Handmade Steadi-cam - Carla

As we want to mirror the feel of a dog when he finds the package, we've created a mock steadi-cam with the help of Andy and some gaffer tape. We will use this by holding the tripod upside down and walking with it, near to the ground. This should give the effect of being at a dog's eye level and seeing what the dog 'Sammie' can see, from so low down. We felt this would be interesting because it will give a different shot with an unique perspective and gives the audience a new viewpoint.

Handmade Steadi-cam

Holiday Filming Times

As we have to postpone filming due to the weather, we have taken the decision to film over the Christmas Holidays. We have discussed times that we are all free and this is what we have come up with.

Filming Times

• Thursday 27th - 11am onwards
• Saturday 29th - 11am onwards
• Monday 31st - 11 am onwards

We've rented out all the equipment we need and we hope to finish filming over these days during the holidays, then when we return in January we shall be ready to edit.

Shoot cancelled due to weather - Carla

Unfortunately today we were very unlucky, as about 20 minutes before we were going to leave to go and film at the South Downs, it decided to rain very hard! This meant we couldn't go filming as we didn't want to have a mix of shots in the dry and then the rain, plus the equipment would have got very wet. This setback has now pushed us further behind and filming during the holidays may need to be an option. We've learnt we have to plan more carefully and look at weather reports in advance as there are such risks with filming outside!

Shooting in the Car-Park - Carla

Today we were filming on top of the beacon. We achieved all the entrance shots of both the car and the Motorbike pulling in. However the entrance shots took a lot longer than we thought as we shot a lot of angles. This does now mean we are behind schedule. Tomorrow we shall shoot the actual handover of the package when the two men meet.

Here are a few photos of us in the car park, while we are shooting both the Motorbike and car driving in separately and parking.
We also did an extreme long shot of James driving along the road and pulling in with a slight pan.

This is the boys setting up the camera to do a close up of Harrison parking.

Here we are doing the extreme long shot of James riding along the main road.

In action doing a high angle long shot as Harrison pulls in.

Here both James and myself are setting up the camera and the GoPro for when Harrison pulls in.

James is setting up a low angle shot of where Harrison will go past.

Filming a Medium shot as Harrison then James comes in to the car-park.

From today, we have learnt that we will have to be more organised with working out how long each part will take. We underestimated how long it would take to do each shot and over 2 hours we didn't get enough footage to move on. This means tomorrow we will have to return and carry on from when the boys arrive on their vehicles. 

Also in picture 4, you can see we had both the GoPro on the car and the camera on the ground. We had to shoot this once on the GoPro, then remove it before we filmed it on the HD camera, as we didn't want the audience to be able to see the GoPro on the car as this would make it look very amateur.

Shooting yesterday with the GoPro - Carla

Yesterday we filmed just with the the GoPro on Harrison's car to show the journey up to the South Downs. We tried quite a few angles to give us a variety in shot choice when editing. 

Here the GoPro has been attached with string for extra protection.

This shot focuses on a low angle of the car where the wheel arch can be seen and a unique view point is achieved.

This shot where it is stuck on to the boot gives a shot of the whole of the inside of the car.

Here the sucker is placed on the front bonnet where the Camera can record through the glass and the audience can see Harrison driving.

With the GoPro we are lucky enough to be able to get a really different viewpoint on driving and it makes the journey look much more interesting. As the GoPro can literally be placed anywhere securely, we can make normally very tricky shots, into completely versatile shots that are easy to set up and look really effective. The fish eye lens also creates a sort of distortion which works really well with our story-line and creates a sense of ambiguity.

The one disadvantage of filming with a GoPro that we learnt, is that it is annoying to get a lot of different shots as we have to keep stopping then starting again and driving for a while then stopping again to change the angle. Also the battery life isn't that great, but all the positives of using such a unique camera massively outweigh these minor blips!

Go Pro Shots - Harrison

Here are three of the go pro shots we are going to be using in our final piece, obviously on the second one the music wont be there and it will be cut shorter, when I rendered it on my home PC it went a bit weird and was longer than I expected. We also have a lot more footage and we are going to film some more angles of driving, here are just three.

The first one is just above the wheel arch, the second one is from the inside of the car, facing the back of my head creating enigma as we don't know who I am or what I am doing and the third one is from the outside of my car facing in on me looking suspicious.

View them on YouTube for better quality.

Costume Ideas - Carla

As James is going to be attending a party he shall be wearing smart clothes. However as he will be riding a Motorbike he shall be dressed in his Bike leathers for protection. As our short film is a modern representation of young adults, this means that we shall be dressed in typical clothes, as we want the characters to be easy to relate to. So Harrison will for example just be wearing jeans and a hoodie. Myself, as the dog walker will just be wearing leggings , a coat and wellies as these shoes are stereotypical of dog walkers as they suit the terrain.

 

We want our film to represent a social realist genre as much as possible, so the costume needs to be quite neutral and not stand out as anything too 'different' so that it distracts from the narrative.

Prezi of the last few days of filming - Carla

Here is a Prezi of our filming schedule over the next few days. This will help us to keep organised and focused to keep within the time limit.

Health and Safety - Carla

Health and Safety is a very important aspect when filming as we are placing ourselves in a different environment while concentrating on the camera and getting the right shot. This could lead to us being distracted and perhaps not concentrating as well as we should on our surroundings leading to an accident. This link here is to the BBC Film Network on FilmMaking, and it gives an example of a possible risk.

As we will be filming with a GoPro during 2 vehicle journeys, we will have to make sure the GoPro is securely fitted to the Motorbike and Car not only with the suction mechanism but also with string on Jame's bike to ensure it defintely will not fall off, in the event of the sucker loosening. We also will set up the GoPro in a safe and secure environment before we leave, and when we want to change the place of the camera we will pull in to a safe place off the main roads.

James will be sure to wear all his protective leathers, helmet, gloves and boots to keep safe whilst riding on his Motorbike. We will also be careful not to distract Harrison while he is driving in the car, if we are in the back filming.

The GoPro Suction device

As we are filming on the downs in a car park so we will have to park in a sensible place, so we're not in the way of any other people wanting to park there. We also will be on uneven terrain and will have to look out for potential tripping hazards. Additionally, we will be at the top of the Downs, which is very windy so we shall make sure we dress appropiately.

We also will have to check the weather before we go as we don't want poor lighting ruining our shots, and because we don't want it to be in the rain.

For our props we use a package. This is just going to be an empty box wrapped up so if we drop it it won't break. We will also be sure to carry a first aid kit in Harrison's car just in case of any accidents.

Go Pro Test Shots

The shots that we will use for our actual film will be better quality and we will have a mount so it will be much more steady.