Short Film Practice

Weather Forecast:

We wanted an overcast day to film. It is important that we don't film when it is raining as it could damage equipment, effect sound as the rain may get picked up too strongly, and would make conditions more dangerous. Therefore we used BBC weather forecasts to predict times in which we could film. The practice shoot was filmed during school time as lighting is poor shortly after school finishes. We managed to organise when all of our filming crew were available.

We decided upon Tuesday as weather was clear from rain. Although we wanted to film on an overcast day when the weather would reflect a more eerie atmosphere, as it was only a film mock up we decided it was an appropriate day to film.






Link to my film on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubPQ-ZrL2u8

Here is the short film mock up. This has been edited using Vegas 10 and iMovie. Although I liked using both pieces of software, it is likely that I will be using iMovie for the editing of the actual film shoot. The film shown below is lower quality to the one on youtube.

Online Feedback:

Class Feedback:

Mrs Elliott:

 Our teacher said that it was a good first attempt. She liked the colour filter and the way in which the red coat stands out against the backdrop. She also liked some of the shots used. However she thought that the editing used too many slow fades. She also thought there were not enough close-up shots. These are vital in the psychological genre to establish how the protagonist is feeling to an audience. Close-ups are also used to create a connection between the audience and protagonist. If an audience don't connect with the character then they wont care when something bad happens to them.

Other Constructive Criticism:

Tash Harmer:

"I think there needs to be a back story". As we only shot a section of the film people didn't see the back story. This emphasises the importance of one.

"The breathing sounds are too quiet". During the preliminary editing, I used a sound effect to create the breathing. During the shoot we will use an actor to do the breathing effect, so will make sure that it is picked up on the microphone.

James Osment:

"The tracking shots from behind the tree are too close to the subject". Both me and my filming partner are going to film some tracking shots from the stalkers perspective from further away in future to make it look more realistic.

Alice Saunders:

"The lead up to the action was a bit too slow". Therefore we will use editing techniques to create a more flowing buildup such as cutaways to keep the audience intrigued and jump shots to increase the pace of the film. However. I feel that it is important to have a slow pace at the start to create an effective contrast between equilibrium and disequilibrium. Another way in which we could grab the audiences attention immediately would be to use a circular narrative. We could use the ending at the start and use a match cut to create a smooth edit from the ending of the film to the beginning. This could be as simple as a close up of the protagonists eyes.

Personal Analysis:

• The location wasn't quite right. We want a more densely wooded area to create a darker more isolating atmosphere.
• The music doesn't fit the genre very well. I will look for different music that could reflect the genre and create a more intense ambiance.
• There wasn't enough diagetic sound as I had to find a lot of sound effects in the preliminary film.

Here is a few shots taken during our first day's filming. It also shows some of the equipment used. We first needed transport provided by someone in sixth form. We also brought a map in case we got lost. Camera equipment used includes the Nikon D5000, a 18-55mm lens and a tripod.