Construction Post 27: My personal contribution to the Shoot Sessions

Myself and Tyra talking through a scene

Throughout all of the shoot sessions I did a variety of jobs from filming to being on sound. Most of my time was spent directing shots and also working with our main actress Tyra. I made sure that she knew what was going on in each shot, what we wanted from each shot and tried to explain to her how we wanted the character to be feeling for each shot. I also had to cue her and Ray in for some shots. I had to be very organised during the shoot sessions and I made sure everyone knew what shot was coming up next so that we were as efficient and productive as possible. 

Setting up the lights

Another one of my responsibilities was to handle one of our portable lights. This was part of our three point lighting system. I was really interested in this as I had never used a lighting kit before. As we were not allowed to keep the lights on for a long amount of time (as they heat up very quickly and can get extremely hot), I had to sit by one of the lights and switch it on when it was needed and off when we were done.

Me directing a shot 

I enjoyed all aspects of the shooting process, in particular filming shots. I feel that I was more suited to the directing side of things as I liked to make sure that everyone was ready and that we were focused and organised. I also enjoyed communicating our views and ideas to Tyra and bringing each scene together. 

Construction Post 26: Reflections on Edit Week 2

During our second week of editing we focused on grading, titles, video FX and any small finishing touches. Below is a copy of our Edit week 2 schedule.

2nd Editing Week Schedule

Our opening sequence was kept fairly simple and so we didn't need to use any video FX. Instead we focused on the process of grading our shots. Grading is the process which changes the aesthetic of the footage by making sure that all the shots are within the chosen colour scheme of the film. We chose to have a naturalistic look to our shots, with a slightly greyish-blue look. Grading was very important for us as the inside of Sian's house, once all the lights were on, is quite bright with a slight orange tint which is noticeable on the wooden table and cupboards.

Before (left) and after (right) - effects of grading

The effects we placed on the shot to grade it

We also needed to create our titles and credits. For this we used the MacBook and a software called LiveType. We took inspiration from the films 'Se7en' and 'Shutter Island' when we chose our fonts and effects. To represent the thriller genre, in a similar way to 'Se7en', we chose to use an effect which makes the words shake which hopefully creates an unsettling feeling. For our title we chose a different font to the rest of our credits and also a different effect. The font for our title is similar to that of 'Shutter Island'. The effect is also less jarring and instead smoother and slightly mysterious. Below is a video showing our title with its effect.

Construction Post 25: The Back-Up Shoot

Our back-up shoot took place on the 5th March 2017. We began at 9:00am as usual and had finished by around 2:30pm as there was less footage to shoot. Below are screenshots of our back up shootboard.

Page 1

Page 2

Page 3

Unfortunately it was raining in the morning so we had to adapt our plans slightly and work around the weather. We decided we would film the outdoor sequence with the additional prop of an umbrella so that we could continue to film through the rain. Luckily for us the rain stopped and the weather improved massively and so we could film the shots as planned with out the umbrella.

During the filming of the outdoor sequences we made sure to keep an eye on the distance between the jogger and the lawyer so it was more realistic. Additionally we had more time to practice the hand held jogging shot so that it would be as steady as possible. This time round Sian filmed the hand held jogger shot as she has the steadiest hand.

We also added a small amount of dialogue as the lawyer was to be on the phone as she walked down the street. In her first shot she says "Yeah I'm alright, I just can't believe he's been released though" and in the other shot she says "It's alright, it's just a jogger." This helps to make the fact that she can't hear the jogger behind her more believable.

Below is a clip showing the two shots that contained dialogue.

The other thing we changed was the dining room sequence. As the lawyer sits down, she receives a text from her friend asking if she is ok as the man she put in prison (Jeff Richardson - the stalker) has been released. In the shot after that you see her sign a few more documents to represent the fact that she works in the legal profession.

Below is a video of the dining room rushes from our main shoot and also the ones from our back-up shoot.

Overall I am extremely happy with the footage we took during our back-up session and I think that we were successful in our improvements. I believe that our red herring sequence will be more effective now and that on the whole our narrative is now clearer too.

Construction Post 24: Reflections on Edit Week 1

Our first week of editing consisted on going through all of the raw footage, renaming the takes, and putting the shots onto the timeline in the basic order. No grading or title making took place this week as the main focus was to see whether a back up shoot would be required after looking through our opening sequence with the footage we had. Below is our Edit week 1 schedule.

1st Editing Week Schedule

As a group we had decided to do a back up shoot as there were both small issues for example the lighting kit can be seen in a shot and the fact that the lawyer locked her door but didn't have keys. Also there was a lipstick stain on the character's glass despite the fact that she doesn't drink the water. 

Lighting kit is seen on left hand side

Lipstick mark is sen on the glass

There were also a few narrative issues. By including our shot of both the lawyers heels and the jogger's trainers we gave away the fact that he is a jogger and so we lost our element of suspense and tension. This was also an issue with the over the shoulder shots we took. After trying our different versions of the shot we decided that the best one was the point of view shot as it is similar to the stalker shot which helps to create mystery and tension. However we only had one take of this shot and it was extremely shaky.

Therefore we need to do a backup shoot to get more takes of this shot and also to make a few adjustments to the end sequence to fit the point of view shots better. Additionally when looking through the footage we realised that the distances between the lawyer and the jogger were inaccurate. The jogger is moving faster than the lawyer but the distance between the two characters never decreased. We plan to change this as well in the back up shoot and pay attention to the distances so that the matches between shots are accurate. 

Group editing session

Another change we decided to make was to have the laywer on her phone as she is walking to make it more realistic as to why she couldn't hear the jogger. This is in response to a text she received in the kitchen scenes. The text will read "Heard he has been released. You ok? I will call you soon." This will hopefully make the link between the lawyer, the stalker and the radio announcement clearer. 

For our back up shoot we are planning to redo the kitchen scenes and the outdoor scenes as our bedroom sequence was exactly how we intended it to be. 

Construction Post 23: Our Post-production Kit

Computer with Adobe Premiere Pro 

Our post-production kit is what we used to edit our footage and what we used to create our credits. The hardware consists of:

• A computer with two monitors
• Headphones
• A MacBook

The software consisted of:

• Adobe Premiere Pro
• LiveType

We used the computer and Adobe Premiere Pro for majority of the editing process and only used the MacBook and LiveType to create our titles and credits as the software has a wide range of fonts and effects we could choose from, helping to make our credits looks as professional as possible. 

Construction Post 22: Reflections on our Main Shoot Session

Our main shoot session took place on the Sunday 26th February 2017. The timings were the same as our test shoot with a call time of 9:00am and a wrap time of 4:00pm. Below is an emaze which contains a copy of our main shootboard. 

For our main shoot we used the feedback from our teachers and our media technician to help us make improvements from our test shoot. For this shoot one of our biggest concerns was making sure all the timings were as accurate as possible so that our opening is within the time limit. We did this by taking a photograph of our timeline with all the individual shot timings and transferring them onto the shootboard on the day. Using our phones we timed how long it took to film each shot and repeated them until the timings were as close as possible to our timeline. 

Another was ensuring that our jogger/red herring sequence wasn't confusing. We had spent time planning this sequence out again, making changes to our timeline and storyboard, so that we were prepared on the shoot day. We did this by filming from behind our character instead of from the side. We also cut out the side shots of the jogger and instead tried out a variety of alternatives including a jogger point of view shot and an over the shoulder shot. We also included a shot of both the lawyer and the joggers feet to help build the tension as the jogger gets closer. Another thing we changed was having the jogger physically bump into the lawyer in order for Tyra's (our lead actress) reaction to be more startled and genuine.

Below is a compilation of the different jogger shots we tried out. 

Finally we developed our main character further through the use of costume and props. We changed her costume so that it was more professional and formal as her dress in the test shoot was not an appropriate choice for a high profile lawyer. Additionally we borrowed a briefcase from our teacher to emphasise that she is a professional, working woman. On top of this we bought a neck band (a clothing garment that barristers wear in court) for her to put in her briefcase to highlight the fact that she is a lawyer. This was emphasised further through our new document which contain the words "Release Form" on it. This was included so that the audience see the character sign the document and show that she is responsible for legal papers and has an important job.

I believe that our bedroom sequence was the most successful part of our shoot. It was quick and simple to film and we were all happy with the shots we included. We decided to remove the tights shot and hair shot as they were time consuming and slightly unnecessary. Instead we added a ring shot as it is much quicker and added some variety. In addition to this we managed to get our long hand held shot within the correct time requirement. We also made the jump from the bedroom to the kitchen smoother by having the lawyer walk into the kitchen and turn on the radio.

Overall I feel that our main shoot was successful as we collected a wide range of footage and now have options to look through during the edit weeks. 

Construction Post 21: Our Production Kit

Our production kit included the following:

• Canon Legria HFG30 Camera 
• Libec TH-650HD Tripod
• Canon DM-100 Directional Microphone
• Headphones
• A Three Point Lighting Kit
• A Tripod Dolly

We also had to sign an equipment release document which had our contact information and signatures proving that we knew how to set up and use the kit correctly as well as agreeing to handle the kit responsibly.  

Standard Kit List

Equipment Release Document