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FATV YR 2 LVL 3
Production Diaries
17/04/23
This week, I started gathering my pre production documents to prepare for my production days. This consisted of filling out Risk Assessments for my shooting on location, creating an equipment list, and a synopsis. I started to fill out a risk assessment for the first location of shooting, at my home. I decided there wasn't many risks or hazards involving my cast members or crew, because we will be inside, on my property and with my friends. However I still found it useful to write up a risk assessment as it puts me at ease, and my tutor. To help with production, I also created a production schedule, this consisted of dates and crew and cast needed, hopefully this makes production easier.
What went well?
I managed to create a lot of valid worksheets that will benefit me once in production.
What could've gone better?
I hoped to make more this week but I need to start production but on the other hand, I have done enough and I know it will benefit and will be useful.
30/04/23
Today, marks the first day of production; scenes 9-10. I filmed on location at my house in Feering, (Risk Assessment completed for location), with a cast and crew consisting of my classmates Freddie Penrose and Charley Reid and a few friends who were interested in acting. I started off by gathering everyone at mine at around 7 and hoping to start filming at 8. As people arrived we spoke as I put the actors at ease by talking through the script, and what I need from them and what I expect. I started by filming scenes with my male actors and close ups and establishing shots of the room, each shot tended to take more than one take, but I made myself carry on until I was satisfied with the work. I did this because last project, I would accept scenes and shots because I was embarrassed to ask the actors for more, but in post production, I wished I would ask for another shot because it wasn't up to standards and just wasn't what I had envisioned therefore, I struggles to be proud of it. This time around however, I made sure to take multiple takes even if it was good, I just wanted the best possible shots I could create in the time with the cast and crew I had.
What went well?
After multiple takes, I had gotten shots I had imagined in pre production and they came out like possibly some of the best cinematography I've ever created. I managed to direct my actors in a new, more confident way by not b being afraid too ask them to try new things. This ended up being a huge success and seeing my friends become great actors and overall very helpful when it came to giving their opinions, it worked out in my favour in the end.
What could've gone better?
Although the outcome was positive, I still struggled to get into the swing of things. We ended up filming much later than I planned on, so this made me rush a bit and made some of the cast a little impatient. I resolved this by preparing myself and then cracking on, by getting straight in with some scenes and close ups, establishing shots and some shots I could do with only a few of the cast. I also encountered problems such as poor lighting, this happened because I had failed to book equipment such as a lighting kit and light reflecting panels. This forced me to have to change the ISO on the camera, (canon c100) and shoot some scenes again. In conclusion, I learnt from my mistakes and will ensure I book lights next time I film.
How can I improve for next time?
For next production day, I plan on booking more of the relevant equipment, if it's available, to better prepare myself and ultimately get better shots therefore better scenes. I also intend on planning better, telling cast and crew what time to arrive on location and be prepared to film. I hope this all comes in the near future as this is all a learning curve due to this being the first day of my production.
01/05/23
Today, I filmed scenes 5-6, at my house on location. I filmed the scenes with Liam (played by me) and Liam's mum (played by Jodie Wells). I started by getting the actress into makeup and costume. We put pale makeup on her to make her look ill, and added a headscarf to hide her hair. I had to film a couple different scenes with multiple shots. I started to film some scenes with the actress, and began setting up by shutting out the light to get it as dark as possible. I did this because the scene had a dark setting and theme, so I shut all the curtains and began to turn off all the lights, then began changing the ISO and there filters on the camera so I can get the dark silhouettes I planned on getting in my storyboards. I then completed these scenes and continued on to a next scene in another room. I moved everything and set up the props for the next scene, I needed a ring, a mug of tea, and some pills. I filmed what i needed done, then finally wrapped up for todays shooting.
I had the talent in a robe, headscarf and pale make up to make her look as poorly as possible.
What went well?
I managed to film everything I needed in roughly under an hour, and got some shots I needed and some shots I wanted. I managed to effectively direct my talent and operate the mic and the camera. I ended up really liking my shots I got and made the most out of the time I had.
Props used for scene 6, these include: Mug, Tray, Engagement Ring, Pills
What could've gone better?
Like most production days, I ran out of time due to other arrangements like my part time job and my talent having plans. I also struggled to film and operate the audio too, this was due to a lack of crew and preparation. I should've organised it in advance and got together a crew to help film. This therefore, with held me and my progress as I had to do it all and direct, it eventually work but I believe this was the key reason as to why we ran out of time. In conclusion, I got the filming done and can tick off this scene, but for next time, I shall prepare better and get help with production from my classmates.
7/5/23
Today, I had set out to film on a location out on a field with a couple cars and my friends as cast and crew. We met up and proceeded to drive to the location. However, as we arrived one of my classmates, Freddie, pointed out that the location I had thought about filming at, had no trespassing signs and cctv cameras. After this I had to think where else I could film, eventually settling for some land by my house that was undisturbed. We then proceeded to film for about an hour, filming some close ups of my characters having conversation, establishing shots and some throwaway scenes used to build tension. I operated the canon c100 on a shoulder mount and had my classmate, Charley operate the boom mic that was attached to the camera. Upon reflection, if I had conducted some location scouting, this wouldn't off happened and I wouldn't of lost the time I did today trying to find places to film.
In conclusion, I took too long after realising we couldn't film there and ending up wasting a lot of time on location spotting, something I should've done before shooting today. However, despite this, I got the full scene filmed (scene 10) and finished today, but I was planning on filming some extra scenes with me acting in it, but I quickly ran out of time. We ran out of time because we had planned on filming for a couple hours and then had to stop due to things such as part time jobs and other engagements arranged. If I were to do it again, I would've planned ahead more for location, arranged longer times for production, and essentially film all the scenes possible with the available cast and crew.
8/5/23
Today, I helped my classmate, Freddie Penrose, film his project "The Hammer" on location in Finchingfield. We started by meeting by his house in Braintree early in the morning, packed equipment and props, got changed and headed off. Once we had arrived at his grandparents home, we began to debrief and prepare for the scenes. We had a whole day of shooting ahead of us which would eventually end with us getting covered in fake blood. It was a lot to take in as I had a lot of lines to remember and a lot to film. If I were directing I would've given the scripts to the talent in advance to prepare for the role. Aside from this, it went really well and the director got everything he hoped for.
In conclusion, I believe it went really well and I hope the director got everything he wanted. It went really quickly but we ended up filming for about 8 hours, it was a full day of production. Personally, I think we could've done more scenes and got a variety of shots, but it wasn't my film ,I was there to help.
10/05/23
Today, I set out to film in the evening, it was going to rain and it was perfect for the scene I had planned to film. The scene in mind, scene 5, needed it to be dark, wet and foggy. Luckily, when we started filming it was raining and perfect for the moody, scary shots needed. However, after a couple takes and minutes passing by, the rain stopped. This was a problem with continuity as we couldn't have half the scenes in the rain and the rest not. Because of this, we had to re shoot and start from the top, by filming everything again. In hindsight, this worked out better because it gave me more time to give the cast and crew feedback and essentially getting better shots that I can use. After just an hour, I had achieved the shots I needed and called it a day. I had been the main talent in the shot today alongside Maleek, so I had my classmate, Charley operating the camera. Ultimately, I was acting, directing my cast member and overseeing the shots my camera man was able to get. This was a lot of work but it was the only way, despite this, it went very well and ended positively.
What went well?
Production went really well, we managed to film everything and wrapped this scene in good time with satisfactory shots. I found directing and acting a fun challenge and it worked out in my favour, being away from the camera enabled me to properly direct a crew therefore giving more people experience and giving me more professional directing experience.
What could've gone better?
I believe it went well, but he problems came from the actual camera itself. As we were filming the camera wasn't picking up a lot of light due to it being dark out, but I didn't book lights out. If I booked lights then the shots could've been better and easier to see. Without these, I decided to raise the ISO levels on the camera, jeopardising the quality of video. This happens when raising the ISO levels to let in more light, but it makes the shot more grainy and possibly less sharp. I haven't yet reviewed the footage but I hope its ok and will be up to my standards with the rest of the filming. We also had a problem with the weather. The whole point in filming this evening was because it was going to rain, however after filming for about 10 minutes with the umbrellas out and with the rain like I wanted, it stopped raining, this caused me to go back and re shoot everything we had already shot. It was a big ask and I could see my crew and cast getting agitated by how long a scene that's only a minute long was taking. In conclusion, it was another successful day of shooting but it took far too long, and I hope the videos turn out ok and if not I will have to tweak them in after effects.
11/05/23
Today, I was at college helping my classmate, Charley Reid film his project. This consisted of us booking out the TV studio for the green screen, and some exterior and in terror shots of the corridors for tracking shots and establishing shots. Today, I was helping with sound, so I was operating the boom mic by holding ups the boom pole to get accurate sound. We were originally recording audio through both channels so it came in to both sides of the headphones, but I made the decision and input to only record in mono, (one channel) for a better and clearer Audio you can duplicate in post. Upon reflection this was a good idea and hopefully helps Charley in his editing process. However, we did come across another problem regarding sound. As we are filming we notice the XLR cable had broken and stopped picking up audio. This was noticed luckily after a few shots so we wouldn't of had much to re shoot. Charley and I decided to return the XLR cable to the equipment room and hopefully get a new cable to continue filming as soon as possible. We got the XLR cable and returned to the TV studio to wrap up production.
In conclusion, we got a lot filmed and ended up being very productive and I do hope my classmate got everything he needed in the time we had. Once a problem occurred we quickly figured out ways to solve them. We were done in around just under two hours and maintained a professional work ethic.
13/05/23
Today, I filmed scenes 2-4 with just me and the main actor, Alex Larner. These scenes only needed one actor and I knew I could tackle it with just me behind the camera. It was a challenge but we got everything filmed and to my standard nonetheless, we filmed on location at my house in Feering. We started filming around midday and started to plan what I wanted to be filmed and how we were going to do it and what I was expecting of him. Once everything was established, we started to set up the set. I needed a corner of a room so I began moving my sofa so I had access to the corner of the living room, I then started to create what was meant to be a body. I needed a dead body and I created one by stuffing clothes with pillows for the body and rolled up towels for legs. Once this was done I placed it into the corner and started shooting. I needed the subject to be hunched over something so by having a dummy there it gave him and me a sense of where the dead body would be and how he would act around it. Once everything was filmed with the dummy, I then needed some wide angle shots and a beginning opening shot of the subject waking from a bad dream, I did this by getting the actor in bed and having a shallow focus so when he woke up and got up it was focused onto his face. Once completing this, it was down to getting the final POV shots. For this, I wanted to be under the actor as he strikes the body, and therefore blood spattering on the camera lens. I wanted to do this by getting a toothbrush and flicking the fake blood onto the lens, but I knew this was going to be messy and could potentially damage the equipment I was borrowing from the college. I came up with the solution of taking a glass sheet from a picture frame, and putting it over the lens. This turned out really well, however, the toothbrush method wasn't shooting out enough blood so I ended up just covering my hand in blood and letting it drip onto the camera. In conclusion, I got everything filmed and I tried new things with my practical, and overall maintained a productive mindset throughout the short amount of time we had to shoot together.
What went Well?
Today, Alex and I, managed to film everything, set up and pack away within two hours. I managed to talk him through what I wanted from him, he gave me feedback, like trying to get a close up fade to a mid shot, which will be used, and it actually helped and this wouldn't of happened if we wasn't comfortable to talk about these things. I think being able to work with people I am friendly with, makes directing a lot easier and we are able to progress together. I had a really good time filming today and we managed to be efficient as possible.
What could've been better?
The goal for these shots was trying to get the most gore and the least amount of mess possible. I tried many different ways of getting a fake blood splatter onto the lens without damaging any of the equipment. I firstly, tried dipping a toothbrush into the blood because I thought that would have a good splatter effect but I think the fake blood was too thick so it didn't end up working so I had to scrap that and reconvene and try a new idea. I decided after a few attempts, just submerging my hand in the blood then letting it fall was the best option. This did work but was very messy and with the shot I wanted I could only get it first try. The shot I got is what I stuck with, if I could go back and do it again I would probably mix the fake blood with water to make it easier to spray, then try the toothbrush splatter effect. In conclusion, I did film everything but the effect wasn't the same as how I wanted it to look.
18/05/23
Today, I had set out to get a rough edit together of the scenes I filmed. This consisted of scenes like the murder, the robbing scene and then the aftermath. Once importing all the footage, I had realised, as I suspected, the night time videos were all very dark. I didn't know it was going to be this dark as we were filming but I needed to do something about it in Post Production. Therefore, I put a rough cut of a few scenes together, in which they all needed touching up with the colour, and started to play around with the colour grading. As this was all new to me, I started off by just trial and error with factors like the contrast and exposure. This was for the evening scenes, I needed them brighter and with a slightly warmer temperature. Whereas for the other shots that needed colour grading, like the murder scenes, I needed to darken those, add shadows and highlight the blacks, while making the temperature colder to give off a blue tint. For these scenes, I tampered with the settings and undoing things if I didnt like them, until I had fully restored footage that was very dark, and made a boring shot look moody and sinister.
Having being unfamiliar with colour grading, I decided I was going to learn from my mistakes and experiences, and just edit it as I went along. I could've watched some tutorials on YouTube, but I assumed learning from just experimenting and seeing ultimately what I liked and didn't like. After much experimention and trial and error, I believe I did a good job and hope it turns out good once I export the final piece.
On another note, while messing around with the colour grading and watching the videos on repeat, I noticed I didn't quite like the audio in the confrontation clip in scene 5, as I'm familiar with audio, I started to add effects onto the music and the dialogue being spoken. Most of it was meant to sound like it was coming from far away, or for the music, coming from headphones. So I added a preset onto the audio called "studio reverb", and started to tamper with it. For the headphone audio, I lowered the sound, added a preset called "far room" and it turned out great. Finally for the dialogue, I had it fade out then added a preset reverb called "small room" to get that echo I wanted as the characters walk away. I believe it turned out great and I now have the knowledge to continue my experimentation with sound and colour grading.
In conclusion, I believe I've gone very far in my editing skills compared to the basic knowledge I had last year for my final major project. So far, I've tried out new colour grading skills I hadn't even thought about before, I tried ways to make my audio sound more professional and the outcome as of today has made me proud and hopefully reflects my progress in the final product I produce. This has given me a sort of release of stress as I now feel more confident to continue with the edit. Upon reflection, I tried my best and I experimented until I found what worked for me. This gives me the outcome I wanted in production, but couldn't obtain, until now, with my new editing skills I picked up along the way. I am excited to see where this takes me as we come close to the hand in date.
23/05/23
Today, was an editing day, primarily colour grading clips I had already cut together. I wanted an overall warmer colour for some of the shots and then just an overall brighter look for the film. I started to finalise a rough edit so I had something to work with, I did this by putting the clips together, adding transitions and wrapping up a first draft. Todays plan was to focus on my editing so I could move forward with little to no work to go back on to once finished production. I haven't filmed every scene yet but instead of waiting to start editing after wrapping, I wanted to get the bulk of the editing done prior. Therefore, today consisted of colour grading scenes, and adding specific dissolve transitions. For the scene with the two boys, I wanted a film looking dissolve as we fade into the next shot. I got this by adding the pre-set and rendering it into frames, I also extended it out so it was a slow and gradual fade from scene to scene. Similar to other editing days for this project, colour grading consisted of a lot of trial and error, trying out new ways to change the colours and add depth and warmth to the shots. For the car shots of the two boys sitting, the sky was really bright and the exposure was too much, so naturally I tampered with exposure and saturation until I was happy with the lighting. Once this was to my standard, I started to add some warmth by upping the temperature on the "Lumetri Colour" tab under colour grading in Premiere Pro. As shown in a screenshot below, the difference is exactly what I was looking for and the final outcome is what I wanted and I hope this hard work is evident in my final product at the hand in time. Once I enabled myself to move on from this scene, I started to colour grade some shots I filmed earlier in the year in Venice. I had spliced these shots together and added some slow gradual fades to soften the transitions from shot to shot. Once I was happy with the basic edit I had, I began colour grading the shots. It was a beautiful setting but for some reason after filming and exporting it onto Premiere Pro, the quality dropped, the sky was over exposed and all the lovely colours on the building and the sun set, had practically been reverted. Similar to the other scenes, I started by lowering the exposure, upping the panels like saturation and contrast. This brought the shots back to life, then I added warmth, this gave me the sunset colours back and the shots I had originally wanted. This gave me the opportunity to render then finally move on.
As this project is coming to a wrap, my plan was to add the final details and touch up the little things I would usually leave. Mainly the colour grading. My last project, I would've left things like the colour and audio effects because I didn't think I needed them and quite frankly didn't know how to go about that. However, I'm very fortunate I gave it a go this time round as the result is like nothing I've ever produced before.
As a result of exporting and importing the videos from my phone to the laptop, I had this really over exposed shot like the one filmed in Venice. I filmed some b roll of my friend, Cole, back in January just because the sights were so beautiful, then now I wanted them for the film, exporting basically ruined the shots. However, tempering with the colours and the highlights, got the shot I originally wanted.
In conclusion, I tried really hard to get my editing to a professional standard compared to my previous work. Having a useful tool such as colour grading, not only expands my editing skills, but arguably makes me more employable. It's a little detail that can take my projects to that next level. Upon reflection, it would've been beneficial if I completed other work today instead of just edit, but I wanted to put all my focus onto this process as in the past its where I struggle the most.
26/05/23
Today, marks the last day of production and post production on my project. The plan for today was to head down to London Liverpool Street to film my final scene- the end credits. Up to this point, I have the rest of the film full edited and checked and ready to be exported. I just needed that final credits shot, and for this, I needed a busy train station wide shot. However, once I started to record, I quickly got told to stop and that I needed permission. This made me panic as I am close to the deadline and all I need is this one wide shot to finish production. After some thinking, I decided to film with my phone and still get the shot anyway. It didn't turn out how I wanted but its all I could get in that short amount of time. I filmed what I could, then had to head home on the next train. It didn't go to plan but I just simply don't have the time for re shoots. As I got home I transferred the shots from my phone to premiere pro and got to editing the final credits sequence. In conclusion, I should've scouted the location beforehand and then I would've known its not aloud and I would be prepared to film somewhere else, this is a note I will have to be prepared for next time I am creating a film. However, I have now finished production and have the completed film on my website. This marks the end of production diaries as now all I have left is to reflect, evaluate and film a director's commentary.
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