Feedback from our first shoot

First Shooting : Evaluation and feedback
When we went shooting for the first time we gathered many shots even if we were not going to use them we decided it was better to have more than not enough. We took out our equipment (camera, tripod, props ) and also took our storyboard as we felt this would give us a rough guide of what shots to film. This assisted us during the process however we did realise there were not enough shots in our storyboard. This forced us to do some improvisation at the time. We started filming in the train station. Everyone had ago but it ended up being mainly me behind the lense. I also took photographs of specific locations i felt that I could possibly use in the opening credits, these where likely to be animated or painted over by the use of CGI. Our main actor at this point Matthew was not yet accustomed to the filming and we had various shots that could not be used due to he would glimpse into the lense. There was no dialogue in this scene as it was just Matthew roaming the area.

Once we shown our initial footage to our teacher, we became aware that most of our shots we had were poor quality. These are the main factors our footage at this stage lacked:
- the actors looked at the camera in some shots
- the location choice in a few of the shots were poor and unjustified
- the general plot was to fast paced and elaborate for the 'opening' of a thriller
- we lacked variation of camera angles and shot types/distances

Other feedback:
- too many shots
- doesn't have to be an ending to the two minute extract 
- improve continuity 

We decided on some changes for our next filming session:

• Change the angles to keep the audience engaged. 
  
• Set a time during the day that will be suitable, for example light weather no rain/ darkness.
  
• Make a more detailed accurate set of directions/storyboard so straightaway actors know exactly what they have to do in each scene.
  

Choosing a title

Title name ?

After some debate and some good helpful input from our teacher we decided to call our thriller "Money". This is short, punchy, easy to remember. It will stick in the audiences mind. Also money is a matter so common that audience members can relate to it. 

This title also enables the audience to think of issues and questions whilst watching the film. For example: 

 

- the fight and or disruption it can cause between individuals. 

- the importance of money in society 

- how desperate people get over having lots of money

As the story-line is one of espionage in which a crime-mastermind ( played by Will Miles ) steals millions from a London Bank and the spy hero ( played by Matt James ) hunts him down, as the plot revolves around theft and wealth it seems only appropriate that the title Money links in with all of the films aspects.

My progress

My progression

I believe that I have made significant progression since the start of my AS media coursework. I entered this project with a thorough and advanced understanding of software, already knowing adobe photoshop, adobe flash and imovie very well, aswell as basic skills in more advanced programs such as premiere pro and adobe after effects. Since the beginning I have quickly learned premiere pro aswell as the other softwares. As I was assigned animator as my main job in the group all these skills were crucial for me when creating the title sequence. My skills using the camera have also increased greatly although I still do struggle with getting a smooth pan or tilt. I have learnt how to edit and create continuity through a piece of video. I do feel I have exceeded my boundaries of what was expected as I often took the roles of other members on occasions including directing and editing on several occasions. Whether this is a good thing I do not know. Although I did stray from my station often to help or assist others in different roles I done this for the benefit of the team rather than to interfere. Our team however have gotten along very real and are creating excellent work to show for it.

I feel the I have gained most experience and skill through post production and working in a team in this project.

I feel the area I least gained experience in was in casting and directing.

Current progress

Progress so far

Since our last filming session I have finished our title sequence which looks very good and we are planning one last filming session to capture our last footage needed. In the next filming session we will only take shots of our hero in the extract -Matt- this is due to all of the shots from his last scene being blurry due to camera and technical difficulties. Meaning that all of the previous shots taken are satisfactory despite the picture quality. This is good for us as it means that we know exactly how each shot should  we just need to reshoot them clearer. 

We have also been looking at songs in which we could use that would best fit with our particular genre (action-thriller). This is because the last song in which we chose did not fit well with our narrative. Since then we have been conducting wider research into copy-right free music and audio tracks.

Filming session 10/02/09

Filming session 10/02/09

For our last filming session only used one of our actors "Matt" because previously we had shot Wills scene so this was all that was left. We knew exactly what needed to be filmed whilst filming Matt's shots . We decided to re-film the shots that we needed to ensure that they looked as accurate as possible instead of trying to do as much as possible in the time we had. Lawrence and I had clearly become stable cinematographers Lawrence proberly being the better due to a steadier hand. We filmed on and off the train, also as we were filming at a later time in the day alot more people where coming off the trains which meant that we gained more extras for a piece increasing the films realism greatly. The overall running of the filming session went smoothly and we occured no probelms throughout.

cancelled shooting

Our group planned to shoot some more on the 5th but due to a number of difficulties, the main being that our actor had no transport to the location, we had to rearrange the shoot for sunday. Then after thinking we realised that trains don't stop at iver station (our location) on sundays so once again we had to change to shoot to tuesday. If all goes successfully then that will be our final shoot and we will have four days to edit it all together, the title sequence, wills scene and matts scene. I expect when it is all together it will last alot more than 3mins which is good because we can then edit it more and cut out the worse/unneeded shots.

Filming session 26/02

This afternoon, we filmed will -one of our actors- inside our location choice. Instead of shooting as many different scenes as we could, we decided to specialise in certain areas of the shot. 
For example: shooting will from a POV shot instead of just a MS or LS 

We used our creativity and initiative to try and evolve our narrative so that it made more sense. 

In past filming sessions we found we tended to drift away from our storyboard shots and started improvising too much. Also we wouldn't shoot the same shit enough times, this ment there was less chance of getting the perfect shot. We were much stricter this time and it paid off well. Our footage was very good and we are currently editing it.