Fortunately, the company voluntarily rang up Isaac and offered us a 3 day free period in the easter holidays. Luckily this is before the final deadline so we intend to use this time productively and film all the shots that were inadequate.
The company sent their apologies and verified that we will get our deposits back after our free 3 day period.
Friday 25 March 2011
Thursday 17 March 2011
Second draft
In this second draft we have smoothed over the rough edges and also incorpriated titles into our production. These titles aren't set in stone and each title is different using different techniques such as different paced and positioned fades. We have chosen fades to coincide with our films storyline which is 'Missing'. The use of fade gives the impression of the titles being somewhat stolen or lost within the production.
The bottle smashing audio still needs to be improved and put at the right place but otherwise the soundtrack and editing all seem to be combined as one which was out intention.
Like we did before, here is a example of a questionnaire we gave 5 neutral participants to give us feedback to aid us in improving our video. We have taken the critisms on board and improved our video accordingly.
The bottle smashing audio still needs to be improved and put at the right place but otherwise the soundtrack and editing all seem to be combined as one which was out intention.
Like we did before, here is a example of a questionnaire we gave 5 neutral participants to give us feedback to aid us in improving our video. We have taken the critisms on board and improved our video accordingly.
Feedback
After showing the 'opening' to our media class we have come across many problems that we did not pick up on. The first being the whole film seemed too much like a music video instead of a movie opening. This is due to some over extended shots and no change in music and storyline.
If we get another 3 days free from the company, we will shoot another shot that we initially had in our planning but due to the cameras failure we could not complete. This shot is of the 'Missing' girl rocking back and forth in a darkened corner while a man steps across the camera with a wrench in his hand. By adding this shot it will give our opening a whole new layer and show that the story actually has a plot.
We also have been advised to add in an extreme close up of the alcoholic bottle smashing on the floor to add a new dimension into our production but due to a strong opinionated team member disagreeing with this idea due to it being 'cheesy' we have scrapped this thought.
After taking every bit of constructive criticism on board, we went away enlightened and ready to improve our frist draft.
If we get another 3 days free from the company, we will shoot another shot that we initially had in our planning but due to the cameras failure we could not complete. This shot is of the 'Missing' girl rocking back and forth in a darkened corner while a man steps across the camera with a wrench in his hand. By adding this shot it will give our opening a whole new layer and show that the story actually has a plot.
We also have been advised to add in an extreme close up of the alcoholic bottle smashing on the floor to add a new dimension into our production but due to a strong opinionated team member disagreeing with this idea due to it being 'cheesy' we have scrapped this thought.
After taking every bit of constructive criticism on board, we went away enlightened and ready to improve our frist draft.
First draft
After collecting all the shots together and choosing the correct program (which isn't the program that the school suggests) we fabricated this first draft after hours of filming. Very rough which needs tweaking and we will show this to the class and improve the piece in accordance of their feedback.
At first glance, I can already identify a couple of mistakes such as the very long opening scene which needs shortening and the unrealistic glass smashing.
In order to achieve a wider range of feedback we created questionnaires to give us a deeper depth of information than we as makers of the film can't see. Here is an example of one of the questionnaires and the critisms we faced.
At first glance, I can already identify a couple of mistakes such as the very long opening scene which needs shortening and the unrealistic glass smashing.
In order to achieve a wider range of feedback we created questionnaires to give us a deeper depth of information than we as makers of the film can't see. Here is an example of one of the questionnaires and the critisms we faced.
Tuesday 8 March 2011
Filming photos
Here is a shot of Luke filming Isaac on the bench at Cuckoo's hollow.
While filming we came across this trolley deserted in some shrubbery. As the equiptment was heavy we decided to use this as transport.
Here is a photo of dry wood from Luke's house. We used this for the creation of the fire (Below).
Lastly, here is a photo of the fire itself, took approximately 20 minutes to make and we were very pleased with the result. We did this on Lukes Grandad's allotment in a clean controlled environment.
Wednesday 2 March 2011
Second day of filming
Me and Luke arrived at Isaac's at approximately 9-9.15am to get an early start. This is when we first realised a major problem with the equiptment provided but naively pushed aside the obvious problem and instead adopted a false sense of the truth as it was hard to comprehend that the camera wasn't charging and the company had sent us equiptment that wasn't functioning.
After coming up with excuses such as the plug wasn't fully in the socket or the cable was the wrong one, we decided to sit down and brainstorm some more ideas for the day ahead as it was our final day of filming. We initially thought we had the camera for Monday, Tuesday and the whole of Wednesday but we found out that the company would be picking up the camera between the times of 9am and 6pm on Wednesday and if it wasn't ready for collection we would be fined.
We were ready at 10.30am to leave and start filming when we came up with a good idea of a 'missing poster' which revoltionised our media piece as it became a cornerstone of our production and was the heart of numerous shots used. The creation of this poster cost us about 40 minutes filming time, the actress we chose to star in our film was Luke's girlfriend Poppie Smith so we had to incorporate her face onto our poster and we had sceduled to film with her but only on a superficial level.
We left the headquarters at 11.15, a time much greater than we expected but we were finally able to start filming. We shot the main few shots on our storyboard that we needed first and then decided to go back later and shoot the excess shots if we came across any complications.
We shot for two hours straight without any hesitancy as we only had this day to film and didn't want to procrastinate like usual. At 1.15 we scheduled a lunch time break and decided to meet up at 2.15 again for the remainder of the day.
2.15 arrived at we all were at the rendezvous point ready and eager to continue. Still no sign of Poppie so in the next 4 hour we achieved all the rest of the shots from over 30 different locations ranging all across Werrington. On the way back to film the final collections of shots with Poppie at Luke's house we decided to add a couple of scenes in as flashbacks and discard the influencial scenes of the little girl rocking back and forth which indicated the genre of the movie. As we had to change this scene the whole genre was compremised so we had to revert to original ideas of a thriller.
In these flashbacks we decided to use three, (all shots just with Isaac and Poppie)
We had previously in our lunch break came up with a plan to go to Luke's Grandads allotments and create a controlled fire at 7.45pm as we thought all the shots would be finished by then. To the whole team, and familys dismay we discovered that the camera hasn't been charging at all for the whole two day period and we had been given faulty equiptment, we tried different solutions such as different plugs, different fuses etc but to no prevail. After fretting for about half an hour we were thinking about cancelling the trip out to Luke's grandads allotment and giving up on the rest of the remaining shots. Then we remembered that we had a small bit of juice left in the smaller of the 2 batteries provided so Isaac quickly organised to go back to his house and retrieve it all in time before we had to leave. As a group we decided to postpone Poppies scenes as she was still not ready to come over and film the fire scene.
We arrived at Luke's grandad's allotment at approximately 7.35ish and created a controlled fire with dry pieces of wood. We filmed the shots we needed and after relaxing by the fire for a couple of minutes decided to put it out and return home as we were against the clock.
After thanking Lukes grandad and returning him home, we arrived back at Lukes with Poppie ready for filming about 8.30. We managed to get the majority of the shots we wanted with small fluxuations on the original plan but got the shots nonetheless. The camera did run out before we could fully complete a shot but the film we got was sufficient. Luke realised just before the penultimate shot that the shades were on the camera the whole time. So the fire scene and all the flash backs were much much much darker than original intended. Isaac comforted us though as he knew he could turn the brightness up during editing.
We finally packed up the faulty equiptment and went our seperate ways after a long, arduous day. Happy and contented with the work we had achieved.
After consultation over the computer Isaac has tried to contact the company and try to either;
After coming up with excuses such as the plug wasn't fully in the socket or the cable was the wrong one, we decided to sit down and brainstorm some more ideas for the day ahead as it was our final day of filming. We initially thought we had the camera for Monday, Tuesday and the whole of Wednesday but we found out that the company would be picking up the camera between the times of 9am and 6pm on Wednesday and if it wasn't ready for collection we would be fined.
We were ready at 10.30am to leave and start filming when we came up with a good idea of a 'missing poster' which revoltionised our media piece as it became a cornerstone of our production and was the heart of numerous shots used. The creation of this poster cost us about 40 minutes filming time, the actress we chose to star in our film was Luke's girlfriend Poppie Smith so we had to incorporate her face onto our poster and we had sceduled to film with her but only on a superficial level.
We left the headquarters at 11.15, a time much greater than we expected but we were finally able to start filming. We shot the main few shots on our storyboard that we needed first and then decided to go back later and shoot the excess shots if we came across any complications.
We shot for two hours straight without any hesitancy as we only had this day to film and didn't want to procrastinate like usual. At 1.15 we scheduled a lunch time break and decided to meet up at 2.15 again for the remainder of the day.
2.15 arrived at we all were at the rendezvous point ready and eager to continue. Still no sign of Poppie so in the next 4 hour we achieved all the rest of the shots from over 30 different locations ranging all across Werrington. On the way back to film the final collections of shots with Poppie at Luke's house we decided to add a couple of scenes in as flashbacks and discard the influencial scenes of the little girl rocking back and forth which indicated the genre of the movie. As we had to change this scene the whole genre was compremised so we had to revert to original ideas of a thriller.
In these flashbacks we decided to use three, (all shots just with Isaac and Poppie)
- On the stairs talking casually
- Playing a board game having fun
- This flashback was more complicated, the decided to combine modern day with the past. Isaac looks to his left while a black and white version of Poppie having a party appears and then dissapears.
We had previously in our lunch break came up with a plan to go to Luke's Grandads allotments and create a controlled fire at 7.45pm as we thought all the shots would be finished by then. To the whole team, and familys dismay we discovered that the camera hasn't been charging at all for the whole two day period and we had been given faulty equiptment, we tried different solutions such as different plugs, different fuses etc but to no prevail. After fretting for about half an hour we were thinking about cancelling the trip out to Luke's grandads allotment and giving up on the rest of the remaining shots. Then we remembered that we had a small bit of juice left in the smaller of the 2 batteries provided so Isaac quickly organised to go back to his house and retrieve it all in time before we had to leave. As a group we decided to postpone Poppies scenes as she was still not ready to come over and film the fire scene.
We arrived at Luke's grandad's allotment at approximately 7.35ish and created a controlled fire with dry pieces of wood. We filmed the shots we needed and after relaxing by the fire for a couple of minutes decided to put it out and return home as we were against the clock.
After thanking Lukes grandad and returning him home, we arrived back at Lukes with Poppie ready for filming about 8.30. We managed to get the majority of the shots we wanted with small fluxuations on the original plan but got the shots nonetheless. The camera did run out before we could fully complete a shot but the film we got was sufficient. Luke realised just before the penultimate shot that the shades were on the camera the whole time. So the fire scene and all the flash backs were much much much darker than original intended. Isaac comforted us though as he knew he could turn the brightness up during editing.
We finally packed up the faulty equiptment and went our seperate ways after a long, arduous day. Happy and contented with the work we had achieved.
After consultation over the computer Isaac has tried to contact the company and try to either;
- Get our money back
- Get another three days free
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