The Prisoner : Evaluation

We have completed our first attempt at a short film! I have thoroughly enjoyed the whole process of producing this piece and I simply cannot wait to improve my skills even further and track my progress throughout the course on this blog.
This film is about someone who has been held captive in the middle of no where, where he is interrogated.

What went well?

From the very beginning I had a good feeling about this short film, as when me and Rhiann sat down and created the storyboard for it came to use easily and we were bouncing ideas of each other. We very quickly came up with a brilliant plan of how we were going to compose the shots and which types of shots to use for each piece of dialogue.

Then, with the filming I felt like that went brilliantly too. We were privileged to work with two great actors. The filming took a long time however we got a lot of footage to choose from so that we could choose the appropriate ones.

I feel like the majority of the task went brilliantly. I am particularly pleased with certain camera movement shots we took. My favorite shot is the low angle shot of Kieran walking towards the camera in scene 1. I love the way the camera is moving with his walk as it adds a touch of verisimilitude. I also like the composition of that shot as he is perfectly in the middle of the frame with the the cloudy sky as a backdrop,

I am also very pleased with the way the interrogation scene flows. I feel like the editing of the conversation makes it seem very life like as it they were actually having a conversation, this was because it was edited so that the speech took up the whole clip instead of having pauses in between each line,
In the part where NUMBER 6 breaks down onto the floor and NUMBER 2 is laughing evilly, we used an effect called 'ghosting' which connotes the confusion and distress he is feeling, I am very pleased with how this looks, especially with his laughter overlapping his screaming.

To begin with I was unsure on what audio we would use to create an eery atmosphere in the first scene of Kieran walking through the deserted area. However we found the perfect clip which sounded creepy and spooky, which we repeated though out the first scene. We also overlapped this with another audio clip which added a soft ghostly sound to accompany louder sounds.

Were there any problems? If so how would you combat them next time?

We encountered a fair few problems through out the making of this film.

To me, the main problem was the lighting. As I have talked about in a previous post, the lighting changes numerous times where is is not meant to. This was due to weather conditions and a lamp breaking mid-filming. If I was to do this again I would of allocated more time into filming where possible to make sure that if one day the weather conditions arent correct then we can change it to a different day. I would also come to the shoots prepared with extra lighting equipment to ensure that the film has continuity.

In terms of the planning and filming, that was the only problem we came across, including the fact we did not have very much time to plan and film it.

However in terms of editing, looking at the complete video I have noticed a few problems with it. Aside from the bad lighting continuity, the audio files we repeated after each other jump to each clip, making it obvious that it is one clip being repeated. On the other hand I do not think this is very obvious to someone who has not seen the making of it, therefore it is not much of a problem.

THE PRISONER

Voilà!

     
The Prisoner from Elleah Stanton on Vimeo.

Editing, editing and more editing

Good morning!

Our task of cutting the clips has been completed. I have cut them so that the speech flows better, as if they are actually having a conversation rather than talking in seperate shots.

I found doing this really liberating as the end result meant that I could see our short film for the first time in it's entireity. I am extremely pleased with how it flows and pieces together.

As you know, one of the main difficulties so far is the lighting in the shots that were taken at the shed location and the interrogation room location. They are too dark and you cannot see what is happening in the shot, this meant that we have had to go through each shot and adjust the contrast and brightness so that we can see the action. This lead to a further problem as it meant that we had to edit the rest of the shots that were taken in broad daylight so that they looked more gloomy and overcast like the shot taken at the other locations. I have managed to do this successfully without it looking too unproffesional.
However the rest of the editing has been a smooth ride so far and we are very nearly finished. All that is left to do now is add in one or two transition effects  and add/ take out audio. I am hoping to find a eery sounding audio file to use for the beggining when he is walking through a deserted area. Of course we wont need audio for the interogation scene as we want the conversation to be the main focus of the film.

The Editing has Begun!

Today we begun piecing together our short film. After choosing which clips to use we finally came to a decision on the final ones. There is still a lot of work to do regarding cutting the clips and then adding audio and effects. 

I am very excited to see the outcome next week. 

Final Day of Filming

Nearing Completion

Today we filmed some shots in my garden. We used the shed that I posted in a previous post as it looked desolate and damaged which was perfect for the story line we are working with.

Filming for this scene went pretty well as we got all the shots that we needed, however we had a few difficulties. The time of day of this shoot was different to the time of day in the shoot at Newton Hall therefore continuity is lost as the brightness does not match up. This said, we will be able to compromise with this when editing by changing the contrast and brightness of both locations to make them look more similar. This problem could of been avoided if we had more time to film this project. But the fact that this was the only night that everyone was available meant that it was all or nothing,

Another problem we faced was the weather, It began to rain as soon as we started to film so we had to try and cover the camera to prevent it from getting damaged, The change in weather also added to the lack of continuity as the rain changed the brightness further.

All in all, this shoot went splendid and it has been an absolute pleasure working with our actors.

Until next time, 

Elleah

Filming, Day 2

Today Rhiann went with Kieran to Newton Hall Nature Reserve to record scene 1 of The Prisoner.
Kieran was filmed walking though a deserted space with a blank expression on his face and blank body language.
The shots used today include establishing shot, medium close up and low close up. This scene is very short which explains the small range of shots.
Here are some stills of the footage Rhiann took










We took a lot of different shots for the first scene to establish the setting and the appearance of the character. We used a long distance shot so the viewer gets a full body shot of the character which allows them to understand the characters purpose or position through the costume. We used some close up shots to do the same thing, but this time we let the viewer understand the character though facial expression, as the face is the key part in the mise-en-scene and allows the viewer to see emotion (or in this case, lack if emotion).
A low angle shot was used to connote his authority. Rhiann followed him walking whilst crouching down before him, walking backwards as he came closer. This tells the viewer that this character is the powerful one with a high social status.
Long shots were also used to to establish the location so the viewer is able to see the desolate and abandoned landscape and then start to develop an questions as to why this man is in this kind of terrain. It hooks the audience and makes them want to watch on to find out his purpose.

First Day of Filming

The Prisoner

Actors

Introducing Kieran Gray and Sam Bryan, who are our cast for this short film!

Kieran is acting as NUMBER 2.

Sam is acting as NUMBER 6.

They are very talented actors who fit the roles we need perfectly and I am super happy to be working with them for this project. We filled out Call Sheets for the pair addressing when we would need them for filming and also provided them with an annotated script so they had a rough idea of how to act and what to say.

On the left is NUMBER 6 and this character is very unprofessional looking and unkempt who is the captive of NUMBER 2. He dresses in a scruffy fashion with sleeves rolled up and his tie loosened.

On the right is NUMBER 2 who juxtaposes NUMBER 6 as he is very formal and authoritative. He dresses in a sophisticated manor and is the interrogator.

This photo was taken today just before we started filming as they both started to characterise and get to know their characters' personalities.

Shooting

Today we filmed scene 2 at the location of Framwellgate School Campus. This scene is the interrogation scene so the room had to be very bare with little amount of clutter.

We managed to get all the shots that we planned to do however we did face one difficulty, We were using a lamp to light the room to create a gloomy and dark atmosphere. Half way through filming the bulb blew and the lamp did not work. We had to then improvise using a flash light as this was the only solution that was present at the time. If we had more time to film this project we would have been able to film on a different day after finding a working bulb/lamp, however we did not have this time, therefore had to work with what we had. If I was to do this kind of film again, I would make sure I came fully prepared for any difficulties that could arise, including spare bulbs!

Aside from this, the filming went very well and I am extremely pleased with the outcomes of the different shots. We managed to use a range of shots and camera movements including extreme close up, high angle, medium long shot, slow pan and 360 degree pan.
With regards to why each shot was used, we used high angle shots when filming NUMBER 6 to connote his submissive and weak character. We used mainly low angle shots when filming the speech for NUMBER 2 as this signifies superiority, especially when contrasted with the low angle shots of NUMBER 6.

It wont be long until we begin filming scene one, in fact we plan to film on the forthcoming Saturday, which will take place in a deserted looking landscape. We will be using Newton Hall's nature reserve as this gives us a wide area of space that will include little disruptions and a complete desertion from outside world.