Film diary

The day started with all the crew arriving at Tom's house as it was close to the set. We had the actors turn up around 15 minuets later so we could have everything sorted out and ready to go. We split the equipment up into each section - camera, sound and other. We also set out all of the props and extra parts to the costumes, such as the balaclava and tactical vests. The actors turned up in the clothes they would be wearing for the shoot as we had pre-arranged this with them.

Here you can see that Michael, our Director also helped with things like lighting. As we were unable to light the scenes, we decided to use a reflective bounce. We only used this in a few shots but it helped to light the shots nicely.



 

Here you can see that Tom, our D.P and Dom, one of our actors, are listening to Michael as he is telling Dom what he wants him to do. Michael was telling Tom what shot type it is and if there is a specific movement required, as he had the shot list. We decided to use a slate at the start of each take. We did this for a few reasons. One reason we used the slate at the start was so it would be easier to sync up the audio in post. we did this as we were recording sound separately. Another reason we used a slate was so that we could find the right scene and take in the editing program. If we hadn't done this, we would have had to scrub through lots of footage to find the right clip. 

Here you can see our DP, Tom, Sound Engineer, Nathan, and our slate assistant, Amy, preparing for a shot. Nathan is getting the best quality audio he can by using a boom pole. This allowed him to get the microphone directly over the action. using a boom pole means that it can stay just out of frame. At the start of each take, Amy will read out what scene, shot and take we are filming, to aid matching clips to audio in post.

Here is an example of how we started each of our takes. Our DP, Tom, tells people that the camera is rolling, Nathan tells people the sound is rolling and then Amy reads the slate. Once this has all taken place and our Director, Michael, is happy, he will then say action. The scene will then play out how it has been practiced.

Here we can see our DP, Tom, and our Sound Engineer, Nathan, discussing the 'edge of frame'. Tom is telling Nathan how low he can go with the mic on the boom pole before he enters the frame. This is important as we do not want the mic to come into frame during a shot but we want t.

Here you can see our Michael listening back to the last recording to make sure he was happy with it. This is because Nathan and Michael had a particular style of sound in mind that they wanted to capture. Michael checked back each shot to make sure he was happy with what had been recorded.

 

Here we see Tom getting his framing right for one of the first shots. This is the second shot in the opening, in which our protagonist, John, calls the agency. Tom decided to use a shoulder rig for this shot as it meant he could get a more natural looking shot which would follow our actor, Ben, to his spot. Using a tripod would have taken more time to set up.

Tom