Production Diary

Production Diary

What, When and Where?
Day 1
On Saturday 30th November Nina and I filmed the first 2 scenes of our thriller opening sequence. We filmed the scene in Bennetts Rec Park where Ella and her brother are playing and where she first becomes aware that she may be being watched. We then filmed in our second location- Dunstable Town Centre. The Town Centre is where Ella is separated from her mother Lindsey and then is kidnapped.

My contribution
When filming on Saturday I took control of organising the actors as I am the director. I made sure they were dressed appropriately for each scene and knew what they had to do, ensuring that they knew what they had to say if dialogue was required.
Myself and Nina both shared the responsibility of making the sure the camera/tripod were set up appropriately; however once this had been done Nina took charge of the camera.
Additionally I was in charge of using the audio equipment, for example I held the boom microphone close the actor but made sure that it couldn't been seen in any of the shots taken.

What went well?
As myself and Nina had planned what we intended to film thoroughly this allowed us to be very organised when it came to filming the first two scenes. For example we were quickly able to set up our equipment and begin as we already knew where we needed to go when we reached our locations as we had visited the locations previously, thus resulting in us having a clear idea of what would look effective.
Creating a video using our test shots additionally helped us as it allowed us to know how well our ideas were going to fit together. This meant that we were easily able to film without wasting time as our improvements would improve continuity.

What didn't go so well?
When filming it was difficult to record dialogue without recording the noise of the wind or traffic from the busy main road. Hopefully during the editing process this noise will be removed so the opening sequence sounds as intended.
As we filmed on a Saturday, in some areas it was difficult to film without the public being in the background; however in some shots this was an advantage as it made the shot look realistic which can be a convention of the thriller genre.

Overall how successful was the shoot?
Personally, I would suggest that the shoot went extremely well as we managed to film everything we needed in the time we had to do so and the shots look neat and professional. As we put a lot of work into planning the shoot the majority of the shots are perfect; however on reflection (time permitting) we should have filmed each shot 3 times in order to make every shot exemplary.


What, when and where?
Day 2
Yesterday (4th December 2013) Nina and I visited the last location we have planned for. We visited the police station in Houghton Regis where we filmed the final scene where a policeman receives details of the missing child.
I had previously spoken to the police officer in order to arrange when and how we were planning to film this scene. He was very positive and said we could come in that day after we had finished school.
(The image below shows me preparing to record some dialogue at the police station whilst Nina is filming the action).

My contribution
Before we filmed I made sure that the police officer was free and was happy to partake in our production. I did this by firstly emailing Bedfordshire police then arranging with an officer what I would like to do. I was then given a telephone number of the police officer in the video who I contacted and arranged a date and time.
When filming this scene I took control of making sure that the police officer knew what he had to say and I made sure he knew which shots we would be needing.
Similarly to the first time we filmed I was additionally in charge of the audio equipment in order to make sure that we received a good sound quality from the police officer so the audience can hear his dialogue clearly.

What went well?
Myself and Nina had planned this scene in great detail, so therefore we knew what we needed from the police officer and we knew which props should be featured.
Even though we had not managed to practise this scene beforehand, the shoot still went smoothly as we knew what we needed to do.
Additionally the police officer was very friendly and co-operative which allowed us to be inspired by some of the ideas that he put forward. As we have selected a professional policeman it made the shots look natural and fluent.

What didn't go so well?
The only minor disadvantage of filming at the police station was that we couldn't film the scene in 'film noir'. This would have looked effective in our production as it is a thriller; however we could not take all the lighting equipment so we intend to attempt editing the footage to make it film noir once all of the footage has been put together.

Overall how successful was the shoot?
Overall the shoot was flawless as all the shots were recorded perfectly each time and with the help from the officer we were able to make the shots look realistic which will therefore attract the target audience we have suggested. Additionally myself and Nina had thought in great detail about the shots and dialogue we needed which therefore sped up the filming process.
We achieved all the shots we needed to with good camera work from Nina which allowed our shoot to be very successful.


What, when and where?
Day 3
On Sunday 8th December Nina and I visited both Bennetts Rec and Dunstable Town Centre to re-film some of the shots we had previously recorded. For example we re-filmed the POV shot of the antagonist in the park and 2 shots in the town centre- the antagonist's face and the shot reverse shot between Ella and Lindsey.

My contribution

In the re-filming process I played the same role as I had done previously. For instance I made sure everybody knew what they were doing and knew what clothes to wear. Additionally I held the microphone ensuring that it was not in the shot and was switched on at the appropriate times.
(The image above shows me explaining to one of the actors what we need from this specific shoot)

What went well?
We were successful when re-filming as we managed to get all the shots we needed ensuring that they were good quality and would be an improvement to our production. Additionally as we already knew what was needed, we could do it quickly and easily which reduced the time in which we needed to be there.

What didn't go so well?
It was hard to make sure the shots looked continuous for example everyone needed to be wearing the same clothes and needed to have the same hair style.

Overall how successful was the shoot?
I thought the shoot went well as we managed to get the shots we needed, however it would have been better if we had completed all the shots the first time of filming.



What when and where?
Day 4
Today, 9th December 2013 myself and Nina filmed at a telephone box in East Dunstable. When reviewing the footage we had filmed on previous occasions we acted on our own idea and advice given and decided to film some of the last sequence in a telephone box. We hope this will look effective in our production as it will allow the audience to see who (member of the public) has called in reporting the incident to the police, this may also give the audience a sense of realism as they will be hear the emotion in the terrified woman's voice.

My contribution
As I was the stranger in this piece of footage, I was the actor being filmed. This meant that I could not contribute to the filming or audio; however I did watch the footage back to make sure all was appropriate and the audio was clear.

What went well?
We got the shots we needed through careful planning and consideration of where the microphone needed to be placed in order to record the best footage possible.
The lighting was perfect as we needed the weather to be the same so we created continuity and we needed it to be slightly darker than the first 2 scenes so the production was chronologically correct.

What didn't go so well?
It was difficult to get all of the equipment into the telephone box as the door was stiff to open and heavy to hold. As my group consists of just myself and Nina it was hard to make all the equipment function simultaneously; a 3rd person would have made the task more manageable.  

Overall how successful was the shoot?
The shoot was successful, however it would have been easier if we were in a bigger group- this would additionally have made it quicker.
We did manage to get the shots we needed so therefore the shoot was successful.



What, when and where?
Day 5
After receiving feedback from our rough copy of '72 hours' we were given the advice of re-filming a couple of shots throughout the production. For example it was recommended that we filmed a shot of a distraction for the young girl Ella to run to as we were told that this wasn't clear. Additionally we decided to film a first hand shot from both Ella and Harry's point of view. The filming of these shots has allowed our production to include a variety of different shots that should increase the professional aspect of our production.

My contribution
Being the director of this production I had previously planned which shots we would need and how we were going to achieve this. Therefore it was relatively straight forward when it came to filming the actual shots.

What went well?
The sequence went well as the weather was similar to the day we had originally filmed resulting in the cinematography looking continuous. Additionally we had planned it well so we didn't have to spend much time completing these shots. It was also helpful that there wasn't many people around (especially when trying to film in Bennetts Rec Park), this allowed us to film quickly and efficiently.

What didn't go so well?
When filming the balloon shot it was difficult to position the balloon in the way that we had planned for it. The wind was very strong resulting in the balloon blowing around and not doing as we had planned. This was rather difficult to overcome as this wasn't predicted, however with some assistance we did manage to control the direction of the balloon and therefore we did get the footage we needed.

Overall how successful was the shoot?
Overall the shoot was successful as we did manage to get the footage we needed. However the wind was a problem as it meant that the shoot took longer than we had wanted.



Shot log
After filming at all the locations required myself and Nina reviewed all the footage we had collected and made a judgement of whether it was usable or not. We additionally made notes describing what needs to be done in order to make the production look as professional as possible.

Shot Log Combined Refilm

Summary of findings
The shot log will be really useful when it comes to editing our opening sequence as it will quickly allow us to know which shots are required and what we need to do to improve the shot e.g. crop the beginning or end.


Editing
The following are screenshots from Premiere that we have taken whilst editing our opening sequence production.


These screenshots are evidence that I have used the colour corrector. For example in screenshot 1 the colours are as they were originally filmed. Primarily this was how we intended it to be; however when we uploaded the footage onto Premiere the lighting seemed to be too bright which is a problem when trying to make a conventional thriller opening sequence.

To resolve this problem we used the colour corrector effect on Premiere which allowed us to make the image look darker and colder which is a typical convention of the thriller genre. We changed the brightness from 0 to -50 and the contrast from 0 to 7.

Editing technique 2

We have now changed how we want our production to look and we have discovered how to keep one colour but change the rest of the video to black and white. The following screenshots are evidence of the particular technique.

At first we were unsure of how to perform this technique; however after watching a video on You tube we were clear on what we needed to do. The steps were as follows:

1) go to video effects

2) colour correction

3) 'leave colour'

4) drag onto clip

5) choose colour to leave

6) change amount to change

7) change to 'use hue'

8) change tolerance

This technique has been made very popular by the film Schindler's list as the young girl is the only character pictured in colour (red). We thought that this technique may look affective in our opening sequence as it highlights which character the audience should be focusing on within the sequence. The colours we have selected to 'stay' (pink and red) portray the little girl as young and vulnerable. The red additionally foreshadows danger.

Editing technique 3
The third technique we have applied to our opening sequence production is 'colour grading'. Colour grading is where you change the 'feel' of the footage by adjusting the image to make it look blue (for coldness) and red (for happiness/heat).



As our production is a thriller opening sequence we felt as though we needed to change the grading to give this piece of action a cooler look in order for the audience to feel no hope or anticipation for the girl's future. We did this by using this tool on Premiere. 

This allows you to choose which colour/feel you want to give to your footage. By using the dial in the middle you can adjust the colour your footage will turn. For example we chose to add a blue tone to our production so therefore we moved the dial to the blue area before stretching it to the middle to create a realistic cool feel.

Editing technique 4
After we had uploaded all of our footage to Premiere and had arranged the clips into the correct order we decided to add titles. Before we created the titles we revisited our research to ensure that the titles we intended to create were appropriate.

As a result of looking at our research we concluded that we needed to include the following titles: producer, music produced by, film editor, costume and props.



The above screenshot shows our footage with one of the titles we have added. The use of appropriate titles and fonts has allowed our opening sequence to portray the genre of the production which additionally foreshadows the narrative which will interest the audience.

Editing technique 5
Today (Thursday 9th January 2014) Nina and I have worked hard on trying to include sound effects. For example we have researched different royalty free websites where we have found that we can include some of the sound effects if we credit the producer/recordist's name in our opening sequence production. We have additionally recorded our own sound effect using Nina's iPhone.

The above screenshot has been taken from 'Adobe Audition' where we have uploaded our recorded sound effect. We intend to use this in the opening of our production as the titles come up. In particular when the title of the production '72 hours' appears. We have edited the title to shake so this sound effect will be very effective and will portray the thriller genre well.

Editing technique 6
During editing today we discovered a problem that we had not seem before. After the first two titles that appear on the screen (one being our production company name) the title of our production appears. Previously during editing we had managed to get the title to shake (using after effects) but we thought it would be more effective if we had an audio clip to match the shaking in the title.
We therefore recorded the sound of a phone vibrating on the desk which was great because the vibrations correlated with the visual.

The screenshot above shows how Nina and I tried to resolve the problem we encountered. The problem we encountered was the audio being too quiet for the rest of the production and therefore could only be heard in headphones. We worked out how to do this and changed the 'audio gain' to 18 which was perfect.



Editing technique 7
One of our most frequently used tools on Premiere was the 'razor' tool. The razor tool allowed us to easily and quickly crop our footage to ensure we only include what is necessary and effective in our production.

These screenshots demonstrate how we cropped some of our footage using the razor tool and how much we reduced the length of the footage by. We thought cropping this specific piece of footage would benefit our production as it would not bore the audience and additionally would create more tension as our research suggested that this was an important element to include in our own opening sequence as it is additionally a convention of the thriller genre.  



















Planning Audience Feedback

In order to gather feedback from my target audience members I have devised a selection of questions that I intend to use when recording my target audience feedback.
I intend to collect this information using a focus group of people who are within my target audience. The questions below are the questions that I intend to use:
1) Do you think our opening sequence is conventional of the thriller genre?
2) How would you rate our opening sequence out of ten?
3) What could we have done to improve our opening sequence?
4) Who do you think our target audience were?
5) What within our opening sequence made you choose this target audience?
6) Could you relate to any of the characters included in our opening sequence?
7) Do you think the characters were represented well?
8) What did you like best about our opening sequence?
9) Do you think the soundtrack is effective and represents the genre well?
10) Did you like the narrative of our production?
11) Did you like the way we used colour throughout the sequence? what did you like/dislike?
12) Do you think the props/costumes are conventional of the thriller genre?


Nina and I have chosen to conduct a focus group and a questionnaire to ensure that we receive detailed and a variety of answers from different people within our target audience.
Questionnaires can be very useful when needing to collect information as it is an easy and quick way to ask people questions. Additionally a questionnaire is a good way to gain lots of different opinions as the target audience will not be influenced by other people's opinions. The drawback of a questionnaire is that responses may be limited as you cannot ask the person to expand on their answer or ask them to explain what they mean by a specific answer.
An advantage of a focus group is that the target audience selected may be able to 'bounce' off other people's ideas. For example when one person states an opinion another member of the group may be able to elaborate, therefore producing a clearer and more concise answer for interpretation.
However sometimes when responses aren't clear it is difficult to categorise them or combine them and therefore it is hard to understand the target audience's real responses.

We plan to ask some members of our media class (during the lesson time allocated for this task) and then we plan to give our questionnaires out to a selection of people within our target audience in order to increase variation and sensible feedback.