The shoot day

 The shoot day started at 8:50 the hole crew met up and we discussed our next steps. We had more or less an hour left until our cast was available so we decided to make some last adjustments and perpetrations. Bert and Pablo were supposed to start putting the blood on the apron while I got the priest costume form the theatre department. I then joined them putting the blood on the apron. After trying different amounts of blood we decided on more stylized marks all-over the apron and we ended up with a very bloody look. We even developed different tequnices but the key learnings were more, more, more fake blood! 

We then moved on to the first location, a boarding house on campus (‘The Lodge’), we set up our camera and decided to first get a basic shot on a tripod which would only show the legs of our actors. We had the choice between tow doors. A ‘normal’ house door, which looked great but on the door handle was a code panel which made it seem as if it was a communal living area and not a private house another door looked a bit like a barn gate we decided to use the ‘normal’ door as it seemed more appropriate to our scene and simply framed it in away you wouldn’t be able to see the code panel. We then looked at the movement in the scene there were some limitations that we needed to keep in mind. For example we wouldn’t be able to spill extra blood or rather create a realistic wound on the actresses stomach after she gets steps therefore you shouldn’t be able to see the her stomach when and after she falls. James would hide her stomach by standing Infront of it her while she’s still falling when she’s laying on the ground we advised her to fall with her legs angled towards the camera thereby hiding her stomach. The Knife was already bloody when we started I spread blood all over it and especially at the tip. In order to make the murder seem more brutal I wanted the knife to not be visible before he stabs her. This way the blood would be more effective. We worked out the angle in which James would need to hold the knife so it wouldn’t be visible or at least not visible for a long time. We framed our shots with the stereotypical cinema bars as we thought this would match the vibe we were going for. I also directed the way James would walk. We tried some variations, in tempo and also the way he would carry himself he shouldn’t seem to nervous or to excited but still as if he is happy to do this as if it brings him joy. After we got a few takes sometimes with some variations of how the action would take place e.g. how often James knocks on the door or if the door would close or not. This was quiet easy to do because in order for the door to stay open after the victim opens it someone would need to stand behind the door hand hold it. When we then wanted the door closed they would simply let go. We rotated in three decisions one person would kneel behind the camera and operate the camera the other tow of us would either hold the mic or deal with the door. After we got the basics we tried something that we had in mind from the start. It was a hand. healed take that would show the killer walking towards the house (downwards from his knees). We then moved on and shoot some establishing shot of the house. We filmed from a lower angle how James would approach the house stop and go closer. the low angle was supposed to make him seem more epic. I placed a rock on the ground as a marker so James would know where to stand that way the framing would work and we wouldn’t need to adjust the focus. Finally, we did some takes of James walking and experimented with some pans and tilts. 

 

 

At approximately 11:20 am we drove to ST. Holmberry to film some shots of James traveling and his encounter with a dog. We filmed our first shot at what we thought empty village street. But cars wouldn’t stop passing by this was especially uncomfortable for James as he was standing in a bloody apron with a knife alone in the middle of the street, although we advised him to fooled his apron and hide the knife while were not filming this wasn’t always possible because sometimes cars passed by while we were shooting or right before. But James was always really polite to the people and we all copied this welcoming energy when the people passed by that we were standing behind a huge camera and tripod probably also helped that our present wasn’t alarming. In our first take James walked the down the street and near the end made a turn to the left. We decided that this didn’t seem right so we told him to start moving in a diagonal line. During the next take a stood behind the camera and gave him hand signs how he was supposed to move. After that the best actor in our sequence arrived on set. Our media teacher’s dog. After everyone was adored the dog for a bit we started setting up the camera Bert and I were in difference about how we should set up the wide shot. We were filming at a street were on one side was a tall hedge and on the other side were some cars. I wanted to place the camera in the middle of the road as I thought that that way the shot composition would be more interesting. Bert believed that the shot would look be better if we were only to see the green as it would highlight the quietness of the village. We asked our media teacher who agreed that the shoot in centre of the street would offer a more interesting shot. While James and Tom who played the dog walker acted out their scene we tried to remember where they were stopping for continuity so when we later on shoot medium and close ups they would stop at the same spot. Another thing I learned today was to shoot as littles as possible with dogs. While they are incredibly happy and initially raise the happiness level of everyone at set they are not great at upholding content unity. For minutes straight we tried to shoot a close up of the dog jumping up on James. 

 

After lunch back at school we picked up another Tom the actor who is portraying the priest. When the day started, we didn’t know he was going to play him but he was free and happy to do it so we were really excited. When we arrived in the church, and he put on his costume we couldn’t believe how well he looked in his costume. I looked at the practical lighting in the church and the location in general and placed Clare the actress who portraited the villager on a seat next to the corridor. I started out telling tom to stand in one of the rows and to Clare’s left so she could easily move but the framing felt odd because why wouldn’t the priest stand in the corridor so we placed him in the corridor and a bit further down the back so Clare could easily stand-up greet James and leave. On set we worked shop the dialogue while I had written some backup lines I wanted the actors to be able to free to improvise this way I hoped their dialogue would suit them better and it did! They came up with some hilarious lines and were able to riff. I then talked to them, and we shortened the dialogue as this was supposed to be a brief conversation. After the wide shot we moved on to some mid shots and close ups. For Clare’s closeup I wanted her to talk to Tom about a hideous sin she had committed. While we are most likely not going to use this either way I think it helped both of them understand the situation they’re characters are in better. I was constantly worried about the 180 degree rule but my teammates and our media teacher ensured me that we were okay. We then moved on and set up the camera to shoot the murders conversion. Originally planned to have James kneel down Infront of the alter but. it was to far away. So we decided to scrap the kneeling bit and they would just stand further down the church this would also demonstrate a stronger conception between the characters. This turned out to be a hard scene to shoot. Because someone had released the giggles. First Tom who didn’t even know that he is going to be in this video and who is not an actor needed to memories the lines and always switched certain parts. Important to remember is even when he switched a line to always keep going. After both of them new their lines I talked to them about the pronunciation of the words they were going to say and which parts they should stress in order to match the feel of the scene. This and of course working with the dog was the most fun part of the day for me as work shopping the dialogue and talking to the actors about their characters and how these would act allowed me to really be creative. This was also the first time we needed additional lighting earlier we shot outside and the natural lighting worked great, the practical lights in the middle of the church also worked well but now as we were further back we need to add some ligth. We added some soft orange light which was not intense (thereby simulating the practical lights in the church) because this area was nearly completely dark in the previous wide shots. We also added a steal collared back light from the left (simulating the light coming from a widow) which would outline the actors silluett. This light setup also resulted in one side being filled with shadows. This added to the mysterious and dark feel of the scene. In order to finish all the scenes with the actors we filmed James walking into/ towards the church. We did tow variations one where James would come from the street and another one where he would immerse from the graveyard. We had one more idea with James so we went back into the church placed the camera on the ground and tilt it a bit upwards this way James would seem really powerful. We filmed how James enters the church and the idea was that you would only see his sluett because the light from outside would be nearly the only source of light. We were nearly finished so we went outside down to hill in order to film an establishing shot of the church we off course needed to adapt the apprature and tried a few different camera movement. We tried out some different movements and then we could finally say:  

The key learnings of this week and a review of the test shoot

 

The final countdown!

 On Monday is our shoot day this means that we had to sort out every remaining problem. I talked to nearly all of the cast again making sure that everyone is on the same page. The person we wanted as the priest wasn’t available, so our media teacher Adam is going to play the priest. We discussed the sequence and the action list one last time so we all know what we need to shoot on Monday. Bert pitched the idea of the killer listening to music on his headphones after he kill his first victim. With this he wanted to go for a Guardians of the galaxy feeling which Pablo and I agreed would suit our project really well.  Another good thing is about this is that later on in the edit we can simply change the music and create a totally different atmosphere. Bert and I also  checked out the Church location on Google maps we looked for nearby locations were we could film shoots of the walking to the church.

Next up were our props the fake blood arrived as well as the apron. We decided to pick the mid-sized prop knife from the theatre department as we believed that it would look the best. We originally planned to use a prop knife only for a few shots and use an actual knife for things like close ups. Our media teacher pointed out the danger of bringing a object like this on set if its not completely necessary therefore we tried to scratched as many shots with the knife close up which will hopefully allow use to use the prop knife without it ruining the atmosphere. The prop knife just got a new paint of coat and the handle wasn’t completely finished it still had a golden base coat. The apron featured quiet prominently a  logo. I asked a friend who dose art as a level to hide the logo and add a black coat of paint to the knife which see luckily agreed on! We also did a little test shoot of the murder scnce. This turned out to be very helpful as it pointed out the difficulties of this shot and how we don’t want it to look we were also able to work on specific ideas for the framing and instantly test them. 

 

Here is the in my opinion best take we did:

Meeting 23rd of February- Props, casting and costumes

 Today was the first meeting in person in 1 and ½ weeks. We discussed the timetable, the cast and costume. We thought of alterative jobs for the murderer, but in the end stetted again on him being a butcher. Bert wanted to confirm Simon as the Priest but up until now this wasn’t possible so we agreed if Simon wasn’t able to do the shoot, Adam our media teacher would,  who currently is supposed to play a friendly villager is going to play the priest while someone on set will play the friendly villager. We then went to the theatre department to look at knife props. 

 

All of them look obviously fake so we decided to use a real knife in most parts of the sequence but during the scene where the butcher stabs the first victim, we would use one of the prop knifes.

 

I also ordered a apron so we could. soak it  in fake blood on the shoot day. We looked at multiple aprons but then we decided to buy a light beige apron as this would make it seem more handmade and used which would fit into the scenery of a village.

 

Meeting 22nd of February- Schdual and costumes

 At todays meeting we discussed with our teacher what we did so far and what we still need to do. I came up with a timetable for the shoot day. I had to keep in mind restrictions like that people are not available for the hole time for multiple reasons e.g. teachers might need to teach a class and have no replacement or need to attend a meeting. I also thought about how difficult each scene would be for example a scene with dialogue is likely to take longer than a scene of the butch just walking down the road. This is the timetable I came up with:

:A1 MEDIA SHOOT SCHDUAL ON MONDAY THE 28th OF FEBUARY 

 

Start of shoot day (I assume 8:50am):

-the lodge (location for murder)

- Crew

---------10 am James (the butcher) and Zoe (the victim)

 

Moving on to the street at 11:30 am:

-street near to closes location  

-Crew James (the butcher), Adam (friendly Villager), Adams Dog

 

Moving on to the Church at 1:30 pm:

-ABCDEFG Curch

-Crew James (the butcher), Simon (the priest), Clare (friendly villager 2)

 

Presumed end of shoot day at 3:00pm

(I color coded the timetable to make it easier to look for the different types of information like time and people needed on set)

 

I massaged the theater department to ask if we could get a prop knife and a priest costume. They haven’t gotten back to me about the knife but did send me a costume which they have and we could use:   

                                                                   

 

Bert is going to order fake blood online. We still don’t know if we can shoot at a church but it very likely!

Meeting 21st of February- Final Preparations for Shoot Day

 The school was closed today as there was no water in the hole area. So we had a virtual meeting. We discussed amongst other things casting.  Bert said that had secured Simon a pathography teacher here at Hurtwood as the priest. I massaged James Hartman (the Murderer) and Clare Crossley (the friendly villager) to check if they are still available and if they had any questions, James asked me about his costume (you can see the plan for his costume in a previous block post).  We still need to get a priest outfit and a knife so I’m hoping to get these things from the theater department when were back at school. 

I still don’t know if or if not we will be able to film at a church. I’ve also written a new version of the dialogue for the final church scene

 Location wise we sadly  still don’t know if or if not we will be able to film at a church. I’ve also written a new version of the dialogue for the final church scene:

Butcher:  Forgive me father for I have sinned! As I’ve exterminated another presided.

 

Priest: I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. May the almighty God have mercy on you, and having forgiven your sins, lead you to eternal life. Amen. We shall thankyou for executing your Deluty!  May the infinite spirit bells your sole!

 

Weekend update 20th of February- Key learnings from the previous week