The second day of filming wasn't exactly a great start for myself. Again, due to issues regarding transport to the set, I had to make my way by bike with my characters outfit in my bag. To make matters worse, I had a setback 20 minutes after leaving home with the bike needing repairs and so I was again late to filming.
Tia, Amy and Charley had taken the initiative and went ahead with filming the parts that I weren't required for in the woods, allowing me more time to get to the set and so making the most of the limited daylight hours we had available in the middle of December.
The shots that the girls had filmed whilst I was making my way to the set went great and most of them have been put to use in our first draft, along with the ones that involved the killer which we filmed after midday once I had arrived.
The second day of filming didn't quite go as well as one would have hoped. However, the day was still a success as we had managed to record just as much footage as the first day with plenty of daylight hours left.
Showing posts with label Filming Evaluation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Filming Evaluation. Show all posts
Monday, 8 February 2016
Filming evaluation - Day 1
For the first day of filming, we filmed the flashback scenes. This involved the four of us all taking part in the sequence. The killer was portrayed by myself dressed in all black and Tia, Amy and Charley all played the roles of victims.
Due to issues revolving around transport availability, I arrived later than agreed. However, the set hadn't yet been fully set up and so there was still time to set up the props I had brought with me without eating into our filming time.
The weather for the day started off perfectly overcast which is rarely a good thing. However, we took advantage of this and filmed the main shots that required dry weather before the rain started to come down. Unfortunately, the weather took a turn for the worse as we started to do Charley's make up and without and good shelter from the rain available, we had to make do with an umbrella and some questionable makeup skills from Tia and Amy which worked surprisingly well given the circumstances.
besides the weather, there weren't any other major issues with the first day of filming as we had even planned for large amounts of rubbish to be left by ourselves and so tidied the set, filling two bin bags of discarded ears, tins of dodgy food and body bags.
All in all, the first day of filming was a relative success.
Due to issues revolving around transport availability, I arrived later than agreed. However, the set hadn't yet been fully set up and so there was still time to set up the props I had brought with me without eating into our filming time.
The weather for the day started off perfectly overcast which is rarely a good thing. However, we took advantage of this and filmed the main shots that required dry weather before the rain started to come down. Unfortunately, the weather took a turn for the worse as we started to do Charley's make up and without and good shelter from the rain available, we had to make do with an umbrella and some questionable makeup skills from Tia and Amy which worked surprisingly well given the circumstances.
besides the weather, there weren't any other major issues with the first day of filming as we had even planned for large amounts of rubbish to be left by ourselves and so tidied the set, filling two bin bags of discarded ears, tins of dodgy food and body bags.
All in all, the first day of filming was a relative success.
Sunday, 7 February 2016
Day 4- Recording- Evaluation
After school on Wednesday the 6th of January, myself, Tia, Charley and Dave all went back to Charley's house to re-record the song that we had started recording. Prior to this date, Charley and Dave had both been working on practising their individual parts to the song as well as Dave practising and going over his solo on the guitar so that they were both well prepped for the evening and we could get the lyrics and melody down as quickly as possible.
When we arrived we set up the recording room again and Dave played the guitar track into the mic; it took a couple of takes but it was a big improvement on the last day. Charley then sang her part of the song; again we used the duvet behind the mic so that the sound was a better quality. Trying to find the right key proved to be quite difficult because we had all been singing it in different keys so it did get quite confusing however once Charley found the key that suited her voice well she managed to sing her part really well. Then it was Dave's turn to sing his parts and also the harmonies. To begin with he just sang the harmonies from memory listening to the backing track but once we put both Charley's and Dave's vocals together the harmonies weren't quite smooth enough and so Dave re-sang his part but this time we played Charley's part through his headphones so he could harmonise straight from hearing her part. This worked a lot better, even though some of the harmonies were still slightly off (but this was fixed just by turning Dave's harmonies down a little bit)
After the guitar and vocals were down, we were then able to add in other instruments like an electric guitar, strings, drums etc. which turned the ballad into a more upbeat song, ideal for running to. We were really pleased with the end result:
When we arrived we set up the recording room again and Dave played the guitar track into the mic; it took a couple of takes but it was a big improvement on the last day. Charley then sang her part of the song; again we used the duvet behind the mic so that the sound was a better quality. Trying to find the right key proved to be quite difficult because we had all been singing it in different keys so it did get quite confusing however once Charley found the key that suited her voice well she managed to sing her part really well. Then it was Dave's turn to sing his parts and also the harmonies. To begin with he just sang the harmonies from memory listening to the backing track but once we put both Charley's and Dave's vocals together the harmonies weren't quite smooth enough and so Dave re-sang his part but this time we played Charley's part through his headphones so he could harmonise straight from hearing her part. This worked a lot better, even though some of the harmonies were still slightly off (but this was fixed just by turning Dave's harmonies down a little bit)
After the guitar and vocals were down, we were then able to add in other instruments like an electric guitar, strings, drums etc. which turned the ballad into a more upbeat song, ideal for running to. We were really pleased with the end result:
Thursday, 4 February 2016
Filming Evaluation - Day Three - The Song
On Tuesday 29th December, Amy, Tia and David came to my house to record the song. They arrived at around 10:30 and we began straight away. Before this day, we prepared the lyrics of the song (written by Amy) and I worked out the chord progressions of the song with the help of my dad.
The song is as follows:
We decided David could play the guitar on the track as well as singing, so he was given the task to practise and perfect playing the song on the guitar, as well as learning what to sing with it.
However, when it came to the day, David had not properly learnt the song and we had been unable to practise and perform it together due to time constraints and so we spent longer than we should have done on simply recording a reference track on which to base the rest of the composition of the song. This left us with quite a large problem, as we did not use our time efficiently and as a result we did not record enough audio to be able to create the song.
All four of us underestimated just how long it would take to record and mix the song, and so we spent quite some time dawdling and not making efficient use of our time.
In the day, we were able to record my vocals, the guitar and David's vocals as well as creating a drum track to go alongside it. However, David's vocals are unusable as we have decided to instead use harmonies in the duet parts of the song. This means that we will need to schedule another date to record the extra parts of the song, and this will give us time to properly rehearse the song before we record the final audio.
Tia did most of the mixing of the song on the day and my dad instructed her on how to use the software (Sonar X3).
The song is as follows:
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
We decided David could play the guitar on the track as well as singing, so he was given the task to practise and perfect playing the song on the guitar, as well as learning what to sing with it.
However, when it came to the day, David had not properly learnt the song and we had been unable to practise and perform it together due to time constraints and so we spent longer than we should have done on simply recording a reference track on which to base the rest of the composition of the song. This left us with quite a large problem, as we did not use our time efficiently and as a result we did not record enough audio to be able to create the song.
All four of us underestimated just how long it would take to record and mix the song, and so we spent quite some time dawdling and not making efficient use of our time.
In the day, we were able to record my vocals, the guitar and David's vocals as well as creating a drum track to go alongside it. However, David's vocals are unusable as we have decided to instead use harmonies in the duet parts of the song. This means that we will need to schedule another date to record the extra parts of the song, and this will give us time to properly rehearse the song before we record the final audio.
Tia did most of the mixing of the song on the day and my dad instructed her on how to use the software (Sonar X3).
Filming Evaluation - Day Two - The Forest
On Wednesday 23rd December we arranged to meet at Tia's house at 10:30. We planned to meet to film the shots of Tia running in the forest listening to music. We planned to film in the forest beside Tia's house. The weather was good, but the ground was very muddy from the day before, so Tia struggled to run through the mud without sliding or looking like she was running weirdly. We did however manage to get some footage that was usable of Tia running, however they were mostly the same shot and were not particularly creative.
We also had a problem with what we could film as David did not arrive until around 12:30 due to his ill planning so we were unable to film any shots that included the killer.
When David eventually arrived, we were able to get some decent shots of him dressed as the killer. We filmed what we thought was a wide range of shots, however when we looked over the footage when we returned to Tia's house we saw that we did not actually have a lot of usable footage. As a result, we had to plan for Tia to film some more shots at a later date.
We managed to get several establishing shots of the forest, such as shots of the sky and trees, however these clips were only about 15 seconds long each, and so there isn't a lot we can do with them. There is also not enough different shots to be able to use them to flesh out the footage of Tia running, so we will need to film some more shots of both Tia running and the mise-en-scene of the forest in order to produce enough footage to create a realistic film opening without having to repeat shots.
We were careful of most continuity errors that may have occurred within filming these shots as the footage in the forest is set right before the castle scene so everything needed to be the same, but not dirty and dishevelled. We even made sure that Tia had her nails painted neatly and in the same pattern as they had been for the castle scenes.
When David eventually arrived, we were able to get some decent shots of him dressed as the killer. We filmed what we thought was a wide range of shots, however when we looked over the footage when we returned to Tia's house we saw that we did not actually have a lot of usable footage. As a result, we had to plan for Tia to film some more shots at a later date.
We managed to get several establishing shots of the forest, such as shots of the sky and trees, however these clips were only about 15 seconds long each, and so there isn't a lot we can do with them. There is also not enough different shots to be able to use them to flesh out the footage of Tia running, so we will need to film some more shots of both Tia running and the mise-en-scene of the forest in order to produce enough footage to create a realistic film opening without having to repeat shots.
We were careful of most continuity errors that may have occurred within filming these shots as the footage in the forest is set right before the castle scene so everything needed to be the same, but not dirty and dishevelled. We even made sure that Tia had her nails painted neatly and in the same pattern as they had been for the castle scenes.
Friday, 29 January 2016
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:
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Sunday, 3 January 2016
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.
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.
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.
Wednesday, 30 December 2015
Filming Evaluation- Song- Day Three
Filming Evaluation- Song- Day Three
For the beginning of our opening, we have planned for a girl to be jogging to some music in her headphones in the woods. We discussed this and thought for it to be realistic, she would probably be jogging to a current pop track, however we aren't allowed to use copy-righted music. We researched some uncopy-righted music and there weren't any that a typical 16 year old girl would be listening to so we decided that to make the opening more legitimate and also to show more skill, we could record our own song which would avoid any copy-right issues; a lot of films also have pop soundtracks that they use during the film and then release as a single.
Charley and Dave can both sing (and play the guitar) and we experimented firstly just having them sing individually and then choose one of them to sing the track, but then they sang together and the tones of each of their voices really complemented each other. We also thought that having and male and female voice could represent the male killer and the female victim.
The next thing we had to do was write a song and this was probably the most problematic bit we faced because none of us had written a song before. The group kind of ignored this issue for a while until it came down to a few days before we were breaking up for Christmas and we realised we still didn't have a song. Myself, Charley and Tia tried to write a song during one of our free periods but we only came up with a first verse and chorus and we didn't think we'd be able to fit guitar chords with it. So one evening I came up with a set of lyrics for a pop song and with it a basic tune. I then recorded it and sent it to the group. We all agreed that we would just have to work with what we had and just rely on the production of the track to make it sound really good.
Charley's dad has a recording room in their house with instruments, microphones and computer software to mix songs, therefore we all met at Charley's house at 10.00am (Dave was late again) and we firstly just went over the song briefly and then discussed what we had to do that day. Unfortunately, we had to keep changing parts of the tune and so this made it hard for Dave because he wasn't too familiar with the chords or lyrics at the beginning so this took up a lot of time.
Dave has has more experience playing the guitar than Charley so he played the tune into the microphone. First of all we had to record a reference track which was just going to be used to get our timings right and for Charley and Dave to sing to. Guy (Charley's dad) taught Tia how to use the Sony software so she was working the computer whilst Dave was playing the guitar. It took a long time to get it right though so if we were to do this again, we would have ensured that Dave had fully learnt the chords before the day so it would have been quicker. Once we had the reference track down, Tia was able to add some percussion onto the track to give it a heavier beat and this also made it more of a pop track and less acoustic so it was more ideal for someone to be running to. After finding the right drum beats and also the correct tempo, Charley and Dave were then needed to record some lyrics.
Because we were just working in a house, to sound-proof the area in which they were both singing into and to avoid getting any interference or background noise, we used Charley's duvet and held it in a semi-circle around the microphone and the person singing into it. Charley was up first because then Dave would be able to have Charley singing through the headphones and he would be able to harmonise to it. After having worked out who was singing which parts of the song, Charley sang the first two verses and then up to the end of the chorus. We then put that onto the track and then it was Dave's turn to harmonise with Charley. He then recorded the pre-chorus and the chorus along with Charley and the next two verses. After putting them together and listening to them back with the track, it sounded okay but it wasn't at the level that we wanted it. Charley decided to re-record her part but it was still out of time. By this point it was about 6:00pm and we had been going for about 8 hours straight so we had to call it a day. We hadn't finished recording the whole song with both the guitar chords (because we needed to record the bridge) and the lyrics and we also weren't happy with what we had done. Therefore, we have decided to meet after school on Wednesday to start again and re-record everything and both Charley and Dave have agreed that they will learn the song inside out so that we can maximise time on Wednesday. This day wasn't a complete waste of time because it showed us that we really need to know the song and it's also given us new ideas for when we rerecord. The mistakes we made yesterday have taught us a lesson and hopefully we will be able to record the song more quickly and more effectively, giving a better result and track to work with for editing our opening.
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
Saturday, 26 December 2015
Filming Evalutaion- Forest- Day Two
Filming Evalutaion- Forest- Day Two
The next day of filming was the next day- Wednesday 23rd. We had planned for this filming to be the footage at the beginning of the film, the first part of the scene where the girl is running in the woods. This meant that because this filming was essentially going to be shown before the filming we had done the day before, we had to be really careful about continuity errors e.g. ensuring that everyone was wearing the same clothing and had their hair in the same way. We had a couple of issues in that Dave firstly forgot the hearing aid which meant that we couldn't do any close up shots of his ear, and also he forgot his black neck warmer meaning that his face was on show so any front-facing shots of him needed to have his hat pulled down over his face. This again was a continuity error so we will have to try and minimalise the amount of front-facing footage we use of him.
However the first problem we came to on the day was the fact that Dave decided to cycle to Tia's house, and after oversleeping as well, he was very late in arriving. Tia, Charley and myself pressed on and filmed some establishing shots in the forest and also some shots of Tia running whilst we were waiting. Luckily the weather was far more cheerful and we were able to get some good shots of the sun shining through the trees etc. This weather will also juxtapose the next scene, emphasising how horrible it is in the killer's lair.
When Dave did arrive we then went back into the forrest and got some other shots of Tia running and Dave in trees or hiding and watching her. As mentioned before, this was quite difficult because of the mask face but we managed to get some over the shoulder shots and some footage of him walking. Because the ground was so muddy, it limited the different angled shots that we could do without getting the camera muddy. We wanted to do a floor level shot of both Tia and Dave's feet walking/running along but we had to hold it and so we aren't too sure how steady the shot will be and weather it'll be usable. When doing a shot of Tia doing her shoe-laces up, we were stuck with a similar dilemma in that we couldn't get a steady shot because we couldn't get the trip-pod at the right angle.
Looking back on it I'm not sure if we have enough footage but we will be able to see and work with what we've got when we start editing. Also because we haven't recorded the song yet, Tia wasn't able to run to the music/beat which would have been good but hopefully when we've recorded the song, we will be able to match the song beat to the running.
Filming Evaluation- Castle- Day One
Filming Evaluation- Castle- Day One
The first shooting day was the 22nd of December and we were filming the majority of the footage at the castle in Sutton Valence. We had agreed that we would meet at 10 o'clock because this meant that we had the majority of the day because we knew we were going to take a few hours and we also were aware that at this time of year it starts getting dark at about 4 o'clock, so we had time constraints.
The morning of the filming, we all woke up to rain, wind and gloomy weather conditions. We had initially discussed the possibility of rain and had decided to go ahead and film anyway, however the rain was really coming down and there was a gale blowing. The group decided to proceed regardless of the awful weather conditions and to go to the castle. We all took waterproof jackets and wellies as well as several umbrellas to cover all of our things as well as the camera as there was no shelter in the castle.
As arranged everyone met there at 10 o'clock and we took everything up to the castle. Prior to the filming day, we had individually gathered items from either shops or around our houses because we realised that we needed to make the castle look as though a murderer had been camped out there for a long period of time. It also needed to look as though it was a place equipped with the right equipment to be able to tie people up and murder them. We all took our bags of props up to the castle and Charley also brought a mattress and Dave brought his tool kit and work-table. Other props included:
• bottles
• cans
• a white china plate and mug
• a small chess board
• dried pasta
• a can of gruel and a teaspoon
• newspapers
• books
• logs (to make a fireplace)
• fake blood to stain certain props
• kitchen knives (stained in blood)
• toolkit with tools in it (including a mallet and hammer etc)
• cow and pigs ears
• a chest of earrings
• body bags hung up from the walls
• rope
The first task was to set up the lair. We needed to ensure that it didn't look artificial and set-up so we made it messy and unorganised. We places the mattress in one corner and poured blood onto it- this was good for about 5 minutes but then it started to soak in and look more pink than red. We should have poured the blood on when we came to film it so that the blood was red and fresh. However it could just look like it was dried up blood and to fix the colour we could always adjust the colour on Final Cut. On top of the mattress we left a crumpled up jumper, some scattered pigs ears and cow ears. The animal ears in theory were a good idea, however after having bought them and seen them on the camera after filming then, we didn't think people would know that they were ears because they were designed for dogs to eat and so had been processed and didn't look like raw ears any more. They have been filmed but we will decide how much of the ear footage we will use when we begin the edit.
Next to the mattress we scattered lots of beer bottles around to make the killer look stereotypically homeless and an alcoholic, making him seem troubled even underneath everything else. On the walls of the castle, there were rocks sticking out, providing natural shelving. We really like this because we thought that this gave the castle a more homely feel to it and we put jars, candles and cans of food on the shelves. We felt like this also exaggerated the long period of time that he had been living there.
Dave had created some body-bags out of black bin-liners and had used string to create body curves. He had made two- a adult and a child. These were really effective but they didn't really match the shape of the two victims that the killer flashbacks about. Because one was a child and one was an adult, it may confuse viewers, so it would have been better if they were both medium-sized so that they matched mine and Charley’s body shape.
With the body bags, we needed to hang them with rope high up, as well as a long rope to tie up the victims. However, finding places on the stone walls to be able to steadily hang some rope which could also hold a significant amount of rope was proven to be a difficult task. We tried lots of different methods to get the rope into crevasses in the walls or wrap it around sticking out bits of rock. We tried tying a tin can to the end to weigh it down as we threw it (like an anchor), but this didn't work. As a group, we spent a good 15 minutes trying to attach the rope to the wall but in the end Dave climbed between two rocks and managed to tie loops of rope onto some rocks. This was then pretty stable and managed to stay up for as long as we needed it to.
Once all the mise-en-scene was set up, we started filming establishing shots and quick bursts of the props that we could use in editing to link the main bits of footage together. Doing this gives us more flexibility when it comes to editing because if we need to cut a bit of footage in half to get rid of some, we can insert a shot of the binoculars hanging off the wall for example, and then cut back to one of the girls. With the rain, it meant that we needed to always be under an umbrella so it required at least two people when filming (one to hold the camera and the other to be holding the umbrella up. This meant that everything took a lot more time than it should have.
For our opening, we have also included fake wounds, but these only appear after we have shots without them i.e. a before and after shot. This was fine, however it meant that we had to do all fake wounds on set at the castle, in the rain. For the severed ears, we were using wax to secure the ear down flat and cover the edges, giving the impression that it had been cut off. However, once this wax got even a little bit damp from the weather, it became harder, slippery and impossible to work with. Luckily we managed to craft my ear before it got too wet but Charley’s ear was too hard to do, especially when we realised we had began losing light. Thinking about it, we should have done the individual character filming at the beginning and the prop shots at the end in the rain, but unfortunately this problem didn't even cross our minds until it had happened. As a result, it has meant that we don't have any good close up shots of Charley’s ear. As a group we discussed how we could solve this and have said that when it comes to editing, we will just have to intersperse shots of Charley with shots of me and just imply that the same has happened to her. If it’s fast paced, we’re hoping that it shouldn't be too much of an issue.
Another problem that we realised the night before was the fact that people aren't allowed to carry knives or tools around with them. After a lot of discussion though, we concluded that there wasn't a lot that we could do in such a short space of time and even if we had had more time, making knives wouldn't have looked as realistic as using real ones. Therefore our solution was to only get the knives out of Dave’s tool box when we were filming them, transporting them wrapped in tissue and we also figured that because the castle is right off track and the weather was so appalling, we doubted that anyone would actually come up to the castle.
Overall, the weather conditions made our day a lot harder, longer and more technical than it needed to be. If there was another day that we could all have filmed then we may have decided to postpone it, however in hindsight, the gloomy weather will create an effective juxtaposition to the sunny weather the main girl will be jogging in, as well as creating pathetic fallacy too. Looking back at the footage, we did think of other shots that may have looked good or would have been effective but we will have to make do with the rest of the good quality footage that we got.
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