Construction Post 3: Reflections on our Main Shoot Session

I believe our main shoot session went a lot better than our test shoot session. Mainly because we now had the correct lighting to make our shots much better quality, we had a lot more actors so were able to create a more realistic party scene and we had a much clearer idea of what we needed to film and how we would go about it (thanks to the mistakes made in our test shoot footage). We used all of the footage from the main shoot session apart from only 3 shots we had to re-shoot in a back-up shoot session. None of our shots turned out grainy and all the shots were generally well framed. For the main shoot session, we made sure we had music playing in the background of our shots to make our actors feel more comfortable dancing and act how they would usually at a real party. This worked well and we were able to delete the background noise in post-production. Our actors all arrived on time and co-operated very well so we were also very pleased with that.
The only shots we were advised to re-film was the slap scene and the upstairs bathroom scene. Our TA focus group were not keen on the "unrealistic" slap so we decided to change the audiences point of view with the slap so it wasn't so obvious it was fake. Also, because Noah fell into the camera with our first footage of the slap so we wanted to change this.
If we were given the opportunity opportunity to reshoot again, we would make the above changes and also try to make some of our shots more tightly framed, for example the first mirror shot of Ella had a lot of space above her head. But apart from that, I think we created some good footage.

Construction Post 2: Our Post-Production Kit

The post-production kit was the kit we used after we had all our new rushes in order to edit them into a chronological sequence. Each group had their own allocated edit suite where their projects were loaded onto the computer which had two screens to make editing our sequence easier. However, for our titles we were given Macbooks to create these on a program called LiveType. The program used on the computers to edit our shots was called Adobe Premiere Pro CS5.5which I found quite straight-forward but very effective to use once you got the hang of it.

one of our titles on LiveType

Construction Post 1: Our Production Kit

We borrowed all our equipment from the school media department; this included...

• a tripod, 
• over-head light for the camera, 
• our canon video camera, a 'shotgun' microphone, 
• headphones and,
• a lighting kit from which we used 2 big spotlights. 

The canon camera we used was a Canon Legria HF G30. On top of this technical equipment, we also used a clapperboard and a clipboard which had all our sots for the day written on it. We had to organise amongst our group who would be transporting equipment to and from school for our shoot. So, with the advantage that her mum was able to, kindly, give her a lift, Flo and her mum took this responsibility. Even so, bot Ella and I still turned up at the planned picking-up and dropping-off equipment times.

This is the equipment release form my mother and I had to sign. Every person in our group had to get this signed in order to be given the equipment we needed. 

R+P Post 20: Reflections So Far/Looking Ahead

Reflecting on the work we have done so far, I believe as a group we have come really far in terms of what we have created since the first time we sat down and drew a story board. We have overcome a few trip-ups and re-established the process of filming, planning, researching and editing which was a bit rusty from last year. I think we have co-operated very well as a group and all interpreted our own ideas into our (almost) final idea. We have kept and improved on our idea so it now has a substantial and clear story. Our Rough Cut edit has been a huge help in noticing the obvious and subtle aspects we need to change for the real thing. I have overall really enjoyed working with my group to create what we have so far, even when at times, us not getting things right was frustrating!

Looking ahead, in preparation for our next Main Shoot, we have already created a 'necessary shots' list in which we listed every key shot needed in our opening:

(NECESSARY) SHOT LIST:

-        Lola coming round corner

-        Lola walking into bathroom

-        Lola looking in mirror, pouring pills in sink, crying, writing on mirror

-        Lola rings doorbell, walks in

-        Lola’s perspective, camera tracks through hallway into living room, glides over alcohol bottles and people’s faces  (people on stairs, in hallway)

-        Track shot of Lola

-        Track shot of Lola’s perspective (Noah + Ella T together), Noah: Oh Lola

-        OTS Noah, Lola: Wtf

-        Master shot, Lola slaps Noah, camera follows Lola upstairs

-        People dancing

-        People kissing

-        Guy cutting line, OTS shot

-        Cutaways to bottles, rolling products

-        Feet movement

-        Zoomed in shots of faces/body parts

-        Lola with wine bottle in hand

-        Lola drinking/smoking

-        Noah + Ella T shots

-        People sitting round table chatting

-        Smoking in background

-        Establish relations between people – 2 people sat in corner

-        People stumbling

-        Throwing pillows

R+P Post 19: Our Rough Cut

Our Rough Cut:

This is our finished rough cut. I had a lot of fun filming it and it has been extremely helpful with regards to spotting  what went well and what we need to change.

From how our rough cut turned out, we noticed the overall feel of the opening was quite slow and didn't work well with the background music and overall atmosphere we wish to create in our 'party scene'. In the main shoot we have decided to include more than double the amount of shots we did in our rough cut for the party scenes. This is to ensure we can have fast-paced editing and lots of cuts, including cutaways of scenery and objects in the room related to the party lifestyle. A lot of our shots were poorly framed, for example in our shot of a girl dancing on her own there is a huge space above her head which makes it look very unprofessional. From listening to feedback, we also felt that our use of alcohol and smoking was too obvious and was not used in a clever, more subtle way which would have a better effect on the audience.
Most importantly, the lighting in each of our shots was very inconsistent and not of a high quality. So, in the main shoot, we will be using a lighting kit and a light for the top of the camera to avoid getting such grainy shots. 

We concluded that our shoot board was unnecessary for use in all the shots apart from the argument scene because we wanted them to be spontaneous and not forced or awkward. 

R+P Post 18: Our Test Shoot

There was a lot of pre-planning which we had to all take part in before we could physically go and begin our test shoot. There was a contract form given by the Media Department which we all had to get our parents to sign before equipment was allowed to be released to us to use outside of school. Once all the members in our group had signed this contract, we then had to decide who was bringing the equipment from and to school-we decided Flo would as her Mum was able to pick it up from school and drop it back. We then wrote down our decided shooting times - 1pm until 9pm - which we got Miss Blackborow and the technician, Emma, to sign. 

After this was done, we were introduced to every piece of equipment we would be using in the shoot and therefore, how to use it. This included the camera, tripod, lighting sets, microphone, clapper board, packing and unpacking equipment and how to replace/charge batteries correctly. 

R+P Post 17: Our Planned Costumes and Props, Hair and Makeup

These are some pictures I found online of references to different outfits (party wear) similar to the costume we want our actors to be dressed it. The first picture is from the movie Kidulthood and this 90s street wear is what is popular amongst teens at the moment so we want to  interpret some of that clothing into our costumes. These 90s clothes often consist of old/vintage brands such as Laoste, Polo Ralph Lauren, Fred Perry, Lyle and Scott and more. The 2 last pictures are real images taken in popular London clubs. The last picture shows 2 girls in one glitter and one black bralette which seem to be popular amongst elder teens also. The second to last image shows a girl wearing a one-shoulder dress-very 90s styling again.

This is the costume, hair and makeup list we have created

We distributed this sheet to all of our actors, including ourselves. This sheet worked well and all our crew felt very informed afterwards,