Filming Evaluation - Day Five - The Forest

For my third day of filming in the forest, we had changed the ending of our narrative, so I needed to film some new shots for the end of our opening sequence. I filmed on Saturday 23rd January, but unfortunately David was unavailable to film on this day, so I had to use an appropriate double, Tyler, to record the shots needed.

I got David to give me the jumper, trainers, jeans, gloves and hat so that Tyler would be wearing exactly the same thing. Unfortunately, David forgot to bring the hearing aid again so we were unable to use this aspect in the filming and had to be careful to avoid continuity errors in the footage. Tyler came over at around 1pm and we both got ready before walking to the forest to start filming. Again, it was very cold so I had to put my coat on between shots. We worked very effectively and, as he is also an A-Level Media student, we were able to combine our expertise to get some really creative shots. We had a checklist of what we needed to film:

• Point of view shots of the killer in different locations, 'watching' the victim
• Close up of the killers eyes
• Shots of the victim running
• Shot of getting into a clearing and looking around as if I've heard something
• Shots of killer running through the trees
• Long shot of victim being kidnapped by the killer
• Shot of headphones on the floor
• Shot of headphones being crushed.
• Shot of victim getting carried over the kidnappers shoulder
• Shot of victim being shut into a car boot

We filmed all the shots, but watching them back decided that we didn't like the close up of the killers eyes, as we felt the identity is better hidden, and eyes portray too much emotion that the killers eyes wouldn't be seen during the opening scene. We also attempted to do the shot when I was in an opening and could 'hear' something, but this was very hard as it was hard to imagine the killer being in more than one place. We really liked the shot of the killer kidnapping the victim, as it looked realistic enough and not staged, but this took many takes to get right. We also did the victim getting carried over the kidnappers shoulder, but this looked too staged as it was hard to be completely limp as if i was unconscious. Finally, we were able to get some creative shots of being shut in the boot, both a POV from the killers perspective, as well as the victim inside the boot. 

Overall, Tyler and I work really well together and I am grateful for his help. When in the same clothes, he looked similar to David meaning there would be no continuity errors in the editing stage. We managed to get a wide range of footage meaning that we have a choice of shots. Also, the headphone shot looked very effective and played on our idea of the killer being deaf, but my headphones got ruined. If we were to do it again, I would prefer if we had someone else there to help, as when we were both in the frame, we had to set up the camera and then get into position and record, which slowed down the filming.

Filming Evaluation - Day Four - The Forest

After watching all the footage we have of the forest scene, we decided that some of the shots were too shaky (due to the strong wind) and needed refilming. As I live next to the forest, I decided to film to shots on my own, with the help of my mum to man the camera.

We filmed on the 14th January 2016, at around 9:30am. Initially, I had to teach my mum how to use the camera, and the first few shots I had to set up the tripod and start recording before getting into position for the shot. After a while, my mum got used to using the camera and was able to film the shots for me - making the filming process more efficient. 
Together, we were able to film large amounts of footage which could be used, and we also experimented with creative shots - such as the reflection in the puddle followed by the splash.

 

When I took the footage in to school to show my group, they were very happy with what I had and it fit in with our drafted opening sequence. 

The only issue with my footage, is that on the first day of filming, I borrowed my sisters headphones, but when we filmed on the Thursday, she had taken them back to University, so I used Apple earphones instead. Personally, I prefer the Apple earphones to the headphones, but this means that some of our shots need to be re-filmed, as if we kept both sets of shots, there would be continuity errors with the change in headphones. 

I am planning to re-film some of the shots containing the old headphones and replace them with the new earphones. This will be done on the weekend of the 23/24th January.

Overall, although the day I filmed the shots was very cold at only 2 degrees Celsius, we managed to continue filming from 9:30 till 11:30am outside where I was wearing a short sleeved t-shirt, so between shots I had my coat on with gloves and a hat. The shots my mum and I filmed were perfect for our narrative and we will be incorporating them into our final piece.

Filming Evaluation - Day Three - The Song

On the 28th December 2015, we met up at Charley's house at 10am. From then on, we were rehearsing and practicing the song in which we had written and composed together. The song would be used during the running scene, as I would be running to it. The lyrics are:

Song lyrics for 'Living a Lie'

I used to stay awake with you

Talking till two

I was in love with you

But you were blocking my view

And every single time you spoke

I couldn't cope

Never wanted to let go

But now I struggle with hello

Just open your eyes 

And you will see

Now I'm flying

And I'm not crying

I'm living my life

Day to day

I want to find you now

Some place, some where, some how

I need to say goodbye 

Cos we were living a lie

Do you remember the time

You lay by my side

I couldn't call it then

Never thought that it would end

And every time you smiled at me

I could never believe

This was never meant to be

The end of you and me

Please just open up your eyes

And look at me 

Because I'm flying

And I'm not crying

I'm living my life

Day by day 

I want to find you now 

Some place, some where, some how

I need to say goodbye

Cos we were living a lie

I wish that I had known

How much we had to grow

But it's okay

I was better alone anyway

Now I'm flying 

And I'm not crying

I'm living my life

Day by day

I am flying

And I'm not crying

I'm living my life

Day by day

I want to find you now

Some place, some where, some how

I need to say goodbye

Cos we were living a lie

In our group, we were lucky to have the talented musicians, Charley and David. They could both sing and play guitar, and coincidentally, Charley's dad was an amateur music producer, having the appropriate software, skills and equipment necessary to assist us in the recording and production of our song.

After David arrived a little later than planned, we had already ran through the song multiple times and were ready to get straight in. Unfortunately, David didn't know the song as well as we had hoped, so the majority of the morning was spent teaching him how the vocals and chords go. 

Whilst Amy and Charley were teaching David and ensuring he knows it perfectly, Charley's dad, Guy, was teaching me how to use the software, Sonar X3 Studios.

This was a very exciting opportunity as I knew exactly what to do and so we could get on with it. Charley and David started with warming up their vocals by doing some simple practices. Then, we had to record a reference track, which would enable us to fit the lyrics precisely with the tune, and also re-record parts of the song if there were areas which didn't sound too good. David got his guitar and ran through the song a few times with Charley until he knew exactly what he was doing. This took a long time to do, as David didn't know the song as well as we thought he did, but this meant that Amy and I could re-watch our footage and check we had everything, also it enabled us to run through the software and ensure that we could use it accurately.

Once we had the reference track, Guy taught me how to add some more instruments onto the track, so that it sounded more like a professional track. This added depth to the song and made it sound more realistic as a professional song. We also experimented with the tempo, until it was accurate, which ended up being 115.00, with the timing of 4/4. 

In Guy's recording room, it was similar to a study, so that meant that it was not sound proof. Charley lives near a main road, meaning that there was a lot of background noise which we wanted to eliminate. We ended up using Charley's duvet to hold around the microphone, so the background noise would be blocked out. This worked effectively but was very tiring to hold up! 
Charley recorded her part first, as this meant that David would be able to listen to Charley's recording and harmonise to her. After we had recorded all of the lyrics, and the guitar, we put them together and listened back to it. Unfortunately, it wasn't at the standard that we were hoping. Charley and Guy re-recorded her part in an attempt to fix the song, but it was unsuccessful, after working on it for a full day, we decided to go home and think about how we could improve it.

We planned to go back to Charley's house after school on Wednesday 6th January, so that we could re-record the necessary sections. This time, we hoped that they both knew the song perfectly, but there were still a few tweaks in Davids vocals that needed adapting. Again, the beginning of the session was used going over the song, but granted, this was partly because we were waiting for Guy to finish work in order for us to go into the recording room. 
This time, we knew what we needed to do so we worked more efficiently and managed to get everything re-recorded. That was all we needed to do, as Guy was walking Charley through how to use the software so she didn't need us to be there for the editing process of the song. Overall, although we were limited for time as it was a school night, we worked better than we did on the initial day, which could be due to the fact that we knew exactly what we needed to do and how we were going to do it.

Filming Evaluation - Day Two - The Forest

Our second filming day was on Wednesday 23rd December. The footage that we were planning to film on this day, during the editing stage, would come before the footage filmed at the castle. This meant we had to be really careful with continuity errors, but it made it easier as only David and I would be recorded on this day. We both had to ensure that we wore exactly the same clothes and had our hair the same way. 
We planned to arrive at 10am, as we had only scheduled to film during the morning, as some of us had prior engagements in the afternoon. David turned up late due to oversleeping and then cycling to my house, so Amy, Charley and I decided to use the time we had and film the shots which David was not required to be in.
Unfortunately, when David did turn up, he had forgotten some of the essential props including the hearing aid and also the balaclava, which limited the shots that we were able to film. The weather was much better today, although it was still cold which had a huge impact on me as my character was wearing a short sleeved t-shirt. 

We then got on with the filming, getting all the relevant shots that we needed and then experimenting with different angles, which was assisted by the vast forest by my house. The ground was very muddy on this day, and when we tried to do extreme close ups of the shoes at ground level, as we were unable to put the camera on the floor, we had to hold it, reducing the steadiness of the shots. As the tripod doesn't go that low, we were having to do hand held shots for some of the low shots, which again affected how steady the shots are, but hopefully these can be fixed during the editing stage.

Overall, the morning filming was very productive, even though there were a few dilemmas, but hopefully they won't affect our footage too much. Also, our idea was to have me running and listening to our song, but as we hadn't yet recorded this, I was unable to have the song to listen to whilst running, meaning that the pace of the running may not fit the song. 

Filming Evaluation - Day One - The Castle

Our first shooting day commenced on the 22nd December 2015 at Sutton Valence Castle, where the bulk of our footage was supposed to be filmed. We wanted to meet at 10 o'clock as that gave us enough time to complete the filming of our footage. The location was quite hard to find, as it was in a very new place to all of us, but with the help of Amy and the SatNav, we all managed to find in and arrive around the same time. We had previously looked at the weather and unfortunately it was forecast to rain, but as a group, we decided that we should still go ahead and film.

On arrival, we set up our base with large umbrellas so all the filming equipment would stay dry. We then explored our location, as only Amy had visited the site in person before. After thinking about where we wanted the specific areas of the killers lair to be set up, we began to get out all of our props. This took about an hour, because we needed the lair to look lived in, and not constructed, this meant covering some of the props in mud and using the fake blood to coat the knives, so that it looked as if he had killed before. We all helped in the setting up of the lair, as it was a fairly large space, we needed to fill it out otherwise it would look to bare. At the same time, we thought about the kind of shots we wanted to get and how we could incorporate our isolated castle location into our opening sequence. As we were inclosed by four walls (although all of which had different openings), we needed to ensure that we could get the right angle on the shots.

During this stage of the process, the weather turned on us and it began to rain. Luckily, it wasn't cold and we had umbrellas, so initially we were able to manage. We were able to use the weather to our advantage, as it added an almost eerie effect to all of our shots, again highlighting our genre. Unfortunately, during the set up phase of our day, as we were continuously walking across the same plot of grass, it became extremely muddy and slippery, and unfortunately David found this out the hard way, but luckily there was no physical damage, although there may have been a knock on his dignity.
The hardest part of setting up the lair, was hanging the body bags, as we hadn't quite worked out how we would hang body bags from a piece of rope in castle ruins. Luckily, after many trial and error attempts to hang the bag, we managed to secure them on protruding bricks of rock on the wall. This was made even more difficult with the weather situation as it was very windy which meant some of our props kept blowing away, and the body bays were not fully secure.

We then began with my makeup, as we wanted to get this filmed first before the weather turned. Charley is the best at wound makeup so she took charge, with the help of Amy, whilst David checked everything was in place in the lair and then worked out where he could attach another piece of rope which the victims would be tied up with.

After we finished my makeup, we filmed all the necessary scenes with me in it, so that we could work on Amy next. Whilst Charley was doing Amy's makeup, I went around the castle ruins getting different shots of the props, in order to focus on the fact that he lived there. When Amy's makeup was done, we tied her up and I filmed the relevant shots we needed of her.

At this point, the temperature really dropped, so when we weren't on camera, we made sure that we had coats, hats and gloves on, in order to stay warm. Unfortunately, after we had finished shooting with Amy, it began to heavily rain, so we all took camp under the umbrella's but we needed to get the footage of Charley done. This meant that as a team, we held the umbrella over Charley, whilst she did her own makeup. This was very hard because the FX Wax got wet in the rain and very hard because of the temperature, so it was deemed very difficult to effectively get onto her ear. We then debated whether or not we should even have three victims, but decided to stick to the original plan and film all the footage we had planned to film. 

Overall, the day went really well, although we reached many obstacles, we were able to work together to overcome them and record all the footage that we wanted to record. We had trusted Amy with the location as none of us had ever visited before and it definitely paid off. It fit our narrative perfectly and enabled us to get some really creative shots. Although the weather was a shame, it was out of our control and we still managed to get everything done, so regardless of weather, our team spirit and productivity was high which meant that we got some excellent footage.

Filming Evaluation - Day One - The Castle

On Tuesday 22nd December 2015 we had arranged to meet at Sutton Valence Castle for 10:00. Amy knew where the castle was as it was her who found it when she was location scouting, however the rest of us were unsure of where it was. The three of us managed to find it with little trouble which was good as it meant all four of us were at the location by about 10:30. 

Unfortunately, something we did not account for was the weather. The forecast on the day was heavy rain and strong winds. We discussed whether to continue with the day or to use the back up, but we agreed we should attempt to film and should just dress warm and take umbrellas to cover the equipment. We were lucky in that the rain eased off for the majority of the day and only got really bad when we were filming the last few shots.  In actual fact, the grey sky acted as a good lighting backdrop for the shots, and it created a creepy atmosphere that is perfect for a horror. 
However, where we were walking back and forth across the grass of the castle and it was raining heavily, the ground turned into a mud pit, which was a risk as it made the ground slippery, and David even fell over, although he did not hurt himself.

The strong wind did, however, pose an issue when we were trying to hang the body bags. We knew this was going to be an issue anyway, as we were not certain how we were going to be able to attach the body bags to the wall, however David was able to hook the rope around bits of jagged rock protruding from the walls. When the body bags were hung, they did swing quite a lot in the wind, which sometimes worked well but acts as a distraction in other shots. 
We also had trouble with finding a place to tie the rope that the girls would be tied up in. After spending quite some time looking for places where we could tightly tie the rope to the wall, David managed to tie it to a piece of rock. Luckily, this held up in the wind and through being pulled on. 
There were also some issues caused by the rain. The day was pretty clear until the afternoon when it began to rain heavily. Luckily we had filmed most of the footage and only had the shots of me tied up as a victim left to film. For this part, the victim is supposed to have their ear cut off. I was able to do this on Amy using FX Wax and liquid latex, as well as lots of fake blood. However, when the time came to apply my ear, it was raining rather heavily, which made my hair wet, my ear wet, the wax wet - everything was drenched. As a result, the wax was not sticking properly, and I couldn't see my ear properly to know where to smooth the wax and check that it looked good. After deciding the ear FX didn't look good enough to use, we debated having two victims in the first place. We agreed in the end it only made sense to have two victims due to the continuity of having the two body bags representing the victims in previous shots. David then came up with the idea of cutting off the ear in the shot as opposed to it already being cut off. He used one of the cows ears used for mise-en-scene and a stanley knife (with the blade covered) to act cutting off the ear and throwing it to the ground. As I have long hair, the fact that my ear was still on my head could not be seen. 
The rest of the make up worked really well, although the fake blood appeared to be too fake in some of the shots as it is quite a vibrant red colour. However, in most of the shots this creates a nice contrast between the bright blood and the bleak setting.
The location itself was perfect, and although being near to road for easy access and moving larger props like the mattress, the castle appeared to be far away from everything and looked truly abandoned. The square of land in the centre of the four walls created a lair atmosphere as it felt enclosed and secluded. 
If we were to film again, we would be more prepared with factors like the rope and body bags as we were lucky we managed to solve the problems we faced on the day, and would need to plan these elements in advance. However, I feel we were extremely productive on this day, despite the restrictions of the weather. 

Filming Logistics

As a group we decided that the Christmas holidays would be the best time to get all of our filming done, as this allows for some time after we return to school as a back up should we need it when we start editing rather than leaving it to the last minute. 

We decided we would need three dates in total, and one back up date in order to film all of the footage needed for our film opening. The three tasks for each of the days are to film the castle element of the scene, to film the forest element of the scene and to record all of the music for the scene. 

Tuesday 22nd December 2015
On this date we plan to film all of the footage we need at the castle. This is the majority of the opening as this location is the killers lair and reveals information about the nature of the killer. We have agreed to meet at the castle, which is in Sutton Valence, at 10:00 on the Tuesday and we have planned to be at the castle for the whole day, or until we are finished. This will give us more than enough time to set up our props and equipment, film all of the footage we need and clear up everything we take and use. 
We have determined who is bringing what and the list is as follows:

Charley (Me):

• Camera
• Tripod
• Fake blood
• Make up
• Mattress
• Any mise-en-scene found about the house
• Pigs ears
• Vaseline

Tia:

• Camera
• Tripod
• Running gear
• Rope
• Headphones
• Beanie
• Leather gloves
• Any mise-en-scene found about the house

Amy:

• Mug
• Bruise make up
• Hearing aid
• Any mise-en-scene found about the house

David:

• Body bags
• Toolbox
• Duct tape
• Pasting table
• Rope
• Bandanna
• Any mise-en-scene found about the house

Using these props we hope to decorate the location to dress it as a convincing lair for our killer. This will involve dirtying the mattress and having various bottles and cans strewn about the location to make it look lived in but dirty. We will also use close ups of mise-en-scene like the pigs ears, so it is important these look right in the location. We also plan to hang David's body bags in the location, to represent the past victims which we see in the killer's flashbacks. This may be a struggle, as we have no means of attaching the rope to the walls of the castle, however we will find a way to do this when we are there on the day.

Wednesday 23rd December 2015

On this day we will film all of the footage in the forest where the girl is jogging. On this Tuesday we will meet at Tia's house at 10:30, as the location we will be using is the forests next to her house. We will only need the morning to film this footage as there are no props that need setting up and we do not need to film a lot of footage. 
We do not need to bring as much equipment to the forest as we do the castle, as the mise-en-scene is more established in the forest itself.

Tia:

• Camera
• Tripod
• Headphones
• Running gear
• Beanie
• Leather gloves

Amy:

• Hearing aid

David:

• Bandanna

All we need to film in the forest is the shots of the girl running. We also need to have a few shots of the killer luring in the background of the forest. This shouldn't take too long, as these shots are relatively easy to film so we can get them done quickly.

Tuesday 29th December 2015

Whilst the girl is running through the forest she has headphones in and is listening to music. As we are unable to use copyrighted music in our coursework, we have decided to write and produce our own pop song. We can do this as my dad has the equipment to allow us to record and mix a song so that it sounds good. David and I are also able to sing for the song and David can play the guitar. 

On this Tuesday we will meet at my house for 10:00 and we will need the whole day to record and mix the track. Amy has written some lyrics for us to use as the basis for the song and before the day David and I need to practise the song so that we both know it well and can perform it. 

As we are not filming on this day and all of the equipment is at my house nobody needs to bring any equipment, although David may bring his own guitar to play instead of mine.