Filming

On Thursday 19th 2009 both me, Becci Taylor and Rob Kenny went round to Marianna Theochari's house to begin filming for our opening of our film. We decided to due to the need of our film needing to be shot at night and the fact that we are good friends, we would stay at Marianna's for the night and complete filming the following night if need be.

We got ready and applied make up and costume to Marianna, Rob and Becci (who was the clown) which took a couple of hours in total before going outside in the pitch balck to film the exterior shots as the weather was good to film in. We completed these within half an hour and made each shot vary if we didn't like one and we also kept moving people around so that if there was something we liked, we could capture it and therefore we would have many shots to choose from in the final production.

We completed filming all exterior shots first, then the ones inside where there had to be no adjustments to costume or make up, then the ones where there did have to be such as blood. Finally we did all of the other shots needed such as close ups of objects and sounds and frames of the title.

We finally went to bed in the early hours of the morning and looked at the footage we had and decided that there were a couple more shots needed which was a problem due to the now messed up costumes however we over came this as the character had an identical top. We also had to repeat a few shots over due to Marianna's family being around and talking some of the time we were filming which was a bit of a nuisance sometimes.

The filming was successful so far and we are all looking forward to seeing all the footage.

Rob - Boyfriend and Director

Marianna - Girlfriend

Becci - The Clown

Me - Camera Operator and Director

Me filming Rob for the shot where he goes upstairs, which was one of the scenes in the final cut.

This was Becci at the very begginning of the evening, applying her clown make-up.

Marianna and Rob with the title in fake blood on Marianna's door at the end of the night.

Marianna and Rob in fake blood for their final death scene.

Rob, Becci and Marianna in full make up and costume at the end of filming.

This picture shows Becci relaxing very late at night after filming her scenes (however we wouldn't let her take her make up off until we were sure that we wouldn't need her again!)

Feedback On my Animatic

My feedback for my animatic was mainly positive as we had used a variety of shots and planned it very carefully.

The only real disagreement we had was over shot 9 as some thought that it would be too long however we thought that it worked really well and would be effective.

Overall, i am very proud of my groups animatic and wouldn't change a thing until the point of filming and we decided on the spot to change something or one of the shots we had decided on wouldn't work as well as we hoped it would.

Film Ideas so far...

When it comes to the main production, I will be working with Rob Kenny, Marianna Theochari and Becci Taylor. We plan to create the opening of a horror film with the intention of being released to an audience that are in their mid teen years or older.

The planned roles for our team will be Rob and Marianna being the couple during the opening that are murdered by the clown and therefore doing the majority of the acting alongside a currently unknown person portraying the murderous clown.

The film will be about an old abandoned fun house that after a murder occurred within its walls, has since been haunted by a terrifying clown who will kill anyone who trespasses. The story is legend to a group of teenagers that decide to investigate for themselves and of course, get a very nasty surprise...

The opening will set the story in that it will feature a boyfriend and girlfriend couple that explored the funhouse and are relaxing at home alone when the mysterious clown appears to wreak its revenge.

Preliminary exercise

Preliminary Exercise Evaluation

I think that our preliminary exercise came out really well and I am really proud of it. All the shots that we did came out perfectly steady and they were all in focus. I think that we used the rule of thirds perfectly and that every person involved in the shots was framed well and appeared at the right height. The camera height fitted and suited the shots, it wasn't leaning or tilted and suitable for each shot. The eyeline match i think was correct and looked genuine. The subject was clearly visible in each of our shots and there was the correct amount of the subject being shown. I think that there was one shot in the middle of the sequence that didn't need to be there and didn't really work and wasn't done well at all therefore i think that that is the only thing that i would change or remove.

I think that our match on action was successful and worked well as it looked real and as though it was really happening. There aren't any jump cuts which I was really happy with and the shot reverse shot sequence worked really well and that the pace was correct. I don't think that you notice any transitions between the shots and that the cuts are perfectly timed. There aren't any editing decisions that I would change and I am also happy with the fade to black that we put in towards the beginning.

I think that the dialogue is appropriate and at certain times, it is very clear but at others it is quite quiet so i think that we could have done with speaking a little louder.

I think that the lighting is good however there is a point where we could have done with removing paper from the shot due to the fact it was reflecting the light but apart from that I think that the lighting was pretty good. I also think that the setting and background was appropriate for the kind of scene that we were filming.

I think that our team worked incredibly well and we all contributed in some way. I was like the director of the scene as I filmed and also co-ordinated the shots to try and get them in focus and make sure they were all framed correctly. I am really pleased with the final production and would only really change one shot out of the whole thing.

For this project, I worked with Faye Gibbs, Perry Allen and Sam Walton.