Thankfully over the last two periods, we had a double lesson of filming which is what we have needed since the beginning of the project to enhance the amount we filmed. Through this double period we filmed a whole scene, being the torture scene and we also managed to film other shots within the hostage scene. For continuity reasons we had to film many of the shots on the same day otherwise we would face problems with sustaining the same make-up and costumes the next time we filmed. We added certain media techniques including a match on action where you see a torture weapon hit the character and then you see his reaction afterwards. This is made cinematic with a quick zoom showing the results of this attack with blood upon the wall. It links to the fast paced the attack which juxtaposes the rest of the scene whereby it is slow, which slows the plot down to reach the climax of the attack keeping the audience in suspense. The next lesson we have, we hope to finish off some more shots of the hostage scene, and place in some dialogue over the top through the editing process. We need to make sure we do not fall behind on one or the other parts of filming otherwise we will suffer when it comes down to handing in our final film.
These last few lessons have given us the time to be able to completely finish our second scene and to even complete certain parts of the editing stage. Sadly, I have been off ill for several lessons last week, and nothing has been completed film wise since I’ve been gone, with the other members of the group just completing their own blogs, trying to catch up. Recently we have started to film our first scene, which includes the shots on the terrorists and also the hostage situation. Firstly we needed to clear the setting making it seem more professional by placing a banner up and by clearing some objects in the room that had no relevance to our film. This will be efficient for future filming as by the next lesson we can just begin to carry on as we had previously done. Several shots have been completed, but for the next lesson we have organised other characters to be involved by being extra terrorist members so the whole scene seems more realistic and professional using additional actors.
Recently I have also focused more upon ‘blogging’ from my mobile phone. This makes it easier to blog at every opportunity as I can write my blog on my phone, include pictures from my phone onto that same post and then post it. Especially through a wi-fi connection this is a very fast process, and even without the wi-fi, I can still write drafts and ideas quickly and efficiently, furthering the production of my blog.
We continued filming today, with a positive and ambitious attitude to finish the filming of this part within today's lesson. We carried on the filming of part 2 being the briefcase scene. Currently, we have implemented many different shots within this part which have made it more professional. The downside of it could also be seen as a positive because our storyboards have only been used as a basis to film on, we have been adding many different shots in which seem right at the time. Some of these shots include:
Low angle shots to show the dominance of the protagonist character.
Over the shoulder shots to make the whole scene seem more realistic.
Within the future, I will update the storyboards with our newly added shots so the examiner can see the change from our originally thought out storyboards to our newly developed shots. Other progress we made today will be shown by this documentary film created:
Attempt It (Short Action Film)from Giannis JR Kritikos I believed it would be for the best interests of the group if I continued researching, even throughout our filming work to see if there are any possibilities to gain ideas on all different aspects of filming in a similar short film. Within these categories, I researched the camerawork, soundtrack, editing and mise en scene of my chosen short film.
All of these are needed to create a successful film so I believed I should research a successful short 5 minute film to gain some insight to these aspects. Although this film is just under 5:00 minutes it still adds emphasise to our group about how important these aspects are, especially in a confined time period.
Sound
The soundtrack throughout this production varies to different situations within the plot. It starts with an eerie, unusual music, most likely to lead the audience into a false sense of security creating an enigma effect as we as the audience are unaware of what is to come.
Yet, when the plot progresses, this changes to a fast paced, techno music because of the action beginning to unfold. This draws in the attention of the audience, expecting something to happen more prominently, especially some action.
The diagetic sound also used is emphasised, used most effectively when the protagonist character breaks the neck of an individual outside of the terrorists building. The audience tingle after hearing the sound because it is realistic and gruesome.
Mise en scene
I also took note of the clothing they were wearing, especially the terrorist characters. They all seemed to be in dark colours, with balaclavas and also scarves. This emphasises the stereotypical view that these characters are criminal and feel the need to hide their faces to the hostage. They also have illegal dangerous weaponry, making the scene seem realistic and what the audience would expect from these criminals.
More importantly would be the setting of the film. The majority exists in an urban, graphitised environment with the walls crumbling and the floors covered in dust. This information is perfect to what we would like to implement within our film and adds to the effect of the reader that these are criminals and they do business in squalor linking to the underworld they find themselves in.
Camera work
The majority of the film was taken with a handheld camera, to emphasise the chaotic situation and the fear from the hostage. It was also used to create tension with the action scene so the audience are left clinging to their seats to find out what the results of the fighting will be. Our group has already decided on implementing this into our production because we feel it will draw in the audience and bring emphasise onto the fear from our characters.
The shots all vary within this film some being long establishing shots, while others being close ups. The establishing shots being very broad show the setting and thus the audience can have a fuller understanding of where these criminals are and are more interested.
Editing
This has quite possibly made the most impact on our film. The other three aspects, the majority we had all ready thought of and used for our film but now the editing showed different and improved ways to add to our film post filming. Firstly would be the flash backs that take place. These are increased in pace and show what has already but in reverse and at high speed to a key point which brings attention to that particular point. As our group was thinking about creating something similar with the flashbacks, this could be how we could implement it into our production.
My chosen short film is by Giannis JR Kritikos, from Chania in Greece. Where he is from would normally have little importance to the film, but within this film, there are subtitles in English to translate the Greek language. Our film also contains subtitles because of the terrorists, as it was great to see another film/editor using subtitles with the same effect due to the terrorists within this film (although this is quite possibly indirectly due to actually being Greek).
