P4 - Filming Diary

FILMING DIARY

I would make sure to communicate with my actors and let let know what I wanted them to do and talk them through the shot each time, stopping to help if they needed it. This meant that the actress was able to understand what she was meant to do without confusion which would have prolonged my filming process, as it would have taken much longer to get the correct shot each time. This was especially important when we were filming outside because of the cold, we didn't want to be out for too long.

In the fire & roof scene, I made sure an adult was present to help with safety - especially because my main actor was under 18. You can see the adult helping to light the fire for us. the adult also helped to supervise us on the roof to check we were being careful.

DAY 1: 12.12.22

The first day of filming I went up to the moor to film the outdoor scenes. I filmed this scene first because I also needed to take the pictures I was using throughout the other scenes. I went up during sunset/evening time on a clear day to try and get a clear nice shot. I got my camera set up and checked all of the setting and then got the photographs I needed to take done first because my actor needed to change her coat for these pictures. It also meant by second actor - the other one in the photographs - could leave early and get home. One thing I was making sure to look out for when filming here is the cars on the road, there were cars occasionally coming past and I wanted to make sure that the actors were safe and also that I didn't damage my camera equipment in the road. I recognised the cold temperatures of the day and so I brought warm drinks and food for the cast, as well as extra hats and scarves. One issue I had during this filming was not paying attention to when I was pressing to record and to stop record on the camera which meant that for some shots I thought I was filming when I wasn't.  This made me aware for later shoots how I need to pay closer attention to the camera when I'm filming to check I'm recording. Luckily, I didn't miss out on any vital shots I needed for this shoot. I had the IOS setting low at around 100 the whole day because I was filming during the day in natural daylight which turned out to be bright enough. For this shot and continuing through the whole of the filming process I had my camera set to 25fps, the shutter speed at 1/50 and using HD video of 1920x1080.

DAY 2: 14.12.22

On this day I filmed the projection scenes in a drama room I had which I could use. I first had to set up the projector and my powerpoint (of all the images for projection in a sequence), this had some issues at first. I had to work out the lighting as I found that having the room dark enough to show the projection meant that my protagonist was completely dark, I resolved this by moving her into a lighter area of the projection so even just her head was in shot. I had to make her stand on a block to reach this height which meant I also had to collapse my tripod and stand on a block myself. This meant some of the shots are less stable, but I can resolve this in editing later. I wanted to get longer shots for this section as seeing the transition from the slides with the change in the emotion for the character is something that is important to my storyline. Therefore I ended up getting 6 minute shots which I can cut and use sections of later. An adult was also present while we were standing on the blocks to watch that we were being safe swell as help switch the slides for projection so I could focus on the camera settings. I had the IOS on around 300-400 to ensure enough light from the projection was in the scene without making it grainy, but because it was only the areas being lit up by the projection I wanted to see I didnt need this too high to see the darker areas.

DAY 3: 23.12.22

On this day I filmed both the first and last scene as well as the roof scene. I waited until sunset to film the roof scene but filmed all the bedroom scenes during the day. At first I had an issue with a foggy camera lens, but I resolved this by taking off the lens and cleaning the inside of my camera. this didn't happen again after I had cleaned it but to try and avoid the issue I made sure not move quickly from hot to cold areas. During the day scene I had the IOS relatively low because I was filming in natural daylight, it was only at around 100-200. One other issue I had was my camera battery running out of charge. This meant I had to stop filming on the roof and charge my battery and try again later. This resulted in me filming later at night so I had a darker shot. To combat this I turned my IOS up to 800 to get as much light from the dark environment to show on the shot as possible. Although this made the shot more grainy I really like the atmosphere it created compared to the earlier time so I don't think I will need to film any more shots of this. When filming on the roof, health and safety was a big priority. the roof tuned out to be especially slippy on this day so I made sure an adult was present at all time to not only help with the fire but also make sure no one went to close to the edge or accidentally slipped. The wind was really heavy which caused some issues when lighting the fire and in the actual shots however I managed to shoot good enough scenes of the fire lit and the pictures going into the fire that I don't think i'll need to retake any shots. Although I was filming two shots in this day, the shots are set on the same day so I didn't need to do a costume change for my character.

I made sure to check my camera and tripod were set up correctly each time. I adjusted the tripod height per shot and at times I used the extra height adjustment on top to make the camera higher (e.g. when I was filming my projection scene). For scenes where the camera moves I used the movement adjustment to move the camera steadily like how I planned the scene in the storyboard. I made sure to check the level feature on the tripod to check my camera was balanced correctly for each shot. I tried to avoid filming with no tripod as I didn't want to use any unsteady shots, but I knew I could edit these shots later if I did need to use them.