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.