Shooting Script and Evaluation

Date of filming: 2nd January 2014
Locations: Bexley Village, the bridge on the A2

3 pm: Meet at Bexley War Memorial and begin prep for filming e.g. preparing mise-en-scene on the actors

• Mise-en-scene included the stalker's costume and props (all black clothing and rucksack) and the victim's costume (coat, jeans and boots)

4 pm: Begin filming stalking scenes around Bexley Village and bridge

• Shoot establishing shots, POV shots, mid shots, over the shoulder shots 

 

For reference, this is the scene from the storyboard that we plan to film:

5 pm: Finish filming


Evaluation of filming
This session did not go as well as we expected because we lost the light quickly and it became too dark to film successfully, which means we will have to reshoot and reconsider what time we start filming in the future. There were also inconsistencies in the shots and difficulty with camera settings, which will be changed for the next time we shoot.

On the other hand, the session was beneficial to us as we were able to see which camera angles would work the best in these scenes and will be able to use them in the reshoot. Our actor and mise-en-scene were also prepared quickly which will be useful in future filming sessions. After this session, we now have to reconsider how long it will take us to film the rest of our opening and also how early we should begin preparing and shooting in the future.

Location.

Stalking Scenes Locations.

For our film opening we need a few locations e.g. on a street for our killer to stalk their next victim.
The locations that we will be definitely using for our filming are a bridge, a small walk way with a bridge over a small river and a normal street.

Location: Bridge
Time for filimg approx: 3:30-400pm

We will be using this location as one scenes for our stalking scene as it allows us to be creative with camera angles and also shows the victim as isolated as it is over a motorway.

The time for this is as chosen as then we shall get enough sunlight for filming in before it starts to get dark as we would not be able to see the images clearly.

We chose this location as it gave us a good set up for the rest of our opening and because our target audience is between the ages of 15 and 22 they can relate to the location as bridges like these are often seen in many places.

Location: Walkway
TIme for filming approx: 4:00pm

We chose this location after wondering around as it gives a mysterious atmosphere to the scene and we decided that this will be used towards the end of the stalking sequence due to the effect it has. It also allows our target audience to get a sense of the location and the stalking scene in order to make them wonder what will happen next.

We would film this scene slightly later than the other one as the street lamp is effective lighting for us to use for filming underneath it.

Locations

Locations.

For our film opening we are needing to find different locations for different parts of our film opening which will include a room which will be in very low lighting, a street, a front door and a killer's lair.

Street.

For the street scenes that we will use for the final stalking scene I found an alley way which leads onto at one end a residential street with lots of houses and at the other end is a main road with houses and shops further down. It also has lots of hiding places, like behind cards and walls, in which the killer can hide behind so that the victim does not see them. It also has street light which come on at night and are orange which could have a good effect for our stalking scene.

 Door.
For this location we would be needing a door which could look like a front door to the victim's house and could have tape and fake blood put onto it. One of my friends had this door as their shed door which we would be able to use if we needed to and it looks appropriate for what we need to use it for.

 Evaluation.

• These locations are accurate to where we are thinking to film our opening sequence.
• The door may look a little too much like a shed door instead of a front house door.
• The street creates a good atmosphere for the stalking scene.
• There are lots of effective hiding places for the killer to hide in the street.

Stalking Sequence

My aim of this task was to create a short sequence to display ways in which we could work this idea of stalking into our film opening. The factors I took into consideration when producing this sequence were:

• The time of day/Lighting - I wanted for the sequence to be shot late evening/night this is because it would make the victim appear more vulnerable then if it was to be shot during daylight. As well as the use of tungsten light from the street lights giving the sequence more of a warmer tone against the dreary scene.
• Victim - For the sequence I wanted a youthful looking girl because when creating our film sequence we want the victims to be young females.
• Setting - The concept of the sequence was a teenage girl being followed on her way home so I focused more on the walking of the streets.

When filming this sequence I tried to use and experiment with different camera angles and movements.

With this sequence I tried to create this illusion that the camera is the stalker's POV in most shots.

0.18

• Here I used 'handheld' to appear as though someone is coming up behind the girl giving an shaky effect to the captured footage. 
• Mid shot

0.23

• With this shot I used a long shot but captured some shrubbery in the frame to give the illusion that the stalker is perched beside a bush peering out on his victim.
• Long shot

0.31

• Again like before I used camera movement of 'handheld' to give the feel that it is the POV of the stalker due to the shaky quality to the sequence.

0.40

• Here the victim has the sudden realisation they are being are followed. Here I used the use zoom to show the stalker encroaching on the victim. 

0.42

• The victim has now turned around. This is showing the POV of the stalker and the victim looking directly at them.
• Close up shot

• Before I even showed the victim being followed I wanted to establish and set the scene. By this I showed several locations in which I shot some of the scenes. 
• When I did this I experimented with several camera movements such as a vertical panning shot.

• In the terms of editing I used the editing software 'iMovie'.
• The sequence consisted of all straight cuts and is continuity edited.
• As well as the use of match-on action - this can be seen 0.41

 Evaluation

• Overall the outcome was okay however could be vastly improved due to a lot of things going wrong whilst filming such as having my camera on the wrong settings leading the quality to be a bit blurry as well as not having a fully functioning tripod.
• In the future I would like to experiment with the use of steadicam as I feel it would have been a great feature if it was incorporated into this sequence.
• Last couple of shots of the sequence are the key shots to the sequence as it shows that the victim is being followed. If I was to repeat this I would have tried to use more obvious shots to show that the girl/victim was being followed.

Practical Source of Inspiration

Location Inspiration.

Cabin in the Woods Inspiration.

When watching cabin in the woods I was inspired to image what it would be like to try and use a location similar to the one used in the film, e.g. a woodland area. I considered a few areas near to me to go and photograph in different ways and came up with a few different images to show how this location could be used when making a film opening.





I went to a wooded area in Eltham and walked around to get a feel for the area before deciding where and what to take pictures of which would be affective.

I took a few pictures of more open areas which I thought would be good if there was a chase scene happening or a long, establishing shot was needed to show the audience where the whole sequence was set.

I also took some pictures of area which were of paths and overgrown areas which I though could be used as hiding places and places where tension could be built for the audience.





















AdULTHOOD.



 I was also inspired by the film adulthood, which is an urban drama, because of the varied locations that were used in the film to portray the different types of areas the characters can live, work and play in during the film.

I tried to think of areas of the film that I could try to recreate in some way with the devices that I had available to myself. I managed to organise an evening to go out and photograph certain areas of interest such as underpasses, alley ways, bridges, flat buildings, etc.

I believe that these locations could be used in many different days and at any time during a day as in the day time or with sunlight these would be good to show the audience the area the characters are in. But they would also be appropriate for at night time or evening too as it gives the area a sense of tension and mystery.

 Alley Way       

Alley Way         

Office BuildingAlley Way           

Alley way/ bridge

Bridge              

Bridge/train tack

Bridge          

Block of Flats

Underpass

Office Building

Underneath flats

My Strengths

I believe that my strengths that could help us with our film opening are organisation and creativity as I can come up with ideas for the story or the film opening on a whole and I can also organise dates and people who are needed for each day so that everything runs to plan and we are able to meet the correct deadlines for all of our work, e.g. I can make sure we don't run overtime on certain parts of the project.