Production Day 2 - Interior Conversation Shots

On the second day of filming we shot our interior shots, theses were mainly shots between the Hero and the Nerd. We shot all the shots from where the Hero walks in to when the Hero leaves and the conversation ends. We did match on action shots to show the Hero moving into the room, some reaction shots for the conversation we also did allot of close up shots of items being handed from one character to another.

Problems

The dialogue was not well rehearsed so we had a lot of out-takes and mistakes in the performance. To solve this one of the group members would read out the lines before each shot to make sure that the performers knew what to say and could deliver it well. 

The positioning of the camera was a very difficult and time consuming thing to do and we spent a lot of time trying to make sure everything was in shot and focused well. To help on the floor we would place items (out of shot) to tell the preformers where to stand. 

The location we needed had to have a computer and that meant we had to go to a computer room. We had to ask Dave to find us a room but he had the wrong key so it took awhile to get into the room we needed.

What went well

We did however complete all the shots we wanted on time and we got to upload all our videos onto the mac and start to look through our shots so we would know if we needed to redo a shot the next day or not.

We had a lot of good ideas for shots that really improved the work we did that day and we realised we needed a reaction shot in our movie and this should improve the look of our completed piece.

Roles

Camera- alex, Jack, Brad. Elliot

Acting- Brad and Elliot 

Lighting- Alex and Jack 

Rule of Thirds - Cinematography Composition

This post will be about the second most important rule to do with video composition, the ‘Rule of Thirds’ (ROT). The ROT is a basic video compositioning tool, which if followed correctly can help any piece of video footage look more professional. The ROT is basically a grid of 9 squares which split the camera frame up into three horizontal lines and three vertical lines. Usually within film a person or subject will never be shown in the middle third. A person or subject will usually be shown in the left third or the middle third. This also helps the viewer understand the positioning of the subjects, and also fits in with the ‘180 degree rule’. This is because the subject could be on the left third, looking from right to left, and the second subject could be in the right third looking from left to right. If there was to be a subject in the middle third, there would be empty space either side of the frame. As well as positioning a subject within the vertical thirds, they need to be positioned within the horizontal thirds as well. This can be done simply by placing the subject’s eye line within the bottom right intersection of the top left third, or the bottom left intersection of the top right third. This rule helps fill the frame, and stops too much empty space accumulating above the subjects head.

The ROT is used within photography and video production; the same positioning rules are applied to both. The horizon in an establishing landscape shot should be positioned within the bottom horizontal third. On most digital cameras, the option to have a ‘grid’ on the screen is available whilst filming or taking pictures, this is a grid that can be used as the ROT. 

Throughout the production of our children’s film opening, the rule of thirds will be another essential rule to follow to ensure our footage looks more professional and to keep our cinematography composition correct. The example video below talks more about the ROT, and shows an example of a bad composition whilst filming and a good one. It also talks about how to use the vertical line of thirds more efficiently. 

180 Degree Rule

Tomorrow, (20/10/2011), we start filming the second scene within our children's film opening sequence. Within this scene will be interactions and dialogue between two of the main characters. To achieve this and to keep the professional look that we are after we will need to follow the 180 degree rule. The 180 degree rule is the single most important rule in the world of film-making, it can relate to any type of cinematography, even if there is only one character in the shot. The rule is about giving a video good continuity, and helps the viewers understand what is going on and where everything is. An example of the 180 degree rule is a conversation between two characters, just like the scene we are filming for our opening. When filming a dialogue sequence between two or more characters, the camera must stay one side of the 'imaginery' line which splits the shot into two 180 degrees semi-circles. When filming a dialogue scene, if you keep to the rule one character should be looking from left to right, and the second character should be looking from right to left, to give the sensation that they are both talking to each other. If we were to break the rule, and place another camera on the other side of the 'imaginery' line, one character would be looking left to right, and the other would also be looking left to right. This would confuse the viewer as they would both be looking the same way and it wouldn't look like they were speaking to each other. There is one instance where it is possible to cross the line. This is when the cinematographer physically moves the camera from one side to another. This could be achieved by moving handheld, using a steadi-cam, or a straight or circular track dolly.

The image to the right is a still taken from a Batman film. It is demonstrating the 180 degree rule within a conversation in the film. Batman is looking from right to left, and when the camera cuts to the Joker for a reaction shot, he will be looking left to right.

The video below explains the 180 degree rule and gives examples of how to follow it without breaking it -




For a post that explains the shot types such as 'tracking' and 'POV', click here.

Characters - Karl Howard - Nerd

In our children's film the hero is accompanied by a nerdy character named 'Karl Howard'. Our nerd will help our hero destroy the 'bad guys' evil plot to destroy the spy school by applying his technology skills by designing and making deadly gadgets for the hero to use against the 'bad guy'. Within our film Karl will always be in his computer room at the spy school as the brains to our heroes missions, guiding him along the way.

Shown to the left is a typical 'nerd' character. The receding hairline with a comb-over to cover it, massive out of fashion glasses and a t-shirt displaying one of the 'nerdiest' films ever made. Our character will have massive black framed glasses to emphasize the fact that he is a nerd and to add to the comedy factor of our film, a shirt with buttons done up to the top, a comb-over and lots of gadgetry, technical things and nerdy things in his pockets such as a calculator, pens and pencils, etc... 

An example of a nerd from a popular children's film is the 'Comic Book Guy' from the 'Simpson's Movie' and from The 'Simpsons TV' series. His real name is Jeffrey "Jeff" Albertson, he is an overweight, 'geeky' owner of the comic book store, 'Androids Dungeon'. He is a classic example of a nerd from a children's film, he likes reading comics and like to talk to other nerds using internet messaging about comics and films. 


Another film that has a nerd in it is Napoleon Dynamite, even though this is not a children's film, the comedy of having a nerd can be the same in a 15 or 18 certificated film to a PG or U rated film. Napoleon is another typical nerd character, he get's bullied by the other people at his college, wears big framed glasses and 'attempts' to do extreme sports but fails. The video below is the trailer for 'Napoleon Dynamite' and clearly shows how nerdy Jon Heder's character is. 

Production Day 1 - Exterior Establishing Shots

We started off our first filming day by filming all of our exterior establishing shots. These shots included the sign which will be edited to say ‘Spy School’, the building shots, the low angle tracking shot of the feet moving, the CCTV shots high and low angle of the hero walking to his lesson and the extreme close-up of the ID card which we will use as the practical title. We also filmed some extra shots of the hero walking so we can edit in some extra footage in case our opening isn’t long enough, and a mid-shot tracking shot of the heroes head as he is walking. Other establishing shots that we filmed included students walking around college which will act as students walking around ‘Spy School’ and an establishing panning shot in the wooded area of the school which we will use as a background to some more opening titles for our children’s film opening.

Problems  –

The first problem that we came across was that our original balcony location for the high angle CCTV shot was out of bounds, so we had to hunt for a different location to get the high angle shots needed. Another problem that occurred when filming which was waiting for students in our school to walk out of our shots, there was nothing we could do to stop this from happening, only to just wait or to use them as extras in our ‘Spy School’. Another problem was with the equipment that we were using, this was because the DSLR cameras that we were using where to heavy for the tripods that we were using. The tripod bolt was also too small for the cameras, so this made the cameras shake about quite a lot during filming.

What went well  -

Some things that we feel went well on the first day of filming included the low angle tracking shot. The final shot was better than we had imagined when story-boarding because it was smooth and almost looked professional. Also we managed to complete all the storyboarded shots, and film some extra shots as backups in case we needed them when editing, all before the hour and a half lesson time was up. We then had time to watch through what we had filmed, delete what we didn’t need, and import everything to our group folder on the computer. 

Roles on set - Day 1 -


Cinematography / DOP - Alex, Brad and Jack
Acting - Elliot
Extras - Alex and Jack

Characters - Bad Guy

In most films there is a challenge or a fight against a force, person or more abstract idea. In our 'film' the plot involves an attempt to destroy the spy school by the 'bad guy. The 'Bad Guy' in this film will be a strong stereotype of how we expect the villain in a movie to look, behave and how he is shown. We decided this would be the best option because in many children’s films there is a very clear divide between good and bad and this is shown by having very strong evil characters. To get across to the audience how this character is the villain of the film we are using strong 'Bad Guy' stereotypes e.g. the mise-en scene of this character will involve a Scar on his face, like Dr evil of Austin powers, because this is a strong symbol that this is a evil character and this will help the audience associate this character as the villain. In one of the shots the character will do an evil laugh this will help build on the idea of him being the villain. We are going to make the set darker around the 'Bad Guy' in comparison to our heroes and this will make the audience instantly recognize him as the evil character in the film. However because it is a children’s film we want to add a comedy element to it this will help make it entertaining and suitable for children, as it will provide a much more positive feel to the movie than if it was all serious, and this character will be the main focus for the humour with funny events happening to him e.g. one of the scenes will involve trying on of silly outfits which will provide a funnier side to the film.

Camera's and Equipment

To create the opening sequence we have decided to use our own cameras to film. This is because the quality will be better and we will be able to achieve good depth of field shots. Also by using two high quality cameras we can film one scene once, with two different angles, so continuity will be much better than re-filming a scene for a different angle. The option of placing accessories such as microphones, and video lights is also available because both our cameras have hot shoe mounts. We will be using a simple lighting set-up using LED video lights, and we will use a light stand to support one of them so we can achieve even lighting. As we are filming a children's spy film, the shots will need to be quite fast and action packed. We will need to do a lot of tracking shots, and to eliminate any camera shake we will be using the 'Opteka X-grip' which will allow us to capture low shots smoothly whilst moving.

Cameras - Canon DSLR and Nikon DSLR
Lenses - Zoom lenses and a macro lens for close up shots

The second image shows an example of a multi-cam set-up, it shows four cameras instead of the two we will be using, however it explains the point of having two cameras rolling at once to capture different angles we will need to shoot if we only had one camera rolling.