Camera Workshop 1

Today we learned how to set up a camera using a Balck magic 4k Mini. Here is what we learned: 

Two parts of a tripod- Legs and head

-When changing the height of the tripod, start with the locks from the bottom to maintain balance

The panhandle must always go on the right-hand side

There are two breaks on the tripod head

- Tilt lock- locks the left on the right

- Pan lock- locks the up and down 

- (Both makes it hold still)

If the little yellow spirit level circle is facing you, that’s the right direction 

Bubble the tripod-

Make the bubble within the circle by twisting the bolt below the legs by a quarter turn.

 

To put the camera on the tripod:

 Make sure to say: mine/yours when passing the camera between people

Tripod shoe on the bottom of the camera.

Use locks on the tripod, to keep the head stable.

Clear the metal from the top of the tripod.

As you slide on the camera press the push button on the right-hand side

Once the camera is aligned, tighten the camera with the valve on the left-hand side. 

Make sure to have one hand on the handle on the camera

The camera is top-heavy, when removing the camera, make sure to account for this.

Slide the battery down until it clicks.

To focus the camera: 

Zoom all the way in, focus it, and then zoom out.

There are two rings on the front of the camera lens, the large ring controls zoom, and the smaller ring controls focus. 

When adjusting the exposure: 

Twist the blue button up or down around the lens to adjust the exposure.

White balance:

Man-made/ indoor lights- orange-ish colour

 Outdoor light- blue-ish color the screen used is a touch screen, adjust the white balance by setting the pre-set (dependant on location, sunny, cloudy, shady, indoor light)

Strike the equipment- put it away

Organising our Cast

 Today we received our shoot date and made sure to update our cast on what they would need and when they were needed. 

Finding our props, costume and location for our opening scene

As a group, we each decided we were happy to contribute 20 pounds in order to purchase all the possible costume/props we might have needed, since our scene takes place in an elevator, no extravagant costume pieces were needed, but we had to take into consideration that due to the genre, we would be using fake blood, and we would need to purchase any costume that would get bloody. We looked online for our props and looked up recipes for fake blood we could use.

 

Since our scene only takes place in one location, we plan on shooting within the elevator at our school. We plan for it to look something like this: Our opening sequence is casual, as it's meant to look normal initially, before the fight sequence. but due to the fight sequence, we had to think about what the woman could wear that would tear as she was fighting. We researched business casual attire, as that's what we plan to dress her in, although many of her clothes could be things already owned or in the costume department. 

Example picture 1

Example picture 2

 

Since our location is fixed, and we only have one, we plan to film in the elevator in our school building. Here are some example pictures of the look we're going for: A metallic, sleek, simple, generic elevator that doesn't have mirrors, which we would film the fight sequence in.

Casting - replies

 We have now received replies from our first cast member Liv. Saying she would love to be a part of our scene!

Mood board for my concept idea

 

Casting- Organising

 When we’d agreed upon our casting choices, we reached out to our cast and connected them about their role and availability. Here are the emails:

Casting- Who and Why

For our casting, we were required to think who we would want to cast for our two characters, the man and the woman and the man in the elevator during our scene. Our first choice for the woman and the man in our scene was Liv Rooks and Jake Pratt. This is because they were supposed to look quite young, as they are in university. We know that both of them have an acting background. We want the main character to be a kick-ass woman, who murders the man, going against normal gender stereotypes, so she needed to be strong and agile. 

Olivia Rooks

Jake Pratt

 

As our backups, we had Lottie Alford-Warren, who was also a dancer and was incredibly strong, and she looked old enough to be a university student. Out another backup was Keir Edkins, who was tall and looked old enough to be un university. We also knew both of them could act well and would be able to perform the fight choreography.

If we were to have an unlimited budget, and our pick of the industry, I would cast Natalia Dyer, most famous for being in Stranger Things, and quite a few other Netflix original. For the male, I would cast, Nick Robinson, best known for his role in Love Simon. Both these actors fit the age, gender, and build criteria of the actors we would want.