Date:
Time: 11:00am - 3:30am
Locations: Ware highstreet, Priory Park, Tudor Square
costumes: 70's Disco and Spanish Salsa
We were originally going to film the project 'Upstaged' over two days, but we ended up having enough time to film it all on the same morning which was better than we had planned. It meant that we had more time for editing and so on.
For the earlier parts of filming, it was tough trying to find a secluded spot in order to film the 'solo' scenes. These included the x-factor type shots and the dancing across the square. As we were doing this we realised how many shots we actually needed, and how much time it was going to cut and stitch them together at the right spot, with music and voiceovers. It seems quite daunting.
Whilst we were filming one of the whip pan's, a pair of rough looking gentlemen in a workers van thought it a good plan of action to verbally abuse us. So we filmed them. There is no law against filming the general public, so long as it isn't secretive and they don't object. They didn't object so we were able to film and make use of there befuddled expressions as a reaction shot. This shot will go to the lines 'I get looks from everybody!' We agreed that this will work well, and so it will be, hopefully, edited into the final cut
The sequences filmed dancing down the street were probably the easiest as they the less choreographed they were, the better. It fits the genre of comedy more if nither of us have the slightest idea of how to dance, which is very fitting as in reality we haven't got a sense of rythm either. We had some trouble with the camera angles, but nothing beyond irritating. There were lots of shop signs and cars parked on the curb, so it was tricky to get a 'blank' piece of pavement to strut along.
The weather was the major problem. With the drizzly sky and grey overcast, it meant that the was a danger that the camera lens could mist over from the inside, or if it rained then that really would have stopped us filimg. To prevent this we cut 2 holes in a plastic Texxco bag, and cellotaped it over the camera to keep it dry.
With the filming outside the lighting levels were uncontrollable, and so we had to minimize the amount of shots with a low angle point of view. This is because when faced against a pure grey sky, the character in shot will be a very dark sillouhette against the clouds. There was one shot that was essential to be filmed from this angle, and so we had to make do. We will be able to edit this to an estned in Adobe Premier Pro, so we have high hopes that we can fix the darkness, if not make the character at least more visible.
The main camera angle that I think worked well was when Jimmy Jazz walks past and is shown from the perspective of the dance poster. He then approaches it and rads off it's front. This worked to our advantage, and with the dance poster (curtesy of Alex Frances) the shot eventually worked well.
When we were filming in the park we were very fortunate as the area was completely free of other pedestrians, so we weren't creating a hassel for any parents or children. We were able to film the scenes freely without distracting anyone, or being distracted.
If we could have changed anything about the day we would have put more thought into Sam's costume. We were so focused on our own line of work that we forgot to work through certain aspects together. The day in general was a bit too unplanned, and so this was a good reminder to be more prepared in the future.
Apart from being unorganised n certain areas I think the filming went well as it was our first attempt at doing so. The voiceovers and such will be a bit tricky to pull off as none of us know where to start, but I'm confident that we can get them recorded and edited in with enough time.
Thursday, 31 December 2009
Tuesday, 29 December 2009
Animatic Feedback
The main problem that seemed to confuse class members was the lack of visable structure. Certain shots are shown twice and it was made clear that this was not a jump cut and actually part of our production.
It was also mentioned that the plot of the film be explored more, as there were quite a lot of 'just movement' scenes. This meant it would be very hard for the audience to understand the plot if nothing was aid or explained.
In a rush to finish the animatic, we hadn't placed any titles anywhere in, and so these will have to be put in for obvious reasons.
We had problems with video capture and upload, so the animatic skips from one spot to the next in certain areas which is unintentional, and will be fixed and uploaded shortly. We were told the idea was 'original', however it's unclear whether this was a positive thing, or something actually wuite cad. We will have to review and re0strcuture the animatic, and sift through some ideas before making the final cut. We need to keep in mind that the story makes sense, and there isn't too much 'fluff' in the opening. In order to portray a proper story in only two minutes, it will need to be fast paced and have a large amount of voiceovers.
It was also mentioned that the plot of the film be explored more, as there were quite a lot of 'just movement' scenes. This meant it would be very hard for the audience to understand the plot if nothing was aid or explained.
In a rush to finish the animatic, we hadn't placed any titles anywhere in, and so these will have to be put in for obvious reasons.
We had problems with video capture and upload, so the animatic skips from one spot to the next in certain areas which is unintentional, and will be fixed and uploaded shortly. We were told the idea was 'original', however it's unclear whether this was a positive thing, or something actually wuite cad. We will have to review and re0strcuture the animatic, and sift through some ideas before making the final cut. We need to keep in mind that the story makes sense, and there isn't too much 'fluff' in the opening. In order to portray a proper story in only two minutes, it will need to be fast paced and have a large amount of voiceovers.
Saturday, 21 November 2009
Film Opening Analysis: Blades of Glory
Here is a link to the powerpoint analysis of a movie opening:
http://www.slideshare.net/Pelboy/blades-of-glory
http://www.slideshare.net/Pelboy/blades-of-glory
Thursday, 12 November 2009
Film Opening Idea
The idea we came up with was first off a comedy, as we decided that this was the most entertaining way to present ou film, and the second was that there be an element of rivallry between to equally 'rubbish' characters.
The plot consists of there is a young disco dancer named Jimmy Jazz who can't dance to save his life. He thinks he can, and as a result 'struts' his stuff wherever he can. On the street, shopping etc.
Soon after, new kid on the block, Rodrigo jaunez velutina the 4th encouters Jimmy Jazz in a tale of rivallry between two completely hopeless dancers. Jimmy does disco whilst Rodrigo 'specialises' in Salsa, and in their own story, have to flaunt, strut, bump, shake, but certainly not, dance their way to the top of the town.
The plot consists of there is a young disco dancer named Jimmy Jazz who can't dance to save his life. He thinks he can, and as a result 'struts' his stuff wherever he can. On the street, shopping etc.
Soon after, new kid on the block, Rodrigo jaunez velutina the 4th encouters Jimmy Jazz in a tale of rivallry between two completely hopeless dancers. Jimmy does disco whilst Rodrigo 'specialises' in Salsa, and in their own story, have to flaunt, strut, bump, shake, but certainly not, dance their way to the top of the town.
Preliminary Excersize Evaluation
The task at hand was to compose and shoot a series of scenes in which a door is opened, a person crosses the room, and exchanges at least four lines of dialogue. Our group was assigned and we set off.
During shooting the obvious starting positions were assigned with focus in mind, we made sure each leg of the tripod was steady, and that the autofocus was working before recording a scene. This made for some quite clear and crisp shots. We also tried to fill up the frames to the rule of thirds, this was difficult at times, as the area in which the camera could be placed was restricted, and so this didn’t always work exactly as we wanted. Such as during the shot reverse shot sequence, the back of my head takes up too much of the camera view. Each subject was clearly visible, and the eye line was kept in mind.
There is one sequence in which Faye is walking down the corridor, however, and during this she walks up to the camera and away at a reverse shot in order to demonstrate the camera ‘going through her’. This went right to the edge of the 180’ rule, and unfortunately didn’t work at all. The fade to black appeared to give the impression that time was passing, which was not the case, and it made the walking sequence far too long.
If any shots could be redone, we agree that the shot in which the camera pans to follow Faye across the room would be re-shot. It looked fairly amateur and she disappeared from the shot completely at one point. This broke the flow and looked very out of place. It displayed the setting well enough, but whilst Faye was the main subject the camera should have just shown a still shot of her walking by, rather than just following in her wake. Also the shot (as previously mentioned) in which Faye walks towards the camera failed to deliver the impact which was originally intended.
In an attempt to improve the ‘walking through the camera’ shot, a fade to clack was inserted that gave an even further poor workmanship impression, and so this would be removed to make the shot a little better.
The match on action is fairly successful, and a sense of fluidity is generally maintained throughout the piece. One aspect, although flawed, worked quite well in my eyes, and that was the door opening scene. It was quick and would have worked better if the handle was at the same point during all shots, as it broke the flow a little, and seemed more of a jump cut.
The shot, reverse shot worked well but didn’t particularly stand out to me. It was smooth enough and worked well, but there were little things such as the positioning of a paper that Faye was holding, which we forgot to take into account, and so broke the illusion when the over the shoulder shot was displayed. The pace was fine and the conversation seemed natural, but a little quiet as I failed to remember that the microphone of a camera alone cannot pick up quiet whispering, as fellow classmates pointed out when watching the sequence.
A couple of shots had objects of different positions about them, and so this seemed unnatural and broke the flow.
The dialogue is appropriate but not clear. The conversation consists of a knock-knock joke being told, but my speech is near whisper volume, and so cannot be heard. There is a lot of fuzz and static as Faye walks down the corridor also, which is unavoidable, but ruins any silence that may have been needed for effect.
The lighting is good apart from the establishing shot. The light glares in from behind Faye from the windows, shifting the point of focus dramatically, and making the room seem much darker than it is in actuality. The background and setting of a school works well as the situation is of two school friends. We didn’t have a lot of choice in the matter as it was to be filmed within school, but simple ideas are often the best, (unfortunately not applying directly in this case).
As a team we all worked well. We had no arguments, problems were resolved, and everyone got an equal share in working on camera or behind the scenes. As well as getting the job done, we had fun in doing so, and this makes the ordeal seem a lot more memorable as our first true technical shoot. It was a good experience and we all contributed to an acceptable result. I enjoyed and took part in the editing most as I’m familiar with its basic ways of working from working with flash, which works in an astoundingly similar manner.
Over all this was a fun experimental piece to take on. In doing so our strengths and weaknesses were brought forward, and we got a taste of working as a group on a project. I look forward very much to future pieces, with the knowledge of what works well, and what doesn’t in mind.
During shooting the obvious starting positions were assigned with focus in mind, we made sure each leg of the tripod was steady, and that the autofocus was working before recording a scene. This made for some quite clear and crisp shots. We also tried to fill up the frames to the rule of thirds, this was difficult at times, as the area in which the camera could be placed was restricted, and so this didn’t always work exactly as we wanted. Such as during the shot reverse shot sequence, the back of my head takes up too much of the camera view. Each subject was clearly visible, and the eye line was kept in mind.
There is one sequence in which Faye is walking down the corridor, however, and during this she walks up to the camera and away at a reverse shot in order to demonstrate the camera ‘going through her’. This went right to the edge of the 180’ rule, and unfortunately didn’t work at all. The fade to black appeared to give the impression that time was passing, which was not the case, and it made the walking sequence far too long.
If any shots could be redone, we agree that the shot in which the camera pans to follow Faye across the room would be re-shot. It looked fairly amateur and she disappeared from the shot completely at one point. This broke the flow and looked very out of place. It displayed the setting well enough, but whilst Faye was the main subject the camera should have just shown a still shot of her walking by, rather than just following in her wake. Also the shot (as previously mentioned) in which Faye walks towards the camera failed to deliver the impact which was originally intended.
In an attempt to improve the ‘walking through the camera’ shot, a fade to clack was inserted that gave an even further poor workmanship impression, and so this would be removed to make the shot a little better.
The match on action is fairly successful, and a sense of fluidity is generally maintained throughout the piece. One aspect, although flawed, worked quite well in my eyes, and that was the door opening scene. It was quick and would have worked better if the handle was at the same point during all shots, as it broke the flow a little, and seemed more of a jump cut.
The shot, reverse shot worked well but didn’t particularly stand out to me. It was smooth enough and worked well, but there were little things such as the positioning of a paper that Faye was holding, which we forgot to take into account, and so broke the illusion when the over the shoulder shot was displayed. The pace was fine and the conversation seemed natural, but a little quiet as I failed to remember that the microphone of a camera alone cannot pick up quiet whispering, as fellow classmates pointed out when watching the sequence.
A couple of shots had objects of different positions about them, and so this seemed unnatural and broke the flow.
The dialogue is appropriate but not clear. The conversation consists of a knock-knock joke being told, but my speech is near whisper volume, and so cannot be heard. There is a lot of fuzz and static as Faye walks down the corridor also, which is unavoidable, but ruins any silence that may have been needed for effect.
The lighting is good apart from the establishing shot. The light glares in from behind Faye from the windows, shifting the point of focus dramatically, and making the room seem much darker than it is in actuality. The background and setting of a school works well as the situation is of two school friends. We didn’t have a lot of choice in the matter as it was to be filmed within school, but simple ideas are often the best, (unfortunately not applying directly in this case).
As a team we all worked well. We had no arguments, problems were resolved, and everyone got an equal share in working on camera or behind the scenes. As well as getting the job done, we had fun in doing so, and this makes the ordeal seem a lot more memorable as our first true technical shoot. It was a good experience and we all contributed to an acceptable result. I enjoyed and took part in the editing most as I’m familiar with its basic ways of working from working with flash, which works in an astoundingly similar manner.
Over all this was a fun experimental piece to take on. In doing so our strengths and weaknesses were brought forward, and we got a taste of working as a group on a project. I look forward very much to future pieces, with the knowledge of what works well, and what doesn’t in mind.
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