Film Shoot - 27/04

On the Saturday, we went back to film the rest of the Grindleford shoot, which went quite well. Most of us attended (4/5) and we managed to get the rest of the footage captured. Unfortunately we ran into weather problems during the day so lost some time. However I feel we managed to get some good work completed on this day.

Film Shoot - 26/04

On Friday 24th April, we managed to schedule our first shoot at Grindleford. We took the shot list, all the props needed and travelled by train at 10:14am. Unfortunately, our actors all dropped out of our production the day before we were planning to shoot, therefore Joe & myself had to take over the roles of the actors, and balance them with our cinematography work as well. I was disappointed because I would have preferred to concentrate on what was happening behind the camera rather than being in front of it, however it was our organisation skills we should have taken consideration in when it came to actors, so it was a learning curve. 

Production still from beginning of shoot

All crew (Tom Newsham, Joe Butterworth, Luke Harrison, Joel Danby-Irons & myself) all attended this shoot, and we worked on our 'country exterior'. I feel it was a successful shoot, the weather managed to stay good throughout the day and we managed to get a lot of the work done, however we didn't finish and due to being tired and shooting from 10-6, we decided to have a rest and return to shoot tomorrow. 

Here are some more stills/photos I managed to capture through the day in intervals of filming and acting. 

Here is a prop we used within the film.

Call Sheet - Grindleford Shoot 26/04/13

Shot List for Shoots

After Tom completed the script, I decided to create an overall shot list for the entire project, therefore I knew we had all the shots we wanted and needed for the project. This will be incredibly helpful on shoots because it'll work as a to do list, so we don't miss anything important on the day. It also allows us to see (in our heads) how it will visually look in edit, which is interesting...

Script for Project

When we finally managed to get the group together, we worked on the key points, and features we needed, such as lighting changes and colour, and with notes made in Grindleford previously, we came up with an idea. At first we were slightly over-ambitious with the amount of time we had to accomplish, however I feel we managed to creatively cut down the idea to make it just as a effective.

Little Synopsis: We follow Ashlene and James, a couple hoping to rekindle their relationship. James suggests camping, and therefore the two travel to a campsite, where they are followed by a dark shadow. Only Ashlene notices the shadow, and James seems oblivious. At the campsite, Ashlene spots this 'man' dragging a tarp across the ground, and freaks out to tell James. James calms her down and tells her to go to sleep, expecting she's over reacting to an animal in the woods. In the morning, James wakes up to find Ashlene gone...

Script:

INT. BEDROOM - LATE EVENING/EARLY MORNING                        

                                                                           

          Looking from atop the wardrobe we see ASHLENE rummaging          

          around underneath, JAMES is calling items of clothing out to     

          her from off-screen.                                             

                                                                           

          ASHLENE is about to respond but instead drops her shoulders      

          and shuts the wardrobe doors with a bang.                        

                                                                           

          JAMES’s is on his knees, his head down at his camping bag,       

          he’s wrestling with the zip. He defeats it and turns to          

          ASHLENE. Noticing her lack of enthusiasm he places his hands     

          on her shoulders, giving her a comforting stare and then         

          embrace. Lights out                                              

                                                                           

                                                                           

          EXT. COUNTRY PATHWAY - MORNING                                   

                                                                           

          We track backwards out from JAMES’S camera lens, the shutter     

          CLICKS. His fiancé ASHLENE forces herself to look jolly in       

          her hiking attire. JAMES mocks her lack of enthusiasm and        

          she cracks a real smile. JAMES clicks the shutter again.         

                                                                           

                                                                           

          EXT. GRINDLEFORD - MORNING                                       

                                                                           

          The two are wandering around light-heartedly. JAMES points       

          to an animal in a tree, ASHLENE takes notice and looks at it     

          through camera. She noticed CREEP and jolts with shock.          

                                                                           

          The two are erecting a tent, ASHLENE struggling and              

          purposefully putting in little effort. She has a mini            

          tantrum and wanders off. JAMES looks back, feeling bad.          

                                                                           

          ASHLENE is wandering up hill. Bored, she taps a branch           

          against trees. She hears something. CREEP is dragging some       

          heavy object covered in tarp. ASHLENE whips behind the tree      

          next to her, her face only just peering out behind it. CREEP     

          is struggling with his dragging, he awkwardly trips and          

          loses his grip, as he reaches back to pick it up we see that     

          it’s a person’s limp hand. ASHLENE has a look of horror and      

          presses the back of her head to the back of the tree. CREEP      

          is passing, ASHLENE very hesitantly turns to look round the      

          other side of the tree. We see a blur approach her from          

          behind. JAMES racks into focus and ASHLENE jumps massively.      

          She quickly turns around to where CREEP was and nothing is       

          there. She looks back at JAMES hitting him half joking, half     

          serious. He puts his arm around her and they turn to walk        

          back.                                                            

                                                                           

                                                                           

                                                                           

                                                                           

                                                                           

                                                                           

                                                                           

                                                                  2.       

                                                                           

                                                                           

                                                                           

          EXT. GRINDLEFORD - NIGHT.                                        

                                                                           

          The silhouettes of JAMES and ASHLENE stirring in the tent,       

          layed on opposite sides of the tent. They are on their sides     

          looking at each other. JAMES is looking at ASHLENE, a tiny       

          camp light is between them. She turns it out, it turns to        

          day, JAMES wakes up, wincing at the light.                       

                                                                           

                                                                           

          EXT. GRINDLEFORD - MORNING                                       

                                                                           

          Looking inside the tent from outside, JAMES is alone in the      

          tent. The zip door is open and waving in the wind. JAMES         

          hurried goes to put on his jumper.                               

                                                                           

          He is outside the tent and looking frantic, he’s looking         

          around standing still. From up the hill we can she an arm        

          from around a tree on the left. She is bound to the tree         

          with rope and gagged. JAMES comes running up and tries to        

          help her. CREEP slowly walks from off screen up to JAMES and     

          hits him with club. CREEP is standing before them, club in       

          hand. ASHLENE has a look of horror, she struggles with her       

          ropes, he throws the bat on the floor. ASHLENE manages to        

          get out of her gag and is screaming hysterically.                

                                                                           

          Looking up at the sky, JAMES is dragged backwards down the       

          hill. JAMES’S vision is blurred, we focus in on ASHLENE          

          screaming. Fades to black.                                      

Grindleford: Location Scout Photos...

Before planning our main project, we decided to travel to Grindleford to see if we could use this as an external location, but also just to have some practice outside of university. Unfortunately only two of us out of the group were able to make it, however, we spent our time planning how we could use the location to our advance in regard to our narrative. Here are the photos from the location scout.

Grindleford Shoot - slideshows

Point Of View

The Point of View is the style of shot that determines who the viewer identifies within a scene. It works with other graphical and editorial techniques such as framing - which determine the level of involvement a viewer has with the character on screen.

The point of view throughout a narrative film often changes, and is usually, if done with the right technique, largely invisible to the audience. The accumulated effect of these changes profoundly affect the way in with the audience may interpret any scene of your film. 

There are three different types of narration in film in regard to point of view:

First-Person Point of View

Third Person Point of View

Omniscient Point of View

FIRST PERSON POINT OF VIEW

This style of P.O.V takes the narration of a film and moves it completely into the interior of one character. In first person, the story is sometimes told by the character themselves.  As an audience we see through the character's eyes - the 'I' of the story. 

Here are two examples I found, not from a film but a music video. The entire video takes place in first person, which to me makes it more intense and allows me as an audience member to have full involvement in the situation. 

THIRD PERSON POINT OF VIEW

This style of P.O.V presents the action of the film as seen by an ideal observer. This is one of the most popular/common styles used in mainstream Hollywood cinema, but rarely used on its own throughout a film. It's usually combined with the selected use of omniscient and subjective passages. 

OMNISCIENT POINT OF VIEW

Omniscient point of view allows the audience to know what the characters are thinking. This is usually achieved through narration, voice-over or graphics. A good film example of this is shown above, Mean Girls, where we have a range of shots which are explained by the main character as we proceed through the story. We're in the characters' head, therefore allows us to feel more involved.