Filming and Editing my Rough Edit

Today in class, I finished putting together and editing the shots I have completed so far. I lowered the exposure, made the colour of the majority of the shots blue-ish, as well as a couple of other things. Here is an example of one of the shots:

After school, I filmed the remaining shots that I could do without Eliza. I filmed close ups of myself writing in the diary, close ups of the hospital documents and shots of the dead body and knife. This didn't take very long which was good, because then I had time to add them to the edit and finalise my rough draft which is due tomorrow. The shots that I have left to film are when the girl is leaving the counsellor, when she is entering the cafeteria and sits down (after leaving the counsellor), and the revealing shot.

I am not completely happy with the rough draft as it hasn't come out the way I pictured. There are shots that need to be re-filmed, such as the beginning, which will hopefully make it better and I will be more satisfied with the final result. Also, I need to make the blood more realistic in the shots of the dead body. I was playing around on Final Cut and worked out how to edit the colour of a particular section (such as the blood), and I made it stand out more as a brighter red as it didn't look like blood, due to the lowered exposure and saturation. It worked in some shots, but it was too vibrant in others, looking very fake. Here is an example of one of the shots:

Second Filming Session

During today's lesson, I filmed all of the counsellor scene, aside from one shot. However, I will most likely need to re-film all of it instead of just adding in the extra shot as I didn't take into consideration the space of the room. The way that the desk is spaced out in the room, doesn't make it easy to shoot the girl standing up from the desk and leaving. There is another small table located directly behind the desk, and the exit is on the other side of the room, so I wouldn't be able to shoot the girl leaving in a single shot, which is what I want.

After school, I filmed the majority of the shots that I need from the cafeteria - I just need some extra ones for the end of my film. I will be filming this as soon as I can find a time where Eliza and I are both free. I also need to film the quick shots of the dead body and the knife, but I'm not quite sure who is going to be acting for this.

I am happy with the way we worked this afternoon and in class with our organisation and time management, however, I am not completely happy with all of the shots. I haven't really used lighting as much as I could have, so I think I will reshoot some things and improve the lighting. The shots haven't really turned out the way I pictured them when coming up with the concept, but that's mostly because I don't have the resources to shoot the exact shots that I want.

Next lesson, I will be editing my film as Eliza needs to work on her film's planning and we will most likely be filming more tomorrow afternoon.

First Filming Session

Today was the first time Eliza and I were both able to meet together to film. Filming did not go to plan and we couldn't really get much done. I borrowed out a camera, lights and a tripod, however, the quick release was missing from the tripod when I collected it so I was unable to use it.

I spent time attempting to film shots without the tripod, but it was too shaky for what I wanted and I couldn't use a chair to sit the camera on because all of the shots I needed are shot from a high angle. All of the shots I took now need to be re-filmed, but I have now learnt to check that I have all of equipment I borrow out to make sure that I have everything I need in order to film.

The next time I will be filming is in class tomorrow, and also after school tomorrow afternoon. I am going to be shooting the counsellor scene in the lesson, and I will do as much of the shots in the cafeteria as I can, which is hopefully all of them.

Planning Documents

During lesson time this week, I completed all of my planning. I finished my shot list, character profile sheet and storyboards. On the weekend I am going to start to film. I need to do this fairly quickly as I want to have my rough edit completed by early next week. I will be able to do most of the shots in a short amount of time as most of the shots are to be filmed in the same location (JR Cafeteria).

Shot List:

Character profile sheet:

Storyboards:

Using the DSLR

In today's lesson, we were taught how to properly use the DSLRs and got the chance to try out some of the different features, mostly including aperture, shutter speed and using manual focus. Here are some of the images we took:

This is the first image we took. We tried to make it so there was a shallow depth of field, forgetting that shallow depth of field means a large aperture, so we took this with a small aperture.

We then took this photo with a larger aperture, so only the hand and leaf are in focus.

These two images we took are good examples of deep and shallow depth of field. The first image was taken with a large aperture, meaning that the depth of field is shallow and only the shoe is in focus. The second image was taken with a small aperture, with a deep depth of field.

In this image, we attempted to take a shot of the leaf falling using fast shutter speed, however this didn't really work. We made another attempt at this which turned out a bit better:

I am now very confident with using different sized apertures and changing the shutter speed, after this lesson that we spent using the cameras. But, I still think I need to work on shutter speed and taking better shots with it.

Film Concept

In today's lesson, I came up with a basic concept for my trailer. I now need to write it out in more depth and adjust a few things, as well as thinking of good camera angles, etc. to use. I also need to get some feedback from a few people so I can improve on this. I will be doing this in the next lesson ro two.

Idea:

- Starts with a sad and sombre mood, leads the audience to believe she's in the hospital because she's a victim of some type of physical illness

- Shots of her walking alone, sitting at table by herself

- Motif: always carrying around the same brown, leather diary - also close ups and shots of her writing in it (taken from behind)

- The mood of the film begins to change as she starts acting suspiciously: eyeing potential weapons, etc.

- Goes to counsellor, audience is shown close ups of hospital documents to show that she's insane and is actually in a mental hospital, diary sits on desk

- Extremely quick flashbacks to show weapons, extreme close ups of her eyes, shots of her victims that she has killed, etc.

- Leaves counsellor, continues to acts suspiciously, sits down and starts writing in her diary

- Close up of the diary with the date (some time in the 1900s) saying "Today I finished my next victim. I wonder who will be next" - or something along those lines

- Changes from close up of diary to wide shot of the empty room (with just her in it), still writing in diary. Then changes to mid close up as she looks up from her diary and into the camera

Homework - Friday, 5th February

What is Aperture?

Aperture is the space in the lens that can be adjusted to control the amount of light that enters into the camera body. The size of aperture is measured in F-stops, for example, f/8. 

What is the effect of changing the aperture?

Changing the aperture affects the depth of field, which is the area of the image that is sharp/in focus. Smaller F-stops creates a larger aperture, and larger F-stops creates a smaller aperture. Larger apertures isolate the foreground from the background by having the foreground sharp and the background blurred, and smaller apertures make the background appear more in focus.

What is shutter speed?

Shutter speed is the amount of time a digital camera's shutter is open for when taking a photo. Changing the shutter speed changes the amount of light that reaches the image sensor.

What is the difference between slow and fast shutter speed?

Slow shutter speed allows more light in the image, and is used mostly used when it is dark. It also creates a blur in parts of the image, compared to fast shutter speed where it is a sharp image. You would use a slow shutter speed when photographing something when it is dark, or a landscape shot. You would use a fast shutter speed when photographing something that is moving quickly and want a sharp photo of it. For example, a moving water droplet. 

Different Shot Types - Tuesday, 2nd February

Today, we looked at different shot types in class and were asked to take some of our own to show the 7 different types. I was partnered with Eliza and she took these photos of me that are examples of the different shot types.