SWOT analysis (Shakeel)

Evidence AUDIT (Shakeel)

Experience as a Camera-Man (Shakeel)

Experience as a Camera-Man

I was not on the film but however i was behind the camera and i think this has the same importance as the main characters as it is my job the clips look professional and not shaky. At first i was unsure on how to use the camera as i haven't used a camera like that. After a day testing the camera i felt comfortable using the camera. At first i found it hard to keep my hands steady while filming because the camera was big and heavy but i learnt to change my body shape and where I'm placing my hands on the camera so that the clips will be more steady and not shaky. When editing i noticed that the clips we was using were not shaky i was pleased with myself as i was filming most of the scenes. However there was two scenes that were shaky but we can fix it by cutting the clips shorter so it won't be noticeable.

Rough Cut 1- Feedback Evaluation

Rough Cut 1- Evaluation by Shakeel on Scribd

Recap: Organised use of actors, locations, props and costumes (Nathan)

Recap: Similar products and Audiences (Nathan)

Recap: Analysing strengths and weaknesses (Nathan)

Recap: Evidence AUDIT (Nathan)

Experience as a performer (nathan)

Seeing as i was performing as well as directing, i found it easy to know what to do as i had an image of what i wanted the footage to look like. Often at first i was quite shy being in front of the camera, however as time went on i managed to gain more confidence and i felt comfortable being my character.  I approached my performance by giving my character (the killer) a persona. This character is going to be important throughout the film, so i wanted to give the audience first impressions. This killer characters is a generic, conventional character that is used in many other thriller movies. He is cold and emotionless. Yet he is smart, sly, and aware.
Overall i felt confident on set because i had an image of what i wanted my character to look like and i knew what to do to present him to the audience in this way.

Reflection: Shot and story board comparison (Nathan)

Group 32 Rough Cut - Feedback Evaluation

Rough cut 1: feed back evaluation (Nathan)

Improvements to make:
The feed back from the class and the teacher was very useful. it gave me insight into the key components of our rough cut that i personally did not recognise whilst editing the footage. For example when the teacher mentioned that there was a shaky scene. i didn't realise that it was noticeable until she mentioned it and i looked back over the footage. Below i will present a list of the things i need to fix before further editing and how i will go about doing it.

Jump Cut:
crop the video and sync the ring tone sounds to make it integrated
Shaky Frame:
cut the shot a bit earlier so the shakiness is not noticeable
Cutting around the car:
make the cuts a little shorter in the shots where the car is parking up

Rough Cut 1: Evaluation (Nathan)

The Bongolo Department: Rough Cut 1

Editing Session Day 2 Reflection (16th December)

Editing Prepration: Music/Audio Research (Shakeel)

Non-diegtic is very important in an opening sequence of a film as it can set the mood and atmosphere of the film because of this i have done lots of research to find potential soundtracks that fit our type of film and genre. As we are editing our film now. We have to look into non-diegetic music that will be in the background in our film. As our film is a political thriller we need a soundtrack that is creates a mysterious and spooky atmosphere so the audience is dragged into the film wanting to find out what is going to happen. Here below are two soundtracks we will be using in our film.

Editing session: 14th Dec (nathan)

Clothing Planning (Hamod)

Clothing Planning

Merchandise - Clothing (Hamod)

Merchandise

As a group we decided that a trailer would not be such a productive idea to do and could been seen as a waste of time so instead we are going to make our own pieces of merchandise for our film such as T-shirts and Posters. Below you will see an example of some of the type of clothing we will be selling.

I decided to add an eye logo to the clothing as it adds mystery to the clothing a common convention and the motif of our opening. The eye also takes up more space on the clothes giving it more value than if it just had "The Bongolo Department" written on it.

The T-shirt would go on sale for £9.99 while the hooded jumper would go for £19.99, we will add these to our website in the coming days which will give our film a very realistic look from an audiences perspective.

Editing Session (14th December)

Editing Prepration: Music/Audio Research (Nathan)

Editing Session Day 1 Reflection (14th December)

Editing preparation (Nathan)

Conventions and orders of title sequences

A title sequence is the method by which films or television programs present their title, key production and cast members, utilizing conceptual visuals and sound. Here I showed the order of 'The Usual Suspects':

Goals Before Deadline (Shakeel)

Goals Before Deadline

Editing Preparation

EDITING PREPARATION

Titles

Our titles should consist of the font below for the main title of our film, I believe this would be good because it has a mysterious tone to it as some letters are laid out differently than usual. It gives a unique, mysterious feel to the film which is perfect as mystery is a common convention of thriller-films.

Our titles for actors, producers and directors however should be different. I think this because when showing off the people who worked on the film the main purpose is to get it out there in the face of the audience so they know, therefore I believe the font below would do a good job of this as it is clear and easy to read.

Type Of Sequence

Most of our titles should be on the screen while the action is occurring but I think we should have some of the more important titles appear on a black screen which will show up at c
ertain points such as after our killer murders the man it should cut to a black screen with a title and then cut back to the action with the killer walking off or to a silent shot of our scenery as I previously suggested.

Music

I briefly spoke about the type of music we should use towards the end of a recent post which you will see below.

These were the two songs I thought would go perfectly with our opening...

Final Conclusion On Filming

Our Motif - Mystery

Filming: Overall evaluation (nathan)

Overall Evaluation for Filming by Nathan on Scribd

Editing Preparation (Shakeel)

Editing Preparation- Shakeel by Shakeel on Scribd

Filming: Overall evaluation

Filming evaluation: December 9th

December 9th Evaluation by Nathan on Scribd

Filming: December 9th (nathan)

Final filming day evaluation

Today's filming session went well as we just had to reshoot one clip that was shaky before and we managed to get a few that were stable. We also added a shot of a badge that Nathan made to show a hint to the idea of a government organisation as we tried to have a shot where the camera follows Nathan as he walks and you can see the badge as he walks. Unfortunately we were unable to get a clear shot of this so we decided to fit in the shot of the badge at a point where Nathan is standing still by some bins. This worked well because we could get a real focus on the badge and work it in to make a match cut when he drops a bin bag.

Filming Day 5 Reflection (9th December)

Filming session 9th Of December Reflection 

Todays session went really well in my opinion went really well. As we only had one scene to shoot which was scene 4. This was our last filming session before we go on to editing our film.  Overall i think todays session was quick and simple as we only had one scene to record. 

Filming Session (9th December)

Thoughts On Our Mise-En-Scene

Filming Update (7th December)

Originally we had planned to film today but my group decided not to film as we only had an hour and a half lesson, we could of filmed after the lesson as no one in our group had another lesson today but we thought that it could be too dark by this time. Lighting outside is a key factor in our filming as we need it to be the same every time we film, so instead we will put in as much work as we can to get everything else filmed on the 9th (our 3 hour lesson). We only have small bits left to re-shoot as we have filmed everything else so we will have plenty of time to get this done.

Thoughts On Our Mise-En-Scene

Location 
The location we ended up using was woolf mews which is a private area which had a car par which is in kings cross. Our initial idea was to film in stratford centre car park but we realised that is will be really hard to film there as there are many hazards and it wouldn't be practical. Woolf Mews was a better location in our opinion because i thought it fitted better with our storyline and looked more like a deserted area which gave it a more interesting and mysterious look.

Props
We had used many props in this production such as a car, id badge, dustbin bag, costumes and more. We tried to make the film look realistic as possible by using high quality props so it looks less like a student production.

Reflection on our title sequence so far & possible future ideas.

Reflection on our title sequence so far & possible future ideas.

I believe our filming has worked out well so far, will play out well when edited together and continue to look professional. Despite me thinking our film is going successful I do believe we may have a problem as viewers may have some trouble understanding our genre of a political thriller from our title sequence alone as the political part is harder to understand from an opening. The thriller aspect could be understood but at the same time it could be mixed up with an action film because of the flashy car or even a horror as someone is killed at the beginning via strangulation which is coincidentally a common death in horrors. This dilemma could possibly be helped with the use of the correct type of music such as at the start when the killer is walking and putting bags into the bin we could have normal but mysterious music playing and then in the scene leading up to the strangulation we should have tense/dramatic music playing which increases in speed the closer he gets to death. A couple examples of the type of music I’m referring to will follow below.

Filming Update (7th December)

Today we decided not to go out and film because we looked at our logistics and worked out that it would be more practical and more worth it to film on the 9th of December because we have a 3 hour lesson. Also the day was really dark and gloomy and isn't the whether we wanted to film in. We felt that today we should work on our blogs and complete any tasks that need completing.

Filming Day 2 Reflection 2nd December

Filming Session (4th December)

Filming day 3 evaluation (Saturday 3rd December)

Filming Session (3rd December)

 

Filming day 3 evidence (Saturday 3rd December)

Here are 2 photos showing evidence of filming. It also shows evidence of the date/time we were filming:

Filming: December 4th (Nathan)

What went well
In this filming session we  made the most of it becasue this was possibly the last day we could use the car. the day before we were able to film only the parts where we needed the driver, but today we didnt need anyone to drive it, we just needed the car its self. One thing i was happy about in this filming session is the part where we filmed the killing scene. i believe the camera angles in this scene were very different and effective. i also believe the way we filmed the scene added a lot of tension.
Another point that we needed to make clear in the opening title sequence for our film was to identify the weapon. We were able to use a piece of thick wire as the strangler. we showed that this item was going to be used for something in the title sequence by including an extreme close up of it in my hands as i am walking to the car.

We avoided any shots where the camera picked up on fine facial details and for the others we are planning to cut the scene right before that moment when editing the video.
After everyone left i was able to capture a few more environmental shots that really stood out to me


Things to improve 
Once the filming session was finished and every one went home i had a chance to look over the footage we filmed. I noticed that we were missing 2 shots that we were meant to film today. this was the murdering scene. We were supposed to film two close ups of the wire around freds neck getting tighter and a extreme close up of freds eyes slowly closing. I also noticed that the low shot of my feet had a shaky frame and did not look clear and professional. Next time i will use a devise which will alow the movement of the low shot to be less shaky and i will constantly look at the story board so that i do not miss out on and shots.

Shots to retake  
-Low angle shot of my feet as i walk across the car park; shot 11
-Extreme close up of wire: Shot 24
-extreme close up of eyes: Shot 25

Filming session. 3rd December (Nathan)

This was the second day of filming. on this day we filmed the first few shots of the car entering the car park. This included many retakes of the car traveling back and forward through the car park. We shot many interesting angles. A few low shots, mid shots, extreme wide shots, etc. Myself, Hamod, and Fred each had a go operating the camera. I was the director and told the driver where to drive and told the crew what shots to film. The lighting and weather was perfect because there was a lot of light but also not too much, which meant that there were shadows which feel on the car park. I believe this gives a slightly sinister and mysterious feel to the film overall. We decided not to film the killing part yet as I had not yet bought the weapon and the ID card with me.

Next time:
In the next filming session we will attempt to film the killing scene. Today it was a bit unorganized and chaotic trying to get the car together but next time I am planning to be more prepared. I will make sure the battery of the camera is fully charged before taking it out, and I will make sure the crew and the car arrive on time so that we can be able to have a longer filming session and get most of the work done.

Filming Day 4 Reflection (4th December)

This was our fourth day of filming. In my opinion i think todays filming session was very practical as we got to film the key scene in our opening sequence. Today we filmed the killing scene which is very important in our film. Also the car had arrived on time and we was able to film straight away without any delays, we noticed that today was possibly going to be the last day we would have the car but luckily we had filmed all the shots of the car moving in our prior filming sessions, so today we just needed to shoot the inside of the car. Our killing is is different and unique in my opinion because we took an different approach and filmed from an different angle making it unique.

Targets for next filming session:

We noticed that we was missing a few scenes in our camera so in our next filming session we will ned to record them scenes. Also we need to film the ending of our opening sequence which shouldn't take long.

Filming Day 3 Reflection (3rd December)

This was the third day of filming. On this day we attempted to film the first few shots of the car entering the car park. This included many retakes of the car traveling back and forward through the car park. Also we took some establishing shots as the ones we took in our last session were not good enough because of lack of steadiness and clearness. How ever we was behind in our filming today because the car had arrived late and made us fall behind. In hindsight we will make sure the car is here extra earlier so we don't have to wait for it to arrive.

Targets for next filming session:

Make sure the car arrives at the location before we come to stop any delays 

Have the props ready eg. weapon and id badge so we can film the killing scene which is in our film.

Also have all equipment needed ready for use 

Filming Day 2 Reflection (2nd December)

FILMING 2ND DECEMBER REFLECTION 

WHAT WENT WELL:

This was our second day of filming. Today we've filmed at Woolf Mews, I think todays session went well but however we didn't have the car which was needed for most of our shots but on the other hand we filmed lots of establishing shots. So the audience gets an understanding of the the location of the film.

WHAT COULD BE IMPROVED:

We filmed lots of establishing shots of our location. I think that we have a few sequences that need re-shooting because due to lack of equipment and steady-ness of the camera when recording freehand. We didn't have the costume needed for one of the characters so we had to postpone it.

PLANNING FOR NEXT FILMING SESSION: 

we are planning to film on the weekend and film all the shots. Also we will have the car which is vital in our opening sequence and intend to use that. Also we are going to film the two characters that are going to be in the opening sequence of out film. planning 

Making of prop (ID Badge) Nathan

Filming: 2nd December (Hamod)

Filming day 2 evaluation

What went well:
I think this filming session went well due to the amount of filming we got done considering the fact we didn't have the car we needed for most of our shots. We were able to get some really good shots to start off our film (e.g. giving the audience an idea of the setting).

What could be improved:
I think there may be some shots however that we need to re shoot, for example where we did a worms eye tracking shot and it was a bit unstable. Another thing that could have made today's filming better would be if we had the car to film a lot more shots as most of our sequence features the car. Although we couldn't help this, it would have improved today's filming session.

Planning for next filming session(s):
We plan to catch up on this filming over the weekend as this is when the car is available for us to use. We didn't encounter any problems with the equipment, weather, etc.

Evidence of filming-Day 1+2

Here are photos from day 1 and 2 of filming (showing when we looked at the location and also the start of our filming).