Filming take 2!

30th january

We notified all of the actors to meet us at school for 3:20pm as some had to travel from other sixth forms. On the previous friday after looking over our footage and realizing it was unusable me and Flossi brainstormed and came up with a more cohesive, organised and effective way of filming which will hopefully show in the final footage. We went through step by step what we wanted:

• Shots of Sam sitting doing work
• Michael checking his hair in the toilets
• Craig tripping over a mop and throwing his work everywhere
• Amir defacing a whiteboard and window
• Establishing shot of all characters walking down the corridoor
• Credits written in a book

In comparison to the last attempt this one ran so much smoother. We were more efficient and it took less time as we knew exactly what we wanted from each shot. We found that the tripod was essential for our filming as it gave us the finish we needed. It made it easier for us to gather a range of shots.

First attempt at filming

Me and Flossi decided to shoot our film on the 21st of January, a Saturday when the school was open.  We asked all of the actors to meet at 8:00am so that we could have to time to set up and establish where we wanted the shots to be filmed. We faced a few difficulties. Mainly how we could get a reverse dolly shot down the corridoor. We tried different ways but settled on using a swivel chair as a means of pushing the person using the camera. For some of the shots this worked, but on reflection after looking at the footage on the computer we realized the footage was too off balance and the camera moved too much for us to be able to use. Whilst this meant we would have to re group and think of another way of shooting with the same concept, the day had been useful in showing us what we did and did not need to do. We realized that using a tripod was essential (something we hadnt used as part of it had been missing on the day of shooting), the importance of always looking over footage and scrutinizing it to see if any improvements can be made. I believe with the previous idea of doing a dolly shot down the corridoor we over complicated the process for our selves. Had we had appropriate equipment i feel it would have worked but this wasn't the case.

Story board!

Finalised Character Profiles

After much discussion into how we want our actors to look and be we have finally compiled a conclusive character profile of each:

Matt (Amir Yahari)

Matt is the self styled leader of the group. He is a very confident individual believeing he is popular and generally cool eventhough this may not be the case. A slighly arrogant and cocky character, we wanted this to come across in the way he walked so we asked him to try and incorporate this into his facial expression and how he walked.

Ashley (Michael Wilson)

Ashley is the most 'streetwise' of the group. He is into his style and has the belief he is better than the other people in the group. We gave him a slight attitude to further the idea that he is better than the rest of them, when in fact he would be lost without the rest of the group. We wanted him to walk as though he were better than the rest of the group and further this by the filthy look he gives to the other members.

Fenton (Sam Humby)

Fenton is the character that we wanted to stay away from the rivalry between Matt and Ashley. He is the least streetwise of the group and his priorities lie solely with science. He is in his own little world and doesnt care about materialistic things. We wanted his character to be a bit confused and nerd like which we feel was represented in his costume and how he walked the corridoor.

Daniel (Craig Forster)

 

Daniel is the clumsiest of the group and seen by the others as a bit of a joke. We wanted this to come acorss to the audience so we asked him to mess his hair a little and incorporate a few stumbles into his walk. We also wanted our opening scenes to start with him sumbling and falling as to really establish his character.

The characters together do make for a dysfunctional group but thats where we wanted the humour tocome from. They are all friends because of their one common interest science, that and the fact they had no ther choice.