Shooting On Location Day 3

On the final day of planned filming, reflection Studios got the footage for the rest of the film including the scene where Crimson receives the phone call from Luke and the part where Luke enters Crimson's room after his threatening call. These scenes differ and so different elements of these clips needed to be changed adding or taking away light etc. 

Before even starting to film, we had to dress the room up so that it looked more like a girls room rather than the social room it is usually used for. 

The tracking dolly shot was filmed first where we zoom in on Crimson as she is playing with her dolls etc. The tracking dolly was later used again to film the follow shot as Luke enters Crimson's room to meet his doom. These shots took quite a few takes as the camera was either moving too fast so out cut off the actors head or was too slow so the actor went walking off without us being able to catch them in the frame. 

Next up was the close up of the phone and the response Crimson gives when she hears what Luke has to say.  This was them followed by the shots of Crimson putting the phone down and a match on action shot of the bear being grabbed and thrown on the floor. 

We then moved on to filming the scene where Luke enters the room and discovers the hidden truth about Crimson followed by the shot where by Crimson enters with the hockey stick from the beginning of the Thriller opening and swings to hit Luke on the head. This also took a few takes as we needed to ensure that each camera angle matches the previous as many of the shots were MOA shot. 

Finally we filmed the scene where Luke enters Crimson's house and walks up the stairs to 'meet his doom'. This was also going to be MOA and so the actor was made to repeat his actions to ensure that the shots would match up when they were all edited together.

So thats the end of filming, now its time to get editing process. This includes the music, titles and the actual camera footage.

Shooting On Location Day 2

Reflection studios filmed two scenes today. In Crimson's room where he discovers Crimson isn't what she seems and Luke's side of the phone call when he calls Crimson.

We firstly set up the equipment in the bedroom area due to the bad weather in hope that it would clear up so we could film the scene where Luke is on the phone to Crimson, threatening to come round without explaining why. We briefed the actor to make sure that he knew what he was doing when and how. We gave him some time to read over the script and did practice runs with him to ensure he knew his actions and movement choices throughout each shot. Then we set the camera rolling.

                

We later filmed the 'Discovery' scene where Luke finds out about Crimson's dark side however we were bit filming the whole scene until day 3 of the shooting. We then moved the camera and reflector outside however it was still raining! Reflection Studios discussed whether to go ahead with the filming or not. We all knew that we needed to keep to the filming schedule and so we decided to go ahead with the filming. It turned out the weather had a positive effect on the filming, allowing the shots of this scene to look darker and grimmer which added tot he plot-thickening atmosphere. 

One day left of filming and then its onto the editing!

Shooting On Location Day 1

Today Reflection Studios filmed the 'Wasteland' shots for the thriller opening. This is when a mysterious character is seen walking through the empty area of land with a hockey stick and leaving, never revealing the identity of the character.

















We set up all the equipment, waited for our actress to arrive then began the process of filming. Before even considering to film, we ensured that our actress knew exactly what was going to happen and when by showing her the storyboard and animatic of the scene we were about to film. After watching the animatic and explaining the storyboard images we walked our actress through the route and timing of her movement in the scene.
















After all the preparing, it was then time to start filming. The first shot we filmed was the establishing shot of the wasteland to show the audience where they are and set the scene for our thriller before any character enters. This shot took a few takes until we were happy with the smooth pan of the shot.


















Next up was the close up of the gravel followed by the entrance of the mysterious figure. We again walked the actress through the route and timing then ran the camera for the first time.

















This shot was then followed by a close up of the feet and the entrance of the hockey stick. This allows us to add suspicion to the figure however we still won't see anything other than the feet at this point. The feet then exit the shot; this was repeated many times to ensure that the feet and the hockey stick were in the exact same shot as the previous one as this will be match on action.

















We took a break due to the bad weather then went back to record the last few shots of footage for this location. The last shot filmed today was the hooded figure walking off into the dark alley way, still not seeing the face of the character. The night was drawing and so the 3 point lighting allowed us to brighten up the darker alley we were filming in.
















Once all the film footage for this location was filmed all that was left to do today was collect the location sound. We needed a gravel sound that could be dubbed over the top of the characters feet when they were walking and so we got the actress to repeat the movement she did in the actual scene, making sure she walks at the same pace as she does in the actual film shot.



So that's day 1 of our filming complete so next up is day 2 with the interior and exterior shots at Crimson's house.

Shooting Schedule

Film pitch, plan, research you name it is all done so it's nearly time to film the thriller opening. However to know what you're doing when is all down to organisation. So here is the shooting schedule we will be following. There will be a diary kept on what we do each day to but this is a basic plan of our filming time.

Filming Schedule

With all this complete, let the filming begin! We will be keeping a film diary so you can see what we get up to each day on location!

Risk Assessment

We all know that when out filming anywhere there's always some risk, whether it be an unstable surface or a herd of cattle in the way. There are usually risks on locations that you film on so a risk assessment must be made for filming. This would be handed out to the actors and crew members so all are aware of the risk and what preventions are put in place to stop accidents from happening. 

Below you will find the risk assessment produced for the locations we will be shooting on.

Thriller Risk Assessment 

So we're coming to the end of the preparation for filming. Planning the shooting schedule so we know what's being filmed when and where with who is the last thing then its time to shoot our thriller! 

Animatics

We've got the storyboard sorted so now its time to turn the images from that into an animatic. 

What is an animatic?

An animatic is a moving storyboard. It shows you what your film is going to look like (roughly). Using the drawings from the storyboard a rough idea of what your film will look like can be gaged from it. All the dialogue, music etc. will be added to your animatic.

Animatics before technology?

Before the technology film companies have today to create their animatics, an animatic used to be either a filmed storyboard or even taped. Nowadays advancement in technology allows us to create more detailed and accurate ideas of what our film will look like.

There are different types of animatic. There are: 

• Photomatics- Use of photographs to create an animatic
• Videomatics- re used videos that were filmed for something but never used (also known as rip-o-matics)

Nowadays most just create their animatic using 2d or 3d software, some even have their own software to do so.

What is in an animatic?

Include in an animatic is...everything! (well almost) You will have: 

• Music 
• Dialogue 
• Idents
• Titles
• Film Title
• Images of the film/photographs (obviously)

Basically you'll have a finished film only made of a lot of drawings. 

Advantages of producing an animatic

• It enables you to see what your film is going to look like when created. 
• You can see and change any major mistakes and bad shots and ideas before its too late meaning the cost to recreate a shot in a different way will be lower.
• You can get an idea of how long your film is going to be (including idents and titles)
• Each member of the film crew will have a rough idea of when they will be needed and what they have to do when filming certain shots and scenes.
• The director can see what they need to film and plan when and where things can be filmed and in what order rather than going back and forth to film shots in the order that they come in. (logic)

Here is an existing example of what an animatic would look like if you were filming a full blown award winning film. This animatic is a clip from the film  The World's End. 

This clip also shows you along side what the film looked like and as you can see there are a few minor changes that have been made during the filming which is ok so long as its not something that changes the whole of the script, treatment and anything else you can think of. Basically nothing major has been changed.

Our Thriller Animatic

We created our animatic by using the images from the storyboard, adding in all the sound etc. Once our first version of the animatic was completed we shared it with an audience to gain feedback on what was good and what needed to be improved upon.

When asked 'Is the narrative clear?' our audience said that they could understand the basic storyline of what was going to happen in the film. There was only one person that didn't quite get the idea of the story but once they watched it again it was clear to them.

The audience also said that our film had a wide variety of frames ranging from establishing shots right though to close ups of peoples faces or objects. They all had a purpose to them too and that there was a motivation to do something.

The film fills the 2 minute opening length only going over by a few seconds.

There were titles include in the animatic which the audience said were added over the top meaning they could be seen as the action on screen was going on. Someone did say that it would be clever if we added in images to the title at the end seen as though the film is called 'The Black Widow'. It was suggests to add an image of a spider to link it as well as add atmosphere and a double meaning to the film name. The ident was clearly there in the right place as well as all the appropriate titles that were suited and fitting to our film were all there in the order from our earlier research.

Most of the soundtrack was said to have been appropriate however the heart beat at the end was considered 'too long' and didn't bring any tension just killed it as it went on and on with no progression. It needed to either increase in volume or stop completely was the opinion of the audience. The music however was said to have matched the film well and the speech fitted in with the film well and clearly told the audience what was going on.

All in all the audience said that the animatic was clear and understandable and did the job it needed to do, tell the story of the film before it has even been filmed. The audience said other than a few minor tweaks Reflection Studios were ready to being the filming process following this animatic.


Now here is Reflections final edition of the Thriller Opening Animatic, sound and all!



We now have an idea of what our film should look like if we follow it right. All that's left to do now is the risk assessment and film shooting schedule.