FILM PRODUCTION - SETTING UP LIGHTING, SOUND AND WHITE BALANCE + DISCUSSION ON WHAT WENT WELL/DID NOT GO WELL

Setting Up Lighting

Setting Up Sound

Setting Up White Balance

What went well during filming?

Despite not having a video of a discussion on what we thought we did/didn't do well, we did have a discussion about it over the internet. In terms of what we did well during the filming process, there were a few things. Firstly Erol, Charlie and I worked in an organised and coherent manner. We stuck to a strict time frame whereby we would get each shot done within 5-10 minutes (depending on how many takes we had to do) and we managed to get all the shots done within the 2 hours that we were given to film on Friday.

Secondly, the management for our different areas were superb. The camera was easily set up and ready to be used for filming by me (Harry). I made sure to call actors in exactly when we needed them to ensure that our filming went smoothly by not having to take numerous amounts of the same shot to perfect it. As well as this, directing the movement of the actors made it easier to make Match On Action more fluid. For example, in one of our shots Erol is reaching for a door and begins to move into it. Because I directed him to open the door and move half way through the door instead of reaching for the handle, it made the transition between one shot to the next smoother, making for a more professional Match On Action.

Charlie sorted out the locations of the filming quickly and efficiently. What made this helpful with our time frame was that the locations were easy to access. He also gathered the props that we needed, and had them ready for when we needed them. The use of ketchup for blood was a nice touch, especially seeing as he was playing someone being beaten which added to the realism of the situation.

Erol did a great job with the storyboard, making it easier to get the filming done as we knew exactly what we needed to shoot (Angle, shot distance, what props were needed in that shot etc.). He also did an excellent job at at organizing where each actor needed to be placed within the frame of the camera. This was crucial for the success of our film as it helped with making sure that The 180 Degree Rule wasn't broken, as well as being incredibly useful when it came to Shot/Reverse Shot. Because we only had three people in our group, it became difficult to operate the camera whilst all three of us were in a shot. 

However, Erol made this issue non-existent as he used Charlie and I to practice the positioning of the characters in the frame before we began filming. By seeing precisely where each actor needed to be positioned, it made filming the over the shoulder shots for our Shot/Reverse Shot sequence easier, which saved us a lot of time. Charlie and I also helped with positioning Erol when he was needed in a shot. For example, our Shot/Reverse Shot required an over the shoulder shot of Erol looking towards me, whilst Charlie was sitting down. Because Charlie and I knew where we needed to stand, we helped Erol into position so that we could operate the camera without worrying that we weren't in the right position. Practicing the positioning before filming helped us to maintain The 180 Degree Rule throughout the whole process.

Overall the filming went great, and because we helped each other out with props/positioning/directions etc., we managed to stick to our time frame and film all the necessary shots needed for the editing process of our film. Because of our teamwork, we even managed to film some of the shots in one take as we believed that they were perfect.

What didn't go well during filming?

There weren't too many issues during our filming. The main issues we had with our filming were technical faults. For example, throughout half of our filming, the battery we were using for our camera kept falling out of the camera. Eventually we went to the editing suite and picked up another one, which I am glad to say worked fine.

The second technical fault was the lighting we used. Once again, it was a battery problem. The battery in the lighting equipment had been drained, and because of this, we had to pick up another one. This battery worked fine. The only issue with this is that because we were using lighting equipment in an incredibly dark room, we had the lighting set to a certain brightness. Because the battery was drained, the lighting turned off. 

When we replaced the battery, we had to re-adjust the lighting so that it was back to the right brightness. Of course, we didn't know what the level of brightness was before the battery ran out, so we had to make a guess as to what the brightness was like. Because of this, we are unsure whether the lighting is uneven in our shots. Despite this, we believe that the lighting in our shots is mostly consistent. We even considered it being a good thing that the lighting may have been dimmer the second time around because at that point, Erol was being filmed in a dark, sinister and rage filled situation, and because of this, we thought that the lighting reflected the atmosphere (The dark, sinister and rage filled nature of it).

The final issue was human error. I had accidentally tightened the grip on the tripod so that I couldn't move the camera around. The unfortunate thing about this is that none of us knew what the problem was at the time, so we spent 5-10 minutes trying to sort that out. A video of us sorting out the problem is below:

Despite these issues, which did affect our strict time frame (But only slightly), we managed to get all the shots filmed. We had plenty of time to do numerous takes for certain shots so that we could perfect them.