--> These are pictures of our more advanced Thriller Production
--> This was our simple Preliminaty Task
Preparation
The process of preparing for our preliminary was way easier than preparing for our actual Thriller production.
We started to plan our Preliminary task about one week before the actual shoot day. However a storyboard was already given to us and therefore there wasn’t a lot of planning to do, because the storyboard is the most important part in it.
Also we were given groups randomly in which we had to film.
We started off practising for it, by filming a simple sequence without a conversation to practise shooting movies. Then we started off to think about actors. However as it was only a simple production we weren’t allowed to get people out of classes for one hour and therefore we had to find people that were free at that time.
Even though the storyboard showed that there were supposed to be one male and one female we chose to take two females and made it work with them. Then we started to prepare the cameras, or better said we decided where we wanted to shoot and which lighting we would need and who would help us on our shoot. Then we prepared the storyboard and figured out which shots we had to film in which sequence.
We started to plan our actual Thriller Production six weeks before the actual shooting. However it was way more complicated, because first of all we had to decide for a special idea and get together in groups. Everyone had to present its idea and then we had to vote for which idea to take and form the groups.
When we sat together in groups we had to start off making the original idea better and give it an order. Before creating the actual storyboard we had to talk our idea through with our teachers to make sure that it is possible to film this, or if not, to change it to an idea we could make possible.
Then we started to produce our first draft of the storyboard.
This was very hard because we had to imagine how long each shot would take and where the credits come in as well as sound and the sketch. Our first drafts were changed around a lot and the end version was only finished one day before the actual shoot day, because we always wanted to make it better and more authentic.
Then there was a whole folder to be produces about the Shooting Schedule, Cast List, Props List, Sound List etc. and we had to plan all of this to guarantee that we are well organized. Also we had to find the actors and sign blue-cards for them to get them out of school for that day. We need to make sure we have our equipment and means of transport to get to different locations. As well as this we had to find all the props we needed and buy them if they weren’t available in this school.
Also we had to get permission for exterior shots and book the studio to film in it.
As well as this we needed to tell the set designed how we wanted the studio to look like and had to help creating that environment.
Another thing we had to do was drawing the actual pictures onto the finished storyboard which was quite a lot of work, because it had to show exactly what would be seen in the shot and none of us was an actual great drawer. However we managed to do this as well as finishing the cast list and getting permission from teachers and parents to use the actors.
Development of film making skills
When we shot our Preliminary task our film making skills weren’t that great. We only had an introduction to the video camera and tripods and only one practise of actually shooting something. Therefore, when we shot our Preliminary Task we had to rely on some advice from our teachers to help us frame the shot and we constantly had to be reminded of the 180* role.
As well as this, we had to be constantly reminded of simple things like making sure our shadow isn’t in the way, shooting the shots in an intelligent order, care for the battery of our camera and having the camera straight so the picture won’t be wrong or out of frame.
Also we had to cope with the dialogue existing in our preliminary task and had to record it, without having the microphone in the frame.
When we shot our actual Thriller Production, we were much more experienced, knew how to deal with a storyboard and things like keeping quiet etc. were not a problem any more because we watched many examples of movie sequences from which we could learn. Also we had a look at the Thriller Productions from the old year and they gave us advice as well.
Use of Camera
The outcome of using the camera in our Preliminary task was alright, but there were loads of things that could have been better. For example some of the shots were slightly crooked, blurred or had vague outlines. Also the lighting wasn’t as professional, because we only used one key light to light our production. Also the dialogue and the storyboard were very scripted and basic. It was one room, one script, everything basic and not even sound. Also the camera angles were very simple and basic and not really challenging in comparison to our Thriller Production.
To this our Thriller production was very different. We used the same camera, however we were now able to use it perfectly without constantly being reminded of not crossing 180degree lines etc. Even though sometimes we weren’t sure, however we still knew that we had to watch out for this. Also we used different sources of lighting and way more different camera angles. We had a light bulb, blue moon light and a blue screen, extra lighting from above etc. As well as this we used candles as a light source.
Also we shot in different locations and learned how to still frame the shot and have great lighting even at night.
The camera angles also differed from our preliminary task, because in the preliminary task we used over the shoulder shots, close ups and wide shots. However now we used a wide range of shots that made it effective and even used tilts and tracking shots with the help or railways.
Also there was a huge difference between the two because this time is was much more us actually doing the filming and planning and we didn’t rely on helpful advice from teachers.
We moved from a basic continuity sequence that everybody shot, lacking in sophistication to a production where we had free license to come up with whatever we wanted under the horror/thriller genre and we told a story with visual means.
Also, because we didn’t use dialogue, we used shots and action to create characters and making the audience understand and this was much more challenging than having a scripted dialogue.
Therefore we had to think through our Thriller production on our own, while the Preliminary task was prepared for us and was only a basic, simple, continuity task.
Use of Sound
In our preliminary task we only used basic sound of dialogue. We let the actors speak the given dialogue and recorded it with a usual microphone. The only other noises we used were the footsteps and door, however it wasn’t important to that task and therefore we just kept the sound as it was.
In our Thriller Production we used a wide range of sound, recorded sound in the moment, and added sound and music later. This was way more challenging, and we learnt more from it because we had to think about how we wanted to create the atmosphere from a thriller without using dialogue as in the preliminary task.
In our Thriller Production we had loads of ambient, diagetic sound such as screams, footsteps, wind blowing and eerie noises. Those were recorded during the shoot day, however in our post-production we added more to that, to make it louder and more effective, for example her scream then became much louder and shocking then as if we would just have taken her actual scream which was a little weak.
Final Cut Pro
When we started the process of editing in our Preliminary Task we got an introduction into how to use Final Cut Pro. However this introduction wasn’t that useful because if you work with those products, you can only fully understand and deal with them, if you play around with them for long enough and get secure.
When we then edited the Preliminary Task we just had to log the shots and put them in an order, without the need to check sound or anything else. The only thing we really needed to care about was to check which shot was the best one of ours. To do this we just deleted the ones we didn’t like and then put the shots in the order in which they belong according to the storyboard.
Basically then this work was done, because we didn’t have to add any credits, nor put music or cut together anything.
Therefore this process ended there.
When it came to the process of editing in our production we had to use the technology in a much more advanced way than in our preliminary task.
It started off the same, by simply logging all the bits and pieces, however there were so many more that this was hard work. Naming them all in a different way even though most of them were the same wasn’t easy either.
Then we started to delete the ones that were unnecessary however it was difficult as well, because some shots looked great but the sound wasn’t good enough, for example the screaming bit, and some were bad, but the sound was great. Therefore we needed to keep those as well, to edit them together later.
When we got into our next stage, we had to put those bits and pieces onto the timeline in the order according to the storyboard. When we finished that, we had to cut it together so it looked smooth and the timing was right.
The next step was to add the sound.
First of all we started to make sure that in none of our shots you could hear anybody say anything like “cut” or “action”. Then we looked which noises we already had and figured out the ones we wanted to add. Then we cross-cut them, for example we took the shot of Alabama, but the scream from another shot and added another scream we found in the sound library on our apple to make it effective.
When we finished this, and added our noises such as footsteps and wind, we started off putting in the credits.
We didn’t want the names to just arrive, and therefore we made them fade in and fade out using the given programme. Matt showed and explained how to do it and then we applied it to our process. We put the titles in, in the right order as they should appear and took the names we made up before in our media folder (e.g. – a milano production).
As well as this we gave them a meaning, for example the actors names arrives when he walks into the shot etc. however we couldn’t make all of them fit, but we made sure they are in the right place, not disturbing the picture and you could read the text 3 times quickly.
We finished by checking the whole sequence looked good and fixed the last problem, which was that one shot gave away that we were filming in the studio. Therefore we changed the frame size and it looked good again.
The process of preparing for our preliminary was way easier than preparing for our actual Thriller production.
We started to plan our Preliminary task about one week before the actual shoot day. However a storyboard was already given to us and therefore there wasn’t a lot of planning to do, because the storyboard is the most important part in it.
Also we were given groups randomly in which we had to film.
We started off practising for it, by filming a simple sequence without a conversation to practise shooting movies. Then we started off to think about actors. However as it was only a simple production we weren’t allowed to get people out of classes for one hour and therefore we had to find people that were free at that time.
Even though the storyboard showed that there were supposed to be one male and one female we chose to take two females and made it work with them. Then we started to prepare the cameras, or better said we decided where we wanted to shoot and which lighting we would need and who would help us on our shoot. Then we prepared the storyboard and figured out which shots we had to film in which sequence.
We started to plan our actual Thriller Production six weeks before the actual shooting. However it was way more complicated, because first of all we had to decide for a special idea and get together in groups. Everyone had to present its idea and then we had to vote for which idea to take and form the groups.
When we sat together in groups we had to start off making the original idea better and give it an order. Before creating the actual storyboard we had to talk our idea through with our teachers to make sure that it is possible to film this, or if not, to change it to an idea we could make possible.
Then we started to produce our first draft of the storyboard.
This was very hard because we had to imagine how long each shot would take and where the credits come in as well as sound and the sketch. Our first drafts were changed around a lot and the end version was only finished one day before the actual shoot day, because we always wanted to make it better and more authentic.
Then there was a whole folder to be produces about the Shooting Schedule, Cast List, Props List, Sound List etc. and we had to plan all of this to guarantee that we are well organized. Also we had to find the actors and sign blue-cards for them to get them out of school for that day. We need to make sure we have our equipment and means of transport to get to different locations. As well as this we had to find all the props we needed and buy them if they weren’t available in this school.
Also we had to get permission for exterior shots and book the studio to film in it.
As well as this we needed to tell the set designed how we wanted the studio to look like and had to help creating that environment.
Another thing we had to do was drawing the actual pictures onto the finished storyboard which was quite a lot of work, because it had to show exactly what would be seen in the shot and none of us was an actual great drawer. However we managed to do this as well as finishing the cast list and getting permission from teachers and parents to use the actors.
Development of film making skills
When we shot our Preliminary task our film making skills weren’t that great. We only had an introduction to the video camera and tripods and only one practise of actually shooting something. Therefore, when we shot our Preliminary Task we had to rely on some advice from our teachers to help us frame the shot and we constantly had to be reminded of the 180* role.
As well as this, we had to be constantly reminded of simple things like making sure our shadow isn’t in the way, shooting the shots in an intelligent order, care for the battery of our camera and having the camera straight so the picture won’t be wrong or out of frame.
Also we had to cope with the dialogue existing in our preliminary task and had to record it, without having the microphone in the frame.
When we shot our actual Thriller Production, we were much more experienced, knew how to deal with a storyboard and things like keeping quiet etc. were not a problem any more because we watched many examples of movie sequences from which we could learn. Also we had a look at the Thriller Productions from the old year and they gave us advice as well.
Use of Camera
The outcome of using the camera in our Preliminary task was alright, but there were loads of things that could have been better. For example some of the shots were slightly crooked, blurred or had vague outlines. Also the lighting wasn’t as professional, because we only used one key light to light our production. Also the dialogue and the storyboard were very scripted and basic. It was one room, one script, everything basic and not even sound. Also the camera angles were very simple and basic and not really challenging in comparison to our Thriller Production.
To this our Thriller production was very different. We used the same camera, however we were now able to use it perfectly without constantly being reminded of not crossing 180degree lines etc. Even though sometimes we weren’t sure, however we still knew that we had to watch out for this. Also we used different sources of lighting and way more different camera angles. We had a light bulb, blue moon light and a blue screen, extra lighting from above etc. As well as this we used candles as a light source.
Also we shot in different locations and learned how to still frame the shot and have great lighting even at night.
The camera angles also differed from our preliminary task, because in the preliminary task we used over the shoulder shots, close ups and wide shots. However now we used a wide range of shots that made it effective and even used tilts and tracking shots with the help or railways.
Also there was a huge difference between the two because this time is was much more us actually doing the filming and planning and we didn’t rely on helpful advice from teachers.
We moved from a basic continuity sequence that everybody shot, lacking in sophistication to a production where we had free license to come up with whatever we wanted under the horror/thriller genre and we told a story with visual means.
Also, because we didn’t use dialogue, we used shots and action to create characters and making the audience understand and this was much more challenging than having a scripted dialogue.
Therefore we had to think through our Thriller production on our own, while the Preliminary task was prepared for us and was only a basic, simple, continuity task.
Use of Sound
In our preliminary task we only used basic sound of dialogue. We let the actors speak the given dialogue and recorded it with a usual microphone. The only other noises we used were the footsteps and door, however it wasn’t important to that task and therefore we just kept the sound as it was.
In our Thriller Production we used a wide range of sound, recorded sound in the moment, and added sound and music later. This was way more challenging, and we learnt more from it because we had to think about how we wanted to create the atmosphere from a thriller without using dialogue as in the preliminary task.
In our Thriller Production we had loads of ambient, diagetic sound such as screams, footsteps, wind blowing and eerie noises. Those were recorded during the shoot day, however in our post-production we added more to that, to make it louder and more effective, for example her scream then became much louder and shocking then as if we would just have taken her actual scream which was a little weak.
Final Cut Pro
When we started the process of editing in our Preliminary Task we got an introduction into how to use Final Cut Pro. However this introduction wasn’t that useful because if you work with those products, you can only fully understand and deal with them, if you play around with them for long enough and get secure.
When we then edited the Preliminary Task we just had to log the shots and put them in an order, without the need to check sound or anything else. The only thing we really needed to care about was to check which shot was the best one of ours. To do this we just deleted the ones we didn’t like and then put the shots in the order in which they belong according to the storyboard.
Basically then this work was done, because we didn’t have to add any credits, nor put music or cut together anything.
Therefore this process ended there.
When it came to the process of editing in our production we had to use the technology in a much more advanced way than in our preliminary task.
It started off the same, by simply logging all the bits and pieces, however there were so many more that this was hard work. Naming them all in a different way even though most of them were the same wasn’t easy either.
Then we started to delete the ones that were unnecessary however it was difficult as well, because some shots looked great but the sound wasn’t good enough, for example the screaming bit, and some were bad, but the sound was great. Therefore we needed to keep those as well, to edit them together later.
When we got into our next stage, we had to put those bits and pieces onto the timeline in the order according to the storyboard. When we finished that, we had to cut it together so it looked smooth and the timing was right.
The next step was to add the sound.
First of all we started to make sure that in none of our shots you could hear anybody say anything like “cut” or “action”. Then we looked which noises we already had and figured out the ones we wanted to add. Then we cross-cut them, for example we took the shot of Alabama, but the scream from another shot and added another scream we found in the sound library on our apple to make it effective.
When we finished this, and added our noises such as footsteps and wind, we started off putting in the credits.
We didn’t want the names to just arrive, and therefore we made them fade in and fade out using the given programme. Matt showed and explained how to do it and then we applied it to our process. We put the titles in, in the right order as they should appear and took the names we made up before in our media folder (e.g. – a milano production).
As well as this we gave them a meaning, for example the actors names arrives when he walks into the shot etc. however we couldn’t make all of them fit, but we made sure they are in the right place, not disturbing the picture and you could read the text 3 times quickly.
We finished by checking the whole sequence looked good and fixed the last problem, which was that one shot gave away that we were filming in the studio. Therefore we changed the frame size and it looked good again.
No comments:
Post a Comment