Shoot Day

8:50 AM

Our group met in our usual classroom to get everything we needed that was not in the Studio already. We gathered the boots that Katie had brought and I suggested to print out two copies of both the script and the storyboard in case we needed them.

9:20 AM

We got into the studio with everything arranged. We saw the final set and greeted some of our actors who had already arrived. Louisa had to take a look at the script so I provided her with one of the copies. We decided where our hand made props, passports and tickets were going to be located in the room and Katie made the bed —an important detail—. 

While Myles went to the French classrooms to look for Andrey, the only actor who was missing from the cast, I proceeded to  refresh Luke's memory and explain him the choreography and the correlation between the character's speech and their action. I moved around the set and demonstrated him in detail how everything was thought to be carried out.

9:40 AM

Our main actors, Callum and Louisa, started warming up and practicing their lines in a relaxed way while our group set the camera and started deciding what we wanted to include in the frame and what we didn't. Everyone got into their costumes and took positions. Ellis was in charge of the sound, while Emma was holding a white light just behind the bed, on the right hand side of the camera, so that Louisa could be seen better while she was hiding under. Myles went behind the set and so did Andrey and Said, waiting for our instructions on timing. Paul turned out the Studio lights and we finally got to see the actual lightning of the sequence, It was dim but not too dark, with pink and yellow lights coming out from the windows.  The whole scene looked far more compelling.

9:55

We started running over the scene to get into grips with it, without filming yet. Callum and Louisa seemed to work well together, which was such a relief. At first, they sticked too much to the script, but we told them to get off it and be more natural. By that time, Luke had assigned me the post of director and I was more than happy to accept it after all the previous work I had done to make the shoot day possible. I told the actors what they could improve and controlled the timing, as well as their way of moving and behaviour.

We encountered some problems with the Russians because they rushed into the room when it was their turn to appear and they had to wait twice as much as they did, but Myles and I eventually sorted it out. Some corrections had to be made regarding the use of espace and position of props.

10:45 AM

After running the scene for about ten times, we had to give the actors and ourselves a good rest of twenty minutes to unwind and come back to the Studio with renewed energy.

11:05 AM

We did one last general rehearsal and then started recording. We still had to solve the problem of Callum's death and the fake blood effect. However, Luke called Henry to make sure we could do that afterwards during the editing process, and he said there wouldn't be any problems at all with a pack that he had downloaded. To add some realism to go with the effect, we got hold of some fake blood and placed it in a bowl next to Louisa's under the bed position. She had to take some with her right hand and put some drops in her face so that when Callum collapsed, she reacted by turning and we could see that he had splashed her in the mean time. 

This idea made the process longer because, each time there was a conflict —the cables of the Studio could be seen behind the door, Callum fell in an artificial way and didn't seem dead, one of the actors forgot their lines...), Louisa had to clean her hands and face from a substance that was quite difficult to remove.

The screenplay, by that point, had become merely an inspiration and that made the sequence much better. We added details like the extremists in the end checking the passports around the room and discovering that there were two instead of one, which made them aware of the fact that there was probably someone under the bed.

In the end, we came up with some beautiful takes and the last one is bound to work perfectly with some colour grading and sound effects.

12:45 AM

By this time, we were done filming. We told Callum and Louisa that we didn't require them any longer and thanked them for being so collaborative and quick at obeying instructions and suggesting better ways of doing certain things. There was a break for lunch that everyone deserved. 

2:30 PM

There was a meeting in the Studio again, this time only with the Russians, because we wanted to get extra sounds on the spot to include them in the background in the parts of the sequence when the couple is still hiding without knowing what's going to happen and also to add some pleonastic sounds from time to time.

3:00 PM

We went up to Hurtwood to get some ambiance noise from the corridors, the toilets and furniture moving. It was difficult because, almost everywhere, there was someone having a conversation in their room or music playing. Luke joined us from time to time and helped us use the microphone to capture the sounds better and shut the ones that were ruining the filming as much as possible. We didn't get all the effects that we intended to, but Luke told us to wait until we had everything cut and edited to see if we were actually missing anything that couldn't be arranged with a program.

3:30 PM

Everything was finally done. We cleared up our costumes and props from the Studio and asked Paul if he needed any additional help. I felt and still feel utterly satisfied with how the thriller sequence looks like at the moment thanks to our effort and creativity. I would like to thank Luke especially because of all his professional support.

Preliminary Task (Editing)

• What did we intend to represent?

Unfortunately, we did not have a clear idea regarding what story we were trying to tell through our sequence. This happened because we did not communicate enough in the beginning of the project. Nevertheless, we had clear in our minds that Celine, because of her overpowering personality, was going to be the lead, while Emma would be an intimidated, younger character who mumbled and did not say her words as convincingly as her counterpart. Other than that, we did not know much about what input was the best one nor we had enough time to give it deep thought. Moreover, we were told several times throughout the process that the Preliminary Task was not intended to stand out for its inventiveness. What they asked us to do was to apply the skills we had learned during the first Studio sessions to achieve an understandable media text with all the characteristics that makes it work to some extent.

• How did we do it?

When it was time to edit, Adri and I had to face the daunting task to put together coherently a bunch of images which did not bear much resemblance from one another. We tried to do this as well as we could, following the guidance that had been given to us previously. This means that we began with an establishing long shot to present the space. This was followed by a mid shot to draw importance to the person who is speaking. Next, we included an over-the-shoulder shot to give variety and help orientate the audience towards the other person, the one who talks now. And back to the other one. We wanted to keep a constant alternation but the camera remaining more time with the main character, Celine, to endear her with the audience. There is a strong, sharp cut in the middle of the dialogue, which is obviously a mistake due to the lack of time and also lack of effort and concentration from behalf of the actresses when shooting. They constantly moved and did not do the same scenes in the same spots, no matter how well organised and insistent we, as the camera crew, were. 

We eventually come back to the mid shot, as to re-establish the scene and clarify that everything looks the same way as it did in the beginning for the most anxious viewers. Many times we were following the storyboard, but we also tried to innovate. In the end we decided to give it a touch of comedy almost as an excuse for the non-professional result we had achieved. Viewing it lightheartedly as an audience would help to render a better overall impression. Comedy achieved by the prolongation of the close-up to Celine's shoes demonstrating her anger by stepping on top of the script, which portrays an almost caricaturist approach of the scene. 

We end up with a mid shot of her feet walking away, and then we draw everyone's attention to the closed door and to the torn papers in the floor, as a dramatic suspension which works as a contrast from the previous action. 

• Were we successful?

The mise en scene was nothing to boast about. Of course, the setting was perfect because it rendered the image of a normal living room where the sort of action we were asked to perform could perfectly happen. However, the costumes were not prepared beforehand and there was no clue of who were our characters and in what sense the dialogue was delivered. Furthermore, as I said in the previous post about the filming, Celine was holding her script all the way through so it destroyed whatever realism we had managed to implement in the scene so far thanks to the setting and our effort to perform a proficient job as camera women. I am glad we came up with the idea of stressing out that showing the script was something done on purpose and to make the audience laugh instead of just being there as a cheat sheet.

• What have I learned from the process?
  
  

The lesson I take from this experience is that with practice, willingness and time, everything can be achieved in Media. However, if one of those magical ingredients is absent, the project is bound to be a failure. At least, the technical side worked out really well and there was not any any single image out of focus. We represented a story which can be appreciated and interpreted in different ways but has a specific tone and dialogue which, from my perspective, are understood perfectly. I can't say much about the editing process; just that, if you don't have good material, the edition is not going to work wonders —at least not in the stage we are, maybe a very experienced professional can make a masterpiece out of a sequence like ours—. I am excited to keep working and improving, this can be taken for granted, but crossed fingers for a better group next time.

The result can be watched below:

Preliminary Task (Shooting)

This week, we have been given a scene with a simple storyboard which made it possible for us to be quite original due to the various options to shoot it. Nevertheless, it required at least five different shots to make it effective and realistic: 

• A wide short first. It is always safer to do this in the beginning because if an unexpected issue makes the rest of the filming difficult, at least we can tell the story. (1)
• An over-the-shoulder shot from one of the characters' back and vice versa. (2,3)
• A close-up of one of the characters' face and vice versa. (4,5)

I was in a group with Celine, Emma and Adri and we were assigned the studio as the venue where we would record the scene. We were extremely lucky because we already had a set prepared as a consequence! Adri and I soon got in charge of the technical aspects of the sequence, assembling the tripod and camera as we had been taught some days ago: meanwhile, Celine and Emma went on learning the script, though in the end they decided to be spontaneous and read the actual pages in front of the camera... Not that I didn't object, but one gets tired of fighting with a group of people who are not willing to work. So yes, the acting could have been taken much more seriously so it wouldn't involve as much work as it is going to require in the editing process. We are definitely going to see the storyboard through the screen, and the actresses laughing a couple of time though, no matter how much we crop the frames. 

On the other hand, I am very satisfied with the job that Adri and I did. We performed our task with the utmost efficiency, recalling all the pieces of advice that Matt and Paul had given us about the use of the cameras. We carefully planned the order in which we were going to get the different shots and, each time we changed position, we focused the camera as we had been taught previously. Moreover, we extended or lowered the tripod depending on which person or object we were going to film to make it look smoother, and we used the appropriate terminology to get everyone prepared for a new shot. 

We did all the shots that were compulsory for the actual completion of the task in 10-15 minutes, and then we decided to explore a bit further during the time we had left —half of it—. We did close shots of the door, a piece of furniture which appears both in the beginning and in the ending of the short sequence so it conveys a feeling of familiarity but also of the superficiality of the action that takes place inside the room. We also carried out the scene from the floor, recording the pieces of script being torn by Celine and stepped on as well —more drama—. 

At all times, we respected the 180 degree rule, which establishes an imaginary line between the characters in a dialogue that we shouln't cross, and we tried to encourage our actresses to match their actions each time we recorded the whole scene again from a different angle. Honestly, I don't know what we will encounter when we have to edit this, but I hope that we can achieve continuity throughout the whole video as well as getting a funny result, at least.

My biggest regret is not having played a bit with the lines and transformed the basic story into a gripping one with some effort and creativity. I heard that many other groups came up with brilliant ideas for their tasks even though we all have the same storyboard. Themes as varied as pregnancy came along the way, in fact, thanks to the versatile lines that we were given. I have learnt, anyway, that I need to be more firm next time we film and implement energy and work ethic among my peers. 

Another important lesson that I took out from this practice was that, in any media text, people in front and behind the camera have to work with coordination and cooperation in order to get a good result, while before shooting the Preliminary Task I thought that actors and the rest of the crew, other than the director and producer, would barely talk during the process of making a film. Communication is key!