Film plan 4

Brief about what happens in the shots:

In this film shoot I will be filming the shots of the 3 main characters at the main location (abandoned mushroom farm), and will film them arriving at the location, exploring the location, and some scenery shots here also. I also will then film the shots of Anna (the main girl character) walking around in the woods and then running from Slender.                 

Shots:

- Long and wide shot of location with actors standing in shot (slow zoom out)
- Close up shot of down one side of the row of building
- High angle shot of actors walking into one of the buildings (filmed from high up platform)
- Close up shot of car door and actor (Scott) 's feet getting out of the car
- Long shot of actor Anna running in woods
- POV shot of Anna running in the woods
- Close up POV shot of Slender's feet (on the woods ground)
- Long shot of actors walking in the abandoned location with Slender standing behind them

Date:

Friday 21st December 2012

Time:

2pm

Location:

South Heath Mushroom Farm (abandoned buildings and land)

Equipment:
Lighting = Car headlights (part of shot aswell) and daylight
Filming = iPhone 4s 
Power = Phone battery
Other = Tripod

Actors & costumes:

Anna Gilbert (playing Rebecca - main girl character) - casual costume to look more real and teenage like (jeans, dark coloured jumper and dark coloured coat)

Scott Claridge (playing one of the main boy characters) - casual costume to look more real and teenage like (jeans, trainers, dark coloured hoodie)

Stu Wilson (playing the other main boy character) - casual costume to look more real and teenage like (jeans, trainers, white tshirt and black leather jacket)

Nick Wilson (playing Slender) - Black suit, white shirt, white and black painted face

Props:
None needed

Risk assessment:

The location that I will be using is abandoned and there is debris about. I therefore need to make sure that I do not go into places that look too dangerous or are not well lit, in case of injury. 

Film shoot 3 : how did it go?

In my third film shoot I filmed the master shot and some panning shots at the main location. One of the shots is a long shot of the buildings, that when edited, will zoom in slightly. The other shots are long shots of the side of the buildings and a panning shot from the side of the building around the corner to the main row of buildings/rooms. These are the shots to set the theme, nature and location of my trailer/film.

What went well

- Filming equipment :
To film the main long shot of the row of rooms/buildings I used a large adjustable tripod. This was very useful as I was able to adjust the height at which I filmed, and to what angle I needed the shots. I filmed some shots at differant heights to see what worked best, and I found that the shots at eye level worked well. 

I also used a Steadicam to film some shots ( a camera stabilizing mount for motion picture cameras that mechanically isolates it from the operator's movement - Wikipedia). I used this equipment by attaching the tripod head/holder for my iPhone 4s, then setting the weights of the steadicam in a position that balanced the camera on the top (as shown in the picture below). This worked very well as it meant that the panning shots were smoother than if I filmed them by holding the camera, therefore making the shots look more visually appealing and professional. 

- Lighting / weather :
I filmed at 3.30pm because it begins to get dark at around 4.00pm. This worked well because it was still light when I filmed, meaning that when it comes to editing, it will easier to turn down the brightness of the shots rather than having darker filmed shots and then adding brightness to them. The weather was also overcast, meaning that the daylight was not too bright. Shadows and contrasts were therefore created, which adds to the spooky/unpleasant nature of the trailer/film/genre.

Because the weather / lighting was good, this mean that the quality of the shots were good. Editing therefore will be easier.



This is a Steadicam similar to the one I used. The camera screws on the top and the weights are adjusted on the pendulum like arm on the bottom to balance it. 










What didn't go so well

On the day that I filmed, it was quite windy, which made it difficult to film some of the shots using the Steadicam as it knocked it off balance. I therefore had to wait a bit so that the wind was not as strong. Whilst waiting for the wind to slow down I filmed the other shots as these shots required filming on the tripod, which was unaffected by the wind as it is standing from the ground and I could hold the frame so that it didn't fall over. Apart from this, everything went good.

Film plan 3

Brief about what happens in the shots:

These shots are used as my shots to show location, to set the scene and theme of my trailer/film. They are filmed towards the end of daylight hours so that contrasts & shadows are stronger and it fits the genre of horror.                 

Shots:

- Long and wide shot of location (the row of buildings/rooms)
- Long shot of down one side of the building
- Panning shot of side of building, and then pans round the corner to the main row of buildings/rooms (same place as the first long/wide shot)

Date:

Friday 14th December 2012

Time:

3.30pm

Location:

South Heath Mushroom Farm (abandoned buildings and land)

Equipment:
Lighting = None (filmed outside in daylight)  
Filming = iPhone 4s 
Power = Phone battery
Other = Steadicam, tripod

Actors:

None needed

Props:
None needed
Risk assessment:

The location that I will be using is abandoned and there is debris about. I therefore need to make sure that I do not go into places that look too dangerous or are not well lit, in case of injury. For this shoot I will be filming outside of the buildings, so this shouldn't be too much of an issue, however I will need to wear robust footwear to avoid tripping/injury.

Filming plan 2.5

Due to the fact that I wasn't able to get all of the shots I needed in film shoot 2, I will shoot the remaining shots on another day (film shoot 2.5). Mr Taylor, the owner of the property / Anderson Shelter said that I was welcome to film the remaining shots when ever I wish to, so will create a new plan for this shoot.

Brief about what happens in the shots:

The shots are POV, and will be of the outside of the Anderson Shelter and of the character POV of walking down the steps into the shelter.

Shots:

- High angle shot of steps into shelter
- Tracking shot of walking down the steps

Date:

Saturday 22nd December 2012

Time:

4.00pm

Location:

Anderson shelter in Mr Taylor's garden

Equipment:
Lighting = Light from torches (props)
Filming = iPhone 4s, steadicam, DSLR camera 
Power = Phone battery, batteries in torches
Other = 3 hand held torches which are used in the other shots of inside the shelter (from film shoot 2)

Actors:

None needed

Props:
3 torches (as used in film shoots 1 and 2)

Risk assessment:

The steps into the shelter will probably be slippery as the temperature now is so low that surfaces are beginning to ice over. I therefore will have another person on the side of the shelter (on the grass) to catch anyone if they slip/fall. There should not be too much of an issue with unclear ground surfaces and ice as I will be filming in the after noon so it shouldn't be dark or too cold. 

Film shoot 2 : how did it go?

In my second film shoot I filmed The shots to create a jump in the Anderson shelter. I shot some POV shots to look like the character is walking into the room, then standing in the room. The character then see's the note on the far wall, and suddenly turn arounds to see Sledner (when shots are edited together). I then filmed a few panning shots to make it look like the character is turning around, and then a few close up of slender.

What went well

- Costume - the costume that Nick Wilson (playing Slender) wore was exactly the same as in the previous shots of him from film shoot 1 - this is beneficial as it will show continuity and seem more realistic. I also managed to paint the face paint on him the same as before, and used a picture taken from film shoot 1 to do this. This also helps continuity. 
- Filming equipment - I used a large adjustable tripod to film the shots. This was very useful as I was able to adjust the height at which I filmed, and to what angle I needed the shots. For example, I filmed some lower angle shots of Slender and some wide angle shots of the Anderson Shelter. This has led to more professional looking and stable shots, and also meant that I was able to hold the torch for lighting whilst filming.

- Lighting - Like in film shoot 1, I used torches for lighting to give the effect that the character is exploring the place them self  I used 3 torches and when I was not filming shots of Sledner, Nick helped me hold the torches to give the effect that the person in the room is looking all around and is scared (by unstable/shakey lighting).

- Quality of the shots - Because the lighting was good, the quality of the shots looks much better than in film shoot 1, and this makes the shots look more professional and visually appealing. It also means that when it comes to editing, these shots will be easier to edit if they are clearer. 

What didn't go so well

Because I filmed these shots in the afternoon and didn't realise how long it would take to set up everything, it became too dark outside to shoot the shots of the Anderson Shelter exterior and the shots of walking down into the shelter. This shouldn't be a problem though as Mr Taylor said that I can film these shots whenever I need to, and I will not require any actors when I do so. 

Diary update: week 17

Over the past few weeks I have been working on my film plans and filming. Over the Christmas holidays I made alot of progress, and am currently now finding a programme suitable to edit on. I now will crack on and finish my filming, and will post my posts from the past few weeks shortly.
I currently am still not on track with my timeline, however I think that timetabling 5 weeks to do the ancillary tasks is a little too much, therefore giving me more time.

Film shoot 1 : how did it go?

In film shoot 1 I filmed the shots of Slender in the abandoned room. I gathered the shots that when edited, it will look as though he is getting closer to the camera every time the character who's POV it is, takes their eyes off Slender.

I used Nick Wilson to play Slender, and I have taken some pictures of his costume.

To create the look of Slender (loosely based around  the 'Slender Man' myth where he has a white face and no facial features) I used white and black face paints. I used white to look similar to Slender Man (from the myth) and I also used black. I chose to use black around the eyes so that it created strong contrasts and looked more sinister and un-human. I painted Nick's eyelids and when I was filming I asked him to close his eyes, so it looked like the whole area around his eyes (and his eyes) was black. I think this worked well as the lighting for the filming was just a torch, so there were strong contrasts with the face paint :)


Nick's costume was a black suit and a white shirt, the same as Slender in the myth. Here is a picture of Nick before I started filming. Some of the face paint had rubbed off on his eye lids, but when I took the face paint with me to the filming location so I could paint more on as and when I needed to. 








The filming went well, and I managed to shoot around 15 shots (I will only use 3 or 4 in my trailer). My idea of using more than one torch worked well because using one torch wouldn't have lit up the room otherwise. The tripod was also useful as I was able to move the torches around, which gave the effect that character who's POV it is was scared and shaking.

However, just as I was filming a few shots for the jump at the end where Slender jumps infront of the camera, my phone battery (which I used for filming on) ran out. I therefore wasn't able to shoot a perfect shot for the jump at the end. This shouldn't be a problem though as I will be doing more filming at the same location soon, and my Slender character will also be in those shots, so I can re-film the jump shots on the same day.