene was one of the easiest to film, as I was able to use a static shots (compared to the difficulty of filming running.)

I used my iPhone 6 (as I didn't have a go-pro) to film moving medium p.o.v shots of the 'monster' stalking her. I actually preferred using the iPhone 6 to the go-pro as it allowed me to see what I was filming as I filmed it, which helped me capture better footage.



16th December 2015: Rose & I
For this scene I had to rely on my camera man, Charles Verfuerth, to film with 2 cameras on tripods while also operating a boom mic and sound recording equipment, all because I cast myself to play the 'monster/friend'. To make matters worse, we were fighting time to finish before sun set, while filming on a fairly busy path (meaning we got a lot of lovely shots of dog walkers...)

With only one person manning all the recording equipment, it was no wonder that things went wrong. The scene was fairly simple, a shot-reverse-shot of the conversation between the characters, and a long shot of them running off down the path, followed by a pan down and close-up on the dropped phone.

While filming, all seemed to go well, (aside from my terrible acting, and that I forgot the phone;) but when I went to review the footage afterwards, something had gone wrong and parts of the footage were missing, and the only sound recording we had was of me wailing at my camera man in distress.

Not at all successful, but certainly a gained experience.
Next time around, I'll triple check the tech.



9th January 2016: General Cemetery Run
During this shoot I needed to film the main run through the cemetery. I used a sony camera and tripod, taking static shots of the protagonist running towards and past the camera. I also filmed some static and some panning establishing/master shots, to help with the exposition.
I also used my iPhone 6 to take p.o.v shots, however upon reviewing the footage I realised i'd been holding it portrait, and that this would reduce the quality of the footage as it would have to be reformatted.
So once again, my list of 'reshoots' has grown.



20th January 2016: Rose & I (p.2)
By this point I had achieved almost all of my filming, and now needed only a reshoot of the final scene and the p.o.v shots.
On this particular day, the plan was to re-film the final scene (which would be a close-up over-the-shoulder shot-reverse-shot typical in dialogue scenes.) However, due to an unfortunate oversight, we were unable to use the shotgun mic, meaning I'd most likely have to do a dub over in editing.
All in all though, the filming went perfectly. The lighting was stunningly golden, there were no technical difficulties, and we had a limited number of interruptions from walkers.
The only thing left to do now is film the p.o.v shots, and then it's on to serious editing.



27th January 2016: Monster P.o.V
We'd finally made it.
The last shoot!
The weather was behaving, we had ample time till sunset, and the cemetery was empty and peaceful.
By this point we'd spent so much time here that none of us would've been surprised to get haunted as a result. (So far as I can tell no ghosts have tried to bother us though... maybe they found our efforts entertaining.)
Using my iPhone I filmed the monster p.o.v shots, making sure to remember to use it on landscape this time. The shots ranged from long shots to close-ups, with a few canted/dutch angles (used to connote something as being off) thrown in for good measure.

With that, the filming came to an end. I'll admit, I was almost sad it was over - what would I possibly fill my time with now (besides studying, coursework, homework, extracurriculars, a social life...)?

However, like all good things, this chapter of my project had come to an end.

The next chapter?

Editing.  

"Tyrannosaur Swede" Short Film

The above video is the complete and edited version of our class' "Tyrannosaur Swede".

My Film - Production Schedule

As my cast and crew had three members (myself, Charles Verfuerth, and Rose BlackBurne,) communication over shoot schedules was made entirely via text message (to Charles,) Facebook messenger (to Rose,) and whenever I managed to talk to them throughout the school day.

I knew from the beginning that filming would have to take place predominantly on Wednesday's after school, as filming on weekends was almost impossible due to other commitments. Also, as the majority of filming was set to take place outside in December/January time, I knew I'd be battling the sunset. As we finish school at 2:15pm on a Wednesday, at became my golden window of opportunity.
(It should be noted that filming didn't always take place during this time, as sometimes our schedule's allowed for other opportunities.)

(Added on 21st February)
While I had initially hoped to finish my filming before the Christmas holidays (admittedly this was very wishful thinking,) my ultimate deadline for the completion of filming was by January 31st. This date allowed me a wide window of opportunity to avoid feeling stressed if something(s) went wrong (and they did,) as I'd given myself this time period to fix it. January 31st also gave me approx. 2 weeks before the February half term (our deadline) to tidy up the editing of my first completed version. While I had been editing the footage as I went along, this time was still vital.

My Film - Storyboard

*Note: The darker numbers in the top left hand corner of each box depicts what order these frames are to be shown.

My Film - Initial Screenplay

The Capgras Delusion - Screenplay from ngalvin99