Shoot Day 4

Today's shooting was a success but we could have done more. The shots that we did get worked well and the lighting was good with the sound being minimal meaning that you could hear the pairs dialogue the space is also bigger that the one I had originally planned to use meaning that the camera could be placed in a better position

However I did have some issues with the camera and one of the lenses meaning that it wouldn't focus properly meaning I couldn't get the wide shots I needed and that the shot of Ottilie exiting the door were too close which didn't work with the scene.

Below are some clips from Today's filming

Script Scaling

Originally I had planned to feature several different conversations in this piece with several friends at the party. However once I had put together my first cut with the footage I had recorded of just Roddy and Ottilie talking together it became quickly apparent that at least one of these dialogues was going to need to be cut as keeping it in would cause me to run over my five minute time limit.

However the other conversation I had hoped to keep in however decided agains't this as reshooting these scenes was proving difficult later in the production run.

This removal I believe has actually focused the piece which previously may have jumped around between different conversations too much rather than focusing too much on the dramatic centre of the film Danny and Sam's relationship. With the removal of these two other conversations I believe that the text is now properly focused on this relationship which had been my original intention.

Shoot Day 4 (Planning)

Shoot Day 4

Equipment Needed

Camera
Wide Angle Lens
Close Up Lens
Standard Lens
Tripod
Spare Batteries

Audio Recorder
Microphone
Microphone Stand

Actors Needed

Roddie Thompson
Ottilie Nye

Shots Planned

The plan for this days shoot is to shoot the outside scenes that make up the finale of the piece.

Notes

The outdoor nature of the scene means that is could be too dark to shoot outside this is one of the reasons that I changed location as the lighting outside of the principal shooting location was not sufficient for good quality cinematography

Sound could also be an issue as the road near to the shooting location could interfere with sound recording

Music - First Ideas

Three Different Tracks

Opening
Not sure exactly what inspiriation I had for this but standard kind of dance tracks but opening them up a bit removing a focus on the base and adding reverb to give the sense of a wider party

Second Track

 Emotional meeting at the end of the film as the couple reconcile
Final Track

Over the credits up beat and happy looking opptimistically towards the future

Title - Inspiration

The video above is a video about how to creatively use film titles. The example at the beginning of how the avengers used titles as an answer to a question that is posed by the film as a whole.

I chose to invert this decision and have the title be a question in this case;

WHAT COMES NEXT?

This is the question that is posed by the character of Danny early in the film with his confession of his confusion over what happens now that they are technically adults and is the central theme of the film this idea of moving forward in life and wanting to see what comes next is what causes the character of Sam to eventually reconcile with Danny and to look to the future. Below are some examples of font styles that I would like to use from similar texts.

Rough Cut 2

Shoot Day 3

Today was another successful day of shooting however I could have used more time as some of the shooting was rushed due to a number of the extras having time commitments that they had not told me about. We did get all the shots I wanted which is good because organising re-shoots with this many extras was very difficult and people have multiple commitments at this point in term

The stabiliser worked well on the day which was a massive help and made the walk through shot look really good although I did leave a tripod in frame briefly which is annoying but it is only visable for a brief so it is not that big of a deal

Below are some other clips from Today's session. These are unedited and so might be quite long

Initial Audience Comments

I showed the footage from the first two shoots to a small group of people and they had several things to say about it

First of all they thought that the actors had great chemistry and that it was totally believable that they would be long term friends this is fantastic because this is exactly what I was aiming for when I cast two people who already knew each other so they could act as naturally as possible around each other

They liked a couple of the shots such as this one where Ottilie moves in front of camera and Danny interrupts her. And the two shot of both of them on the sofa which I am particulary happy about as they spend a good chuck of the conversation in that shot so to know that it is working is nice

They also noticed the incorrect shot of Ottilie which I have already mentioned in my review of the second shooting session clearly showing how much of an issue this is.

Overall though the response was positive and many of the group expressed how excited they were to see the finished product which increased my confidence with the piece immensely.

Shoot Day 3 (Planning)

Shoot Day 3

Equipment Needed
Camera
Close Up Lens
Wide Angle Lens
Standard Lens
Spare Batteries
Tripod
Stabaliser

Audio Recorder
Microphone
Microphone Stand

Actors Needed
Ottilie Nye
Roddie Thompson

Extras - Still Waiting on exact list but approximately ten extras

Shot Planned
This is the crowd scene shoot day and I want to get all of the crowd scenes shot during this day these include the initial walk through by Ottilie the reaction shots to the argument and the "being idiots scene"

In addition to this I would like to record some background noise for the party as a whole and this won't take long but I might end up layering it with pre made sounds to get a sense of a wider party.

Notes
I am nervous about using the stabiliser as I do not have as much experience as I would like using this piece of equipment although I am optimistic and think it will make for a great opening shot

Lighting again could be an issue as when moving from the kitchen to the living room there is a significant lighting change hopefully I will be able to fix this on site but it might require post production correction

Rough Cut 1

Certification- What Comes Next?

I was debating between classing this as a fifteen or a twelve certificate

A twelve rating would make sense because there is not much use of bad language and minimal drug use which is not made to look good in anyway in fact it is actively made fun of by the film. However these elements could be seen to be a big enough influence on those watching that the film would be classed as a fifteen as such displays of underage drinking and swearing could be seen as inappropriate for younger audineces

However looking at it objectively I think that the film would be classed as a twelve certificate for the reasons given above.

Shoot Day 2

We had another successful day today as we filmed all of the shots that we had planned to film and also attempted to film some of the conclusion of the film

The indoor shooting was again successful however there was one shot that I placed incorrectly in the shot reverse shot between Ottilie and Roddy in which the eye line match on Ottilei was not correct and this will have to be reshot which is annoying but easily fixable

In addition to this the outdoor shooting while it wasn't planned exposed the fact that the outdoor area at the principal location isn't really going to work for filming as the lighting is too difficult to maintain due to the light being on a sensor and the high slope on the path making it inconvenient for tripod shooting.

Below are some other clips from today's session

Shoot Day 2 (Planning)

Shot Day 2

Equipment Needed
Camera
Close Up Lens
Wide Lens
Standard Lens
Spare Batteries
Tripod

Sound Recorder
Microphone
Microphone Stand

Actors Needed
Ottilie Nye
Roddie Thompson

Shots Planned

The plan is to shoot the rest of the indoor scenes which feature just these two actors after they finish their awkward silence and until Danny storms out and slams the door. This will be a longer shoot then the first one but this means that I will have more time to make sure I'm getting the right shots.

Notes
Costume needs to be kept consistent once again luckily with my actors being fairly experienced they're used to being in costume and so I am leaving the planning of this up to them as what they wore last shoot worked well.

Lighting doesn't seem to be as great an issue as I thought but I must take care to make sure that the camera setting remain consistent shoot to shoot so that the colour does not vary as this would just create more work for myself

Shoot Day 1

The first shooting day was a success I got through everything that I had planned to do although I probably could have done a bit more but wanted to keep the first session short to slowly introduce my actors into this style of acting which neither of them have done before

I filmed the whole of the first conversation between Sam and Danny and after viewing it I think it all looks good and nothing will need to be reshot

Below are some clips of that days filming

Shoot Day 1 (Planning)

Shoot Day 1

Equipment Needed

Camera
Close Up Lens
Wide Angle Lens
Standard Lens
Spare Batteries
Tripod


Actors Needed

Ottilie Nye
Roddie Thompson

Shots Planned

The plan is to film the entirety of the pairs initial conversation and the shot where Ottilie opens the fridge. While this might seem like a fairly limited goal this will be the first time I work with this equipment on a larger scale and so I want to allow to for myself and my actors to get used to working with the equipment.

Notes
Costuming is something that I need to discuss with the actors making sure what they wear matches their characters and also is consistent shoot to shoot

Lighting is going to be interesting as I will have to see how the camera will handle the yellow lighting playing around with the white balance and exposure should mean that this problem will be minimal