Charlie's A2 Media Blog: February 2015

Wednesday, 25 February 2015

Filming: Further Lighting Issues

Tab in action just before the
bulb blew on the light.

Today we successfully booked out some lighting equipment to use in our interior shots that are lacking in any natural lighting. We were able to film a few shots, however the bulb blew half way through meaning we couldn't continue with many more interior shots today. Unfortunately, we weren't able to get hold of a halogen bulb tonight and so we will have to retrieve one tomorrow and continue these interior shots.

This has set us back again in our filming schedule again which is very annoying and worrying, but in the meantime, me and Tab are searching for titles and any royalty free incidental music or soundtracks that we could incorporate into our trailer so we aren't wasting anymore valuable time.

Tomorrow, we are going to continue on our interior shots and upload any footage onto a computer and make sure there aren't any shots that look shaky and that we might have to re-film.

Tuesday, 24 February 2015

Filming: Interior Shots

Tab and I have managed to book out a professional filming light which will be able to cast 500W of light for my interior shots in the house. From previous experience, my partner and I know the sort of effect that low lighting can have on a camera and they can make many shots blurry and pixelated. With last years project this was the issue and as a result we had to re-film a large amount of our shots which is set us back a lot in terms of our schedule and deadline. This prompted us to borrow a light that we will be able to point towards the ceiling or the wall in front of the acting space so that the light doesn't shine too brightly, and allow the light to instead bounce off onto the actors and illuminate the room and create a warmer look for our shots. The addition of this extra lighting will ensure that our trailer doesn't look unprofessional and amateurish, which for a supernatural horror film can really affect the authenticity and effectiveness of the atmosphere in a lot of the shots, putting our target audience off watching our film.

Monday, 23 February 2015

Filming: Lighting Issues

When filming our indoor shots, we realised that due to it getting dark fairly early still and the overall dark interior of our location, a lot of our shots that we attempted were not to the quality we expected. An example of the dark lighting is shown to the right.

To resolve this issue, me and Tab are planning to book out some lighting equipment that will hopefully allow our shots to become of better quality, and to sustain a professional look and feel for our teaser trailer.

This has set us back slightly in our schedule which is slightly worrying, however, we were able to film some of our exterior shots outside of the house, making use of as much natural light as we could. We wanted the day to be bright and sunny, which it was, as this is conventional for supernatural horrors to start off very bright and happy to contrast against dark and sinister things that happen later on, lulling the audience into a false sense of security.

Sunday, 22 February 2015

Filming: Delays

In our original schedule, we planned to film the majority of our shots between the 14th and 22nd February, however due to location issues and the cast having conflicting plans, we had to move the filming back a week to make sure everybody and every location is free for the successful filming of all of our shots.

I have created a new schedule and call sheet for the following week which should allow us to film all of our shots swiftly and promptly, and avoid any further delays. Tomorrow, we plan on booking our equipment out for a further week, and begin filming our indoor shots in the house.

Thursday, 12 February 2015

Planning: Software Use for Ancillary Product

Along with our teaser trailer, we have to design and produce a promotional package which includes a poster and magazine cover, I have researched what the best suitable editing programmes are and how they will make this process easy and effective for me.

Wednesday, 11 February 2015

Narrative Theory: Claude Levi Strauss

One narrative theory that Claude Levi Strauss came up with was Binary oppositions, and the idea that objects, themes or characters that are complete opposites to each other, helps understand and fuel each other. This theory is often applied to the narratives within films and their trailers. An example, is how the protagonist can be a very kind, thoughtful and selfless character, whereas a film's antagonist would be spiteful, evil and selfish character. These traits being so different that they almost compliment each other within the film's narrative, as it allows the audience to judge each of the characters based on their actions and form their opinions because of them. My film doesn't follow this explicitly, especially as my main antagonist is never full shown. However, at the beginning of the film, the male protagonist is a character who is kind and reassuring, whereas at the end, he becomes possessed by the antagonist and becomes the eventual 'bad guy' - thus becoming the Binary opposition.