Shooting schedule

Here is a copy of our shooting shedule used to plan all shooting dates and times.

Shot Lists/Logs:

Before each shoot we devised a shot list of all the shots that we planned to film. We then used these lists as logs on the shoot, recording the timecodes for each shot and adding extra shos which we hadn't planned. This is just one of our 4 sheets.

Storyboard of our opening sequence:

Here are pictures of the storyboards we created for our opening sequence before our first shoot. (This is a very late post as I lost my USB wire which linked my phone to my computer, so was unable to upload pictures.)

Fonts

After looking through many different fonts on the website "http://www.dafont.com", we have decided on a certain font named seebreeze. We were looking for a plain simple font that wouldnt look too amateur. We felt this font fit perfectly so it was downloaded.

We'd also like to wish Tom A a happy birthday today!

Facebook Message

We have a facebook message so that we can communicate when we do not see each other at school eg. at half term or at weekends. This allows us to tell each member of the group any ideas or suggestions that we may have, and we can discuss them easily.

MUSIC RESEARCH:

Below I have embeded two different videos:


-The first is by composer Sean Callery, whom I admire for his work on the US drama 24. This track, from the 24 soundtrack, is a briliant and inspiring example of a suspense filled idea.


-The second is a track from the hit video game COD Modern Warfare 2. Hans Zimmer, the composer of this particular work, is one of my favourite composers/sound designers, having produced the music for films ranging from Madagascar to The Dark Night. This extract (skip to 2:20-2:45) is a great example of fast paced action music. I really like its focus on percussive timbres and the electronic/techno-style soundscape created.   



(Skip to 2:20-2:45)

Teacher Feedback: BLK

The overall feedback given to our rough cut was that most of it could and should be used for our actual film. This was agreed as bad weather conditions expected over the weekend would make any footaged gained impossible to match (e.g. if it was raining, then suddenly it was snowing!). It was agreed that filming the whole sequence again in the rain would not be worth the effort just to fix the minor problem of slightly imperfect footwear on our 'bad guy', as the sequence we have created out of our test footage works really well one the whole.

So, as a result it was decided that if we get good weather, we will try to film the shots of our 'bad guy' outside with the car in better costume.

We will also film, if weather allows, the shot of 'Matt' coming through the door, but this time, closing it.

We will also film, if weather allows, the shot of the 'Bad Guy' breaking into the house, trying there to improve the action - maybe he kicks the door?

We will film, regardless of weather (as it's inside) the final scene of our sequence (the fight) to acheive better matches on action and maybe make it a bit longer.

Rough Cut - Group Feedback

Here is what we as a group believe we need to change for saturday:

• Different costume - Tom P will order a balaclava tonight, and Hugh will be wearing black cargo pants and black boots
• We will experiment with focus pulls over the banister shots in order to have variety in what shots to use
• In one of the final shots (the slow pan over to Matt's eyes), we will use a range of different focuses in order to achieve a more thrilling effect with the mirror
• We will try to achieve better match on action in the fight scene at the end by making the fight more similar each time it is shot
• In order to make the bad guy look more convincing we will have him looking around less when he is on the street
• We will make sure Matt closes the door as he enters the house to try and give the effect of trying to keep people out of the house

Teacher Feedback: DYM

I must point out that the lack of posts for the past week and a bit is almost completely down to Hugh being on holiday. But we have completed our rough cut, and here is the feedback:

• The beginning of the sequence needs to be slowed down
• The kidnapper looks around too much - needs to be more subtle
• All the stairwell shots work well
• Matt shouldnt leave the door open when he enters the house
• Pull focus on the bannisters?
• Try different focuses for the wolfman shot

Prop Prep:

The gun we are using is a toy gun owned by our lead actor Matteo Bragoli. The gun orginally was red at the top, so Tom P, Matteo and I took a trip to the art department to have a go at painting the gun a nice black.

 

We used black acrylic paint.

We used a hair-dryer to speed up the paint drying, and the whole process took us 40 minutes. The end result looks rather good!

I would like to thank the art department on behalf of our group for their co-operation.

Script

Here is the final version of our script
 
hugh tom and toms script

Test Shoot Preparation

Shooting times: Saturday 06/02 - 10am until 2pm
                        Sunday 07/02 - 8am until 4pm

Actors: Matteo Bragoli and Hugh Donnely

Props: Toy gun and Car

Costume

Matteo: Black jeans, Single colour long sleeved top, Trainers

Hugh: Black coat, balaclava, Black cargo trousers, Black boots, Black gloves

Production Meeting 5

This meeting was again spent storyboarding. Only me (Tom P) and Hugh were present because Tom A was in court. The storyboard has finally been almost completed however it has taken an extremely long time. The time spent is the equivilent of the running time of the film Avatar (2 hours and 40 minutes).

From this meeting we have decided that the next priorities are the shot list and scipt.

Production Meeting 4

This meeting has been mostly spent on storyboarding our sequence. The timeline was also finished and a list of props, actors and costume was made. The storyboard is about a quarter complete and very time consuming due to the number of shots we plan to have.

The main task that has been set is to finish our storyboard as soon as possible so changes can made if needed and all is ready for our test shoot on Sunday.

Opening Sequence Timeline

• Matt runs through gate
• Matt continues to run through carpark
• He reaches gate and opens it
• He runs through garden
• He fumbles through keys and then opens back door
• He runs up a short flight of stairs and through a room
• He runs into the front hall up a long flight of stairs
• On the first floor he runs up another flight of stairs and enters a room
• Here he crouches by a wall next to a window
• The sequence then cuts to a shot of a car pulling up in front of this house
• A shot is shown of the rear view mirror with armed man's eyes
• The man picks up a balaclava and puts it on
• The man steps out of the car and is shown holding a gun
• The sequence cuts back to Matt who is shown looking at this man
• It then cuts back to the armed man who is looking around
• From Matt's point of view again the man is shown to make eye contact with him
• Matt then crouches back behind the window and mutters 'Ah shit!'
• Camera lingers on Matt and a loud noise is heard which indicates that the man has broken into the house
• Armed man is shown in the front hall and begins to move up the stairs
• Matt realises he is in danger, he starts to run even further upstairs
• Crosscuts are shown between Matt running upstairs and hiding and the armed man moving up the stairs
• Slower cross cuts between Matt hiding and the armed man searching upstairs
• Armed man finally is shown a the door of the room Matt is in
• Armed man walks in, whilst looking around Matt tries to disarm him
• After a brief tangle Matt is pinned up against a wall with a gun to his head
• Matt gets knocked out with the gun

Shot References: James Bond

2.40 - Jump cut editing

0.25 - Rear view mirror shot

0.29 - Car track/pan shot - hugh getting out of car, ends with close up of gun

1.03 - Reverse track

1.14 - Running pan to CU

1.46 - LA running pan

3.17 - Reverse track MCU

0.14 - CU of hand

2.17 - MLS of character hiding

These shot references are some examples of shots we wish to mimic in our opening sequence. Having thse will be very useful because it will allow us to have a guide while storyboarding and shooting our sequence.

Proposal Feedback

• Great presentation
• Good Idea
• Strong conventional features
• Clear target audience
• Strong Actors
• Will we be able to sustain the visual look of the action-thriller genre?
• Second half of narrative is not working.
• Keep 'Matt' on the first floor until the guy enters the house.
• Then cross-cuts between guy walking up stairs and 'Matt' running upstairs and trying to hide.
• This avoids issue of having 'Matt' looking scared in the upstairs of his own house!
• Develop chronological sequence. 

We were given the green light to move onto pre-production.
We received an A grade for our Planning.
We received an A grade for our Presentation.

Proposal Handout

Proposal Toms and Hugh

Our Actors:

MATTEO BRAGOLI 

Cast in our main role is an experienced actor of eleven years with two oscar nominations under his belt. Since acting from a very young age he has been very successful on stage. Known for his musical talents he finds time to play regularly with a band as well as appearing in sell-out performances popular plays and musicals. Matteo has gained many acheivements over the years, winning the hit childrens reality show 'Tiger's Wood', and most recently securing a distinction in his grade 8 drama. Nearly selected for the role as Alex Rider in the 2006 film, Matteo is still striving to win his first oscar.     

HUGH DONNELLY
Hugh has had a long and lucrative acting career.

He began aged just 10, with a brief stint on hit childrens reality show 'Tiger's Wood', but was quickly eliminated from the competition. 


He has been the star of many high grossing feature films and popular TV shows.

He appeared for a few seconds on 'The Football League Show' on the BBC late last year.

He has dabbled briefly in the modeling industry, appearing on the cover of the 2008 game 'Agent Recall'.

He has also become an internet sensation following appearences in many short films on YouTube.


He truly is a living legend, with many awards and accolades. He looks forward to being able to put something back into industry that has given him so much, as the executive producer of this film.

He will be wearing a balaclava.

Brief Film Synopsis:

Matthew Lockwood is 19. He doens't know it, but his father works for MI5. Taken hostage by a mysterious armed man, Matt learns of his fathers job and of how he is wanted by terrorists for the capturing of one of their leaders. Faced with his only sons life in one hand, and the freedom of a terrorist leader responsible for the death of thousands of innocent people in another, Agent Lockwood must make the choice between the two, even if means breaking the law to save his sons life...