Filming Blog: Filming Day

     
       The time finally came to start filming. So my group-mates got all of our props and camera essentials together and headed over to my house to film. When they first arrived we all exchanged ideas that we each had while we were apart. We knew that we would go into it with more fresh ideas because it seemed to be a reoccurrence every time we filmed. So we swapped ideas and made changes that we all agreed to. When we film I normally direct the project and act in it as well. This means that I tell everyone what the scene is going to look like and what lines are to be said. I also acted as the main character. So I had to juggle both, which is difficult but worth it. When filming we did however stumble across some problems. One was that we didn't have the lighting that the scene intended.
     In one of our scenes, when the characters are playing the game they need a pitch dark atmosphere. We did not think about this beforehand so we had to find a quick solution to this problem. We found a darker room to film the scene in and while it didn't have the original space we desired, we made it work. We ended up filming on my group mates iPhone and it worked very smoothly. We wanted to have time after we filmed to look at the footage and see how we felt, but we were on a timed schedule so we weren't able to. Fortunately the next day at class we took a look at the footage and liked what we saw. But overall filming was very successful. I am proud of how persistent we were when we filmed and all of the new ideas we came up with for the film. I am looking forward to the editing process to see everything come together. While this is the most hardworking part of film making ( in my opinion), I feel that the end result will be worth it.

A POV shot from our film

Filming Blog: Pre- Filming Troubles

     
         Everything was going smoothly. We planned on filming on Sunday and editing for the rest of the week. But that Saturday night we had some obstacles to overcome. We were suppose to have three extra people to act in our movie. So I asked some of my friends that are also in media to act in our movie. I gave them the day and they agreed. But the night before when I was confirming plans we faced a roadblock. I was confirming plans when they told me that they couldn't film with us anymore. One of them was working and the other two couldn't find a ride to the filming location. This came as a surprise because we pre-planned everything.
        But their plans changed and their rides fell through. We started to get very worried since we built the whole movie around the fact that we had extra actors. So we had to take a breath and think of a solution to this problem. We decided to ask our friends and see if any of them could film with us. Everyone asked around but because it was so last minute, nobody could film. Our only option left was to work with the people that we had. Of course its not the original vision we had for the film, but when problems appear you have to work them out. So we decided to take the lines from other parts and apply them to our roles. So now we had four actors in the film instead of seven. At the end of it all we made it work and still feel good after filming.

Filming Blog: Scheduling & Planning

  
       Throughout this week my group and I took our time to plan out our filming schedule. We decided that we should sit down and figure out when to film and what needed to be brought to the filming location etc. We first discussed props. We found out how many different props we wanted and for which scene. We then discussed what props we already had and what had to be bought. Only a few props had to be bought or made so we assigned each other props to but or make. This was helpful because we knew that when it came to filming day we would have everything we needed. We planned on only filming for one day, but because we expect the unexpected we planned for an emergency day. We figured this would help just in case  the day we need to film comes and one of us can’t make it for whatever reason, we would have a day set aside.

     The next class we picked a date to film. This was difficult at first because most of us had a lot going on over the weekends. But after discussion among the group and our parents we picked this Sunday to film. We made sure that everyone had a ride to the filming location and back. We also had to check our equipment. We are going to be filming on an iPhone and editing with iMovie software. Because these are independent from the school, we wanted to make sure they worked and if we had any malfunction we could fix it or work around it. I took a look at the software and made sure it had the font and transitions that we wanted. My other group-mate looked at the phones and mare sure there was enough storage and good camera quality.  After doing all of this planning for the filming process this week, my group and I feel very confident when it comes to filming and look forward to the final product.

Planning blog: Storyboard

            This is our storyboard. This story board will help out when it comes to the filming and editing process. Like in the past, the storyboard will act as a step-by-step guide for filming and editing.  For example, while we are filming we can look back at our storyboard to see what camera movements we wanted and in what scene or when to use them. We could also use the storyboard for the editing process. The storyboard could help us to remember what we wanted our titles to look like and what type of visuals we want. Overall, the storyboard helps to remind our group of our initial ideas for the film. This is helpful because we have found that sometimes while we film or while we edit we forget what we wanted and in what scene. So the storyboard helps us with this. The storyboard also helps us see if we made any changes when we finish our film or what stayed the same.

Planning Blog: Schedule, Location, Participants, Health

     In this presentation, the aspects schedule, location, participants, and health are focused. Within our schedule, we chose as a group what days will be best for us to record. As for the location after deliberating thoroughly we decided that it will be best to film at  Sophia’s house. Furthermore, we decided on how many people we would need to conduct the film. We chose three people for our group then three extras from another, the total will result in a great representation for a group of friends. Lastly, we discussed things we can do to make sure we are safe. Which included simple things like transportation. Exchanging views about these four aspects will be beneficial to us in the future, we won’t have to replan or rethink of anything. This will prevent wasting time from our filming process.

Planning Blog: Title Slides

     In this google presentation my group and I spoke about the titles of our movie. We spoke about where they would be, what they would look like and more aspects of the titles. Examples of this include color, size, and structure of the titles. This is all included in the presentation. We also came up with the name of our movie. This posed some difficulty because we had our whole script but couldn't think of a title. We wanted our movie title to correctly summarize our movie but at the same time not give the plot away. Eventually we came up with the title. This presentation will be very useful to our group because we can use it as a reference when we are editing. And will remind us of our original title ideas if they change as the process goes on.



   

 

Sound Script

            In this Google Slides presentation, my group and I wrote out a sound script. This is a script that discusses the different sounds that would be used in our final task video. The sound effects discussed correspond with the shooting script. It is very essential to have this all planned out in order to have a smoother filming process. This script acts as a general outline for all the sounds that would be included. My group and I selectively picked out the sounds that we thought would work best with each scene. We made sure that the sounds would be able to contribute to the overall theme being horror. These sounds also allow the audience to better interpret and understand what is going on. For example, when the beat increases in the background music, the audience can assume that something is about to happen in the scene. It is extremely important to be able to identify when there will be a shift in the tone of the scene. As expected, there will be a few minor changes that may occur to the script to better suit the film. However, these changes will only be small and will not result in tremendous differences. Overall, this script will help tremendously as we begin to film, as it provides a layout for what we will need to do and edit in.

Shooting Script

       In this google slides presentation I wrote out my groups shooting script. This is a script with all of the words, camera movements and some notable editing styles. This script can act as an overall outline for our movie clip. Each slide is a new scene. So for each scene I wrote out the dialogue and the characters movements. I also like said before noted any camera movements, angles or shits that were new or important to the scene. I also did the same for any added in things that would be for the editing process. We could use this script during the filming process and follow it religiously. Of course some changes are bound to be made because that's what happens in a film. But if any changes are to be made they will be minuscule and the overall plot will remain similar to the powerpoint. And the powerpoint will be very useful for the rest of the process.