Wednesday 12 February 2014

Production Plan Update


We have been updating the calendar as a group and this makes me feel more comfortable with our time scheme. I think it's good how our group is sorting out the music before breaking up for half term (14th feb - 24th feb) so we are left with editing to do when we get back from half term. We haven't yet decided when we will do the editing on final cut when we get back from half term so this is something we need to discuss this week or during half term.

Tuesday 11 February 2014

Mise-en-scene in title sequence

I have created another brainstorm on bubbl.us to point out the essential props for the two characters, location. I also added a small list of the mostly used camerashots and editing techniques which would be used in the title sequence.


This is most likely not a complete list of props that we will use but these are the props that are seen in the storyboard and would most likely make our title sequence look less effective without.

Stills of Storyboard

Due to Prezi being unable to work on my blog, I decided to upload the stills individually so they are still on my blog to look back on and to show my progress of the title sequence. I have put small points with these images as they are quite unclear but only briefly because I added more description on the Prezi.

Page one shows:
First chunk of contrasting pan-shots of Maria and the doctor
The Diary opened and closed
Close up of main characters eye

Page two shows:
Second chunk of contrasting pan-shots
Characters leaving their current settings

Page three shows:
Over the shoulder shots of Maria walking, being watched
More close ups of eyes

Page four shows:
Maria being followed
Doctor revealed as being the stalker
More close up shots for suspense

Page five shows:
Doctor being closer to Maria
Close up of someone grabbing Maria's mouth

Page six shows:
Distorted fast pace change of stills showing Maria's state of mind

Prezi of Storyboard

I decided to create a Prezi for my storyboard so I could write beside each page briefly of what we are trying to achieve. I thought it would look more visually interesting and clearly if I presented our storyboard in a different way than posting the images. However, I have had a problem with embeding the Prezi onto my blog because the HTML seems to fail which has annoyed me.

http://prezi.com/doefeuqa8yy6/captive-storyboard/#

I have added the link on here but I am still disappointed about the Prezi not loading onto my blog correctly. I found the layout to the Prezi fitting to my title sequence as the slides go along with footprints which could suggest being followed / stalking / chase before even reading what the slides contain in them. I found Prezi difficult to use compared to Microsoft Powerpoint but I prefer the appearance of the presentation of Prezi despite it taking longer to prepare.

Screenshots:




Zoom In and Zoom Out practice shots

After doing the pan-shot we also did Zoom In and Zoom out shots. I was really pleased how these came out because I think the focus on the writing on the paper is effective and works smoothly. I expected the zoom to react faster but the speed that it increased and decreased was a good speed for what we want in the scene. We are going to use these shots when Maria and the doctor and writing in their diaries near the beginning of the title sequence.



This is the first attempt at an over the shoulder Zoom In, I think as a first attempt this was successful and that hopefully when filming our title sequence our Zoom in will be even better than this one after playing around with the camera throughout this week.



And this is our over the shoulder Zoom out, I think the Zoom out looked more effective than the Zoom in despite being happy with how both of them are. The Zoom out shot is more central on the paper and then zooms back over her shoulder which is quite an effective way for the audience to acknowledge something significant on screen. As this was only our first attempts on both, I am certain me and my group will find a smooth way of zooming into the item in hand centrally.

Practicing shots for title sequence

Our group is going to begin filming the shots for the title sequence next week during half term now the locations and props have been decided and the storyboard is finished. We decided to practice shots using the Steadicam which I found difficult and frustrating.

We decided to take a demo shot of our first shot of our title sequence, I think she worked well for a first attempt and when we film next week it will be better because we took this shot in a cramped area which made it hard to move with the camera.


I'm glad our group did some practicing with the pan shots because I have realised how difficult it is due to the weight of the Steadicam. We decided that we can't change the Steadicam for a Dolly because a lot of our scenes are quite closed in and low and the Steadicam is more ideal for that. We also found tightening the Steadicams for the different shots quite difficult aswell as there is many different places where you can loosen and tighten parts.



This is our first practice shot of our first scene of a pan-shot of the girl's legs underneath her desk. When filming this for the title sequence, the setting will be better dressed, darker and the actress (Megan) will be dressed to fit to the theme of our film.

Monday 10 February 2014

Production Plan

As a group we decided what dates we should film during the half term, since this screenshot we have also realised that we may need to film twice during the half term to get the outside footage and the inside footage done correctly. After starting dating all the things we need to do on a calendar, I feel more comfortable with our time scale and feel as if we're managing it well. We decided to do some filming this week so that we have access to the lighting equipment we needed which we couldn't take with us during half term, the rest of the filming will be done during the half term as we need to record by a street and inside houses to get a realistic feel to our title sequence.



Sophie made this calendar on Microsoft Outlook and then emailed it to all of us so we can add to it aswell. I think Outlook was the clearest and easiest way to create a calendar as we can all have access to it when we want and the weather warnings will also be handy when it comes to doing our outside filming.