Production Diary

As the allocated role of producer of the group, it was my responsibility to organise certain meeting points and meetings within the group for filming and editing. This meant that we must contact each other to be able to fulfill the tasks that needed to be completed to create the short video. This post will keep an update on activities that happen throughout the group with me involved.

Monday 1st October

First filming session, the two shots of me seen in the video as the man. I organised to meet Josh to do the camerawork for these shots. I am given responsibility of the memory card that comes with the camera, which will hold every shot that we take for our short film. I was also held responsible for getting the group to correctly select the same camera for every shot that we take, otherwise a variety of formats from different videos would cause problems in the editing process. The camera that I was given was a handheld Sony video camera, additionally using a tripod to shoot the stationary shots.

We took our shots in a room in college. We had to consider lighting, as the scene has delicate lighting on the characters faces. We used LED Litepanels to create the sharp shadow effect that can be seen in the shots. We also had to consider the framing and specific shots that were similar to those of the short film. These two shots that were taken are a Mid-Shot with me turning on the light within the room and a Close-up of my face, with a slight movement in the frame. We could not completely replicate the shot, as the environment that the shot was taken in wasn't a domestic environment, nor was the room the exact structure of that of which we took the shot, however in comparison to the original shots, I believe that the shots we did take are successfully similar to the real shots.

As a group we discussed which props to use for the film to replicate or look similar to the original. We decided on bringing domestic items such as magazines, tins/containers, sunglasses, books, pictures and picture frames, bottles and a radio which some are seen within the short film. We also discussed what soundtrack we should use as the non-diegetic sound that can be heard of a calm instrumental of a piano. Upon a search of Youtube, we found a cover of the soundtrack for Sinead by Within Temptation and have decided that this would be ideal to use in our video:

Tuesday 2nd October

I was unable for filming this day, however the rest of the group did participate in the filming of Sydney as the female character. However, we never anticipated that the room in which we would do the shooting would have locked cabinets, in which are vital for our short film. Instead the group got the one longshot of our sequence with the female character freezing for a few seconds at the cabinet when searching through it. Filming will continue on a further date with all the necessary shots then editing can begin.

Thursday 4th October

One of the props within the short film shows a photo frame with the male character, the female character and a child as a family photo. This was vital to the film, therefore we had to also comply and get this photograph with appropriate costume. As seen in the short film, the female character wears a floral top/dress therefore we had to contact Sydney and tell her to wear the appropriate costume. Also, as the male character of the film, I had to wear the appropriate costume of a shirt, tie and blazer. The photo was taken against a black background and will soon be printed to be put in a photo frame for the shot. 

We also begun the editing of our film, using the shots that we did already have. The shots we already had would form the the final part of our rendition of the short film. The shots included within this process of filming were the 2 shots of me as the male character turning on the light midshot and the close up of me juxtaposed after a shot of Sydney.

Friday 5th October

This day provided problems amongst the group. After editing on the previous day, the memory card was potentially misplaced by leaving it in the card reader or just left at home by one of members of the group. This slightly disrupted any creative activity to go ahead on this day, such as filming or continuing our editing. 

However despite this slight problem, we could continue adding information to our blogs concerning group work and the project. Also, Rob had produced the photo frame plus picture of me and Sydney that was taken the previous day. Rob had used Photoshop to create the antiquity effect that is seen on the short film Sinead as well as adding another individual as the little child seen on the photo. This photograph was then printed off and put into a horizontal photo frame to be used within our short film replica of Sinead. This well produced prop will create parallel to the original video, creating a relevant character relationship within the video for the audience to understand. 

Monday 8th October 

As the loss of our group memory stick was a critical point in our recreation of the Sinead text, we thought that the first thing to do would be to purchase a new memory card for £8, which was £2 off each memory of our group. I was given responsibility of this card, ensuring that I would not lose it as it would contain the rest of our group work. 

After purchasing a new memory card, we decided that filming would continue as usual, however the absence of our female actress Sydney meant that this could not go ahead. Instead, we got the single close up shot of the family photograph which Rob had created as it did not require any specific costume or a certain actor to play this part to disrupt the continuity of the shot - it was only a slight motion of the thumb rubbing the picture. To consider Mise-En-Scene, we had to dim the lights in the room as well as close the blinds as the shot is rather dark, however the glass created a reflective surface to which the camera shooting the shot could be seen. To solve this problem I proposed that we remove the glass from the frame, which worked well, ridding the shot of the reflection. 

Tuesday 9th October 

To ensure that our female actress Sydney would not forget her costume, I told Rob to text her both morning and night to be certain that she would not forget as this day would be the final chance of filming. Thankfully, she complied and we finished the filming for the video. 

Unfortunately, Jay was absent during this day therefore could not direct the shooting. This is where Josh stepped in as 'co-director' to ensure that the shooting reflected that of the original video. I was working the camera in the final shooting process and Rob as the assistant to Josh, re-arranging the setting to ensure that the Mise-En-Scene would successfully replicate that of the original. 

Wednesday 10th October

With all the filming successfully completed, the final process of the completion of our short film was the editing and compiling of all the shots into a coherent text, formulated as accurately in syntax as the original 'Sinead' short film.