Thoughts on final film

Overall I think that our film looks good and does show elements of the four techniques that needed to be included. The sound isn't great as because of troubles with the actors we only had 2 days to film this and we were more focused on getting the shots looking good and making sure we apply parts of the brief to our film correctly. We managed to film the point of view element, lighting change and include the significant colours we needed our actors to wear when filming the Grindleford scenes. We asked Lucy to wear purple nail varnish as it’s known for a character being mysterious and arrogant, and then we asked Zoe to wear green nail varnish and a green ring as these show jealousy. The point of view shot we filmed was from Zoe’s point of view while watching Lucy wake up in the woods from behind a tree.The lighting change happens after we see Lucy waking up, and it's effect was to show how she would be seeing things since she would still be pretty dazed after being drugged. The technique that I filmed was the sequence shot and happens in the first half of the film where we see Zoe walk into the room, put the drugs in Lucy's coffee cup and then leave, however the camera stays on the door till Lucy comes back and sits down. Because of our use of these techniques I do think that the film meets the briefs criteria. 

The Wake Up

The Wake Up - Cinematography Project from Alex Kentfield on Vimeo.

Filming Day 2

Yesterday we filmed the first half of the film and completed all of the filming for this module. We originally and ideally wanted to film in an office so we could create a more realistic working environment and also try to get some people to act as co-workers for Lucy to be talking to. Hannah emailed Dean to see about booking us a office space to film in, and he was unable to book out an office but said he could look into booking out a pc room or meeting room which are better than nothing. Finally we ended up with a meeting room that Dean told us may or may not have a computer,which would mean someone would have to bring a laptop to get the shot of Lucy typing at the beginning of the film, or we would have to re think that part and use something else. We also had to change the script since it was a small meeting room, where Lucy is working on her own and her friend calls her asking about her night instead of a co-worker sitting with her, as we couldn't find extras in time. Although we had these set backs I think we still managed to get what we wanted filmed in the same way we wanted it to be put across in the original script. We used all the same equipment as we used for Grindleford as we loved the camera and it helped with making the shots look really good. We again got through the filming without any problems and felt positive about what we had filmed. Both of the actresses are convincing in their roles and work well with us. One of the last shots of the first half of the film is after Lucy drinks the tea that Zoe has drugged and stumbles out of the room. To make this look different we wanted to film this scene with the camera going in and out of focus and swaying slightly to show the disorientation of Lucy.

Filming Day 1 - Grindleford

The second half of our film is all filmed in Grindleford which we got finished today. We decided to film the end of the film first as we needed the full day to film the Grindleford scenes since trains to and from this location weren't regular and today was the only day our student actor had the full day free. It was also a good idea to get the coldness out of the way first since the rest of the film was to be filmed indoors. The scenery of Grindleford has really helped our film and it looks really nice on cameras, with all the twisting branches and orange leaves covering the ground. We booked out the Canon 5D mark III as well as a 50mm lens, with gave the shots some really nice depth, and really helped create the shots that we envisioned for the film. We use a lot of close ups with the background out of focus which we wanted as we felt it gave the film a more mysterious look. We used a shoulder rig for the majority of the shots as we believed giving the film a handheld feel really helped with the genre of the film. Because of this being a cinematography module none of us had a designated role therefore we all had to share the roles and take turns in filming parts of the scene. I think we done this fairly and each had a go at putting our own ideas into which part of the film we shot. One of the shots I filmed was a shot of Lucy getting up of the ground and walking towards the camera slowly as I walk back with the camera to reveal Zoe coming out from behind a tree following Lucy. I like this shot as Zoe is still a bit out of focus and the sunlight really helped with this shot as this makes her even harder to see properly. We managed to get all of the shots we needed from Grindleford in a good few hours without the weather being miserable which was really lucky for us and the actors. There will be some shots that will need a bit of colour grading in the edit but it'll not be too much of a difference and we were overall happy with the footage we had shot. The two elements we played with in filming today was point of view and colour exaggeration. We had asked Zoe to wear green nail varnish and a green accessory to which she brought a green ring, this is to hint at jealousy and the reason for her actions are out of the jealousy she has for the other girl. We have a nice shot of Zoe from behind a tree with her hand placed onto it as she peers round at Lucy lying on the ground, and we can clearly see her nail varnish and ring.

Cinematography Production Report

For the production skills cinematography module we were given a brief on guidelines we have to follow for the final film we have to create in groups, which include all four elements covered in the module classes. These are considering the use of colour, the sequence shot, lighting changes and a sequence utilising POV techniques. My group of 5 for this task is myself, Hannah Grencis, Emily Spokes, Heather Hall and Alex Kentfield. We have decided to go with Emily’s idea which is a short, dark themed thriller involving two very contrasting characters who work in the same office space on a daily basis. One is a forty year old man who keeps himself to himself and is very secretive. The other is a young girl in her twenties who is always gossiping but is also a hard worker. When the man overhears the younger girl talking to their work colleagues about a series of missing people from their same workplace, he offers to give her a lift home. At first, the girl refuses, but then decides to take up his offer. However, instead of taking her home he knocks her out and drives her to a wooded area (Grindleford) where he tries to convince her that she collapsed and tempts her to follow him to his home. The girl plays along, secretly realising she needs to get away. Just as she runs up a nearby hill, she trips suddenly and the man chases her. She tries to fight and shout for help as the camera shows the location rather than the action occurring, and the next thing we see is her feet dangling, implying that the man has hung her on a nearby tree.

I think that in this film we have the chance to play with colour and lighting, creating certain effects by doing so. We have been discussing that it would be good for the girl to have a colour that we associate with her, that she always wears whether it’s a piece of clothing, accessory or make-up. The main reason for having a certain colour that the victim always wears is because at first Emily’s idea was that this man is stalking the girl because she is wearing a colour that triggers something in his mind, maybe a memory of his mother or a past girlfriend he’s still obsessed with. This is what got us into liking this idea so that we could have a go at subtly placing whatever colour we choose into the shot. At first it was the colour red, but I thought this was overused and thought we could maybe use the colour purple. I have seen that the colour purple can signify something or someone as mysterious, which my group liked the idea of the victim wearing this colour, as she could be seen as mysterious to her stalker. We’re not going to overdo the colour purple either, we have decided that we’re going to show it in really subtle ways e.g. she will wear purple nail varnish on a shot where we can see her typing at work, and she will wear either a purple blouse or some sort of necklace/bracelet of this colour. She could even wear a hint of purple eye shadow if it won’t look like too much when we get round to shooting it. In terms of how we’re going to use lighting we have decided that we need to use darker lighting in the Grindleford scenes. We think that this gives the film a more dark and thrilling mood and theme, opposed to it being shown in natural daylight. To achieve this we will have to adjust the iris and lower the exposure value to what best achieves the right amount of darkness when we’re out filming in Grindleford. However the problem with wanting to lower the exposure to create a feeling of it being shot at night, we’re going to have to light up the subjects faces. We’re also quite limited in Grindleford in terms of bringing lights since we’ll be in the woods and can’t plug the lights into anything. To get over this problem we have decided to use one or two battery powered LED lights and a reflector, which should light the subjects enough so that we can see them clearly, but it still looks like its being filmed at night. 

We have storyboarded one of the sequence shots we want to film, which is going to be filmed in Grindleford. It’s also going to be shot in the man’s point of view which also takes on the first person point of view technique. The shot is going to start from behind a tree the stalker has been waiting behind while his victim wakes up, then in his point of view we will follow the girl from a distance as she finds her way of the woods. This sequence will probably last around 20 seconds until they are both on a path that leads to the train station, where the man will shout her name and she turns around. There the sequence shot will end as we switch over to behind the girl again, this time as she is looking at him and the audience can now see that we have been watching her in his point of view. This won’t be the only time we plan on using a first person point of view, as we want to use this for the very last shot of the film. We’re going to have the stalker pull up to the side of the road to ask another girl who by now the audience should get the idea that he has stalked previously as it becomes known at the beginning that another girl has been missing. The camera will be in the position of this girl at the side of the road pointing to the stalkers rolled down car window, while he looks to the camera (girl) and asks if she would like a lift home. Apart from these two first person point of view shots the rest of the film will use a modified subjective point of view which is the most commonly used point of view.

Sequence Shot

A sequence shot is a long take that extends for an entire scene or sequence, which is composed of only one shot with no editing. An example of this is in the film 'Goodfellas' (1990) where the sequence is described as an illustration of how the world just kind of unfolds in front of a young Henry Hill. In this scene he takes his future wife past the block-long line around the club, through the service entrance and the kitchen and onto their table by the stage. He tosses money out left and right, banters with the bouncers and busy chefs, and walks right out onto the floor like he owns the place. It can be seen as a little brash to put a shot like this in the middle of the movie, but it's showiness compliments Henry's 'golden-boy swagger' 

Point of View

Point of view determines who the view identifies with in a scene and works alongside other graphical and editorial techniques such as framing, which determines the level of involvement a viewer has with characters on screen. Point of view often changes throughout a narrative film and is largely invisible to the audience and the effects of the changes profoundly affects the way in which the audience interprets and scene. There are three types of narrative in film:

• First person point of view
• Third person restricted point of view
• Omniscient point of view

First person - Exemplified in the subjective techniques established by Hitchcock, we see through the eyes of the character - the 'I' of the story. 

Third person - Presents the action of the film as seen by an ideal observer. The most common style in mainstream Hollywood cinema but rarely the sole viewpoint.

Omniscient - To be truly omniscient we have to also know what the characters are thinking. This is usually achieved through narration, voice-over and graphics.