F.O'C - Shoot reflection 1

Where and where was the shoot?

• We filmed our first shoot on the 10th of January 2015 from 13:00 until 18:30.
• The location of our shoot was at a friend of mine's in Tunbridge Wells.

What scenes was I focusing on?

• We only managed to get the basement scene done in the initial shoot.
• We do have a kitchen scene to shoot however we only had time to shoot one and we didn't want to intrude too much into the family's house. This is the majority of the film and so it shouldn't take too long to go back to Harry's house and film the kitchen scene.

What was my individual contribution to the shoot?

• I helped write the script before the shoot.
• When we got to the shoot I reviewed where we were going to shoot the shots and where the cast (victims) were going to be held in the different rooms.
• Then I, along with Rob (antagonist) created the wall of articles from newspapers and articles I chose and printed at home.
• During the actual filming process I, along with Freya, directed the cast and shots, & filmed all but 2 or 3 of them.
• At the end of the shoot Rob, Freya and myself stayed behind for an hour to finish some shots and to clean up the props and design that we left behind.

To what extent did our storyboard affect the use of camera and framing?

• The story board was only effective to the extent that it vaguely represented our plot. We referred occasionally to it to recall which shot was supposed to come next in the film however none of the shots drawn were framed in the way we imagined.
• Because of this ambiguity when deciding on shots, we may not have got the required number of shots and the required range of angles and distances to achieve the level of excellence in camera work necessary to gain an A grade.

What do I think worked particularly well?

• The make-up and clothing was suitable for the narrative and when looking back at the footage makes the clips look immersive and believable. We shaded under all the victims eyes and made the faces pale and the cheek bones prominent with shading to give an withered, unhealthy look.
• Apart from the lighting the location was brilliant with the darkness creating atmosphere in some cases and the walls and floors looking dirty and the separate rooms allowing a variation of shots.
• What was particularly effective were the shots of Tiernan in a cage. The cold white light from the torch looked really nice and portrayed tiernan more as animal stock rather than human. His vacant crazed expression reinforced this. The canted angle further adds to the viewers uneasiness of the situation.
  

What were the challenges of this particular shoot?

• The lighting posed a real issue in the shoot. Firstly there was only one light in each room which restricted the angles that we could shoot at as we didn't want to cast a shadow in shot & we refrained from using Josh's LED light as it wasn't the same as the colour as the light from the bulbs and we wouldn't get continuity in the edit. Secondly when filming, the light when looking through the camera was atmospheric&dark but viewable. When we started editing however it was far too dark.
• The next challenge we came across was when we attempted to stick newspaper cuttings to the walls. Neither blue tac nor sellotape would stick to the walls due to the fine layer of dust and plaster coating coating everything. We overcame this by wrapping sellotape around a beam and stuck it to the back of the newspaper, forming a loop.
• Some of the actors had to leave and so we slightly rushed and missed out some shots when attempting to get the basic narrative across. Partially as a result of this we missed out linking shots going from room to room causing some confusion when looking back at the footage.
  

How will we use this experience to inform our next shoot?

• We need to look carefully at the lighting of shots in the future, making sure they are if anything lighter than we want them as we've discovered it's far easier to darken a shot and keep sufficient resolution than it is to lighten one.
• As we didn't seem to have enough shots after shooting, simply we need to take far more shots and footage to make sure we have the option of getting rid of bad shots and keeping only the ones we like.
• increasing the range of shots we use is important. In the next shoot we need to take more movement shots, close ups, expressions, low angles and high angles to keep the clip interesting and to achieve excellence in that area.