Filming Day One

We began filming several initial shots containing our victim. We discovered that once we were actually filming we had some new shots that we could incorporate into the original storyboard, such as a shot of the victim looking up at the tree which she is later hanging from, this reveals to the audience that the death is due to forced suicide from the murderer. There is also a high angle of the victim on the floor pleading to the murderer, with the additional shots it can make the plot clearer to the audience and also adds mystery to the sequence as the audience are unsure as to how the murderer makes the victim commit suicide.

The shots that we filmed today include; a tracking shot of the victim, a close up of the victim appearing to be followed and also a shot where the victim is actually being followed as the camera moves along behind the victim, which appears creepy and adds tension as if the murderer is actually behind her.

We are currently devising a schedule to arrange with our team and actors a second date to do further filming outside of school.

Film Schedule

We are currently in the process of developing our film schedule. This will ensure that we are organised when we begin filming so we will know what actors, costumes and props will be needed at which points and we can approximate how long particular parts of the filming will take. We are making a different schedule for each of our three locations to ensure we are organised and prepared.

An example of the kind of film schedule we are hoping to produce for each location

As we have started the process of filming during lessons we must begin to finalise our filming schedule. We are in the process of confirming with our actors the new dates and times that we have arranged after the previous problems encountered with our filming schedule.

We are currently discussing our filming options and have decided our best choice to film would be on Saturday 3rd March. We have contacted our actors and are waiting for rsvps on the date. Hopefully this will mean we will be ready to edit our opening sequence this time next week in our lesson on Monday.

Costumes

As we begin our filming we must decide on the wardrobe and costumes for our actors to wear. Each costume must be suiting to the role they are playing and must help identify their character.

We have already made some initial costume ideas in a previous post and would like to finalise those ideas here.

Jogger

Running clothes

Leggings

Policemen

Smart, dark clothing

Suits

Forensic

Dark clothing under a lab coat

Psychiatric Patient

Smart, dark clothing

Suit

Psychiatric Nurse

Dark clothing under a lab coat

Any changes or updates of costume and wardrobe will be recorded here as we begin filming.

Props

This bible will be used in the scene in Bethlem Psychiatric Hospital where the murderer has escaped. He will be holding this bible to show his obsession with religion. We will probably get this prop from a charity shop. The prop may be used in a particular shot as a close up in order to present a part of the murderers identity without showing the murderers face presenting mystery and links to the genre of the film. 

The rope will be used in the scene where the police find the body of a woman hanging from a tree. This will show that the murderer has forced the victim to commit suicide as killing her himself would go against one of the commandments "Thou shall not kill". This prop will be particularly difficult to use as we want the shot to look effective without causing harm to the character.

This prop will be used to carry off the body of the victim after she has been found. It may be difficult to get an actual stretcher for our filming so we may have to use something slightly different depending on what is available to us.

This is the prop that the forensic would be holding to record the information about the victim's body. This will make the forensic appear more professional. This will also hold a polaroid of the body and a close up will be used of this photo to show the commandment that the murderer has branded on her arm.

This prop will be used to cover the body of the victim when it is being carried off on the stretcher. This is key because it means we do not have to make the actor actually look dead, we can just cover her with a sheet to hide her face. However, her arm will be sticking out the side of this sheet to show the writing on her arm of "Thou shall not commit adultery".

Possible Title Fonts

We are beginning to search for possible fonts to use during the opening sequence as credits. So far we have found the following fonts from http://www.dafont.com/:

Cold Night For Alligators

Face Your Fears

Nyctophobia

Pulse Sans Virgin

Any updates or further research will be recorded here once we have begun filming.

Initial Filming Plans

We are currently attempting to schedule when filming should take place. We need to consider; when the actors we have chosen are able to attend the filming sessions, when all members of our group are available to participate in filming and when the equipment we need in order to film is available for us to use.

After considering this we have developed some initial times when it may be possible to film, however this is only when each member is available to film and we still need to contact cast members in order to see if they are available for these times.

Once the actors have confirmed that they will be available to film during these times we can then develop the filming schedule.

There are several locations that we need to use in order to film our title sequence:
1. Bethlem Psychiatric Hospital (The murderer is needed for these shots)
2. Spring Park (the victim, policemen and forensic are needed for these shots)
3. Music Rooms, which will be used as the interior of the hospital (a policeman and a psychiatric nurse are needed for these shots)

We have also began to compose a list of props and costumes needed:

1. Bethlem Hospital - the murderer needs a bible that he holds in his hands and in terms  of costume he could wear black formal clothing

2. Spring Park - the props needed for this scene include rope, an object similar to a stretcher to carry the victim off, a clipboard holding the photograph and a sheet/cloth to cover the victim. In terms of costume the policemen should wear dark clothing in order to look like a uniform whilst the forensic should wear a lab coat

3. Music Rooms - the prop needed for this scene is the collage hanging on the wall and the uniform for the psychiatric nurse should be a lab coat

We are unsure of how long the filming sessions will be but we will generally be filming quite early in the morning in order to get the desired effect/lighting.

Filming Problems

It appears we have already come across some major problems with the filming of our opening sequence. It was arranged that our group would pick up the camera and filming equipment today from another group to film our media piece during the second half of this week. The group we were supposed to be getting it from forgot to pick up the equipment at the end of last week, meaning we have no equipment to film our opening sequence. This is frustrating because it is not our fault and we had already arranged our schedule and our main actor has booked a day off work to film with us.

We have tried to get in contact with Mr Go about the situation and if we are unable to get the equipment in time for tomorrow we will have to postpone our filming until next week.

This makes things more complicated as we will have to reschedule everything and reorganise appropriate dates and timings with our actors. This may be difficult as some of our actors either go to different schools or work full time. This would most likely mean we would have to film at the weekend as parts of our filming are required to be done in the morning.

A copy of the email sent to Mr Go concerning our filming problems

Filming

As it is now half term we are planning to start the beginning of our filming. We have arranged to have the camera equipment for the second half of the week and plan to do our filming on Thursday/Friday. We are sorting out times and places with all our actors to make sure everyone is available and aware of the schedule.

We plan to do the filming at Spring Park in the morning to get an accurate match of the weather and lighting that we had first decided on. However, if it happens to be raining or too dark on the day we decide to film we will have to make the decision of whether to film another day or to do our best in those conditions.

We haven't specified any particular time of day for the filming to be done outside Bethlem Royal Hospital so we will probably do it straight after we have finished filming in Spring Park or if time becomes a constraint we will have the option to do it on another day.

Any updates on location and time changes will be recorded as we begin filming.

Casting Shots

After holding auditions for the roles of the characters we found that the following people were most suitable to their roles;

Murderer:

Jonathan Traynor

Aged 19

We chose Jonny for this role because we felt he was a suitable match to the character as he has a very alternative style and could be seen to have similar traits to the character in real life. There are certain aspects of the actors personality that he will be able to draw on in this very challenging role! He was also willing to work with us and take things seriously as he has already done his A-levels and knows how important this will be towards our final grade.

Policemen:

Thomas Miles

Aged 17

We chose this person because he has a flexible schedule and will therefore be available for filming which will be helpful when it comes to filming. He also lives near the location which will mean that filming can  be on schedule and as he studies media as well he will have an understanding of the shots and reasons for certain shots. 

Victim:

Wynmon Wong

Aged 17

We chose this person because Wynmon is in the group and will therefore know the plot well and know the shots that we have proposed to use, it is easier to use someone in the group as they would already need to be there to assist in filming etc.

Forensic:

Ella Rose Priest

Aged 16

We chose Ella because she studied drama meaning that she has had experience with performing and can be professional, which makes filming easier and efficient. She is confident with filming and good with working in groups. 

Psychiatric Nurse:

Ellen Maslin

Aged 17

We chose Ellen because takes drama A-level and will therefore be professional and already have experience in filming and acting and will therefore be able to act well and minimise the amount of mistakes/takes we may need to film in order to get the most appropriate shots.


Runner:

Layan Akkad

Aged 17

We chose Layan because she is already in our group so she will be there for filming anyway which is efficient and as she has already studied drama she is confident to perform on camera and work with others.

Any updates of casting changes will be recorded as we begin filming.

Shot Experimentation

The most difficult shots we will need to produce is the shot of the victim hanging from the tree. We tested out trying to get the victim to hang from the tree by using a scarf rather than using rope which is what we will be using for the final film. We can't get the victim to actually hang from the tree as this would be dangerous, instead we wrapped the scarf around the victims waist and pulled the rest of the scarf through the collar of her clothing so we still get the look of the victim hanging.

Location Shots

Spring Park

This location can be used in order to present the first victim of the murders. This location is effective and efficient to use to film in as it is quite and will have minimal interruptions and as we will be filming quite early in the morning the setting will portray mystery and isolation as the weather will hopefully be quite dark or foggy and will work well with the surroundings which are loads of trees covering pathways and will make the location look quite remote.

Bethlem Psychiatric Hospital

This location is important as it reflects the murderers unstable mental health and will also reveal to the audience his obsession with religion and also how he is responsible for the murder and there will be nine more. This will make the audience fear him as they do not see his face through out the opening sequence and will create suspense.

The murderers room (A music room in school)

As it is not possible to film inside the hospital it self, we have decided to film in school in one of the music rooms as they are small and claustrophobic making it even more effective at portraying the suddenness and weirdness of the wall in the room. This room also makes it easy to film in as there is
nothing on any of the walls so we can film relatively easily without trying to not film/avoid certain walls as they contain objects. The wall will contain religious items making it look like a shrine and there will also be drawings/pictures and newspaper/words containing the planning of the ten murders.