SETTING UP THE LOCATION BEFORE THE SHOOT

 Setting Up The Location Before The Shoot.

On the 28th of February, Luke kindly drove Lila and I to the location in order to help us set up beforehand to save time on our shoot day, as our idea was quite complicated in regard to the preparation it needed. 

Over the course of 4 days, I brought in boxes packaged with the props we needed for our shoot (luckily I had to be in school over the weekend and Mike happened to be on duty both Saturday and Sunday evening to kindly unlock his classroom for me so I could leave them for our trip on Monday). This was because I didn't want to carry 6 different boxes all at once! There were a list of props that I knew I would leave for the shoot day, and I listed them on my notes app on my phone alongside with a list of the items (snacks, props, makeup, tools etc.) in each numbered box so that in case of emergency we could quickly find the thing we needed:

The first thing we did was clear the space, and place all the boxes and furniture in the area (the red room located in the room next door) that we wouldn't be using. This was to allow us to have a clear sense of the space that we would be working in, and physically provided more room for the props that I had brought in.

Then, Lila and I began to unbox all the props and set them up on the desk, working out practicalities such as where we would plug in Lila's record player and my lamp. We also ended up moving the desk so that it faced the door as it allowed for us to have a clearer 180 degree line, providing more shot opportunities and distinguishing between the two characters in the two separate rooms. We used my picture of the set I had practiced making on my desk at home to provide a foundation for us to replicate.

Whilst this went on, Lila and I alternated in helping Luke board the windows outside with the cardboard and pins that I had brought in, using my Stanley Knife to cut out holes to allow light to enter the room in a shadowed effect. We could not do this alone as we were not tall enough and bringing a chair out would have been a safety hazard as the majority of the walls were lined with dead bushes. We needed more cardboard but Luke said that he would bring in some for us on the shoot day as we had none left.

After that, we walked to the theatre shed as we had not yet heard back from the department and needed to source a wooden chair, smaller desk and something to block out the rest of the boxes that we had not been able to move in the back of the room. Luke made some phone calls to other members of staff to find out how to unlock the rooms/shipping containers and then we went in and looked around for some things. 

We luckily found the perfect chair, a smaller wooden desk, and a divider from the shed, greenhouse and shipping containers, and carried them back to the garden house. We put them roughly where we believed they would be and returned to Hurtwood as Lila had a lesson to get to.

Overall, I was extremely happy with our progress as it saved us roughly 2 and a half hours on the shoot day (not accounting for loading the props into the van) and we had been productive, solving any issues with our set early. 

EDITING WORKSHOP: DIALOGUE SEQUENCE

 Editing Workshop: Dialogue Sequence. 

On the 28th of February, Matthew and I attended the dialogue sequence editing workshop in order to learn how to edit the segment that we had filmed a while ago of Ollie and I to ensure that we are aware of how to edit speech in our opening sequence.

The first thing we did was watch Matt demonstrate how to go about editing dialogue on a basic level. He showed us that we should cut from person to person based upon who is speaking, providing a skeleton to our edit. This involved using the skills learned from our previous editing workshop; we accessed our footage from the rushes folder, and watched through it in the monitor, checking for continuity and in general, watching it as a refresher for us as it had been a while since we had filmed the sequence. Then, in chronological order, we selected the clips that we wanted to use (as some were interrupted takes and others from bad angles), cutting them where the dialogue started and stopped with the shortcuts 'i' for in and 'o' for out, then dragged them into the timeline. At the end, we had created a 'ping pong' effect where the viewer sees one person then the next in order of dialogue. We ensured to save continuously throughout using the shortcut command 's'. 

When watching through all the footage, we realised that we had chosen the wrong white balance as our clips had a more orange hue to them; I unfortunately cannot recall which setting we used as I was not camera operator and was acting. Because of this, I will ensure to double check our white balance on our actual shoot day. Additionally, there were a few continuity issues with the broom stick sweeping (something that I felt was far too complicated to film on the day but went with anyways), and the positioning of Ollie as I have acknowledged before, as he walks in different directions when I point and tell him to 'get out'. However, I was quite pleased in general with our shots as we ensured to do the proper protocols so there was no lost/spoiled footage, followed the 180 degree rule and Ollie and I's acting was continuous as we kept our facial expressions/vocal tone rigid and minimal with editing in mind (even if it meant the acting looked bad!) In order to deal with the issues mentioned, next time, I will ensure to keep the positioning of our actors simple and clear and again, double check the white balance of the camera on our shoot day.

We then learned about audio transitions in order to smooth out the link between audios. To do this,  we initially had to separate main audios from background noise by right clicking on the file in the timeline and selecting 'unlink' and deleting the unwanted file. We then had to access the 'audio transitions' folder in the in the 'effects' section of the project panel and select the 'constant power' option within 'crossfade' and drag it in between our audio files within the timeline. This was particularly useful to us as we had the sound of the broom sweeping, and it was coming in at different pitches and volume with every take. 

Lastly, though not a technical tip and more of a filmmaking one, we learned about showing character's reactions to dialogue. This meant rather than editing in just dialogue, we also should edit in the other character's facial expressions as by nature, humans are social creatures and instinctively look at others to see their reaction to something unusual that they are met with.  This was more difficult to do with our sequence as we hadn't filmed many close ups of Ollie and had only done them of me, but we instead made the edit about my reactions to his words in order to adapt to our issue. 

This was the final result (the second segment at the end was the reaction edit):

After seeing our final edit, though this workshop wasn't as applicable to our opening sequence as we are predominantly revolving it around one character and there is no dialogue at all, the experience has placed emphasis on the importance of character positioning and capturing reactions for me personally. Because of this, on the shoot day, I will ensure that we film as much as we can of the woman's expressions, and that the camera is following a clear 180 degree line where Ezra and Susannah are clearly placed.

SHOOTING SCHEDULE

 Shooting Schedule.

I put together the shooting schedule, holding the time, place, description, people needed and side notes for every job/event that would take place.This was to ensure maximum preparation for the shoot day as it will provide a decent structure to it, acting as a basic guide and giving our group an idea of timings.

CALL SHEET

 Call Sheet.

We put together a 'call sheet' in order to have easy access to crew/cast members's contact details/personal information should any issues arise on the shoot day. This will be printed for us physically on the shoot day.

DECIDING OUR ROLES (2)

 DECIDING OUR ROLES (2)

Today (24th of February), we came to a group decision to adjust the roles slightly; though we would still have some form of focus on our original jobs (for me, editing), we would be taking the lead on the new ones.

I will be acting as the camera operator, Lila will be director, and Matthew the editor. 

This was because we realised that Lila had missed the camera workshops, and Matthew was very keen on editing. I originally wanted to be camera operator but chose editing as a matter of it being within my better skill.

TESTING OUT DIYs/PRACTICAL PROPS

 Testing Out DIYs/Practical Props.

I tested out the majority of the DIY projects and practical props, as I wanted to ensure that they worked before writing a narrative revolved around them.

After purchasing/sourcing the props and ingredients for our opening sequence, I firstly went ahead and attempted recreating what our set may look like on my own desk. This was because my desk is roughly the same size than that of the one in Beatrice Webb garden room. I did this to spark some creativity within me for the brief narrative breakdown, to test practicality, and to also communicate my ideas to the group better.

OVERALL SET.

The first thing I did was clear out my desk; I managed to store everything in my storage rack next to my desk (as I knew this would be up for at least a few days), apart from my monitor as I didn't want to have to re-feed the wire through my desk again as I moved in recently.

I then experimented for a while, seeing what was pleasing to the eye and came up with the set to the right. I essentially left some books open, placed the skulls in various places, pinned up psychologically intense drawings from the internet and filled the desk with artistic clutter to depict that he is an artist. I hand drew the 'children's' drawings with crayons.

I ensured to keep the members of the family wearing the same colour each time, and to have sad expressions to portray his emotionally neglectful upbringing. In 2 of the 3 of them, he is murdering his sister; this was to illustrate how poor his relationship has been with her ever since childhood.

FUNNEL + DUCT TAPE.

This was a strange thing to attempt but I am thoroughly glad that I did; I am not that bothered when it comes to doing things like this as I have a high pain tolerance...

It did work, thankfully, but then came the issue of it hurting when pulling it off, as predicted (and that was only after 5 minutes of having it taped to my face). Also, I found that I was drooling uncomfortably. My tested solution to the first issue, was to use Blu Tack as a barrier; it is sticky but soft, and I have plenty of it. On the shoot day, we were planning on having two funnels; one for the bubbling liquid and one for Ezra to pour the poison into (taped to Susannah). The one that would actually be taped to her mouth would not have a pipe (we would cut it off and cover the edge with duct tape), so the latter issue shouldn't serve to be a problem. 

BERRIES.

Attaching the blade to the scalpel was rather difficult (I saw reviews on Amazon about this). However, I placed it underneath a roll of duct tape, pressing the blade down and sliding the holder in and managed to do it. I am glad that I noticed this before the shoot date as that could have wasted a lot of time. 

I then attempted to cut the berries but they were rolling around, so I got the tweezers out of the prop box and used them; at first, our group were tentative about the size of them but upon having this experience I realised that they would be far more practical for Ezra. They did leave some juice on the chopping board, but I was very fond of the way the berries sliced open whilst being squeezed by the tweezers.

As I will not have a pipette until the actual shoot day as they are being sourced by the science department, I had no choice but try my best to compare the Robinsons squash colour to the berries underneath strong lighting. To the naked eye, they seemed to match.

POTION REACTION/FAKE BLOOD.

SEEING LUKE ABOUT CONCERNS.

 Seeing Luke about Concerns.

Though I did not take pictures in his office, I emailed Luke asking to see him about a few things after he visited our class to check on how the groups were doing - he had brought up a few things that we would need to work on over the next few days. I was feeling slightly overwhelmed as I didn't know where to start due to our situation of having to rewrite a lot of the narrative! He kindly agreed, and I spent roughly 40 mins - an hour with him, and he explained the practicality of the props (the berries needing to have a greater emphasis on them, how we would have two funnels instead of one, the liquid itself), brainstormed shot ideas, listened to our new narrative idea (I explained it to him in greater depth and showed him the pictures of the set I attempted to make on my desk), suggested types of drawings to have on the cork board, talked about background music, planned our pre-shoot day setup (thinking of ways to get enough cardboard), and in general, calmed me down! He was extremely helpful and I am glad that I saw him as it served as a good starting point to go home and attempt the things that we had been talking about.

FINALISING CAST/GETTING THEIR MEASUREMENTS

 Finalising Cast/Getting Their Measurements.

Upon receiving our shoot date, I immediately emailed the cast with it as I imagined that they would appreciate knowing sooner rather than later. I also took this opportunity to ask them for costume sizing/allergies:

As I am not in charge of costume, I sent Susannah's sizings to our media group chat:

Susannah's timings were not ideal for us so after speaking to Mike face to face, he kindly talked to her and managed to get her available for a larger time period:

I used the same email format for Ezra, but unfortunately he did not respond. This was because for some, the week was extremely hectic with the storm cutting out power/electric/water etc. and A2s were nearing their mock exams. However, Mike and Luke spoke to him for us and he kindly agreed verbally. Since Matthew was in charge of Ezra's costume, I asked him to speak to him about his sizing and allergies he may have as I didn't have time to see him beyond Wednesday:

ORGANISING A PRE-SHOOT DAY SETUP

 Organising a Pre-Shoot Day Setup.

As Luke had mentioned during our recce, he suggested that we organise a meeting for the night before our shoot day to board the windows in order to save time on set. Because of this, we chatted as a group and decided that only Lila and I would be able to do this as Matthew is an off campus boarder. So, I went ahead and emailed Luke:

He kindly responded, letting us know that he was happy to take us there:

Following this, I emailed the housemaster of Beatrice Webb House asking for permission to do so:

He too kindly responded and granted us permission:

SHOPPING FOR PROPS (2)

SHOPPING FOR PROPS (2).

Firstly, I ordered the props that I knew would be difficult to source outside of the internet due to our time limit. So, I ordered the more specific props and things that I needed to DIY as I wanted to allow myself time for error. 

This included the skulls, doll heads, jars and the small ziplock bags.

Luckily, they arrived on time and all in perfect condition:

I then went physically shopping in order to get the opportunity to browse and perhaps come across things that could be incorporated into our idea.

My first stop was WHSmith; from here, I planned on purchasing all of the artistic props. I managed to purchase paint brushes, paint, a tub of glue and a wooden artist manikin.

I also went to Boots but forgot to take pictures, but from there I purchased a teasing brush, weak hairspray, and cheap, black non waterproof mascara to ensure that it would streak down her face. The rest of the makeup (black eyeshadow, blush, contour) I had.

Then, I went to TK Maxx. From here I hoped to find storage boxes of some sort as I couldn't find any of a good colour in WHSmith.

I managed to find two storage boxes that would be able to provide dimension to our set, but also came across a cheap, good set of sculpting tools that were extremely sharp that I thought would suit our set/his personality well.

Lastly, I went to Sainsbury's in order to purchase all of the materials needed for the DIY aspect of our props. This included food colouring, blue washing up liquid, coffee creamer, syrup, plasters, baking soda and vinegar. 

Whilst I was there, I got the chance to have a look at potential berries that we could use for our sequence. I found redcurrants, but decided against buying them for the time being as they would go off. They were the perfect size and colour, and would allow maximum safety for us and the actors.

PROP ISSUE (1) + HOW WE DEALT WITH IT

 PROP ISSUE (1) + HOW WE DEALT WITH IT.

Unfortunately, following my emails to the theatre and chemistry department, I received an email from Sophie letting us know that we would not be able to use the chemistry equipment due to anxieties about damage (the things we were requesting were expensive tools). 

Then, immediately I contacted Mike about this issue as I was actually in his lesson through Teams (Our school had been closed due to Storm Eunice and we were reduced to online learning):

Later on in the week, Mike did manage to get us permission for cheaper science equipment, which was very kind of him!

Following the initial email from Sophie, however, after the school day, I began to brainstorm extreme close up shot ideas that we could use rather than that of the distillation setup, trying to ensure that they all fit into one theme. Eventually, I came up with the idea that the man is a deranged artist who is fascinated with anatomy, and uses his victims for his artwork - he murders them in ways that are undetectable in autopsies. The woman is his sister, whom he has a poor relationship with, so he chooses her for one of his projects; he murders her with poisonous berries and ricin (similar to the original idea), and disposes her body off of a remote cliff.

Though this process took me a long time and was extremely gruelling, it was crucial that we had a backup before the end of the week.

From this, I derived a prop list (as I was in charge of props), and bought what I could on Amazon and listed the shops that I would need to go to the next day:

CONTACTING ABOUT PROPS

 CONTACTING ABOUT PROPS.

Upon receiving our shoot date (2nd of March), I sent off the emails requesting props to the theatre and chemistry department that I had pre-drafted over my half term break as I wished to include the specific time that we would be needing them. 

Here, I emailed Sophie, the head of Chemistry. I also included a list of questions regarding the science behind certain things as this was in her area of expertise:

I then emailed Alison, the head of the theatre department, asking to borrow a stool and a chair:

ROLES ON SET/DECIDING THEM

 Roles on Set/Deciding Them.

Upon allocating roles within our group, we researched the exact function and skillset needed for each job in order to ensure that we were making informed decisions:

Director

Directors are responsible for organising and instructing the actors, acting as creative leads, providing their vision for the piece from pre-production to post editing (though in our case, they would only be responsible for the acting). They oversee other members of the crew and manage the functioning of the set too. Because of this, they are required to be good communicators, organised, confident, a natural leader and creative.

For this role, we chose Matthew as he is interested in this field when leaving school.

Camera Operator 

Camera operators, on the other hand, are in charge of capturing what is being filmed, operating the camera and using their creative skill on it too. They need to have a 'good eye', be detail orientated, have decent technical skills and be flexible as they are adjusting to the needs of others rather than their own. 

For this role, we chose Lila as she initially wished to be director but then decided to allow Matthew to take it as she was our camera operator for our test shoot day.

Editor

Editors, as the name suggests, manage the footage post-filming, responsible for adding sound effects, dialogue, transitions, non-diegetic sound, graphics and or special effects. They must be patient people due to the tedious nature of the process, work well under pressure, have a brilliant sense of pace/timing, have good communication skills and are creative.

I decided to be the editor as I have been editing as a hobby for almost 5 years. Though I have never used Adobe Premiere Pro, I have used other platforms and have a basic understanding of the different functions. However, I personally believe that I have a very good sense of pace and timing, and am willing to sit in front of a screen for hours should it require me to as I thoroughly enjoy the process. I initially wanted to be the camera operator as I have recently applied to the Film Academy at my school and would like to gain experience, and also wish to go to film school, but I realised that since our opening is a title sequence and revolves around music, I would be better fitted for this role. 

To prepare for this, on the shoot day I will focus on continuity to ensure that no footage is wasted, bring the storyboard and narrative breakdown so I have a visual understanding of what is being filmed and how I will edit it, and I will also assist in directing and the camerawork if need be. I have already began to listen to the music we have picked on repeat, 'Climbing Up the Walls' by Radiohead, planning transition paces and when credits will appear. I believe that the biggest issue I may face as an editor on the actual day is continuity as I distinctively remember around 3 minutes of footage being lost due to inconsistency as the editor on our test shoot. This was because I wasn't placing as much emphasis on it; on our shoot day, I will as the process is relatively straight forward.

My role is important as editing is a key factor in portraying genre, tone, theme, characters and is an overall rather visual aspect of film for the audience. Though subtle, it conveys many messages and can make or break the way a piece turns out.

Art Director

An art director oversees/designs the artistic vision for the practical side of things, responsible for elements such as the location, props, costume, makeup and continuity. They too, similar to directors, are required to be good leaders, creative, have excellent communication skills, and are resourceful.

We have shared this role through the planning of our shoot, though I have been predominantly responsible for props. This is because we have a smaller group than that of our peers in our class.

Producer

Lastly, a producer is responsible for organising all aspects of the shoot, ensuring the smooth running of members of the crew and the set holistically, executing the objectives. Due to the nature of this role, they need to be strong organisers, good problem solvers, patient and have good communication skills. 

We have shared this role through the planning of our shoot. This was to ensure that we all had equal workload and had input in how our opening sequence would be executed.

We checked with each other before deciding our jobs as it was important that all of us were happy with our roles. This was because media production is a social collaboration and workload needed to be distributed evenly amongst us, fitted to our different skillsets to ensure the best possible outcome in our opening sequence - a sequence that portrays the correct tone and genre conventions which captivate the audience.