Reshoots - Unusable Footage

This is a compilation of footage Megan and I took which were unusable in our film due to circumstances such as focusing, laughter, bad acting or incorrect compositions/dialogue/expressions.

 

Reshoot Day 4

12th of January 2017

On the 12th of January, Megan and I decided to do the last parts of our filming process. We decided earlier on to utilise our Media Studies Studio for our office scene. Although it does not look much like an office, it still represents a room in which a meeting occurs. Our character Larry, who is played by Ben Ward, is involved within these shots as well as Mirabell who is played by me. The studio proved to be a really good location to use as there are many lights in so we experimented with them in order to create a well lit environment as well as shadows for our footage.

In this scene, dialogue was used from our script in order for the audience to understand what was occuring between the exchange a little more. We also decided on action shots for my character to show off our techniques. It was apparent immediately that Ben was my character's boss as he towered above me. Like with the majority of our shots, we used a tripod in order to ensure high quality, stable shots during each piece of footage. We used multiple shot types of different varieties after doing numerous shot types in order to continue the theme of not seeing Larry's full face. This creates ambiguity within our film as well as showing thrilling effects within this technique. 
 
These shots took the longest amount of time as well as it being the largest sequence of shots. Megan and I chose to do multiple test shots in order to choose the correct angles and types, finally deciding on shot reverse shots mainly. This was so the audience could tell straight away who was speaking, who was more dominant out of the two characters and who was clearly taking the reigns. 

As well as this, we realised that underneath the black curtains were neon green ones which we needed to ensure was hidden underneath properly, instead of peeking through. This was due to the fact some green curtain was in some of the test shots. It took us a short while to ensure only black curtain was in the shot, however once we accomplished this, the shot was perfect. 

Ben, who played Larry, was very helpful as he bought his costume in to provide us with powerful mise-en-scene. This allowed us to be consistent with our storyline of Ben being the boss of me and Geraldine (played by Sophie). His suit was neat which contrasted with my scruffy suit, allowing Ben to be seen as more dominant and higher up than me as I simply worked for him which involved the exchange with the envelope.

Reshoot Day 3

10th of January 2017

On the 10th of January, Megan and I decided to continue our refilming process in order to be able to begin editing. On this day, we began filming the scene where I exchange the envelope with Sophie. Her character, who is named Geraldine, appears very casual and relaxed instead of being dressed up in a suit. We decided to have this character casual as she is supposed to be in disguise from being in business with my character and Ben. Her profession, an intelligence agent as me and Megan both agreed on, is supposed to be concealed from the public as she is involved in crime and doesn't want to seen conspicious. As well as Sophie appearing in our film, we decided to use her dog Millie to ensure she looked more casual and like a typical young woman.

Our chosen location was the park. We decided to have Sophie sitting on the bench and for me to join her, allowing the bench to be an addition to our film with relevance, due to it being the place where the exchange occurs. 

Using the tripod, we shot numerous tests before we decided on a particular angle. We decided this was the best way to ensure that we had good quality filming with correct angles and shot types. We also made sure to pick carefully regarding placements of me and Sophie as well as how I was holding the prop and where abouts we were looking. For example, Sophie and I did not look at each other once which represents our civil relationship in the film, strictly business only with no friendship apparent. We also chose to sit as far away from each other as possible which also emphasises the shifty relationship we have in the film. It also suggests that perhaps that could be a plot in our film regarding our views on each other. Despite good quality shots, Megan and I realised that weather was becoming a problem in our film which was resolved during editing.

The shots we decided on were hesitant as we were deciding on multiple shot types before coming to a conclusion. Both of us experimented with several pans, tilts and zooms, until we found the correct composition we felt was relevant to our film. The only real issue we had was involving audio in two shots due to weather conditions, which we acted on during our editing process. Despite these issues involving audio, Megan and I both agreed that our timing was used efficiently and that this day was very productive during our filming process.

Reshoot Day 2

9th of January 2017

Megan and I decided to reshoot on the 9th of January. We filmed the scenes of my character (Mirabell) walking in numerous different locations with the envelope prop. These shots were vital for our film as it shows the journey I made in order to deliver it to a specific person. The locations we decided to use were in parks and streets as they highlighted normality and casuality.

Megan and I chose to use a tripod for my walking shots to ensure stability and good quality filming. This proved to be the right decision as the shots came out really well and exactly how we wanted to. This contrasts with our shots in our first draft as they were shaky due to us not always using a tripod during filming. Megan and I initially decided to begin reshooting in an evening, however, we quickly realised lighting and quality was an issue so we chose to begin reshooting the following day mid-afternoon to ensure that our filming was the best possible. This proved to be the right decision too as the reshoots came out really good.

We ensured to do numerous test shots before we began reshooting the real footage. We shot footage in parks, twitchells and pavements which all proved to be good locations to utilise. As mentioned before, due to filming in the afternoon, lighting was not a problem and allowed the quality of each piece of footage to be excellent.

One of the shots we did, which was of me walking up some stairs, was part of the sequence just before I had entered Ben's office. These shots were good as they were very well lit with artificial lighting due to it being a car parks' staircase. Megan and I ensured to do numerous test shots in order to decide on the best angles to use during this. We quickly decided on the two shots of me from behind going up and then me from in front coming up as they showed my journey up these stairs very well.


In conclusion, I believe that this day was a very productive day as we shot multiple pieces of footage which came out very well. We both decided that the tripod was a very good element to our film as it helped us with stabilising each piece of footage as that was a problem in our first draft.

Reshoot Day 1

4th of January 2017

On the 4th of January, Megan and I decided to begin our refilming process. We knew that we wanted to have Kathleen (played by Megan) still to be in the location of her house like in our first draft as this allows her to be seen as an innocent teenager. We modified these as we evaluated our feedback from peers who enjoyed the scenes of Kathleen in her house, however gave us improvements which we took on board. In order to reshoot this, we needed to ensure that the shots were perfect the first time as we would not be able to refilm random parts due to the organisation of her room.

Megan and I decided to use a tripod for the reshoots due to the first drafts' footage being shaky due to not using a tripod for our first draft. This proved to be a good choice due to every shot being stable and good quality compared to our first draft. This allowed us to be able to show a wide contrast between our draft and final edit as we took on board numerous points of feedback from our peers and teachers in order to improve it dramatically.

We had both created a to-do list in order to be organised and do everything that needed to be done so we could begin the editing process of this sequence. We used a mixture of natural and artificial lighting so we would have the right amount of this in order for our footage to look the best quality possible. We also created a schedule regarding filming so that we could use both of these to be organised and efficient, using time management well as we knew exactly how we wanted our film to look. We also managed to ensure lighting was consistent throughout as this was a problem we faced in our first draft which showed that we did not think this obstacle through.

During this day, Megan and I found that we came across minor issues such as layout of the bedroom and the correct lighting. We had to ensure that these were equal to the other pieces of footage so that it would show continuity and flowing. In order to do this, we experimented with multiple placements of the tripod and how the shot would look so that the filming would be continuous.

Megan and I discusses beforehand our plans regarding this day of footage so we knew exactly what to film. We decided that our target for the day was to modify the filming and ensure that we were making the improvements set to us by our teachers and peers. Our modified script and storyboard were simple to follow, despite this, we made minor adjustments in our filming instead of completely sticking to it as we came up with more ideas regarding shot types and dialogue.

The majority of the filming was in Megan's own bedroom as well as the bottom of her stairs. This allowed her to be comfortable whilst acting and let in a personal aroma into the film. It also allowed mise-en-scene to come through and due to this, it made our filming very natural and teen. In my earlier blog posts, I made it clear that Megan's character Kathleen was a typical innocent teenage girl so Megan and I decided that we needed to show this clearly in the opening film. We also decided that we were going to stick with the orginal costume idea which was casual and edgy for a teenage girl. 

Megan and I decided that throughout our filming process, we would do several test shots for the majority of our footage so we were able to experiment and therefore decide on the most appropriate and relevant shots for our film.

Overall, in this day, we completed the beginning and end of our thriller film opening and Megan and I both decided that this was a very productive day with high quality shots. This allowed us to begin our editing process so that we could really start to put together our reshoots for the deadline.





   

Our Final Thriller Film