Filming Diary

Day One: (20/03/2014) Afternoon, 14:00-16:00hrs.

We filmed the scene of Xavier at the construction site.

What went well?

• The actor/s arrived on time. This was beneficial because it meant we could start filming as soon as possible and get filming done before the area started to get busy, which would make it hard to film without people being in the way and getting in the background of shots.

• The actor/s were ready and dressed as we told them to be. This helped ensure the audience, when they watch the piece, understand what character he is playing and that it matches up with how we designed our piece to be during planning and storyboarding.

• We managed to get lots of shots of this to ensure we had plenty of footage; should when it comes to editing parts of some shots aren't as good as others in which case we have plenty of different footage that we can use to ensure our piece is the best it can be.

Negatives?

• Being outside meant that lighting was hard to get correct. It meant that sometimes we would have to wait until the sun went behind a cloud or visa versa in order to make the shot look good. Otherwise it meat we had unwanted shadows in the piece, lighting on the camera was poor resulting in the shot not looking very good and also in order to keep the consistency in all shots we had to ensure the weather was similar in each shoot.

• Again, being outside meant when filming the tracking shot of Xavier walking towards the building site, the ground was quite uneven meaning the shot sometimes looked a bit shaky. This then meant we had to go back and re-film to try and make the shot not look so bumpy and more professional.

• The camera kept on picking up on unwanted sounds from passers by. This unfortunately could not be helped and just means it will have to be cut out during editing. Its not a big problem, just one that could have been avoided by checking to see if anyone was around before shooting.

Day 2:  (21/03/2014) Afternoon, 13:00- 17:00 hrs

We filmed the scene of Xavier leaving his house, driving off in his car, getting out of his car (filming all the close ups of his body) and ensuring all sound we needed to include was filmed.

1. Filming at Springfield House

When here we started by filming the scene of Xavier leaving his house. Once he leaves his house, he then walks and gets into his car, we then see him in the car and leaving the premises of his home.

What went well?

• The majority of this scene went very well. Having had it very well planned and by following the storyboard it meant we efficiently moved through the scenes, filming them all at least three times before moving onto the next location.

• We checked the weather prior to arranging a day to film, luckily we managed to get a day where the weather was very similar to the previous time when we filmed, this after editing the film together, it'll look like it was all shot on the same day making it look continuous rather than being obvious it was shot on two different days.

Negatives?

In the background of one of the shots, their is lots of parked cars. Originally this was not meant to be in the shot and was not part of the scene on the storyboard, however there was nothing we could do about this and on reflection it added to the piece. This is because if you looked at the size of Xavier's house, then considered the storyline of the piece and looked at outfit Xavier was wearing, it would seem fitting for him to own lots of cars (dare I say the cars sitting in the background were mainly Jaguars and Land Rovers, stereotypically richer peoples cars).


    2.  Filming just outside the construction site

When here, we used the car to film the door opening and shutting. We also filmed Xavier getting out of the car, this includes close ups on his feet, cuffs and tie. We also filmed the diegetic sound of the car door shutting and opening.

What went well?

• We managed to film everything that we needed to.

• The lighting was ideal meaning the shots looked good and professional. Filming externally meant lighting was temperamental throughout the day.

Negatives?

There was a busy and noisy road next to where we were trying to film, this meant that trying to shoot was quite hard because it meant conditions weren't great. This means that we will have to edit the sound out.