Updated Research List

Once we had completed our story board we realised that we needed to update our props list as parts of our story line had been adapted.

Updated props list

• WW2 Gun - For the main protagonist as a young man
• Modern Tap - For the close ups
• 1940s hose pipe - For boarding 
• 1940s bucket (Metal) - For water boarding
• Dog - For old man walking
• Dog leed - Old man walking
• Match - Close ups
• Wheel chair - End scene
• Belt Straps - End scene
• Cloth - Waterboarding 
• Bed 

Credit To Mariella

What To Get For Our Thriller Opening

To do, (and to blog) for our war time thriller opening, in no particular order:

1. Plot Overview
2. Story Board (NB- 180 degree rule storyboard needs to be completed too)
3. shot list
4. Filming Schedule
5. Risk Assessment
6. Copyright Issues (If any)
7. Anamatic
8. Test shots
9. Research of specific things (see previous post for what needs to be/ has been researched)
10. Actors Research
11. Further thought and depth into character

And then, obviously, the actual filming and editing.

Credit To Mariella

Prop Research

One of the props I had to research was what type of gun would have been used during World War II. When looking on Google images i found this diagram of all different types of guns that were used and an explanation of what each one would have been used for and it specialty.

The next prop I had to research was a dog with a lead? So therefore I decided I would type into Google 'old man dog' so that i could get the best representation and example that i could for our research. The main images that came up were quite small dogs such as Beagles, Jack Russels and Greyhounds, however i was not happy with this outcome so i decided to look up World War II dogs as it is likely that the man  would stick with the same type of dog he had from the memories he is flashing back to. Once i typed this in it became a more refined research as the main dog that came up was a German Shepard, therefore it is likely that our persona will be walking this type of dog.

180 Degree Reshoot

This is our re-shoot of our 180 degree angle rule video. I am much more pleased with the outcome of this video as there were massive improvements made compared to the last shoot. As we had better equipment such as a canon compared to an Iphone, as well as we used a tripod so that the camera wouldn't shake which enable us to create more creative shots. When George edited this video he used much less colour correction however he did place a luminance mask over the footage giving the footage a cinematic feel. However George did end up changing the last shot on the storyboard as the camera was not stable enough to make the last shot look good, therefore making our whole video downfall. He did try to use a smoothcam on it however it did not seem to improve anything, therefore he gave it a jittery feel because then the rule is broken.

Location research

The first location I started with was the care home, the first room I looked up was the bedroom as he will be mainly filmed in this room what I found out is that they are very basic and plain, usually with pastel colours. They also usually only have a chair/stool, TV, bed and bed side table, therefore they have a very simplistic way of living.

The next room i looked up was the bathroom, what i found out is that their bathrooms are suited especially for them such as a moving chair to help them in and out of the bath, as well as the shower. They also have pole/holders next to the toilet to help them get up and to sit down.

The last room in the care home that i needed to research was the living room which he would not be filmed much in however needed to be researched. What i found out is that it usually has a TV on the wall and they normally have single sofa chairs surrounding the room so everyone can face each other and talk to one another easily.

The last location I had to research was a flat field area. As it would be easier for all of us to film somewhere in Chalfont St Peter I decided to research a location that would be close to us for us to use. One of the images that came up was the fields that start in Chalfont St Peter and lead to Chalfont St Giles. This field would be convenient to film in as it at least an hour long walk so there is plenty of places to film within the space there.

Basic Idea For Our Thriller Opening

The main protagonist is going to be an old veteran who has war flashbacks while going about his everyday life.
The first flashback is going to be someone knocking on his door to wake him up, but he hears a gunshot.
The second is when he is washing his face and flashbacks to when his younger self is getting water torcher by drowning.
The third is when he is walking his dog on a field and he flashbacks to him running through  no mans land with his gun and explosions and planes.
The forth is when he's looking at a house on his walk back and someone turns a light on. He sees a flashback of a house exploding and goes to shield his face, before realising that he is in the present day and is safe.
The fifth and final flashback is when someone is helping him into a wheel chair, but he flashbacks and thinks that hes being shoved and restrained in the chair.
As the flashbacks go on he starts to blur the past with the present and doesn't know what it real, and what is memory. Also throughout the opening, not only does he go through the day but he ages a great deal as well. we are trying to get across that he has a very repetive life after the war and the experiences still take years of his life away, despite the actual experiences being over. The person who was helping him into the wheelchair comes round the front and sits in front of him. "Son", he says, *dramatic cut to black*, "Its time to tell you a story". This sets up the rest of the film, and lets the audience know what they are getting into.

Credit To Mariella

What We Learnt From The Continuity Task

While filming the 180º Rule task I understood how important it was to have a good storyboard because while filming it we quickly required more guidance than was on our storyboard. This was a problem because we were unsure when filming which lead to the film being slightly shorter than what we wanted to achieve. The reason it's so important to realise this now is because when we undershoot its a lot harder to create a pace as an editor because your very limited to the cuts you can make because certain shots have to be held for a certain amounts of time to create the tension required to grip the audience. To overcome this in the main project I will make sure we have not just a detailed storyboard but also a shot list with an animatic so that we can already have a set plan before our shoot. The animatic allows the pace to be set before the shoot allowing us to already know what the film is going to look like.

Another aspect that I picked up on was that our lighting and location wasn't the best. To make sure this doesn't happen again I am going to make sure we do test shots before the shoot to make sure that the location in mind actually achieves what we want in terms of lighting and sound. This helped me realise the importance of test shots, which we did do but I still think we should of taken notes about it and seen if there was any other options in terms of location.

Lastly I think that we should of practiced with my camera because before we used a phone, which was completely different to a DSLR. The reason I think this is important is because I don't think that the group was entirely comfortable with the cannon leading to the shots not to be the best.

Overall I think that we gained loads of knowledge about filming as a group and will be more confident in filming our second project.

Credit To George Turner