Shoot day reflection

 Our shoot day began, early at 8:50 in the morning, where we met our cast, Jake and Liv, and our supervisor, Matt, and our media teacher Mike. We had texted as a group the night before, ensuring we had planned everything accordingly, and I emailed our cast the night before, letting them know where we would be meeting, and just some general reminders about the day. Anna, as our editor, brought in a laminated shot list and shooting schedule which we planned to follow, and in reflection, that schedule ended up becoming virtually unfollowed. This was because we were told that the kitchen staff planned to use the elevator where we were located until 10:00 in the morning, fortunately, they finished early and we were able to use the elevator by 9:00, a whole hour early. So, we grabbed the Black Magic 4k mini ursa camera we were going to be using and the tripod and started to set up on our filming location. We ran into a few problems here, because, well, our location liked to move. The elevator operated on a variety of light-sensitive censors which had it react by dinging and shutting the elevator door. We were able to fix this problem by taping the elevator gap shut with black tape, which covered the censors. The elevator was such a confined space, we ran into a few problems, primarily being, most of the lights we tried to use to light the elevator, were physically too tall to fit inside. We ended up standing two strong lights outside the elevator doors, leaning inwards, which created a nice effect anyway. A positive was, once we lit and staged and stabilized the elevator, that was it, we did not require any other location shots or light settings, because of the way our plot was set out. We first shot a whole bunch of ten to twenty second clips of inserts, where we were able to see where we would place text and titles within the shot, and how it looked on screen. For instance, due to the nature of the back wall of the elevator, I often instructed either Liv or Jake to move slightly to one direction to avoid there being something coming straight out of their head. Another tricky thing was the confined area of the elevator meant there was not room for our whole group to be monitoring the actors directly, so I, as the director, relied a great deal on the monitor to allow me to get a visual into the scene within the elevator. Though this I learned how to direct the actors accordingly, for instance, when Jake entered the lift, we shot two over the shoulder takes of Liv’s reaction, I was able to direct her facial expressions and help convey deeper emotion onscreen, which was something I had never done before.

 Shooting the dialogue was interesting, because the actors gave a slightly different delivery each time, this was something we were able to explore. Since we wanted to create a cramped feeling within our scene, we took care to look at the composition within our screen, ensuring that, even during the close-up shots of Jake and Liv, they were both always in screen, even if it was only their shoulder or part of their head, because it created the effect we wanted to create. Our entire group was able to use all the terminology we learned in the confined technical workshops, everything from saying “mine” and “yours” when passing the camera, to creating a professional environment while shooting by saying “Standby” “cut” etc. These words allowed us as a team to work more efficiently and prevent mistakes, I noticed by the end of the day, we as a group had begun really getting the hang of using these words more commonly, and there was a rhythm we had begun to flow into. The shot list became an invaluable recourse, as our team was able to stay organized and efficient throughout the day and maintain that same order we had planned. One of the things I was most worried about initially was the fight sequence we had choreographed, but we learned that holding the camera hand-held for these shots gave it an instability which worked well. We also were able to get some amazing angles and perspectives that we would not have been able to achieve otherwise, considering the confined space within the elevator itself. I am happy with the shots we got, and it has made me really excited to get into the editing suite and begin to look at putting all the shots together. For one of the shots, we changed the fps to 70 to get a slow-motion picture, which is one of the things I am particularly looking forward to editing. My absolute favorite part of the day was covering Jake, our victim, in fake blood, and filming the scenes where he was dead in the elevator. Since we planned to cover him in fake blood, we bought the shirt and sweater he was wearing to be able to cover them in blood as well. This means we were able to put a bloody footprint on his sweater, and really cover him in blood, since our lead, Liv, was kicking his head in. We filmed this from a low angle, because not only does it connote a sense of power, but then we can also allude to the fact Jake is being murdered without causing him any harm. I instructed Jake not to be silent as Liv was fake kicking him, as it was effective to hear his last breath quite audibly. We had Mike bring in a GoPro, as we wanted to create essentially CCTV or security camera footage, and so, one of the final scenes we shot was manually using a Go Pro to create this effect, we filmed it a few times, it posed challenges since we wanted to film from so high, we were unable to see the composition

 before shooting, but we were able to go back and adjust a few takes, and we figured it our rather quickly, Our last few shots were the most difficult however, because they required the elevator to be moving, either up or down. There were entrances, and Liv’s final exit. In the end however, all these scenes were shot efficiently. Liv's final exit from the elevator was the hardest because the elevator had to arrive before she could exit it, and there was an envelope which she planned to rip up, but for continuity reasons, we could only take that shot once, because we had only been filming with one envelope. We managed to finish filming ahead of schedule, and I'm very happy with the footage we got. This has been an invaluable learning experience and really helped me become comfortable in a on-set environment. If I was to do this again, knowing what I know now, I would have probably aimed to film in a larger elevator, and ensure to have multiples of every prop needed so we can ensure continuity more easily. Overall however, this shoot day was extremely successful.  

 

Similar Product Research

 

Conclusion:

All of these products are similar to our opening scene because many of them have things that are typical of the genre, lots of action, quick passed scenes contrasting with slow, tension-building shots. Most of the main protagonists have either similar methods or motives, commonly revenge, for either themselves or others, which fits perfectly within our scene. I think these conventions work within these genres because they provide a sense of shock and intrigue that really appeals to audiences, especially younger people, who are able to follow a quickly-paced scene very well. I think the most similar to our own was the films, which explore the characters and plotline in a similar way. I think there’s a different dynamic for audiences who require interaction, like the video game, which allows the audience to participate. I think that the television series differs in time, because they stretch their storylines out along lots of episodes, so the impact it creates is a slower more in-depth feeling to the plot than our concept. I think this genre really appeals to both men and women, but there is a certain maturity required that comes with the complex motives and murder, that would make the audience mostly adults. In general, I think that looking at how similar our concept adheres to the genre we’re aiming for is a good indication that we’re creating a piece of media people will enjoy, but it’s different enough that our opening sequence will avoid becoming over-used or cliché. 

Role on set research

 My Research Into my Role on Set:

Roles available:

• Director (responsible for organizing and instructing the actors) - Adrianna, me
• Camera operator - Tegan 
• Editor - Anna

My research:

I am the director, I'm responsible for organizing and instructing the actors, on and offset. In order to achieve this, I’ve made sure to bring in all the fake blood and props they needed, and I will make sure to really take advantage of the hours we have without the elevator available, to rehearse the scene and make it look as believable as possible, even without editing and camera angles. This will be a good opportunity to really communicate how we want to set the tone and achieve a certain tension from, for example, the dialogue within our title sequence. Before the shoot, I will rehearse with the actors, and ensure they really understand their roles. I will also be coordinating with Tegan, our camera editor, on how they look on screen, and what could use improvement and instruct my actors accordingly. My role holds great significance in ensuring this day goes smoothly and everything looks well done and professional in post-production. It’s my responsibility to not only look after the actors, and advise them to the best of my ability, but make sure everything runs smoothly on the day, and we aren’t set back for one reason or another. This is why I will be sure to take our shooting schedule with us and make sure everyone on set is getting breaks for food and water, so nobody gets burnt out, and we are able to get through the day as efficiently as possible. I can foresee the fight sequence becoming challenging for our group, but I will do my best to have the actors, not only become familiar with one another, but familiar with the sequence so they feel they can fully commit to the action sequences, as well as the dialogue. 

I am also nervous about the space constraints of filming within an elevator and will be sure to work closely with both Tegan and Anna, to make everything look natural and professional. I am going to encourage, quick shot durations for our action scenes, and speak to Anna, our editor, about creating a sense of urgency and tension not only through acting but through the editing as well. 

Creating interesting camera angles conveying a power balance between the two characters will subvert the expectations of the audience, as we create two extremes that work well with our aim to adhere to the action-thriller genre. Our target audience would be more inclined towards women, which isn’t typical of the action-thriller genre but creates a wider audience by subverting the stereotypes of the genre and having a female lead. Our sequence wouldn’t be aimed towards children, but our group thinks that due to the violence and blood of the plot, it would have at least a 15 or above rating, and would cover the violence of the wider plot.  This opening sequence holds a lot of classic genre tropes, quick passed action, fight sequences, blood, murder, and conflict. 

 

Review of test shoot

REVIEW OF OUR TEST SHOOT:

I think our test shoot did in fact, reflect well onto the screen, and our concept works well, while there are some obvious problems that come with the rough cut that is our test shoot, I think it allows us as a group to really get a feel for the Dos and Don'ts of shooting, particularly considering the fight sequence and specific shot inserts.

I think the concept will be engaging, once translated onto location and filmed within an actual elevator. While our idea was within two minutes, we felt it was too short. The video was one minute, and thirty-four seconds, which in retrospect is not enough time for our concept to come across clearly. while editing, I noticed we were missing quite a few of the shots that would have made this scene longer and more engaging, but we have made a note of that and will be sure to bring our shot-list and storyboard along to the actual filming day. I think that it was paced oddly because the dialogue was too slow, but the fight sequence was too quick and not complex enough, and it looked odd in context. These are all manageable things, and we're now looking at how to film this fight sequence more accurately, because, we quickly realized, nobody in our group had any experience punching people in the face.

While all this is true, I do think that our idea is clear, and communicates itself well to the audience. I think with the quick-paced scene, and the blood, which obviously we couldn't re-enact, we will communicate our genre and idea to viewers. I think tension is created within the scene, and our plotline and shot sequence reflect that. 

Some of the camera movements worked very well, the zoom into an extreme closeup and the shot-reverse-shot between the eyes and the "security camera" (which is truly just a corner in our mock rendition) works well. However some of the angles we planned on using, no longer work within what would be the confines of n elevator, and we had to find a way around this, multiple times. The filming during the fight sequence could use some development, and we will definitely be looking further into it, but I liked how it looked when it was shot more handheld, I think it added to the tension                                                                                        and chaos of the scene.

Overall, while I can't say the test shoot looks amazing, it gave us, as a group, a solid foundation to build and expand upon. It was an incredibly valuable learning experience and gave us insight on what we'll need on the shoot day, and how to prepare. 

Test shoot

 Here is our test shoot video, which I edited together earlier this week:

Dialouge Workshops

 Dialogue Workshops

Today, we worked on filming a shot sequence within a group of four classmates in order to learn and practice filming dialogue and shots scenes. In order to do this, we took everything we learned from previous workshops and online classes. So we ensured to look specifically at the 180-degree rule, and the composition of our shots according to the rule of three. These previous workshops really helped us create a profesional looking scene, as we ensured to check white balance, "bubble" the tripod, keep the lens at eye level and create a profesional filming enviorment by usinge words like "Mine-yours" or following filming ettiqute with "Roll camera", "Standby" and "Action" ect.

We ran into a few problems, maintaining time management, and figuring out how to film with the 180 degree rule when it came to inserts, or there was something in the way of a shot, Eg: a wall. In order to fix this, I think in future we know to be more organised, this is when things like a shot list and a shooting scedule really come in handy, because we are able to really ensure we stay on time, and get every take we wanted to take. I think it would've also been cool to film something a little longer, becuase in the editing process I found I was cutting quickly because I wanted to use all of the shots we filmed, and there just wasn't enought time to make the shot also look coherent. 

More than anything, this experience has made me really look forward to getting behind the camera during out actuall shooting day, but remembering to stay organized, and no be afraid to take risks with filming. As we did this time, when Tegan filmed one of the shots handheld, someting we've never done before.

Here's some of the things I learned:

Audio editing:

When the clips are dragged down:

• Step one: Right-click on the clip

• Step two: Unlink the tracks by clicking the unlink button in  the drop-down menu

• Step three: Delete bottom must track, (It's not needed)

• Step four: Select the track and picture and make sure to link again to ensure there’s no delay. 

To change the audio level:

Go to studio effects and ongoing under the audio.

Then, change the volume from there, which will change the audio level.

In order to zoom in or out on the audio, click the + or - key on your keyboard

To click the razor tool, click C to cut and chop the audio, and click V to get back to the arrow

Sound bridge:

Using audio to create a smoother transition between the cut shots

This allows us to cut between dialogue and reaction shots that create a more human response and gauge the reactions from the actors onscreen

During the editing of this sequence we were able to use our past experience to edit, we created log bins, and re-named all of out rushes, but the audio definitley created a new dynamic, as we tried to ensure all the lines of dialouge matched up from one to the other. We made a few mistakes, having to rename rushes every so often, becuase we'd accidentally made duplicates, or forgetting to input and output takes before draging them to be edited. But overall I think we did a pretty decent job, and created something which looked professionally done, which is always the end goal. 

In out actual sequence, we have a fight between the two actors, rather than a normal conversation, so I would like to make the shot lenght quicker and more fast paced. I also would've like to play with angles a bit more, perhaps imply a power dynamic between the two. Something I really enjoyed was filming inserts, so I think we as a group are going to add a few to out shot list, so we can have them as and option in our Final Sequence.