Ghostbusters
The first filming exercise I had to do was to recreate a scene from Ghostbusters, which was a group exercise. This exercise was to test our filming and editing skills (and thankfully not our acting skills!) The first time we filmed this scene we asked the Uni staff if we could use one of the conference rooms on the top floor of Beacon Building, so the location was similar to the original scene, therefore, making it appropriate for the scene. We mostly filmed this scene in order to make editing easier, although we realized that we should've filmed each actors' lines in one long take so we didn't keep forgetting where the camera's positions were. We solved this first problem by placing tape down and writing on the tape which position belonged to which actor. However, we did have to re-shoot this scene because our work got wiped off the camera and SD card; we were not able to figure out why this had happened.
By the time we were told we had to re-shoot this scene, we didn't have time until the deadline for the exercise so the second time we filmed, we decided to use the 'one long take' process because it would take less time and effort and it would make editing slightly easier. We were also editing the film for See Green at the same time, so this form of filming made the post production stage easier.
The second time we filmed, the location was changed from a conference room to our kitchen because we were unable to hire out the room we had previously filmed in, making the scene less believeable. Because we were now rushing to get the scene completed, this affected the quality and amount of shots we did. When we went to edit, we realized that we had missed out two shots, so we had to re-use some existing footage for it to make sense. However, there are a couple of jump cuts in the scene, so more filming needs to be done next time. We also need to film longer shots because the pacing of the scene was disorganized. This was a good learning experience for me because I realize I need to manage my time better; this will help me in future projects. This is also important when doing group projects because I need to know which member are performing which role.
SEE GREEN
In our first filming
assignment we were given, we were told we would be filming an interview-led
awareness video entitled ‘See Green’. This organization was set up to encourage
elderly citizens to save energy. This film would be pitched to See Green, E-On and
N Power and then shown at the ‘Stoke Your Fires’ film festival in March.
Because we didn’t
know a lot about energy saving, we had to attend a workshop with E-on and
National Energy Action to learn about various ways of saving energy in the home. We also had to research different types of energy
saving methods, so we could base our interviews round them as well as energy
company’s ad campaigns, to see how other campaigns of the same subject had been
filmed and promoted. The third part of research we had to do was watch last
year’s film assignment ‘Farmers on Film’ to see how they’d been filmed and how
the film was constructed. We also had to review the films content. Below are the books my group looked at when researching; we wanted to find out about the different methods, and types of energy saving used nowadays. However, the only bit of research that helped us with this was the E-On workshop.
Although, we did find out that energy companies are planning on cutting on their emissions by 20% by the end of 2012, so we decided to focus our film on this. We also decided we wanted to use locations such as old peoples homes, so we could ask questions to edlerly people, whom is our target audience. Therefore, I had to find out where the local homes were and our group leader contacted them about the filming. However, we weren't successful doing this because: a) I only found two or three homes in the area and b) all of the homes we contacted didn't want us filming there.
Tuesday 12:03
The last filming assignment this year was a short film entitled 'Tuesday 12:03' the title given because this is the time and day when the Earth will end, according to the film.
Pre-production for the assignment had already been completed by the Film Production Tech. class in the first term, so we had one production tech. lecture to decide our roles within the crew, choose which script we were going to do and then pitch our ideas to our lecturer and class. I once again decided to do sound operating during the shoot and editing afterwards; I feel these are my strongest points in the filming process. The two script ideas were decided by the original groups that the pre-production class were put into last term, so we then had a week till we pitched our two ideas. One idea involved two flatmates while the other involved two friends, where the male character is in love with the female character. In preparation for this, my group decided to see how we could film each idea and which locations to use, as well as describe each characters appearance and personalities and how we'd reflect this on screen.
The pitch took place on the 22nd January 2013. Whilst pitching our ideas, it was evident which one was the preferred idea: the one involving the male and female friends, and not the flatmates. This was because not much happens in the latter idea, and it seemed dull. The other criticism was that the two characters didn't seem very likeable, whereas the other idea was the preffered choice because it was set out as a big joke: at the end of the film, the male runs to his female friend and confesses his love to her. Just as we hear the meteor looming closer, she says that she doesn't feel the same way and the world ends. In conclusion to our pitch, it was decided that this idea was the one that we were going to film. This means that we now needed to find actors and locations.
To find actors, we used a website called StarNow, which is an actor-scouting service.
Although, we did find out that energy companies are planning on cutting on their emissions by 20% by the end of 2012, so we decided to focus our film on this. We also decided we wanted to use locations such as old peoples homes, so we could ask questions to edlerly people, whom is our target audience. Therefore, I had to find out where the local homes were and our group leader contacted them about the filming. However, we weren't successful doing this because: a) I only found two or three homes in the area and b) all of the homes we contacted didn't want us filming there.
Tuesday 12:03
The last filming assignment this year was a short film entitled 'Tuesday 12:03' the title given because this is the time and day when the Earth will end, according to the film.
Pre-production for the assignment had already been completed by the Film Production Tech. class in the first term, so we had one production tech. lecture to decide our roles within the crew, choose which script we were going to do and then pitch our ideas to our lecturer and class. I once again decided to do sound operating during the shoot and editing afterwards; I feel these are my strongest points in the filming process. The two script ideas were decided by the original groups that the pre-production class were put into last term, so we then had a week till we pitched our two ideas. One idea involved two flatmates while the other involved two friends, where the male character is in love with the female character. In preparation for this, my group decided to see how we could film each idea and which locations to use, as well as describe each characters appearance and personalities and how we'd reflect this on screen.
The pitch took place on the 22nd January 2013. Whilst pitching our ideas, it was evident which one was the preferred idea: the one involving the male and female friends, and not the flatmates. This was because not much happens in the latter idea, and it seemed dull. The other criticism was that the two characters didn't seem very likeable, whereas the other idea was the preffered choice because it was set out as a big joke: at the end of the film, the male runs to his female friend and confesses his love to her. Just as we hear the meteor looming closer, she says that she doesn't feel the same way and the world ends. In conclusion to our pitch, it was decided that this idea was the one that we were going to film. This means that we now needed to find actors and locations.
To find actors, we used a website called StarNow, which is an actor-scouting service.
