Reshooting One Scene on Pecc Street

After evaluating our footage with the focus group and with Morrighan, we decided that the errors we found in continuity and camera quality for the scene on Pecc Street require reshooting. I have identified and evaluated these errors using Slideshare to present them:

Identifying and Evaluating Errors with Pecc Street Scene from Courtney O'Donnell

Updated Shot by Shot List

After evaluating our rehearsal OTS, Morrighan and I made changes to the previous shots we used, which we discussed changing in this video. We made a list of all of the shots that we would use for our final OTS footage which we took to our shoot.

After our first rough edit, Morrighan and I spent a media studies lesson together making an updated list with all of the finalised shots that we used. Morrighan then presented this using Slideshare:

Camera angles slide from Morrighan Humpleby

Progress Timeline

Morrighan and I have created a timeline together using Prezi to organise and schedule our progress in producing our opening sequence. We have been referring to the timeline throughout production, as well as editing it by adding and removing necessary/unnecessary steps. This will ensure that we use our time sensibly and efficiently to prioritise the most important steps of production. The timeline also allows us to check if we are working on time to finish our project by our deadline, as we have created individual deadline dates for ourselves. This will allow us to notice if we are falling behind in our progress, so that we can amend this.

First Shoot

Today Morrighan and I are filming our first shoot, which includes the two scenes on Pecc Street. The cast and crew for this shoot are;
Me: Camera operator and director.
Morrighan: Actress playing the femme fatale.
Andrew: Actor playing the anti-hero. Will assist with camera operating when not in shot.
James: Actor playing the villain. Will also assist with camera operating when not in shot.

As Morrighan is acting in almost all shots for this scene, she will not be able to assist with camera operating or directing. However as she is executive cinematographer, I will flip the screen of the video camera of some shots to check their cinematic quality.

Morrighan and our other actors are arriving in the morning-early afternoon, so that we can finish styling the actors in time for shooting in daytime. The materials that I have prepared for this are;

• Femme fatale make-up
• Fake blood for the femme fatale bullet wound
• Femme fatale handbag and jewellery

We aim to shoot the final footage of the scenes of the femme fatale's death and the anti-hero photographing the body. I will also be taking still images of the femme fatale to edit into the anti-hero photographing the body scene. Morrighan and I are quite confident that this shoot will be successful due to our planning of our shots, mise en scene, and location, and also the rehearsal shoot that we created at the same location on Pecc Street, which made us familiar with where we are shooting and how we will shoot it.

In a media lesson together, Morrighan and I planned the shots that we will be using for all of the scenes for our OTS. Here is the list:

1. Pan right, close up of montage on wall
2. Mid pan down behind anti-hero, fade black
3. Mid Pan down, stops at birdseye view
4. Establishing long shot of anti-hero next to body
5. Close-up, low angle, looking up at anti-hero
6. Tilt up as anti-hero stands up
7. Mid shot of villain in the right third
8. Canted angles for photographs
9. Close-up birdseye view of photograph in water
10. Underneath close-up as picture is passed over camera
11. Mid static track as anti-hero carries picture to the line
12. Zooming close-up to extreme close-up of eye
13. Close-up of femme fatale next to river
14. Static track as femme fatale walks away
15. Long shot of femme fatale walking towards the camera
16. Long mid shot of femme fatale walking into shot
17. Long shot of femme fatale closer, and then walking out of shot
18. Extreme close-up femme fatale smoking
19. Extreme close-up, match on action, cigarette falls to floor
20. Close-up of villain walking
21. Static shot as villain walks away
22. Mid of femme fatale walking
23. Static mid shot of villain walking in and out of shot
24. Mid shot of villain catching up with the femme fatale
25. Close-up of villain's hand on femme fatale's shoulder
26. Mid behind shot of femme fatale against the wall
27. Close-up of femme fatale's face as she speaks

Shot by Shot List

Shot by shot list from Morrighan Humpleby

Morrighan created a PowerPoint with the camera angles and editing transitions for each scene that we discussed and wrote together before filming our opening sequence rehearsal. After filming our rehearsal, we decided that we don't want to use all of the camera angles that we planned, as they were not all effective. We will create another PowerPoint updated with the changes that we've made just before shooting our final opening sequence footage.

**Edit: Updated shot by shot list: http://codonnellasmediaproductionschs2014.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/updated-shot-by-shot-list_10.html

Order of Filming

Today Morrighan and I went into the city to research and purchase possible mise en scene for our opening sequence. We also visited the library and planned the order of which we will film our scenes using one of the computers. Below is the post that we discussed and wrote together. As the narrative is non-linear and features flashback scenes, it would be difficult to film chronologically. Therefore planning the order of our filming is crucial for finishing the project in time, and for the continuity of the OTS.

Order of filming

1. Anti-hero taking photos of dead body
Location: daytime on Pecc Street
Actors: anti-hero and femme fatale

2. Flashback to how the femme fatale died
Location: night on Pecc Street
Actors: femme fatale and villain

3. Anti-hero looking at wall montage of photos
Location: lighted darkroom
Actor: anti-hero

4. Developing photographs, zooms in on photograph to discover how femme fatale died
Location: lighted darkroom
Actor: anti-hero

Order of scenes when finished
1. Anti-hero looking at montage of wall photos
2. Anti-hero taking pictures of dead body
3. Developing photographs, zooms in on photograph to find out how femme fatale died
4. Flashback of how femme fatale died

Next we wrote the narrative with a brief plan of the voice-over which will overlay. We decided that we wanted the beginning of the opening sequence to be silent apart from maybe a few lines of dialogue, and with a voice-over from the anti-hero throughout it. We felt that beginning to explain the voice-over would help our narrative plan make sense to our focus group when we present it to them.

Narrative 1:
1. The anti-hero is looking at pictures of the femme fatale from when he stalked her, then finds out she died or already knows, which leads onto the next scene. On the voice-over it should explain how much he loves her, "she looked beautiful in every picture I took of her, she'll always be beautiful." This creates the relationship between them.
2. The anti-hero takes pictures of her dead on the floor. Voice-over expresses anger of how she was taken from him, and foreshadows his hunger for revenge. This establishes her death and the anti-hero's emotions towards this.
3.Cuts to the picture of her face being developed in the darkroom. Voice-over shows less important for this scene, but continues to show feelings of infatuation with the femme fatale.
4. Flashback of how the femme fatale died. Short sentences to convey pain and tension.

After writing and discussing this narrative, we were concerned that it may be too difficult for the audience to follow, so we created another possible narrative order:
1. Anti-hero in darkroom looking at montage pictures of the femme fatale.
2. Steps back and round the developed picture in the tank, hangs developed picture on line. This zooms in or cross fades the picture on the line to the scene where the femme fatale is dead.
3. Zooms out or cut to birds eye shot of dead body and sees anti-hero taking pictures (which explains what he has just developed).
4. Cuts to flashback of her death.

However Morrighan and I decided that the original narrative order was much easier to follow and will therefore continue to use it. We will film a practise of the narrative in order to ensure that it is not to complicated for the audience to understand.

Morrighan and I planned to meet up tomorrow with our actors to film a practise opening sequence, testing diegetic sound, location, natural lighting, environmental conditions, narrative, camera angles and composition, and acting.

Holiday Work Organisation

These are the jobs that need to be completed during the 2 weeks holidays, organised using a flow chart.

Dividing Roles

Morrighan and I have created a list of jobs which are required for the production of our opening sequence. We have divided these roles between us, considering our strengths, and looking to build on our weaknesses. Morrighan has the role of composer due to her musical background, and I have the role of stylist due to my interest in this area. We also considered our A level subjects when allocating the roles so that we could transfer those skills into our media studies work. I am writing the script as I take English literature, and Morrighan is setting up the lighting as she takes photography. To learn new skills during this project, I am a co-cinematographer, as this is something I have not done before, but is an important skill for this subject. Morrighan and I will both be directors and team leaders, as we will be inputting equally into this production, and therefore feel this role should be shared.

Courtney's jobs	Morrighan's jobs	Others' jobs
Audio editor	Acting	Acting
Camera operator	Audio editor	Composer
Casting	Camera operator	Focus team
Cinematographer	Casting
Director	Cinematographer
Detailed mise en scene	Composer
Editor	Director
Foley artist	Executive editor
Location manager	Foley artist
Make-up artist	General mise en scene
Note maker	Lighting operator
Planning and production blogger	Note maker
Props	Photoshop artist
Storyboarding	Planning and production blogger
Set arrangement	Props
Scripting	Production logo design
Stylist	Storyboarding
Writer	Set arrangement
	Writer

Opening Sequence Animatic

I have created an animatic using Windows Movie Maker and my storyboard images to plan our opening sequence. The animatic shows the filter, transitions, length of shots, camera angles, composition and chronology, in visual way; which makes the opening sequence easier to visualise. This is a basic animatic, as I have not added sound, and there are few transitions, however I feel that it presents the plan for our footage and editing effectively.

Opening Sequence Storyboard

This is the final, hand drawn storyboard of our OTS. We will also use these image to create an animatic featuring the transitions, movement and possibly sound. This storyboard demonstrates the scenes and their order, cutting, shots, composition, and camera angles of our planned OTS.

Production company

Mid shot

Extreme close-up pan

Pan from wall to journalist

Extreme close-up, zoom

Extreme close-up, reverse zoom

Reverse zoom

Canted angle, eyeline match

Close-up

Reverse zoom

High angle

Close-up

Establishing shot

Close-up, zoom

Extreme close-up, zoom

Mid shot

Mid shot

Mid shot, actress walks towards camera

Focus pull

Static camera, she leaves the shot and he enters

Mid shot

Over the shoulder

Mid shot

Pan

Generation of Ideas

To begin planning our narrative in lesson, Morrighan and I presented our ideas using post it notes for each scene. This allowed us to change and experiment with the order or scenes of our narrative easily. We had already discussed a rough idea for our narrative, so this activity allowed us to develop our ideas further.

We learnt that there were four stages of storyboarding; verbal, visual, technical, and anamatics. The stages which we practiced today are verbal, which refers to the discussion of narrative ideas, and visual, which includes a sketched or photographed storyboard.

Verbal storyboard: Firsty, we wrote out a plan of what would be happening in each scene. This prepared us for sketching the storyboard.

Visual storyboard: After writing a rough narrative, we created a sketched storyboard.

Continuity Task Planning

During a free period which I shared with Morrighan, we began planning the script and shots to be used for our continuity task.We had separate roles within this planning session so that we used our time efficiently, but checked the plans with each other throughout their composition, offering any help with necessary changes and making additional points. We decided to write these plans after we had created our storyboard, as the storyboard gave us an idea of the types of shots we could use. Capturing these images in our location allowed us to walk through an improvised script, which helped me to structure this script plan. The improvised script also helped me to understand the length of takes in each scene, so I had an idea of how much dialogue and how many stage directions will fit in the takes.

My script planning

Morrighan's shot planning

Continuity Task Storyboard

Once my group decided on a narrative for our continuity task, we used a media studies lesson to create a photo storyboard in our chosen locations. The purpose of this storyboard was to;

• Experiment with possible shots and camera angles
• Find the most effective way to use our location
• Practice and test keeping continuity
• Create an improvised script to assist with structuring the final script
• Familiarise some of the actors with their roles

This is our photographic storyboard which Morrighan was in charge of uploading from her camera and editing.

Click to enlarge

Sweded Film Planning

After researching other sweded films over the summer holidays, I have decided to swede the historical-musical film, Les Miserables. I am very familiar with this film as it is one of my favourites, and I own the film on DVD, therefore will be able to refer it throughout planning. I have created a storyboard (which I have also made into an animatic) to plan each shot of my film. After creating my animatic, I found that my sweded film will be approximately 2:24 minutes long. I do not plan on using many editing effects and transitions, as I want my sweded film to be as simple and man-made as possible. I have thought about recording music to overlay the footage, however it would be difficult to condense all of the songs into such short scenes, therefore I will just be using diegetic dialogue.

My storyboard with corresponding original film clips

Les Miserables Swede Storyboard from Courtney O'Donnell

Animatics

An animatic is a series of rough storyboard frames drawn to the planned camera angles, edited together to approximate the finished film and timing between frames, with in some cases, sound and dialogue layered into the animatic. Most professional animatics are created using Photoshop to draw the frames, and edited together using AfterEffects; however for my first animatic, I created my frames by drawing them by hand and edited them together using Windows Movie Maker. Both are effective methods and uses of software for creating animatics, however the first method would more likely be used by a company which specialise in creating animatics, or a high end film production team.



I have created this animatic to plan my sweded film; Sweded Les Miserables. Sound and dialogue would be most effective if the film created was for a music video, with the effect of the frames are in time to the beat of the song. Also if the film has lots of dialogue which has already been scripted and finished. I chose not to add dialogue or sound to my animatic because my frames were widely spaced, therefore the dialogue and sound would be harder to follow in relation to the frames.

Some of my favourite animatic examples include:



This animatic was created using Photoshop and AfterEffects to plan a short film. The frames are detailed with small spaces between them, and there is no sound or dialogue which focuses the planning on the frames. The only colours used are black and white shading, and a maroon/red colour for detail within the film, which makes a clear not of it.




This animatic is created to plan a music video, therefore sound was used to arrange the frames in time with the beat and length of the song. There are also stage directions on the bottom left corner of the frames, to add further detail. The frames are drawn in the angles of the camera angles that it will be shot with, and are medium-lengthed spaced and quite detailed. The setting of the frames is also very detailed, as it is complex and changes between each frame; this organises and determines where each scene will be shot.


Advantages/disadvantages of creating an animatic as opposed to a live action film

Advantages:

• Cheaper to produce as actors, mise en scene, locations, lighting etc. are not required
• Easier to remake scenes/shots later, as live action films would need to be set up exactly as before for continuity
• Can create expensive and imaginative sets and ideas without the need for special effects, e.g. the tall castle and flying scene from the 'Defying Gravity Storyboard' animatic above
• Can be created over a long period, unlike live action films which are effected by changes in natural lighting and actors

Disadvantages:

• Live action films are easier to follow if the animatic lacks artistic ability
• Live action films are more realistic, therefore animatics work better for fantasy films, but worse for more serious genres such as dramas, historical, and documentaries