After Filming 2 min opening sequence

After filming the first half of my opening sequence I have learnt a few issues that could be adressed in future filming. One of which is lighting. As I am using pathetic fallacy in my final film to create a tension and scarier feel I have learnt how to play the light. As my character is walking down a road I have tried to film her in the lighter parts of the walk to highlight her walk and capture detail on her yet still create a dark sensation. Another way is to film under street lights. This yellow (rather than natural) light captures the character but leaves the scenery dark around her. However the natural light changed whilst filming and as the character walkes down the road the light dramatically changes and quickly becomes darker. This could be seen as a fault in the filming but as the character was only availible for that day we could not shoot on a different day. None the less the drastic change in light helps our film as it emphasizes the change in day and her walk becoming gradually more dangerous. The road our character was walking down would have been too long to shoot fully as it would have taken more than 2 minutes so we selected parts of the road that would work to our advantage in terms of light and background scenery for our shots and will cut them together to give the illusion to the audience that our character has walked down the full road. Another part that was hard was syncing what our character is saying with different parts of the road to create a flow in conversation. Towards the end of the shoot many cars and civilians crossed the line of the camera so we could not use the footage. If not this than they would act awkward infront of the camera to be considerate to us. It was hard to tell them to act normal whilst the camera was filming and those who didn't want to be on camera waited and out us under pressure to finish quickly.

We filmed the 2 sets of characters on different days yet continuity prevailed and it seemes as if it's a flowing sequence of events. We remembered the timing of the end of our first shoot so when it came to the second we filmed at the same time to create light continuity. As one of our male characters has a darker skin tone it was difficult to shoot him with a hood up in the dark and maintain the detail we aimed to film. Other than that it was hard to capture their voices on film with all the background so a voiceover will be necessary. Yet again it was hard to shoot them in the dark so we had to film wide shots with our characters in one spot, and then worm shots of them in a different spot but try to connect the two to make it seem as if they are in one location.

Overall I was very pleased with our filming and actors efforts towards our feature film. There is not much I would change at the moment with what we shot but im sure a few faults will unfold whilst editing.

Equipment List:

Skateboard (For Tracking shot of feet)
Yoga Mat (For tracking shot of feet)
Video Camera - Sony HDV
Trip pod - Velbon
Laptop
Microphone

Planning:


To plan this film we monitored the lighting in the local area for a week or so to make sure it was as we wanted it. We printed a script for each character and explained to them the idea of the film and what they should do for best performance. We also went through it with them in daylight hours so they would feel comfortable in the small margin we had to film where the lighting was right. We also figured out how we would film certain shots such as the tracking shot on the feet. We had to use a yoga mat and skateboard in order to create a smooth track. It would have been too hard to try and bend down and follow our character without jolting the camera and as we did not have the necessary equipment we made use of what we had.

Storyboard Anamatic for 'Dead Beats'

Mugged (working title) draft 2

Mugged (working title) draft 2

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Film Idea

After looking at 'Kidulthood', 'Adulthood', 'Harry Brown', 'Anuvahood' and 'Attack the Block' Aimee and myself have had a few ideas about what we want our film to be about.

So far we want to shoot a girl walking home from work or school whilst on the phone to a friend to give the audience a small insight into her life. Then shell receive a text from her boyfriend or a boy she likes and have to take a shortcut to his house.

Whilst all this is going on there will be cross cutting with a group/ gang of boys in an alley, bored, causing trouble and smoking drugs.

The girl will take a shortcut down the alley they are in and they will mug her.

This is just an idea and a lot will have to be done to it if we want to persue the idea but so far it looks like our strongest options.

Harry Brown Analysis

In this opening scene to Harry Brown, the main character is implied whilst the character are in the alley way is taking drugs and obviously most dominant in the group. Another main character could be implied by the boy everyone is focused around. The two boys on the motorbike are also suggested to be characters of a certain relevance as they have stolen the attention of the audience and we see from the characters point of view. It seems as if a teenager is trying to become accepted into a gang by doing what they tell him to, including the taking of drugs. This shows to the gang and to the viewer how much the boy wants this. The gang members have been stereo typed to be intimidating images as the clothing and props suggest so.

Props

Paraphinalia 

Gun

Motorbike

Mobile phone recorder

Clothing

Dark clothing

Tracksuits

Black jackets

Bandanas

Hoods

A grotty atmosphere is created as it is all shot on a mobile phone so the viewer feels comfortable yet on edge watching. The mobile phone viewing not only gives us the point of view of the other gang members but also gives the viewer a feeling of being in the gang witnessing the event. Dark colours are used to emphasize this grotty feeling along with the dense and suffocating location used in a tunnel. The daylight in the next scene slightly lifts our spirits until we see we are still in a grotty part of London by council estates. The next event involves two of the gang members messing around on a motorbike trying to intimidate a woman by shooting at her as a joke. Accidently the women is shot and the boys stop in shock before speeding off on their motorbike in panic, only to be hit by a truck a few seconds later. This hits the viewer with the harsh reality of death that has fallen upon the youth to give and have taken possibly due to boredom. This reality is further emphasised with the last camera shot still at a sidewards angle on the floor. 

Check List for Shooting

Check List.

Actors

Vincent - head boy (Boy)

Reggie (Boy)

Gabriel (Boy)

Olivia - main character (Girl)

Props

Moe-ped

Cigarettes

Fake weed

Lighter

Mobile phone

Costumes

Boys:

Hoodies

Caps

Trackies

Trainers (high-tops)

Bandannas

Girl:

Heels

Leather jacket
Black top

Jeans

Handbag

Mobile Phone

Locations

Golders green high street

Alley way

London - tower bridge

Camera Equipment

Camera

Charger

Tape

Tripod

Fish eye lens

Dolly