18/10/2011 - Initial Filming of 'The Friends'

Here are the first trial shots of the other characters in our film trailer, Lily's friends. We filmed this clips on the 9th of October over the space of a few hours as you will notice the difference in lightness of the day. This is relevant because, Lily's friends are returning home after the night before and during this pivotal moment in the trailer they find her phone and soon find themselves involved in the game. 
Problems:
We had some issues with film due to our camera not being charged we have to film on Charmaine's phone as we did not want to waste a day of filming. The quality was not as good as using a camera but we decided to continue our filming as these are only trial shots for the trailer and it is important to progress. Another issue that we had was with the cast and one of our actresses can no longer play the part of the 'Accepting Friend' so Kate has stepped into her role to allow us to keep filming. The weather was another issues during filming as it was windy and made it difficult to hear what each other was saying. Our final issue was that a dog kept appearing in our shots as the location in which are filming is a well-known dog walking spot so next time we will move to another area of the field where we won't be interrupted. Below our the shots that we have taken so far:

07/10/2011 - Reaction Shots from relevant film trailers

Reaction Shots
A reaction shot is the person's response to an event or something said by someone. Often used in motion pictures to convey the emotions of a character.

Here, are three screen shots from the film 'Taken'. We can see from the reactions shown on these characters' faces that one is in pain, one is in shock and the other is frightened. They seem very natural and the camera often focuses on them at a mid-close up shot of their faces. In the first shot we can see the physical pain on this man's face as it looks as if he is shouting. The woman in the second shot seems surprised and stares with disbelief. The final shot shows a girl on the phone distressed as she is recieving this phone call.

During our second complete trial shots for our film, we attempted to create a shot where our main character, Lily, is being grabbed by the abductor. Although it is not great, I think that it is a reaction shot as she knew that she was going to be grabbed but did not know when. Her reaction is shocked and she moves backwards and screams.

07/10/2011 - Character Research...Continued

Lily - Main Character. Vulnerable. Innocent. Abducted and central to the film.

The film trailer will focus predominantly on Lily's two friends who discover that she is missing and take it into their own hands to search for her as they become involved in her abductor's games.

The two girls involved appear to be quite similar to Lily but as the stress of her disappearance, a strain is put on their friendship and the audience sees the conflicting personalities. One of the girls from the very start takes the situation seriously and cannot rest until she has found Lily and brought the abductor to justice. The other girl initially seems unconerned that Lily is missing and does not believe it to be fatal. She refuses to believe that there is a game being played and later in the trailer she does not believe that they will ever find Lily. This causes distress as the girls do not explain the seriousness of this case until higher intervention is needed. Without the support of the other girl, girl 1 is decides to seek the abductor and find Lily mostly by herself. The other girl is worried that that girl 1 is obsessed and does not believe that they can find Lily without greater help.

So far, we have our actress who will play Lily (noted in previous blog entries). We have found another teenage girl to play girl 1 who will be obsessed and determined to find Lily and bring the abductor to justice. Girl 2 is still in progress as we need to find an actress who will be able to take this role seriously and committ to filming (even though she may not feature in the film trailer as much).

30/09/2011 - Filming Equipment

 

During the trial filming of our trailer, we used various pieces of equipment to catch the movement of our actress. As demonstrated in the image to the left, we used a video camera to capture our film and a tripod to hold the camera still.

27/09/2011 - Time Line for the Trailer (Part 1-3)

26/09/2011 - Character Research

The name of the protagonist character in the film is perhaps the most important. As a group we believed that it was important to choose a fitting name to the girl and one which incited innocence and vulnerability. We decided on a few names: Emily, Lily, Alice, Isabel and Kate. We researched each name and it's meaning and found that they all implied innocence and purity. Above, I have included a screen shot of the meaning of the name Lily. The name Lily reminds me of the flower which is white and pure. It is usually a significant flower related to death. Although this is a morbid link to make, it could be relevant as it suggests danger for Lily in the trailer.

Lily is about 17 and a regular teenager girl who enjoys socialising with her friends at parties. As the viewer, we are not told that she has been to a party but it is implied by the sometimes canted camera angles used and her attire. She is dressed in light coloured clothing to make her appear pure like in the darkness of the night and make her look vulnerable. She is wearing heels which makes it difficult for her to walk and when she is being chased we see her determination to escape through her attempts to run in her shoes. The first minute of the trailer focuses on Lily and her walk home. The viewer does not see Lily in person again as the trailer centres around the two friends who work to find her.

This is a picture of our actress, Georgi, who will be playing the character of Lily. This image shows what she was wearing when we filmed our trial shots for Lily's role in the trailer. As you can see, she is wearing a dress and a denim jacket which are both lightly coloured. For the actual filming of the trailer we will dress her in bold block colours, perhaps a little darker, to create emphasis on her.

20/09/2011 - Trial Shots

The initial filming of our film trailer has begun! On Thursday 15th September, we collected the equipment and travelled to the location researched in the previous post. The setting that we have chosen is an open field which backs onto a row of houses. This is perfect for our filming as we have plenty of room for equipment and movement. During our filming, we were not disturbed and were able to film in different areas without being interrupted.

Here is a gif of compiled photographs of the location from different angles.

There was three of us filming various shots and using the equipment. We took it in turns to film particular shots as a means to practise using the equipment and familarising ourselves with the different shots. During the filming, we realised that the lighting was an issue in such an open space and although we were filming at around 5pm and it was beginning to get dark, it was still too light to film. Here is a short clip of our actress running past the camera; as you can see it was far too bright to film.

Although, it is not ideal that we could not film this shot clearly it has allowed us to reconsider our lighting issues e.g perhaps filming later in the day when it is actually dark. We intend to keep her clothes bright blue and white colours as it will symbolise her innocence and vulnerability as well as making her stand out.

12/09/2011 - Researching Locations

The locations that we have been looking at involve large fields with houses surrounding them. We are still in the process of finding suitable settings but have decided that the location must include houses as she is returning home when she is attacked and is vulnerable in an open field which she soon distances away from the houses. Below are two print screens of possible locations in which we can film. They are near to each other and there is a lot of open space to film.

07/09/2011 - Research into types of shots

Over the summer Kate and I decided to film some initial shots which are unrelated to our film trailer and would allow us to experiment with different shots. These will be useful as later on into our research for our film trailer we will be able to use these shots to remind us of the different types of shots that are available and will help to create tension and suspense! I was unable to upload the videos on to my own blog so I have included a link that directs to Kate blog post about the shots:

http://katelongley2.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/not-finished-types-of-shots.html

06/09/2011 - Using Premiere to edit video clips

Using Adobe Premiere Elements, I was able to practise and learn how to use the programme in order to help me edit my future filming for my trailer.

At first, I found it difficult to use the programme and manipulate the clips. I began to select three clips and cut them to suitable lengths and to pinnacle points. I changed the colour of the clips to a clinical blue shade to create tension and unease for the viewer. From this I added effects to the layers and made the first clip distorted and the next clip kept to a normal speed and frame. The final clip in the sequence focuses on the hand open the door handle close up and the effect added to it is distorted. I am still learning how to use premiere and how to link each clip to make a short film.