Practice Shots

Before actually filming, I had to get familiarised with the camera and practise my techniques as the main cinematographer of our group. This is in addition to the experience from the preliminary task where we first used cameras and started to get a feel of how to film a scene. These test shots comprised of two of the most complex methods that are planned for the actual filming - this will make it to easier to film on the actual day because I know that I will be able to see the mistakes I make and improve my filming skills. 

 

The video above shows two examples of a graphic match shot which is a transition between two shots where the contents in the frame are similar to one another and it shows a relation between them both; in this case, the shots consists of two television sets and two doors in different parts of my house. The latter is more practical because my group's storyboard consists of a scene where a graphic match takes place between two doors to show that time has passed for a character to leave one location and arrive at another. One thing I could have improved was to get my framing a little more accurate so that everything lines up correctly between the two objects that will be in frame. 

 

This video conveys a practical example of a match-on-action shot showing me walking through a door to get to somewhere. This contains a long shot of one side of the door where I am about to exit, a close up of my hand on the door handle and a long shot of me leaving from the other side of the door. For the audience, this simply shows that the person on screen has left through the means of a door rather than showing someone heading in the direction of the door and cutting to him exiting on the other side - this is a more easy going and natural way to show someone exiting a room (through editing). What can be improved here is to include more footage to make it last longer because in my opinion it felt like it was going very fast as if I was in a rush; however I don't want to slow the pace so much so that it takes a very long time for the person on screen to leave a room.

Character Casting Research

Antagonist/ Jared:

Actor: Thomas Camber

Going to wear: Jeans, converses and leather jacket with a hoodie. The fact that I am going to be wearing a hoodie portrays the typical stereotype of a run down hoodlum killing for money in a hope to get by in his awkward situation.

I am playing the antagonist because I am meant to be playing a typical murderer in this scene because I am tall and look older so I am more suited for this role along with the fact that I have facial hair which can be used to make me look older.

I am going to try to look as old as I possibly can by using a variety of facial expression's.

Victim/ Michael:

Actor: Adrian Garncarek

Going to wear: Suit, he needs to look very formal as he is meant to look like a person who is in power and has a good job. A possible issue for this scene could be the fact that he possibly doesn't look old enough to play a scene like this. This can be edited with a software to try to make him slightly older looking or use camera effects to our advantage.

Here Adrian is in a uniform which is something similar to what he will be wearing on the actual day of filming. Hair and makeup and props will be used to make him fit the part of our character by making him look slightly older and important.

2nd Shooting Schedule

Date: 13/03/2013

Time: 2pm - 5pm

Location: Thomas's house

Shots: 2, 6-16

Actors: Thomas Camber, Adrian Garncarek

Crew:Alex (Camera) Trevane (Props, Assistant Camera)

Costumes/ props: Knife, leather jacket with hood, converses, a suit, newspaper.

Equipment: Camera, Tripod, Storyboard

Potential issues: Timing due to a lot of shots, continuity issues, weather, intercom not working, parents not letting us film at other's houses.

Risk assessment: tripping over household items.

1st Shooting Schedule

Date: 09/3/13

Time: 12pm-2pm

Location: Charlie Herman's house

Shots: 1,3-5

Actors: Thomas

Crew: Alex, (Camera), Trevane (Camera Assistant/Props)

Costumes and props: Jeans, converses, leather jacket with a hood

Equipment: Camera, tripod, storyboard

Potential Issues: Continuity issues such as the weather, building works done near the house. Potential issues with the lighting being too dark.

Risk Assessment: Low- Knife and candle being used which adds to a small possible risk of being injured.

Storyboard - Final Draft: 'Bloodline'

Our group had to revise over both the script and the storyboard to see if there were any improvements that needed to be made because changes will always need to be implemented - e.g. wanting to replace a shot type with another or cutting it from the film entirely.
Shots 1,4, 6-8 and 13-16 were relatively untouched because we were satisfied with what was on paper, however the other shots needed some minor alterations.

This includes:

• Shot 2 contained a title crediting Trevane as the actor, but due to scheduling complications we had to get someone else to fill the role therefore changing the title. Whilst shot 3 now contains a short amount of dialogue that we decided to include on top of the subtle score that was already there.

Before

After

• Shot 5 which need needed to be changed from a long shot zooming in onto the door handle, to a close up shot where we could see the character's hand reaching towards it. This was agreed on because typically this shot better suits a match-on-action shot rather than a slow zoom in. 

Before

After

• Shots 9-12 on the storyboard were not detailed enough so we put emphasis on the fact that the score would be continuously running throughout these shots by writing this in the 'Sound/Dialogue' box and arrows between the pictures denoting a sound bridge would take place to connect the cross cutting. 

Before

After

• The final shot  (#17) was changed in terms of the voice-over that we originally considered using to create a thrill for the audience, but we decided to cut out the non-diegetic dialogue out entirely mainly because it made the whole title sequence appear as though it is a trailer. This is very important to avoid because a title sequence and a trailer are two entirely different things and we would be downgraded for having assembled a trailer instead of what was asked of us. 

Before

After 

Location Research ('Reccies')

This part of the research entails that our group should research possible filming locations that would suit the group and be in accordance with the criteria of both the short film and the outline of the coursework. As a whole, we decided that it would be best to shoot our film in an apartment building or something similar to that, which is what we had in mind when we drew up the storyboard. This is because this type of setting is typically enclosed, cutoff and dim in terms of lighting which are elements of the thriller genre that we wanted to incorporate - making it a practical and accurate setting.

An example of such a place could be the picture below (left) as it mimics that of a maze, since there are so many flats and therefore residents implying that if murder were to be committed, it would be hard to realise this or find a body. Moreover, it looks tattered and grungy which can reflect the representational view of the character as a murderer - his lifestyle and home.  

 

Exemplar Locations - Apartment Buildings

Exemplar Location - Stairs which will be
used in a few shots as portrayed in the
storyboard.

However, in terms of accessibility, we would need to ask permission if we could film in a building like this from the landlord and/or the residents, plus we need to film in a room for one scene meaning that there might be complications. After deliberating this, the group decided that it would be best to film at Thomas' home because he lives in an apartment building which fits the criteria. 

 

Charlie's house will be used for the first location as the home of the murderer where we can make it suit our needs as dictated by the storyboard, e.g. we can turn off all the lights to make the room darker. It may not be an apartment/flat, but only the interior will be portrayed to the audience so in terms of practicality it doesn't make much of a difference.

        

 

Thomas' building  will be the interior set for the film because the rooms and corridor can be made to look small which give the sense of confinement - this is the ideal environment to place a victim in a thriller film (i.e. the woman in the shower scene for 'Psycho'). Also, it is the only possible location with an intercom system which is what we need (as shown in the final draft of the script) since it is an enigma that we inserted.