Equipment for filming

Here's some pictures of the kind of equipment I'm going to be using:

Camera

Main piece of equipment, the filming wouldn't happen without it! I understand how to use the camera and it's different uses like switching it on, recording a video or taking a picture, zooming in and zooming out, setting different effects for the recording like sepia - although not going to use this it's handy to know. Our camera automatically adapts to the daylight change making it easier for me as I won't need to manually change it.

Tripod

Another very important part of equipment. It provides a multitude of angles via different levels through the adjustments and also keeps the camera steady - making my job easier. It also is great for pan's because i's steady, smooth and won't wobble; unlike if the camera was hand-held. It is quite bulking and is time consuming setting up, but I'm prepared and have planned for that for the filming.

Thanks for reading :)

Ghost's Costume

We edited our Ghost's costume and used:

Fake blood 1

Fake blood 2

Scissors

To create:

End result of T-shirt

End result of jeans

Hope you like it! We certainly do!

Chosen Actors

After our auditions, we decided who would be our characters:

Marlena = Female Ghost

Marlena suits the role perfectly! She has a brilliant serious face, is obedient when asked to act, is blond and has long hair, has intense eyes, has the right body shape, the right height and is a pleasure to work with. 

Jack = Male Protagonist

Jack also suits the role perfectly! He is tall, is obedient when acting, can act very distressed and serious easily, can use the exact same movements each time acting which help with continuity, has a masculine facial structure and is a joy to work with.

I'm looking forward to filming with these two!

Auditions

Patrycja took charge of the auditions and considered each person carefully. I wanted to have a go at auditioning for the ghost to see if I could do it. However, I seemed to edge towards a more zombified ghost than planned. It was an interesting experience and I thoroughly enjoyed being part of the process. It was a bit weird having Patrycja ask questions and watch me audition but I could tell she took her role seriously. I'm looking forward to discussing the auditions with Patrycja and being part of choosing our actors. It's really exciting!

Here's the link to see the auditions:
http://patrycjalatkamedia.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/auditions.html

Our character costumes

We initially wanted our female ghost's costume to be similar to the girl in 'The Grudge', wearing a white night gown. This would make her a ghost from decades ago, but the film is set in the modern day, these two different time zones could be confusing for the audience with the connection of the ghost and the present day. This means that we would have to display a flash back or brief history to reveal to the audience that she is from the past; which would help make her character clearer. However, I realised that this would take up too much filming time and would also 'eat up' the precious 2 minute limit we have for our opening sequence.

Therefore, we changed her costume as we wanted the ghost to be modern, fitting with the time period.

She now will wear jeans, a white T-shirt and plain black shoes; looking like a fairly normal girl.

The twist in our costume is that her white top will have rips and blood stains in it and her jeans will also be ripped and blood stained. This is to communicate or suggest to the audience that she was murdered and is a ghost. Her makeup will consist of pale foundation, to achieve a pale complexion - a stereotype for ghosts, and a dark purple eye-shadow smudged around the eyes to create her bruises. The new costume is used to make a more intimidating, creepy character. The audience may also find her creepy because she is relatively normal looking and it could make them feel wary when out in the streets.

Our male protagonist's costume is fairly plain to reflect him as an 'Average Joe' type of guy. This will also create a sense that anyone could be targeted by the Ghost. His costume consists of a white top, orange hoodie, and black winter jacket layered together with denim jeans and white trainers.

I was also thinking that he could have a beer bottle as a prop, displaying that he is over 18 and is stereotyped as masculine. It is also a good idea to have this prop because it gives him an excuse to walk away from the ghost - thinking it's the alcohol. 

We don't need to change or edit our protagonist's costume. We only need to edit our Ghosts one to add the rips and blood. I'm looking forward to doing this with Patrycja and seeing the outcome!

My Layout and Plan for Filming

After previous experiences of the impact of poor planning for filming I decided to create a thorough plan for the filming. I also divided into sections the aspects - busy crowds, traffic, market stalls etc - that I wanted to film to help me understand and be precise with what should be targeted. Saturday is when most of the filming will take place. I know that it will take the whole day to cover everything on the list and thankfully considering the daylight change and continuity, the shots of the clock changing will come in handy - helping the narrative make sense when edited together. In filming, the shots can look a bit sporadic when layed out because not everything goes to plan; there may be a new interesting shot that I didn't think of previously when creating the storyboard or shot list, there may equally be a shot that I can't use due to the impracticality of it etc. I've realised that too much filming is better than too little filming because the more material available grants the editor more to work with. I accept that there will be a large amount of the filming that will be discarded, but I understand that all of the shots are vital for creating the best opening sequence. I'm sure I will make mistakes in the filming, like accidently nudging the camera and having to re-film a shot again, also having to re-film a shot numerous times because of bad continuity. I realise that, as a large and vastly populated area, Camden will be crowded and I will have to wait a while in some shots when doing double shots for the ghosts because I don't want the same people in them - creating bad continuity. I'm prepared for any unplanned, spontaneous shots and I'm really looking forward to the filming!

It's forecast to rain on Saturday - perfect pathetic fallacy for our beginning sequence and narrative - although quite a difficult task for filming...I'm sure I'll get through it! I'm starting filming at 10am and don't expect to finish until approximately 7.30pm.

For Sunday's filming, Patrycja and our actors will be joining me. It's again forecast to rain and I've made sure we will all be wrapped up warm and have umbrella's at the ready! The timing is essential and we are scheduled to meet up at 5pm at Camden station when it's a darker setting. I have taken into consideration that our female ghost will need some prep for adding the ghostly makeup and Patrycja and I have made sure we have the right type of makeup - dark eye-shadow and pale foundation - including the costume. I hope that we will all get to the filming and won't be distracted by conversation or anything and will just get to work!

Anyway, here's my plan hope you like it!

Keep following and feel free to feedback thanks :)

Group meeting 5 The Concept

The basic outline of our narrative is a female ghost haunting a young male. However, concerning our 2 minute opening sequence, we realise that we can't show the full story and can only introduce it.

As conventions of an opening sequence, we have begun with establishing the location, a city - London - and specific location Camden Town, via shots of the London underground, crowds, streets, markets etc which is inspired by Hitchcock's North by North West film. This we want to continue for half of our opening sequence as it is setting up the atmosphere and mood of the film.

Beginning with the underground we want to take the audience along a journey. We have planned our first LS shot to be of a train entering the station to symbolise the beginning of a journey. We then will have various shots of the public entering and exiting the train, going up the stairs via a circular mirrors reflection - a less advanced version of Hitchcock's but I want to use reflection in the opening sequence - and exiting the station. This is where we take the audience on a journey along the street, using a variety of shot types and angles. During the daylight changes we display a clock to reiterate that time is moving and the audience are moving with it. Shots of Camden market follow to help display that business is moving, London's culture is vast and it's night life is alive. By getting shots of the Ghost across the street from the market, we want the audience to focus on her, wondering who she is and her relevance to the story. Then we see our protagonist walking by, noticing the ghost and walking away like it was his imagination. Little does he know that the ghost has seen him, by an extreme CU shot of her eyes the audience see her glare at his walking figure. We want the audience to understand that he has been targeted by her. Once at home, the protagonist listens to the radio and hears a description of the ghost, he begins to realise that he saw her, is panicking and that's when our opening sequence ends.

Within our whole sequence we will have overlapping shots of crowds to make it look like there are ghosts in the city and not just our Ghost character. This makes our film interesting, acting as a narrative hook, and may connote that there are ghosts everywhere, hopefully freaking out the audience as they never know who's watching.

We have used Toderov's theory in our piece. Beginning with 'normal' life, equilibrium, another day in London. The overlapping of shots occur suggesting a disruption of the equilibrium/ norm, via ghosts. Our female Ghost is seen through an extreme CU and, via the threatening look she gives the protagonist, the audience know something will happen, an event that will create chaos in his life and possibly other lives. However, we haven't involved an event caused by the ghost in our opening sequence because we want our audience to keep watching and see what happens. Our genre is Thriller-Horror and, like The Woman in Black, no action has to be seen for a film to be suspenseful.

Storyboard

Here's the storyboard that Patrycja did:

It looks very detailed and well thought out. I'm looking forward to using it during filming!

Name of Company

I wanted to have a production representing the Thriller-Horror genre, the name had to be something that reflects intense, suspenseful moments and unexpected events; notorious elements of the genre.

Patrycja thought the company could be called 'Unexpected Productions' because thats what a Thriller-Horror can be. However, I thought that would be too typical, as I think that's generally the first word that would come to mind about Thriller-Horrors.

I wanted to reflect something that a Thriller-Horror audience would feel or say when watching a suspenseful moment, possibly a character that has someone behind them who is about to attack? Suddenly, 'Look Out' came to mind, I discussed what I thought about it and why I thought it would be a good choice and we settled with it.

Patrycja experimented with different fonts and colours and we decided that our group name would look like this:

This layout was chosen baring in mind we have ghosts in our opening sequence and waned to reflect that with our production name. Also, this design immediately helps the audience identify that the film about to be seen is both scary and mysterious. I feel that this will draw the audience's intrigue and will make them want to find out what it is about.

Thanks please leave feedback :)

Group Meeting 3

We scrapped the college idea and the first script. This is because we realised that the transitions of scenes wouldn't necessarily make sense or fit. We want to make sure the idea is as simple as possible so we can build on it in greater detail. This new updated idea we hope will make the narrative more thrilling and intriguing the audience.

Hope you like it! 

Script 1 Outside College

I made the script for the scene when 'Jack' and 'Johnny' are walking together exiting the college, this was inspired by my research and I adopted the techniques used in those scripts.

EXT. A COLLEGE IN LONDON.PRESENT DAY.

JACK and JOHNNY leaving college and walking side by side, JACK is holding the camera and tripod.

JOHNNY:

(rubs hands together, blowing into them, looking at Jack)

Caw, it’s freezin’ init mate?

JACK:

Yeah, it’s well cold like…

(lifting camera and suggesting)

So we ready to film?

JOHNNY:

Yeah, yeah, sure mate, course.

(Smiles)

JACK:

Alrite then, so err we gotta take shots of architecture, where we gonna film?

JOHNNY:

Well…we can get to London easy, plus there's loads ov’ it there like

JACK:

(Smiles)

Oh yeah course mate, got ya’ oysta’?

JOHNNY:

(Smiles)

Yeah mate

Fades out

I wanted the characters to have a British cockney accent and I wanted the audience to see their friendly relationship.
We changed the relationship to a friendly one because having them as brothers was a bit too complicated and, generally speaking, brothers may not get along as much as friends do. Also, siblings can have very different interests to each other and don't necessarily choose the same subject. This choice of relationship was influenced by my Video Questionnaire - Characters

Just a quick update, thanks for reading, keep following, feedback is appreciated :)

Research on Script Layouts

This research on script layout helped me realise that a script is essentially for the actors and editors, it generally should not have a list of shots before the actual diagetic dialogue or any other sounds happening, it should skip to the dialogue to aid the actors and help the editors with where the sounds should go and should not have a list of shots before any action - the action should start immediately.

Here are some examples of script layouts that I have found and learnt from:

Usually, the location is addressed at the top of the script. For example, INT represents interior and EXT represents exterior. Following this will be the location of significance, KITCHEN, the area, CHESTER SQUARE, the city, LONDON, time period PRESENT and the time of day, MORNING. All of which establish the location and setting of the scene.  

Although, some scripts begin with FADE IN, this is aimed at the editor to direct where an effect may go. FADE IN's are a good way to transition through scenes as there is not that jump between scenes, creating a flowing narrative. However, this convention may be broken to immediately place the audience in a series of fast paced events.

Music is another beginning to a script and again directs the editor; this time with he type of sound - non-diagetic, MUSIC: THEME TO CRYING STORE...FADES AFTER FIRST ALAN JAMISON LINE. A voice over, V.O., may also be on a script. A voice over is an unseen commentator, who could be a narrator or protagonist, saying lines that are edited onto the clip.

It's even better when a script combines music and edited effects along with the actors cue, as the editor can grasp a clearer understanding of a task set; saving vital time as there is no need to discuss what the editor should do as they have been given specific directions.

Next the stage directions. Virtually in the title the - stage directions - direct the actors who are in position, they may also give a brief back-story to help an actor understand their characters situation. Stage directions can also take place during or after a characters line, this is called a cue, where a specific movement is allocated to a specific word, phrase or line - directing the actor.

A characters name is titled over their lines to help actors differentiate between who is speaking.

For example:

MARGARET

Too much. Much too much butter.

DENIS

I like butter.

Something else I've noticed is that the stage directions are separated from the dialogue. I think this is good because it won't confuse the actors between their lines and directions. It also makes a script look neater and more presentable.

I'm glad I've researched this because I understand more about how a script looks and understand the reasons to why things are used.

Please leave any helpful feedback so I can improve my understanding further thanks :)

Final Production Idea Step 5

Today Patrycja and I discussed the idea and realised it didn't make much sense, so we met with a colleague and had a discussion about the opening sequence.

I wrote a brief outline of our improved ideas during the discussion, here's what we came up with:

I have elaborated on the notes from above:
Should keep the shots of London - very good for establishing location...

• Need to intrigue audience

Could suggest that ghosts are everywhere

• Would have to have takes of same shot - different people/crowd - edit and overlap both, one as 'normal people' and one representing ghosts
• Could edit in questions ' what is real? who is real? what is not real? do you think you know who is around you?' - do not want to make like a trailer - possibly discard idea after next meeting
• Would create, through editing, a blurring of real people and ghosts...

Another shot, (same shot done in different time periods or different people around), one with normal crowd then one with female ghost - overlap and fade one clip onto another ghost can fade in and out
This raises questions for the audience - who is she? why is she here? why is she important? Which keeps audience engaged and thinking.

Cut to EST LS of college/school, in shot two guys together, MS holding a tripod and camera, TS diagetic dialogue "we need to film the different types of architecture of London", Reverse TS "Quick lets go oxford street before the others!" - they have been given an assignment to film architecture of london and need to finish filming for the following day. The audience are introduced to the main characters and are following their journey through this

Cut to shots of what they have filmed - in some shots ghost is captured reappearing and disappearing (filming - keep exact same shot with different crowds, editing - overlap), audience realise there is a connection between this Ghost and the boys - intrigued with what connection is - want to watch more.

Thanks for reading, feedback is appreciated :)

Roles

During our second group meeting we decided and discussed our roles.

Dawn:

Co-director

My understanding of my role~

I will be sharing the directing with Patrycja. We will work together with our ideas, merging them, assessing them etc. We will have regular group meetings on the ideas and developments to assess if our production process is flowing, what we need to change and what we need to improve on. Patrycja will be in charge of the audition process. I will be in charge of directing the actors whilst filming. During the making we will both aid each other with our roles; keeping check and making sure we are both OK with developments and or need support during the making.

Scriptwriter

My understanding of my role~

Concerning our production I will be writing the script for our opening sequence. It  will involve writing the dialogue for the actors involved and depending on the dialogue used will not involve shot types for the camera person - the storyboard helps with that. It can involve brief editing effects for the editor to help direct them.

Camera woman

My understanding of my role~

I will be in charge of  the equipment, tripod, camera and camera charger and will film the clips for our opening sequence, passing them on to the editor. I must be ready for weather conditions, prepared to be filming for long periods of time and ready to take spontaneous, unplanned shots that could be interesting for the opening sequence.
I think this role plays crucial part as I will be getting the material, shots, for Patrycja to piece together as the editor. Without a camera person there would be no editor.

Sound

My understanding of my role~

I will be creating non-diagetic sound for the opening sequence to be added onto the clips by Patrycja.


Patrycja:

Co-director


Storyboard maker

Editor

I'm really looking forward to getting started!

Thanks for reading :)

Group meeting 2

During the storyboard making we realised as the characters are walking side by side, we need to keep the 180 degree rule in mind. We can't do OTSS shot with the characters walking side by side without great difficulty. We thought the we could just do MS Two shot's, slightly angled on one particular character when diagetic dialogue occurs and when the other is speaking we could have the camera on the other side; so basically a shot reverse shot (SRS). The camera could purposely be a bit shaky to exemplify their pace of walking and help the audience feel as though they are walking with the characters.

Final Production Idea Step 4

Here's my idea of how the beginning will look after the first meeting:

I've written it down incase the picture is not as clear:

• Est location - ms-en-scene, shots of underground trains, feet entering and exiting train, cars, buses, traffic lights, people crowds
• fast paced cuts and editing, interpretation busy London life, own non-diagetic music - with some recorded sounds (beeping etc) - increasing - busy, tense, overwhelming
• sudden silence - cut to LA LS - focussed on ghost - slow motion edit, non-diagetic whisper "I can see you"
• LA LS shot increases speed, non-diagetic distorted sounds adding; footsteps, marching, running, ringing, talking (etc)
• "I can see you" dominant sound - as set in city is creepy because Ghost can be anywhere - audience
• Cut to LS of Pro...walking towards camera (audience follow him in shot - tension built up)
• looks into camera "ahh it's recording!"
• Calls over brother - camera in POV facing feet and walking
• dialogue exchange about wanting to watch what's been recorded as no-one knows what's on it
• cut to recording, non-diagetic "lets fast forward, I don't want to waist time"
• non-diagetic "what was that?" "rewind, rewind"clip normal speed
• Ghost in recording
• Non-diagetic crying, girl upset, angry, violent, shouting etc

I wanted to re-create a modern, urban, busy London atmosphere for the audience to relate to. Beginning the film with the location, a densely populated area, and modern time period communicates to the audience where they are, and what kind of film they are going to be watching.
The fast paced cuts are designed to enhance the busy atmosphere and to keep the audience attracted to events on the screen.
I wanted the audience to feel intimidated by the ghost and non-diagetic "I can see you", with the cutting of sound and slow motion editing, this would force the audience to focus on the ghost; hopefully creating an uncomfortable atmosphere. The appearing of this Ghost would immediately prompt the audience to question who she is, why she is there and what is her role in the film as a whole; acting as a narrative hook.
I then wanted to use the same sounds of London but distort them in editing to display that something is wrong, suggesting that the ghost is the cause. Immediately cutting to the Protagonist, I wanted to introduce him in a LS - walking up to the camera, again creating suspense like the Ghost - possibly hinting a connection to the audience. I wanted the audience to, as conventions of an opening sequence, be intrigued by the characters and keep that intrigue by not giving away too much information. I finally chose to have the ghost involved with the characters, through their recording on the camera, inspired by Paranormal Activity, to again intrigue the audience as to why she is targeting them.

I'm going to explain this idea to Patrycja tomorrow and we will see where to go from there - whether we like it and keep it or change it. This is going to be fun!

Thank you for reading, any comments are welcome :)

 

Group Meeting 1

We had a great meeting today and I really enjoyed sharing our ideas. It was really interesting hearing about Patrycja's political Thriller idea, it's so absorbing.

After sharing ideas, we decided to use mine as a base and found that merging both ideas made a more interesting story-line  Like Patrycja's CCTV, we could use a similar angle and editing to make it look like CCTV - a high positioned PAN that's an long shot (LS) and doing a low angle (LA) with an exposure effect to make the brightness of the shot change and to turn to black and white, whilst also creating a sense of busyness in London for the audience. 

I will update with step 4 later today to try and explain what we have come up with, I hope it makes sense!

Thank you for reading and following :)

Final Production Idea Step 3

Hey everyone!
Here's what I think the characters should be like...

I did a quick brainstorm after the Questonnaire. Obviously a group meeting will help more as we will discuss this properly, depending on which idea we side with. I am looking forward to the group meeting which is scheduled to be on the 15th.

Thank you for following, comments are appreciated :)

Location 2 Idea

I'm interested in old asylums and their eerie atmosphere. I would love to film in one but most of them have been refurbished, have perished in fires and generally exist on the internet...There would also be the long winded process of getting permission to enter, accompanied with the risks of safety...
However, I do not automatically need to film in one; I could take an establishing high angle long shot of the exterior and film the interior somewhere else! Only if it fits with my idea...
I am inspired by the photographs in these links and hope to shoot some footage of an aged interior where the Ghost could be.

Here are some images that have inspired me:

More images that have influenced this

Let me know what you think of these locations/images and feedback any helpful info you have of creepy corridors or locations you know of, Thanks!