Group 2 - Foundation Production: F.L

Our group focused solely on the basement scenes, which is about 65% of the entire opening.
Our initial plan was to film both the basement and kitchen scenes, but due to limited time and actors, we decided that it was easier if we just got the basement scenes done and finished, and then worked on the kitchen scenes another day (because they can be in anybody's house).

Before we arrived on location, we started at one of the team members house - I helped write the script.
On location, I helped assess the different rooms, and analyse which parts of the basement we wanted to use.
Once the actors began to arrive I then helped prepare them and put their makeup on.
Once the filming began, I helped direct the actors and started filming.
Throughout the day, along with Fred, we filmed the vast majority of the scenes and experimented with the cast and crews input on shots/angles/ideas.
At the end of the shoot, I stayed to finish the scenes and clear up the basement.

Overall, we didn't use our storyboard as much as we would have liked - this lead to some shots being missed out, or some being shot differently to how we initially thought,
However, this was because some of our initial ideas on the storyboard weren't possible within the conditions, and it either looked better, or worked better by changing it.
We did try and use some of the framing that we initially drew up in the storyboards, because this was possible within the conditions/location, and still worked well.

I think our use of location and props was very effective. The overall look of the shots really emphasised the horror-genre, and also enabled the audience to follow our story.
Also, our dark lighting works well in some scenes because it enhances the horror aspect, however, in some scenes it was too dark.
One of our most effective scenes was at the beginning where a member of our cast is in a cage - the lighting and shadows of the cage bars cast over his face, along with the makeup, all create an overall very generic horror-style appearance (as can be seen in the photo below).

Some of the challenges we found was ensuring that all the shots came together, and allowing continuity when editing. For example, we have found that we are lacking some shots which join scenes, like when our antagonist moves rooms, we are lacking shots that move him from room to room, and therefore doesn't support continuity. To solve this we will aim to re-shoot some shots on our second shoot.
Another problem we found was that our initial ideas for the location were hard to achieve. For example, our 'photo wall' of newspaper cuttings and drawings was hard to accurately portray, and therefore it meant we were reluctant to film it, and therefore this pulled a significant hole in an important frame in our storyboard. However, similar to before, we are aiming to re-shoot this part, and spend more time on the photo wall, and maybe use the second batch of shots in the final edit instead.
A final problem was the lighting, in some scenes it was too dark (despite it looking good in other shots) and therefore it is hard to see what is happening on screen - as shown in the photo below.

Overall, I think I will more closely look at the smaller aspects of the filming, for example, the continuity shots, and ensuring we look in detail at our story board.
Another thing I will try to emphasis in our next shoot is the lighting. Throughout reviewing our footage we have noticed that a lot of our shots have come out a lot darker than intended, therefore, if we use more lighting (that may look brighter on camera) when we put them into the editing software, they will eventually look darker anyway.
Finally, we will try and use more moving shots, most of our shots are static and this limits our capabilities. Therefore, we will try and use more moving shots, and follow the characters more, this will break up the shots and give the audience more perspectives.

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