Filming

FILMING DATES:
Half Term: Wednesday 12:00- 6:00pm                            
Friday 7th March 1:00- 4:10pm

Filming in the Woods- Half Term




Filming in BluntsWood - Half Term.

We all met up on Wednesday in the half term to do some filming, we decided to all meet in Haywards Heath near Katie's House. 

In the Morning 11am to 1:00pm -

We shot 11 shots of Gemma walking through the woods.

These shots included:

Tracking/ POV
Middle Close up 
Extreme long shot 

Panning 

Close Up 

When editing the film, this scene will be the introduction of Gemma's character.

Here are some pictures and videos of us at Bluntswood: 
Some pictures of  Gemma filming her tracking/ POV shot: 

Videos of Hannah filming Gemma's Middle Close up:


          .

Filming at Katie's House- Half Term.

Afternoon: 1:30pm - 4:00pm 
At Katie's house we wanted to shoot:

Bath Scene
Gemma covering her bruises. 

Before we shot Gemma applied her Bruises, made by using make up (eye shadows, red lipstick, blusher etc..) 























After Gemma applied her make up, we set up our equipment  in Katie's bathroom.

NEED PICTURES OF SETTING UP CAMERA IN BATHROOM

AND COVERING UP MAKE UP.

Filming Main Scenes- Friday 7th March

We used our last double media lesson to do the last of our filming.

Shots to be filmed: 
Punching shot
Shouting shot
Pushing shot
Beer shot
Clock shot 
Door shots

We found it hard trying to find someone who would be our male character in our film, but Katie got one of her friends to do it, Tom. 

Here is Tom, Gemma and Katie discussing the abusive scenes.

Here are some pictures of Katie filming the over shoulder shot.











Punching scene- FINALLY DID IT! - The punching scene that we found quite hard in the planning, really worked well in the end. Here you can see Gemma holding camera, while Tom is pretending to punch Gemma. 

Pre-Production Planning

Research on Domestic Violence:

Domestic Abuse

We got inspiration from these examples of domestic violence videos that we had researched on YouTube. 

From source A, we have decided to mimic the props that had been thrown on the floor in the opening shot. We think that this technique shows a good affect as it instantly pulls the audience in. 

When analysing the clip from source B, we liked the way that the camera establishes the female character's shadow, whilst she is getting abused. This creates a sense of vulnerability which we thought created a strong sense of emotion in this particular shot. 

We wanted include dialogue into our opening, we used source C as an inspiration as it has an voiceover of the character telling the story of the events.

FOR BETTER OR WORSE

A)

B)

C) 

Domestic Abuse Campaigns

                                                              HOLLYOAKS CAMPAIGN

IT RARELY STOPS

These are some examples of recent campaigns against domestic violence.

This is Abuse Website:

This is a previous website campaign, this website explains relationship abuse and how people can help.

I saw a recent video campaign on Facebook about domestic violence on women..

                

A Woman shares her day through google glass..

StoryBoard- Gemma

Here is our Storyboard..

Punching Scene- Hannah

In our film we wanted to include a scene that shows the woman getting abused by her boyfriend, showing a punching scene can be very difficult when filming, so we decided to research different techniques to get this to look realistic. In order to proceed with this affect we want to have the abuser punching into the shot. We will then make the camera become distorted as if the camera is the victim.

How we are going to do it:

The camera will be used from Gemma's point of view, the aggressive partner will be punching into the camera, this will make it look like to the audience more realistic and feel like they are part of the disturbing scene.

A video of us rehearsing the punching scene:  

Here are some videos of me and Gemma trying out the punching scene:

Problems we found with the punching scene: During are practise time we found it hard to be on time with the camera moving and the punch, i think when it comes to filming we will make sure we are in sync :)

Filming..

When we filmed our thriller, the punching scene worked out really well, our actor Tom, really did a good job and its look really effective and realistic.

Heres a Preview..

Equipment List  

Here is some of the equipment we will be using:

1. Camera
2. Tripod
3. LED light and Stand 
4. Final Cut Pro
5. Mac Computer
6. IPhone

CAST LIST

Gemma-  is playing the girlfriend who is getting abused.
Tom- is playing the abusive partner. 

Lighting

Lighting is important for any film as it helps to define the genre of the film as well as an successful viewing experience for the audience. Certain lighting techniques are used as conventions or some films,  for example, Horror/thriller films commonly use low lighting to produce dark shadows on screen, this creates a sinister atmosphere. 

In our film we have chosen to not include the typical lighting conventions of a thriller throughout the whole of the film, in the beginning shots of our film we want to film in the woods, we decided not to use any lighting as the natural light will be effective enough. The contrast between the dark trees but bright natural light will emphasise the spooky and thriller atmosphere. 

The scene where Gemma is in the bath we decided we wanted it to be very dark lighting, blinds down so no natural light comes through, and use one LED light behind Gemma (back lighting) this will create shadows and silhouettes.

Scenes that include the aggressive partner we have chosen to use natural lighting and use the led light, we decided that we want to use under lighting (where the light source comes from beneath the subject) as it shows the aggressive partner looking scary and dominating, overpowering Gemma. However the scenes will be lit very bright.

Research on Similar Lighting:

Safe Haven- Katie and Kevin Fight: 

i chose this film as an example of the lighting we wanted to have in our film because it has a slight sepia, dark lighting effect, the lighting used creates shadows of the man attacking the women this is what we want to include this in our thriller opening. 

This is the lighting we are going to use.

Health and Safety

RISK ASSESSMENT 

Activity- Filming in the Bathroom 
Hazard- Wet Floor   
Risk- trip/ slip/fall                                   Person in Danger- Learners 16+     
Existing Control In Place- Safety Talk    

                         
Activity- Walking in the Woods

Hazard- Uneven paths    
Risk- slip/trip/fall    
Person in Danger- Learners 16 +    
Existing Control In Place- Safety talk, Experience of public areas and supervision.

Activity- Driving to and from location
Hazard- Other Pedestrians 
Risk- Bumping into others/ falls    
Person in Danger- Learners 16 +    
Existing Control In Place- Safety talk, Experience of public areas, supervision and make sure we have the college number on our phones.   

Activity- Carry filming equipment

Hazard- Strain. Slips/ Trips/Falls 
Risk- Injury. Slip/trips/falls   
Person in Danger- Learners 16+     
Existing Control In Place- Students to be given manual handling information before going to film. RA to signed by tutor which explains how equipment will be transported and whether this is within a safe distance to carry equipment or if transport has been arranged what type, who and the safety of this. E.g. parent/student’s own vehicle. Equipment is counter signed by both tutor and technician to avoid students borrowing equipment without tutor’s prior knowledge.   

Activity- Walking to and from location 

Hazard- illness/ injury.     
Risk-  Slip/Trip/Fall, General Illness, Faintness  
Person in Danger- Learners 16 +    
Existing Control In Place- Safety talk, Experience of public areas, supervision and make sure we have the college number on our phones.

Activity- Filming  

Hazard-  Environmental factors.Slips/ trips/falls. Uneven Paths    
Risk- Injury 
Person in Danger- Learners 16 +    
Existing Control In Place- Risk assessment to be completed by student and seen by lecturer. Lecturer to sign off RA to ensure that area is safe to film in. Students informed to make sure area is clear and kept clear of camera bags etc. All equipment to be properly installed in accordance with Acceptable Usage Policy of the college. 

Props/Costume

We originally wanted to use a scarf as part of the victims costume as a way of covering up any scars/bruises which we created. When we started filming and gathered more ideas, we decided that we didn't want to use this prop. Instead, we kept the victims costume minimal and we decided we wanted to show of the scars. Therefore, we decided against using a scarf.

We got inspiration of using flowers from a clip that we posted above about domestic violence. We agreed that using smashed flowers and glass and other props around the room would create a suspense feel to the opening clip. We then, however, decided against these props and we wanted to construct our film in a different way. Instead, we used our opening clip of the victim in the woods.

We used many different make up products to create bruises and scars on Gemma's face. This took us about 20 minutes to complete the overall look. Instead of just keeping the look minimal, we created these effects on her back and shoulders, as well as her face.

Here are some make up products we will use:

In order to gain the look we hoped for, we had to use many varieties of different make up to create a bruised/swollen/scar look. 

Here are some pictures of Gemma trying out some different types of bruising using make up.
To create the bruise around Gemma's eye we used dark coloured eye shadows, red lipstick, purple lipstick and eyeliner. It made the bruise look fresh and realistic by using the products.

Gemma used dark eyeshadow and eyeliner to create the black eye.

This Gemma's finished black eye. 

Katie also experimented with creating bruising on Gemma's back using brown and black eyeshadow and smudged  red lipsticks to create red rashes. 

Here, is the final look, the make up is very effective and is very defined,  we will use this make up when filming

Locations

Princess Royal Hospital

For one of our ideas for our first shot we wanted to set our scene in the hospital, the closest hospital to college is the Princess Royal Hospital, we wanted the scene to show trauma that woman has gone through.

Problems with the Location:

In order for us to film at the hospital we had to contact someone in charge, who could help us to get a room to do filming and equipment. We spoke to our teacher Andrew, he gave us an email for someone at the hospital, however the email did not send and would not let us contact the hospital, this meant that it would be very hard to film there, we decided to cut out the location and come up with other ideas to add elements of a hospital. 

Solving the problem..

We decided to still add the hospital elements to the thriller, we wanted to create a simple way of showing to the audience how serious the situation is. In the end we all decided that the best way to do this is take shots of bright lights (this would be POV) and use hospital sund effects using garage band or on the internet. 

Woods

In order to produce our film, we had to discuss where we wanted our main location to be. We agreed that we wanted to have our opening clips held in a mysterious, dark-felt location. We opted to film in a woods near the college, where we followed Gemma's walk as if we were spying on her. We felt this gave it a very victimized feel. By using this out our opening set, we also felt as if it was a way of following her around in her everyday life.

Katie's House

The second location we  for our set was Katie's house in Hayward Heath. We especially filmed in her bathroom, focusing on Gemma in the bath which enabled us to emphasis the cuts and bruises we created on her.

We want to include shots outside of Katie's house.

The bath will be the main point in the shots in Katie's house.

    

List of Roles

Each one of us took part in specific roles:

Gemma:
-Acting
-Editing
-Make-Up
-Costume
-Props
-Health & Safety

Katie:
-Camera Work
-Editing
-Make-Up
-Props
-Health & Safety
-Location Awareness













Hannah:
-Editing
-Camera Work
-Lighting
-Health & Safety

Script

 No Dialogue

In our thriller opening we decided to add limited dialogue, after watching many thriller opening examples we discovered that the atmosphere would be more appropriate without the use of dialogue. We intend to use soft tense music in the background of our opening to set the scene of the atmospheric opening, with some use of Foley, we will create punch sound effect which will be played during the abusive scene between the couple. The only time we want to use dialogue is when you first hear the voice of the abusive partner this introduces the character to the audience, but the audience still never see his identity.

Synopsis

A look at a young womans life who is suffering the daily struggle of  a domestic violence victim trying to live her life as normally as she can .   As her abuser becomes ever more violent there is only so much Gemma can take until events take a dramatic twist.

Zodiac Opening - Gemma

The opening of zodiac introduces immediately a pan camera movement of the city at night with a soft non diegetic soundtrack accompanying it. This soundtrack becomes diegetic when it becomes quieter as it is now on the radio, this works well as it brings the two scenes together.

A dolly is used to move the camera down the road passing many houses which are being shown with children outside, the scene is set at night which is good for a thriller as this creates a tense atmosphere due to the dark lighting. The mise en scene also complements the lighting and the tension of a thriller as the boy is flicking a lighter and also because the sound and image of fireworks is being displayed, both objects can be associated with danger. The characters face is half in a shadow which could suggest something isn't right or could also suggest he is a dangerous character.

 A pan is again used to follow the car into the dark night which could cause the audience to feel tense. A high angle extreme long shot is used to give the audience an establishing shot of where the scene is now being placed in and to show a pretty empty space, the diegetic sound is of nature and animals which can be heard clearly suggesting the two characters aren’t in a busy loud location away from the town. The dialogue from the female does not imply a horror or suspense to the scene although the audience feel a bit of suspense as they wonder what’s going to happen in the dark empty space.

The female character is the stereotypical blonde girl who is pretty and is out with a male character, the girls make up is simple and her costume is colourful, her hair looks neat and tidy which again follows stereotypical females from this genre of film. The audience gets a shock when the fireworks are thrown at the car as we don’t expect a loud diegetic noise at that moment in the soft conversation. Shot reverse shots are used to show the girl and boy in conversation and eye line matches are visible to emphasise the conversation.

The thriller suspense mainly starts when an unknown car pulls up to the car park and stops behind the parked car , this light is partially  the only light produced onto the car which creates a shadow on the characters upper face. A medium close up is used onto the girls face to show her facial expressions as well as see the boy’s face behind her, her facial expressions suggest she is now becoming nervous as she looks scared. Once the car has left the scene we hear an off-screen diegetic squeal of the car wheels braking hard,  this creates the audience to think about what may happen, its at this point that the car returns and the females face within a medium close up really looks concerned. The lighting complements the camera work of the two shot medium shot as it pierces through the back car window and is still bright into the car, this shows a horror on the characters face when see realises she is stuck and now in trouble.

A man walks up to the car window for which the audience do not know the reasoning for. We as an audience see a big close up of the gun which is important as it really makes the audience on edge about what's about to happen.We then hear an off-screen gunshot noise and a loud non diegetic soundtrack plays which juxtaposes from the visual aspect of the scene as a man is murdering the two teenage characters. A close up of the gun is placed into the scene which shows the audience what had happened.  The successful non diegetic soundtrack portrays success and strength rather than the horror of what has happened . The pace of the opening is in slow motion in the final scene as it tries to capture the effect of what is happening.