An example of a shot that needed reworking: The pan on the stairs

Originally we planned to have the camera in the corner of the stairwell and have a pan beginning on the open door and moving up looking through the banisters of the stairs, with the girl walking along the landing and the pan stopping on the bathroom door as the girl walks into the bathroom. This shot was going to re-iterate the fact that the front door was left open and create suspense.

During the test shot the shot worked (you can see a clip of this below). However when we got to the actual shoot, we had changed our idea slightly and decided to include the fact that you see a close-up of the girl dropping her keys and you see the front door open again. We felt that it was too obvious to go again to the front door and that this shot would detract from suspense and make it a bit too obvious that something was going to happen. We also had added shots of footsteps on the stairs and the man's hand on the banisters, so we decided to edit the shot slightly to have it starting already on the floor level through the banisters (to create a frame within a frame) which would center the audience's attention on the footsteps and also create tension. The camera would then pan from right to left following the girls movement until she went into the bathroom.

Test Shot:


Final Shot Used:



We were pleased with how the shot turned out in the actual shoot and definitely within the sequence this edited version of the shoot looks much more effective. It also didn't take very long to take the changed shot as it was basically a cropped version of the previous shot which was longer.

Stephanie

Opening sequence for shoot

Below is a rough edit of the opening sequence for the shoot. We will use this - along with our shot list to be able to properly frame the shoots.




- Steph, Angela & Zen

Updated script

We have changed the bit in the sequence when the dialogue occurs but the girl is still on the phone. She is being woken up by her phone early in the moring and says the following:

Uh hello? What? Can't this wait til later? I've literally just got to bed. Yeah. Bye.


- Steph

Updated shot list

Shot Number & Description

Evening
1. Foot sounds with black screen
2. A long shot of the road with creepy/shifty camerawork. Movement is from the road side of the car to the pavement side. You cannot see the girl in shot.
3. Feet move into and out of the shot. It is a low level angle from her right hand side.
4. A shot of the feet from - close up - low angle.
5. Extreme long of girl walking down road - from her right hand side.
6. Low angle looking up of girl stumbling through shot with champagne bottle. On her right hand side.
7. Girl stumbling/ tripping from on her right hand side. She is holding the champagne bottle and the camera is slightly behind her. It is of her shoulders/face.
8. A long shot of the girl walking along the road towards us - from across the road.
9. Backwards track - low level and of feet. She walks out of the right of the screen (in direction of her path).
10. Girl is walking up the path to her front door/ arrives at front door. A closeup/over the shoulder shot.
11. Low floor shot from inside the house. She unlocks the door - opens it - comes in - drops keys - bends down to pick them up - staggers out of shot.
12. Long/medium shot of shelf and mirror - the keys are already on shelf and the girl is staggering up the stairs - there is a flash of black in the mirror.

Morning
13. Pan/track of glass/alkaseltzers - camera moves closer to bedside table and girls phone rings during this and she picks it up/begins dialogue.
14. She puts her phone down on the bedside table and grasps for cigarettes.
15. The front door closes - extreme close up and a bit of foot.
16. Close up of the girl putting cigarette in her mouth and lighting it.
17. Lighting cigarette, takes a drag and lays back.
18. Close up of ashtray and cigarette box as she stubs it out.
19. Girl gets out of bed.
20. From underneath the bed - girls feet hit the floor and walks to table.
21. Takes alkaseltzer out of pack and drops into glass of water. Takes glass of water and leaves shot.
22. She walks right to left in frame and out of the open door.
23. Close up of light switch being turned on.
24. She walks down the hallway.
25. Close up floor level of feet moving in and out of shot.
26. Movement of camera through banisters - up stairs - girls feet walking along hallway and towards bathroom.
27. Shot of shelf- at shelf level - girl puts glass onto shelf then proceeds into the bathroom.
28. Shot of hand on banisters.
29. Close up of girls face looking in mirror.
30. Close up of girl turning on tap.
31. Girl washing her face.
32. Low level from inside bathroom of his feet walking into bathroom and stopping behind hers.
33. Close up of her drying her face on towel.
34. She takes the towel away from her face (ECU) and then hand grabs her mouth.

- Steph & Zen

Feedback on Rush

This is our rush again, and Mrs Blackborow gave us some feedback on how she thinks it went which we discussed as a group:

• The girl needs to be walking faster in the shots
• The outside shots are too dark so we decided we need to set up an extra porch light or film earlier on when it is lighter (although if we film earlier it will be hard to keep continuity between the shots as it will get darker whilst we are filming) - however she liked our change of angles throughout that section
• The closeup shots at the beginning of her waking up are too still and we need more variation in our camerawork at this point - so we plan to use more varied types of shot and we plan to include more tracks and pans as well to introduce movement
• There should be a longer shot on the alka-seltzer fizzing in the glass

After this feedback as a group we also discussed some more points which we feel we should include/improve upon in our actual shoot:

• At the end of the sequence the girl shouldn't be dragged out of the frame, but rather the last shot of her is the kidnapper's hand on her face and then the title would flash up on a black/blank screen
• The hallway shot of the girl leaving her room and walking down the hallway should be moved to a slightly different position - we can move the camera into a doorway which gives us a better view of the hallway to make this sequence run smoother in the editing
• The credits should possibly go over the action rather than on a title screen to keep the opening moving at a steady pace
• There should possibly be a closeup on on the girl's face when she is being grabbed by the kidnapper in order to show her expression more

- Steph

Shoot Preparation

Grand, well, you see I thought this would be a nice place to blog our lovely last minute preparations, do we not agree?

PROPS

Tights- I (angoo) got the sparkly tights from topshop as marks and sparks had a rubbish selection of hosiery. Cost £10 however. Also I will bring some old tights so we can practice the rippy thing to our delicious satisfactions.

T-Shirt- Zen said he was going to buy two i think, as he couldn't decide which to get. I can't remember prices however. (hint hint zen write here). Everyone should try and bring one from home though.

Dress- I believe Alix is dropping some dresses around to Beccas by the time of the shoot. Lovely. - I'm bringing some as well just incase (Steph)

Shoes - I'm bringing them (steph)
ACE and a half matey.

Script

In our lesson period 7&8 on Friday 30th November we discussed the script and came up with the following.
This the script for the main character's dialogue in our actual shoot.

Girl gets out of bed:
(groaning) Oh god, my head.

On phone call:
Hello. Heh, Nah she didn't come back last night. She'll be fine, you know what she's like! I did what? oh God. oh no. Haha. Alright then. I'll speak to you later. Bye.

-Steph

Weather Conditions for Shoot: Saturday 1st & Sunday 2nd November

Saturday 1st November:

Sunrise: 07:42 am
Sunset: 15:55 pm
Cloud cover: Sunny Intervals
Temperature: Highest - 11 degrees C
Lowest - 6 degrees C
Visibility: Good


Sunday 2nd November:

Sunrise: 07:43 am
Sunset: 15:55 pm
Cloud cover: Heavy rain
Temperature: Highest - 11 degrees C
Lowest - 4 degrees C
Visibility: Moderate

The weather on the first day is good, however the rain on the sunday is going to be a problem if we need to do any outdoors shooting.

-Steph

Meeting: Thursday 29th November 2007

Who attended: Nick, Stephanie, Zen

In our meeting today we discussed our test footage which we have edited into a rough version of our opening. From this opening (below) we have found a few shots which we are going to improve and decided on some editing techniques.



Editing techniques:

1. At the end of the opening the main character is grabbed from behind, we think we might either cut it before her head leaves the shot or else we will put it into slow motion.
2. We have decided that for our titles that having the titles over the action would look good. This is because there isn't much action throughout and therefore isn't a need to break it up.

Shot changes/problems:

1. The shot of the main character walking down the hallway is at the moment too broken up, so we decided to take the shot from a different angle in Rebecca's house to be able to see her coming out of the room and walking down the hall way.
2. The outside shots were too dark and so we have decided to start shooting earlier and also use a porch light to give more light to the door way to be able to see the action - also for this section of the sequence we really liked the variety of angles and positions of the camera so we are definately going to include that as it is quite disorientating.
3. In the close up shots of the glass, alkaseltzers and the cigarettes it looks like a still shot/photo so the actress needs to move more to show there is movement in the frame.
4. With the close up on the glass the shot itself is too long, but we need a longer time to see the fizzing alkaseltzer, also in our rough edit we had a continuity problem so we need to include a shot of the girl picking up the glass before she puts it down.
5. When the girl is grabbed from behind we thought that perhaps we should specifically have the girl putting her hand out on the wall (there is already some of this in the shot) and it gradually moves out of the frame in the slow motion.

As Angela wasn't at this meeting (she was off of school ill) we will make sure that she agrees with all of the things that we talked about and ask her if she has any ideas as well.

-Steph

Actors Contract

The following is a contract for our actors to make sure that they turn up ready and on time for any shoots we have organised with them. It will also make sure that if they cannot attend the shoot that they give us enough warning to sort something else out with them or find a suitable replacement.


Actor Contract Group 3D:

I agree to attend the following shooting sessions, including any re-shoots should they be necessary over these dates:

Saturday 1^st & Sunday 2^nd December (Main Shooting session)

and

Saturday 8^th & Sunday 9^th December (the re-shoot session should it be necessary).

In the event that I cannot attend one of the above dates I will give the group enough time (at least 24hours) to organise a suitable replacement if possible (e.g. not for the re-shoot) and I will give them my full co-operation in trying to organise another date for the shooting to take place on if I need to be involved. I understand that I will be informed of the meeting places and times well in advance of the shoot and will need to be on time and ready for the shoot to begin.

PRINT NAME:________________________


SIGNED:__________________________

-Steph

Shot List

Section 1:

1. Blank Screen
2. Low angle, with camera in road but to the side, with a pan as the car approaches
3. dot dot dot...

To be refined at meeting today..

-Angela x

Prop List for Shoot

Below is a list of the props that I believe we need for the shoot. If I've missed anything out please feel free to add it.

I will also add photos of the items such as clothing when we have decided on them.

• Leather gloves for the kidnapper (Got) - Angela will bring to shoot

• Purple Dress - Actress (Got) - Steph will bring to shoot
• Sparkly Tights - Marks and Spencer - Actress (Got) - Angela will bring to first day of shooting then Steph will bring to shoot
• Black high heeled Shoes - Actress (Got) - Steph will bring to shoot
• Big white t-shirt -Actress (Got) - Zen will bring to shoot
• Cigarette box (and cigarettes) & Lighter - Actress (Got) - Angela will bring to shoot
• Alka-seltzers - (Got) Angela will bring to shoot
• Glasses for water (Rebecca has got at location)

- Steph