Filming Progress 2; Preliminary Task

We have pretty much drawn to a close the filming phase of our short task, with a final day last week shooting a few takes the whole way through the script without stopping, and too be honest it was probably the best takes we had after all those takes before them e.g. stumbling on lines, incorrect actions etc.

In the recent takes, we've learned from our older takes in how to pick up better audio by moving the mic closer to the actors but out of shot; sounds very simple which it is, after you get it into your head.
So far, our group has produced a first draft edit of the whole piece- which only uses the last few takes given that they were probably the best as said at the top.

In the next week or so, we plan to edit the piece with a mix of group work in lessons and individual tinkering at home- in order to get this part of the coursework over and done with as quickly as possible, and maybe do the final most part of the filming if we are unhappy with our cuts.

Above is a quick draft of the main piece of the video we will finish editing soon by one of my friends, with editing done to the lightning so it appears darker than recorded for the thriller effect, and the appropriate times to switch between 2 cameras.

Filming Progress; Preliminary Task

For the last few Media lessons and free periods or lunchtimes, our small class has split into 2 groups of 3 to make filming the task easier and allowing everyone to do something towards this task which is to cover we know the 180 Degree Rule, Match on Action and Shot Reverse Shot.

The image to the left is the TV/ Filming Studio which includes a blue/green screen behind on the wall, a computer specialised in film editing on the left hand side, 2 decent HD cameras, and a set of mics and lightning equipment.

In terms of health and safety, we moved all unused wires and lights in the TV studio to aside to avoid tripping over during filming and setting up.

On the 1st day in the studio, we did a little read through a little script (thriller, crime based) that my peers and I came up with to bring some enthusiasm into the task regardless of its simple and easy targets we will have to meet, as well as testing the lighting on the left image so that the lighting shines dominantly on the suspect in a room which would almost be considered 'dark'.

For the short task, we planned on doing an interrogation scene of a suspect and a detective (me) in line with the 'Thriller' theme we aim to present through our coursework. It's a simple scene where I enter a room and try to get the suspect to admit something to which I am then handed a briefcase to which I open up and after a flash of darkness the suspect is lying on the floor with the detective saying a few last words and exiting the scene with a suspense of mystery to how the suspect died and what was the investigation? What was the suspect accused of? A series of unanswered questions that gives thriller films like 'The Birds' an interesting ending of mystery.

In these 2 images, we are setting up 2 cameras so that one is behind me and the suspect in a 180 degree essence. We were also setting up the briefcase as our dominant prop where we experimented with trying to light it up from the inside with our phones to give the impression of something  important an valuable inside. We dropped this idea after the effects not catching up the cameras, but it's worth considering this method of lightning in the post- production/ editing stage.

To keep with the continuity aspect needed to pass the task, we've made sure as a group that the room stays as it is and that we keep constant in our outfits in shots especially as we end up filming over one day easily. It's fortunetly a locked room in which our teacher has the keys for, so it only involves going to his office and asking for his keys to get in the room filming.

So far we have filmed most of the task inside the TV studio with enough shots (and bloopers for that matter) to give us enough choice of best audio/ shots when editing sooner or later.