Filming session #2

My partner and I wer filming today and we manged to get everything done. One of our characters had a hair cut and also was not wearing his uniform today which ment that we had to re-shoot the whole film again. This was very frustrating for us because we had only one scene left to do. We did our first scene again which was a bit of a struggle because it was ment to be just outside a school however there was a lot of vans and buses around which got in our way of filming. We had to re-shoot the same scene at least four or five times because we wanted to do a medium shot of the main character but the big vehicle got in the way of it several times. Eventually we got the scene right and this allowed us to progress further on. Our characters were prepared to stay with us for as long as they could in order for us to get our film finished. My partner and I decided to put moe shots in the film so that when we come to edit our film again we can choose which shots we liked or did not like.

The sun was very bright today and it got in the way of our film because the screen was to bright. At one point we could not see anything and we had to wait a few minutes until the sun went down. Our casts/characters were very supportive and helped us to come up with ways to resolve the problem of the brightness. We had to reposition the camera several times in order to capture the camera angle and also to get it away from the sunlight. This took us a while to adjust but we got there in the end and we got the first scene out of the way.

In our second scene we recorded in a park that was very close to the school. It had all the resources that we needed to do our filming. All we needed was a children's area with swings and it had that. This time there was complications with the casts and we got straight to filming the scene. The only problem was the sun, but we took care of that problem by putting paper over the camera. It took us at least 30 minutes to finish the second scene. All of our casts were wearing different clothes even though we told them that we would be filming today but that did not stop us from filming. As time was running out my partner and I knew that we had to finish the film today so that we can just concentrate on editing the film. The swings in the park were frosty and there were a bit of ice around the swing seats. We had to rub all the ice of because the film would not flow properly otherwise. In our first scene the ground was pretty dry so in order for the film to flow we coulnt have ice in it. We managed to finish the second scene without any complications or problems.

For the final scene we needed to film in a house. There was a house inside the school which was very helpful because it was appropriate and available for us to use. This scene did not take as long as the others because everybody was very organised and everybody knew what to do. The only problem was that the house did not have a sofa which meant we had to film the inside of the house somewhere else. We chose to film in the year 10 room in the school because there was a sofa. We filmed a couple of shots of the scene.

During our filming the camera battery died out and this caused a lot of people to panik. Luckily i had a spare camera and we managed to finish everything on that camera. It took us a long time to get this film finished but now we have we can concentrate on editing the film.

In conclusion

Editing session #1

Yesterday my partner an I got to edit bits of ouur film. I found thsi really exciting because it allowed me to discuss with my partner which bits we need or we dont need and how we can make pur film flow accordingly. We had to connect the camera to the computer in order for it to read it. The Software that we used for filming is called Adobe Premier. Once we used the computer to upload the filming that we did from the camera the first step was to place them in order. For some reason the film was not in order even though we shooted the first scene first and the second scene second. The second thing that my partner and I did was to take out the bits of film that w did not need or the bits that would make the film seem longer than it should be. This part was a bit tricky for us because there were a few bits that that we did not need from the film but it was a second of the film that we did not need. We struggled on that bit untill our teacher showed us a very easy way to get rid of it. There were headphones for me to put on to listen to the dialogue. During the process of listening to the dialogue I heard some strange noises that the camera was picking up. I was not sure what it was. I thought that it had something to d with the actual camera never the less I took that bit out so that there would be no strange noises during the film.

In conclusion I thought that so far the editing went very smoothly considering how my teachers were sayin how tough editing was going to be. We managed to get our flim in order and also maged to cut out most of the bits that we do not need. We need to improve on the flow of the film because the cuts on it is to instant and sharp and this is causing the film not to flow properly but that can easily be fixed.

Filming sesion #2

Yesterday my partner and I got the opportunity to do some of our filming with our casts. We decided that w were going to shoot th second scene of our film. One of our actors was runing and hour late which ment that we had to wait for an whoole hour for him Eventually our cast arrived but then our main character luric had an exam in the hall which ment that we could not shoot most of the scene. This was a very big let down because we had planned to finish the whole scene by that day and the fact that he told ushat he had an exam very late was a bit annoying for everyone however this didn't stop us from shooting the film. There were some bits where we did not need Luric so instead which filmed those bits. What made things even more difficult was that Luric got a hair cut and it is very visible to see that. If we filmed him yesterday it would hae made abig problem because the film would not have flown properly. my partner and I have alreasy done some filming with Luric so if we hd to shoot him again he would look totaly different which is why my partner and I decided that we either need to shoot the fist scene again or make a bit where he has to put on a hat in order to cover up the obvious change.

Despite all the major upsetsto us, filming went quite well. Our characters were superb in acting and we didn't really struggle while shooting. My partner and I took multiple shots of each sections of the scene so that when we come to edit the film we will ave multiple choices of which one looks or seems better. There were some things hat we had o cover up whilst shooting. My partner forgot one of the props which ment that we had to pretend that we had it. The prop was ment to be paracetamol in a plastic bag which was ment to to be disguised as drugs. However this did not bring us down as the characters played the part very well and it is not noticable that we did not have the prop.

When shooting we hd a slight problem with the camera because everytime the wind was blowing really hard the camera moved ever so slighlty which caught the attention of something that we did not need. We had to djust the camera several times and we waited till the wind stoped and then we started to film. Our teachers warned us that the camera will pick up unneccesary noices that we did not need for example the wind and because the wind was strong I was afraid that we would not hear the dialogue of the characters. There were some areas of the film where our characters forgot their lines whic ment that we had to cut and re film that area.

Overall it was a hug lose that we could not finish the second scene due to the fact that our main character Luric had an exam to go to and also that he got his hair cut but never the less we got some of our filming done. What my partner and I would have to do nw is to get Luric and Harry together so that we can shoot their bit which is only a small bit so we should be able to do that. We also have to make up a bit where Luric has to wear a hat on to cover his haircut and then the second scene will be over and done with.

Today's Media Lesson

In today's Media lesson I was supposed to be editing my film but I cannot do that because the film that I am making is not finished. Since the start of this course I have been having problems with casts. I was ment to film last week but my casts have not been available for the proccess of shooting to happen. This has affected me hugely as now I have not got a lot of time left to film. Moreover my partner has not been well for a couple of weeks now which is slowing down the proccess of filming. Since I am working with a partner I cannot film by myself. I have asked one of my teachers if I was aloud to take it into my own hands to get the film finished but they told me that you cannot do it by yourself since you have a partner. The film that I and my partner are producing has to be finished by this wednesday which is a big problem for me because I still have a long way to go. I have three scenes in the film and my partner and I have only managed to film the first scene. Yesterday i called my partner and told her that we have to start filming on Tuesday. It is crucial that we get some filming done on tuesday because we have only got till wednesday to finish it. What I am hoping to do is to finish filming everything by Tuesday so we can start editing our film on Wednesday. Editing is going to take a long time to do which is why we need to get everything done fast. It has been really frustrating for me because I always manage to have a downfall to why I cannot shoot my film. Either my casts are not available or my partner is ill. I have already filmed the first scene which is why I cannot use anybody else to cast the film.; I had a backup plan to who was going to be the cast of the film in case my original casts do not make it but I cannot use them anymore.

Filming session #

On friday my partner and I I started to shoot the first sceen of our film with the director Tunji. At first we thought that we were not going to shoot on that day because our casts that we chose to be in our film were late. Eventually two of our main characters came and one of them could not turn up because he was ill. This caused a lot of problems for my partner and I and because we needed to shoot that day we had to find another cast quickly in order to shoot. Tunji told us that finding another cast will not be easy because we needed a boy that was young in a school uniform and we will have to get permission from the head of year and also the parents. My partner and I found a boy that would suit our film and luckly he agreed to do it and we got permission from his parents and also the head of year. We were ment to start shooting at nine o'clock but due to the fact that our casts were very late and one was ill we had to start shooting our film at ten. The problem with this was that we only had the help of the director for two hours, from nine till eleven but this was now cut short to one hour so we had to get filming very quickly.

My main aim was to get throught two scenes but we could only get one scene done which was a bit annoying but we then suggested that we were going to film both scene 2 and scene 3 this week so that we would not fall behind in scheduel. During the process of filming we had to do a number of shoots for each shot just to make sure that when we come to edit our film we have a choice of which shot we like. Tunji told us that everytime we shoot a scene, we should press the record button and wait for 5 seconds before we shout action and the casts beging acting, he also said that when we hav finished shooting we should wait five more seconds afterwards so that when we come to edit our film it will give us time to cut out the bits we do not need. I think that the first scene went really well due to our brilliant acting of the casts and a little help from Tunji. Tunji was showing us the best way to postion a camera at certain times and it worked perfectly.

I thought that I had a really good session of shooting the film on friday because the weather was not very bad but it was quite low key lighting and this is how I wanted it to be because I wanted that to reflect the boys lives. I will have to make sure that when I go to shoot the next scene the weather will be exactly the same otherwise the film will not flow properly.

My shooting schedule for this week is uncertain because my partner is ill which means I will now have to do things myself and also it depends if my casts will be able to make it. I will have to make sure that my casts are wearing the exact same thing that they wore on friday so that the film flows properly. It is crucial that I get all my scenes done this week so that I can start editing my film next week. I have made arrangements with my casts to film on saturday and it this is fine by all my casts which means that day should be the last day that I film. I will need to find a day this week other than saturday when I can film and I will need to make sure that my casts are available.

So what I am planning to do this week is to have finished shooting my film and then next week start editing it. One of the issues that I am having with filming this week is that the weather might not be the same and I will need the right facilities for that day. Tunji told me that the cameras that we are using are not really very up to standard in terms of sound. My film needs a lot of dialogue which means that the chracters will need to know their lines and be very clear in what they are saying, however Tunji told me that the camera will pick up every other sound that there is around. The problem with that is I will have to put the camera quiet close to them if I want to pick out their voice. If there is another sound coming from somewhere else and it is very loud then it will overtake what my characters has to say which means I will have to shoot that scene again.

This week am going to be more organised because I have learnt from my mistakes from last week. Before I filmed my scene I did not have any of the characters numbers which means that I did not have a way to contact them on the day. If I did have their numbers then I would be able to know if they were pulling out or they are still going ahead with filming with my partner and I. I havce found out that it is my responsibility to see whether they are ready to film or not instead of putting the responsibility on them. This week I am going to make sure that I contact all my casts in order to make sure that they are going to shoot the next scene.

My partner has been ill for quiet a while so I will not know if she be well enough to shoot with me on the day which means that I will need a back up partner to help me. I have already chosen a back up partner and he said that he is very happy to help me if my partner will not make it.

SCRIPT

Filming Schedule

This is my timetable so far for shooting my short film. My partner and I have decided that thursday was the best day to start our shooting because two of our casts are available for that day which means that we can get most of our filming done on that day. Our problem right now is the casts that we have chosen because there are particular days where my partner and I are free to film but our casts are not.

Media Lesson

In my previous media lesson an expert director called Tunji came in to help us with our storyboards and scripts. This was a big help because we got to explain wat our short film production was going to be about and he gave us feedback and asked us crucial questions to whether the film will be successful or not. Before the director came in my partner and I struggled hard to try and find a right ending for our film. We had a selction of endings that we were going to choose from. The ending my partner and I originally chose to do was to leave our film with a cliffhanger and have a black out however when we explained this to the director he told us that it was not appropriate for our film because although it will leave the audience with suspense the film that we are doing is not a feature length film which means that normally when they do films like to be continued or a cliffhanger they will create part 2 of that film and continue it but we are only doing a five minute short film. He told us to finish it with a proper ending. The director helped us with our script. He told us that you always have to keep the script short and sweet in order for others to read it and undrstand the story. In our script we had the camera angles and the and the type of shots that was going to be in the film however the director told us that there was no need to put all the camera angles and shots in the script otherwise it will be very difficult to read it. The problem with our story was that if everything was going to fit in, in five minutes.

When my partner and I came up with our first idea of how our film was going to be the problem was that it was too long for a fivew minute short film, so we had to make sure that we shortened the story in order for it to be five minutes. We had to change our ideas completely in order to match the limiation of the timing. As we got to storyboarding our script we found out that we did not have a proper ending to our film which made things difficult to even draw out the storyboard. Tunji was very helpful because he worked with my partner and I to strengthen our understanding of our film and helped us to come up with a strong and powerful ending. I wanted to let the message of our story be very clear to the audience and Tunji told us that in order to do that you must come up with a understanding and proper ending. Knowing the ending of our film allowed my partner and I to finish our storyboard with full understanding of our film. Before we didn't know too much about what was going on in the film because we kept changing our ideas and our script was not very clear.

When Tunji came in he looked at my script and stroryboard and he also looked at my classmates too. He thenasked us all what we would want the audience to go away thinking after the film. Before I did not think about this and I believe that this is one of the reasons why I was not able to understand my short film. He told us that it was essential to let the audience feel something after watching the film otherwise it wouldn't be a good film. He then asked us what the message of the film was. All of us had a general idea of what the message was about but it was not specific enough. After talking to him about what the message and what I would like the audience to feel after watching the film, things became much more clearer in terms of understanding my film and about filming in general.

During the lesson Tunji sat with my partner and I to restructure our script because there were certain shots that we put in our storyboards that did not match our script. Tunji told us that we needed to make our storyboards as close as possible to our scripts so that when we get filming we would know exactly what to do. He also told me that every director changes somke of the script because they think that they have a better Idea. He told me that it is natural for a director to make some changes and write on the scripts to make the scene look better so we should not get too worried about keeping everything the exact same although it will be useful to do so.

After Tunji helped us with our short film I felt very excited about making the film because it was much more clear what I had to do however I also thought that it is going to be really tough editing our film and also making it. There are a lot specific shots that has to be used in our film. Tunji told us that editing is going to be very long and hard and it depends on how many shots you have in the film