Final Filming Day

Today, I filmed the final scenes in the Boys toilets, where our protagonist Raza gets attacked by our Antagonist. Raza firstly, comes out of a cubical to the sink to wash his hands. While Raza is drying his hands, the antagonist comes out from the next cubicle and smashes Raza's head against the dryer, causing him to collapse on the floor.

I used a range of shots and movements. I used full body shots for when Raza was at the sink and the dryer. A MS was used, when I filmed the antagonist as he comes out of the cubicle while tracking his movements. I filmed from a corner of the toilets, also at an angle and behind Raza in order to capture Raza's reflection. I thought this would give a more stylish/professional looking shot.

I also filmed over Raza, to get a Birds eye veiw and I also placed the camera on the floor while the Antagonist walked out of the toilet, to give the audience the sense they where watching from Raza's point of veiw.

Editing Inspiration

I've seen a brief montage of this trailer on Channel 4 this week, It is called Hunger and it is produced by Film4, Channel 4's independent film production department. I think that our group could gain inspiration from this trailer in the way it is edited. For example the soft voice over of the main character Bobby Sands, who famously participated in a hunger strike in the 80's when he was jailed by the British for his links with the IRA. I also feel inspired by the captions used which show the awards won by the film and the sombre soundtrack which accompanies the visual perfectly.

Here is the full trailer.

Continuation of Soundtrack Search

Today, I searched the internet for some more soundtracks which could possibly make the the final cut of the trailer. I wanted to look for a track which would be emotional yet relavant to the narrative of the trailer.

Here, is what I found.



The Wrestler is an independant movie like ours, so the music is more cooler and toned down compared to a Hollywood blockbuster which would be over the top and out of place.

Another, soundtrack which I have been meaning to write about is 'Reaquiem For A Dream' also by Clint Mansell. This track also has an earie feel to it, as before it is a classical track and contrasts to the story of the trailer which also makes the trailer more interesting.



While I was looking for soundtracks, I managed to find some sound effects to be used in the trailer.

The first one I found would fit perfectly, in the scenes where Uzma gets dragged away by the Antogonist. Similarly, this could get used in the scenes where Raza gets attacked in the toilets.

Soundtrack Search

Today, I was searching for some appropriate music that could be used as a soundtrack to our trailer. I firstly searched Youtube for any music that was suitable enough for our storyline while fitting in with the genre that we had chosen.                       

 

I had firstly found a peice of classical music which is very earie yet different and fresh. I belive that this ,may be the perfect match for our trailer!

Step Outline Process

This is the Step outline for the trailer project, this will act as a guide when we start the editing process.

Filming the 'Uploading' Scenes

Today, we continued our filming. however, only Raza and I were filming in our free period as both Hina amd Sameiria had lessons.

I recorded using a range of shots. CU, XCU, Birds eye veiw shot etc.

I firstly recorded Raza (Protagonist) entering the empty computer lab, to edit the film he recorded in the park. He walks in, and walks past the camera while it is panning in his direction, here we used a midshot.

Later, I recorded some over-the-shoulder shots, as Raza was holding up the camera to veiw the footage that was captured. Here, I zoomed in slowly over his shoulder until the 'camera's screen' filled the whole veiw.  This gives the effect as if the audience is survailancing the main charecter when the story starts to unfold.

I also recorded Raza sitting facing the computer, but this was shot from the side although the scene was effectively the same, in this shot Raza was in veiw and also the row of computers to give a sense of space and also highlighted that he is on his own and there is something private and secretive going on.

I used an XCU, while Raza was using the mouse on the computer, this was to connote some feeling of mystery and something ambigous, which will in turn get the audience thinking which is our aim as our trailer is supposed to be from an independant movie.

To broaden our range of shots, it was my idea to record Raza whilst in Birds-eye-veiw, I did this by attaching the camera to the tripod, with the legs closed as I was standing on a chair to get some height, I think this gave my group a more varied range of shots and more choices as we start editing all of the footage recorded.

Logo's and Film Captions

We decided to call our group Gogo Films. This is our Logo and will appear at the start of the trailer.

We also included other Distributors / Production companies such as Film4 and Paramount Vantage, to give the sense that our trailer has serious credibility.

We also included the Logo/emblem of the UK Film Council, which is Lottery Funded. This connotes the fact that we are an independant company which needs money and the backing of major film subsidaries.

We also created some captions to include in the trailer, these will help to seperate the story and help to fill parts of the trailer were ambiguity is intended. Some of the captions are:

Finally, We have the logo for the Title of our trailer, which is The Cut. The font used for the title is relevant as it; in the literal sense, cuts into itself.

  

Post 7 - Trouble Uploading

This week, we tried to upload our continuation of film but we had encountered problems. The problem we had was first the sound of the footage we had captured was distorted once uploaded on Final Cut Express, I think that this may be due to the equipment provided, in particular the recording tape, which has been used by other groups in the past. The sound sometimes was audible then completely silent, which told me that the footage recorded was inconsistent and unrepairable.


Another problem was with all the footage that was captured. Once the footage was uploaded onto FCE, the massive stretch of footage had been divided into individual 2 sec clips. This was very frustrating as we had about 30mins of footage which was broken down into miniscule clips. We had tried to merge the clips together; however this made the footage look distorted and choppy due to the way it was divided up.

Post 6

Some extra photos of when we continued our filming (classroom scenes).

Post 5 - Continuation Of Filming

This week, I continued to film the classroom scenes. I had collected the majority of the male cast to act as fellow students behind the main characters; this will make the narrative more realistic and easier for the audience to identify with. In total I had recruited 5 male cast members, their role was to act as ‘extras’ or ‘supporting actors’, their role had also helped to further ‘fill out’ the scene, in other words they helped to populate the background which would have otherwise been empty.

    

           

My role was as before, to control the camera and also direct the figure movement and positioning of the actors. In the classroom scenes, were firstly filmed from 1 corner of the room. Firstly in this scene, I filmed the film club teacher. For me, this meant that with the camera I had to follow and track the movements of the teacher, as he was explaining what the class had to do. I also filmed the same scene in various shots such as CU’s and XCU’s, to capture emotion and give my group a more varied choice of shots for when we edit and complete our trailer.

Later, we filmed the same scene but now I was filming the class. I had filmed from the same corner and this was perfect as it had enabled me to record the entire cast within the scene simultaneously. I had also panned across the room whilst in CU shots; this helped in capturing expressive emotions in each individual actors face. Whilst filming the CU’s of the main characters, the extras happened to also be in the shots. However, they appeared in a softer focus which helped to distinguish between main characters and supporting characters. This same scene was repeated, although the camera position was transferred from the corner of the room, to the exact centre. This allowed me to get an even closer view of certain actors and it had also broadened the audiences perspective of the classroom, which makes the scene more interesting and more dimensional, as opposed to whether I had recorded from just a single angle.

Next, we filmed the corridor scene which only required a few select actors, 3 supporting female actors and 1 main Female and Male actor. Initially, I had filmed a XCU on the film club poster attached to a classroom door to help visualise part of our narrative. After that, I filmed all the female actors by the film club room chatting while they were facing the camera, while our main character (Male Protagonist) is walking towards them and inquiring about the club.

This same scene was subsequently filmed from about 15-20ft behind the female actors; at the same time the main protagonist walks past the camera and repeats the same scene, however now it is filmed from a different angle.

I had also thought it would be a good idea to include some tracking in the corridor scene, in this same scene the camera tracks in and follows the protagonist as he approaches the group of girls outside the film club classroom. I thought this movement would give the audience a more realistic view, as if they were actually there and witnessing the scene first hand. While tracking, I had also increased the height of where the camera was shooting, this gave the effect as if the audience where watching the scene from an obscure angle, which only adds another dimension towards the trailer. Furthermore, the tracking and height of the angle helped me to include all the actors in the scene, as earlier (filming the group outside the film club) I was having trouble capturing the ‘select few’ all in the shot. Although, taking everything into consideration, I would say that this week was our most productive to date!

Post 4

This week, I uploaded the footage that I had filmed last Saturday (7/11/09). However, our footage did not appear as if it was uploaded as individual shots, rather all the shots appeared as 1 single stretch of film. So in the lesson, I had decided to split up the shots individually on Final Cut Express, so that in the future when all filming had been completed, editing the shots would become a simpler task as it would help the ordering and editing to be much easier. 

Post 3

These are some of the pics that we took while we were filming and some moments between shooting!

Post 2

This weekend, I started filming the trailer. I collected the acting cast in the morning, and we walked to Cannon Hill Park which is the location of part of my horror trailer. In the Park, I filmed the group scenes which consisted of the group gathering together as a group of friends and then later on splitting up into smaller groups to carry on with their nature projects. I had also filmed some still shots of the park, e.g. trees, grassy areas, signposts etc for the beginning of the trailer, to lull the audience into a false sense of security. I had also filmed Raza and Uzma, the two main characters away from the group, in a woodland setting because this was where the corpse and the running shots were going to take place in a secluded area.


I filmed most of the shots from a series of angles and framing also, I used worms eye view (when the body gets dragged away), MS, LS, CU, XCU. I also did some camera movement, by panning and following the actors when they were in a large group then split, and also when Raza ran through the woodland in a mad rush.

Post 1

This week, I presented the costume, location and the kind of theme we wanted to follow (Blair Witch Project) in our pitch. In our pitch I talked about the casual clothing that the student charecters need because they are college students. I also talked about the locations, I had also suggested that our group would be using Cannon Hill Park, Lickey Hills as outdoor locations because thats where the plot of our trailer will unravel.