CCR3

How did your production skills develop throughout this project?

prezi

Here is a link to prezi where I have explained how my skills have developed.

https://prezi.com/view/trxHjkWBoFBKJmxUeq00/

camera workshop 1 

in the first camera workshop we did we first learnt how to operate the camera. after unfolding the tripod and getting it to the appropriate level for what you are filming you have to do what was called 'bubbling the tripod'. there is a small yellow circle on the tripod which contains an air bubble within it. when bubbling the tripod you have to make sure that the bubble is facing up and centre. this means that your shot will keep the shot in frame completely straight and not bent to an angle.

one of the tips give to us on the day was to make sure that when we were not using the camera to make sure we kept the pan lock on and the tilt lock on. this was to make sure that is anyone was to brush past the camera on accident would be avoided

the camera we were shown and told we were going to be working with was the black magic mini Ursula with an 18mm - 300mm lens. when you attach the camera to the tripod u have to use the shoe under the camera along with the button on the left and the knob to the right in order to slide the camera in and lock it in place ensuring it will not become loose and fall.

one of the tips we were given on the day was to use the 'yours', 'mine' technique where when giving or receiving the camera you use the correct affiliated term increasing the safety of you and the camera.

on the black magic mini Ursula camera it uses V - lock batteries which you slide into place at the back of the camera and then lock in place to release the battery you press a button on the left of the camera.

When you want to focus on things using cameras that are on a manual setting zoom all the way into the object (the eyeball if it is a human face) using the furthest wheel on the lens. Once zoomed in it is easier to see how focused your shot is, you can use the nearest wheel on the lens to adjust. Once focused you can then zoom back out however far you want in order to achieve a nice looking, in focus image.

You can also change how bright your image is on a manual camera using the exposure wheel at the base of the lens. The white balance on the camera can be changed by pressing the touch screen 'WB' symbol on the cameras monitor, here you can pick settings to suit the light you are working with (like 'outdoor lighting', 'artificial lighting' and 'fluorescent lighting') or bring the white balance up and down manually to your preferred setting.

camera workshop 2 

180 Degrees Rule:

The 180 degrees rule is a film-making technique used to help keep the audience aware of where the characters (or objects of interest) are in the scene. For example, if you are shooting a scene of a conversation between two people you would create a mental line directly between the two and make sure to keep your camera the same side of that line at all times whilst composing shots. This means that for the audience one character will always remain on the left hand side of the screen and the other character always on the right.

rule of thirds:

The rule of thirds is a rule of thumb for film-making which generally leads to shots that are a lot more organised, aesthetically pleasing and easy to read for an audience. This technique splits the frame of a shot into an imaginary three by three grid the points where the lines cross being the main points of interest for the viewer, reading from top left (most important) to bottom right (least important) (this is because we read images the same way we read books, going from left to right, top to bottom). A film-maker utilizes this information  by placing the focuses of the scene around these points. 

Master Coverage:

Master coverage is a method of shooting where the film-makers take a wide shot of the whole scene first thing on the shooting day so that they have footage of all that happens for them to refer back to and use in the final edit in an emergency. This is a good habit to get into as a filmmaker, because it not only makes continuity errors on your scenes less likely but it also means that if problems occur at some point in the shoot which means they have to cut it short they have something to use and the scene will will be workable.

shoot day 

at the beginning of the shoot day we went to the studio to get the equipment which consisted of 

- camera 

- mics 

- tripod 

- light reflector

we then loaded the gear onto the mini bus and we left with our two actors Albie and. Maddie (Maddie followed us In her can as it was being used for the sequence). we got to our location and we unpacked our gear. we then told out actors to put on their costumes which were wetsuits with a hoodie over the top. we wanted to complete the sequences where the actors were dry first to make it easier for the actors and ourselves. we started by filming the in car sequences. me and Ashton sat in the back seat of maddies car with one of us holding the camera and one of us holding the microphone. Ashton did a shot of Maddie driving the car from a side profile angle. we were going to switch to film Albi from the same angle for it to go at the beginning of our sequence but we decided to not go with that idea and we went with the idea to get more scenery shots of around the lake to establish the sequence. 

we then moved on to taking the firsts shoots of the car driving in. we did a wide shot, close up, mid shot and a high angle view from across the river of the pulling up to besides the lake. we got albie and Maddie to make a conversation and to laugh so that it would look more natural.

we then went on to shooting alibi and madddie getting out of of the car and walking down to the river. we first filmed a mid shot of the car driving up and then the car stopping and them getting out. we then did a shot where we pointed the camera so you could see the edge of the river through the front windscreen of the car which framed albi and Maddie holding hands walking down to the edge of the river. 

we also got a shot from across the river of albie and Maddie walking down to the beach which I really liked as it framed the shot really well and would be a nice scene to cut to when we edited the clips together to get the final product.

this is where we set up the camera for the high angle framing shot

we next shot down by the river. alibi and Maddie would walk into the mid shot and would say their dialogue. we set up the camera and we took our shot. the shot consisted of alibi saying "you coming in then" and then Maddie replying "alright give me a sec" Maddie then walked out of the shot to go back to her car to get her phone and put her jumper in the car. Albie would then continue to stay in the shot, take his hoodie off to reveal the wetsuit and bend down to use the paddle board into the water.

this image shows us shooting the conversation by the lake we would all take turns to film with the camera and hold the microphone so we were able to pick up the conversation with clear sound.

we then continues to shoot the sequence where Maddie and alibi are acting in their own sequences. Maddie walking to the car to get the phone and put the hoodie away and alibi pushing the paddle board onto the lake and paddle boarding on the river.

this is the angle we shot Maddie walking up to the car in

before we could film albies sequences on the water he had to have a health and safety briefing. it was a work this would take up time when we could be filming but we were able to shoot all the scenes we needed with Maddie when he was doing his briefing and once he had finished we were ready to shoot his sequence.

for maddies sequence it followed this guideline 

- walk up to the car 

- open the car door 

- take hoodie off 

- put hoodie in car 

- get phone off passenger seat 

- close car door 

- say alibi as he has disappeared 

we shot this sequence in a wide shot and a mid shot along with a close up of her putting the hoodie down and the picking the phone up.

for allies sequence it followed this guideline 

- put life jacket on 

- push paddle board onto river 

- jump on paddle board 

- paddle out a bit 

- stand up on paddle board 

- push paddle boars in water

we started shooting the sequence at a mid shot and then as he went not onto the river we did a focus pull. when he was standing on the paddle board we got a few wide shots a few mid shots and a close up of him on the paddle board so we could make different cuts when Maddie was doing her sequence in the car.

once we had taken our shots of alibi we got him to get of the paddle board into the river and to push the paddle board into the open to look like he has disappeared. we then took a wide and mid shot of the paddle board floating in the open. 

once we had finished the water sequence alibi could get out the river. 

we then shot Maddie running down to the river shouting "alibie". we started with a mid shot of her running past the camera shouting alibi and ended with her screaming alibi loudly at a close up of her face. the albies were built up to create tension.

the final shots we did for the day were establishing shots of the lake. some examples of the shots we took are:

- three different pans of the lake 

- a low angle shot of the edge of the river 

- a tilted shot of the hut on the lake 

- shots of the ducks we saw down the river 

- shots of the side of the river which looked like cliffs 

some examples of the shots are below 

research and planning

research into lake scenes

the shack - boat scene 

this is a good clip with good ideas on how we want to shoot our lake scenes

it has wide establishing shots of the big lake which has inspired us to include this in our sequence. it also has close up shots and mid shots of the characters on the lake with efficient editing and cuts making it a clean sequence. we can take this on in our shoot day by getting close ups and mid shots of albie on the paddle board and with good editing we can make a clean sequence cutting between establishing shots of the lake and close up shots of albie on the paddle board 

research into thriller genre conventions

the aim for any thriller genre film is to provide 'thrills' the audience whilst giving them adrenaline and apprehension as there is a build up to a climax.

there are different types of thriller as follows 

- comedy thriller (combines suspense and comedy)

- action thriller (combines suspense, stimulating and dramatic atmosphere, 'race against the clock', violence, antagonist, overcoming obstacles, scenarios involving action)

- crime thriller (hybrid of a crime and thriller film, combines drama, thriller and suspense, focus on criminal rather than police)

- mystery thriller (mystery and suspense, storylines have extravagant plots, viewer must pay full attention to get the most out of the movie)

- psychological thriller (mental state of the characters, protagonist involved in a situation that effects their sanity)

- conspiracy thriller (protagonist meets someone who has more power than them)

- sci-fi thriller (narratives of science basted storylines, aliens, space, time travel, futuristic)

conventions of the genre 

narrative 

- protagonists 

- antagonist 

- variation of characters 

- realistic characters and action

- climax 

setting and sound 

- usually set in city areas or woods, secluded areas 

- woods = less diabetic background noise 

- natural sounds 

lighting 

- low key lighting, stimulates tense environment 

- high key lighting, stimulates more upbeat environment 

mise en scene 

- mirrors 

- shadows and Silhouettes

- weapons 

- drugs 

- dark urban setting 

- cars

- red

- blood 

story board 

research into order and titles of opening credits

 look at opening title sequences and see what info comes in order 

i.e important to less important then to more important again (standard)

style of credits on examples of films similar to your title sequence 

do you want your titles to be noticed or do you want the audience to be watching the actions 

what style are you going for 

opening credit sequences are important as they credit the deserved actors, directors, producers and designers who put work into creating and finalising the film. however, they are also important as they can tell the audience the overall theme of the film whilst also being able to set the tone for the scene before the characters come on the screen.

taxi driver - opening title sequence