Rough Cut Evaluation and Improvements

Rough Cut from Max Lake on Vimeo.

Here are the comments made by our class:

Improvements:
Remove car sounds
Add dialogue scenes + news reports for narrative exposition and characterisation
More sound effects
Bus stop scene – Strobe lights in pinnacle and sound effects
Start with disruption, then create pace and drama to separate parts

Good Elements:
Lots of good shots, but they need to be arranged and edited to be more like a trailer
The music creates a good atmosphere for the trailer
Their are a lots of enigmas, but some may argue too many
Add more colour filters such as Chroma key to wash out certain colours
It is obvious people are dead and the world is desolated

From this we have established that we have a good variety of shots, as well as some action scenes and establishing some narrative. However, we must add more trailer conventions such as narrative voice-overs and dialogue, with additional action montages that will really enable an audience to grasp what the film genre is, what conventions it might follow, and most importantly what the story consists of.

We are currently at an early stage in the editing process as we have not got all of our shots and we are trying to put the trailer in a structure which makes good sense and flows well - this will be accomplished by integrating some of the above.

Risk Assessment

Each of the locations we used came with their own risks, but we took steps beforehand and minimalised the possibility of injury and any other risks to ensure filming was safe.

Moors

We filmed at the moors for a brief period in the morning which caused some complications. This is due to the laws which have been put in place regarding weapons and any toys which look and could be perceived as an offensive weapon, such as the toy rifle we used. Therefore we only used one exterior shot involving the rifle in which it is sticking out of the bag. The reason we did this was because we had to transfer the rifle from a private office back to my house, so we decided to film a quick shot with the rifle outside. As the shot only lasted 10 seconds, it minimised the possible risks.

Factory

The majority of our filming was done at two factories. There were many people around these factories which caused a bit of trouble filming as some of them were stealing lead and copper, which brought up the risk of them stealing our equipment if left unattended. Once inside the factory there were broken glass on the floor which we had to avoid as well as watching out footing as we walked as files and paint were spilt everywhere, however there were adults there taking pictures who helped us around the building. The buildings were both structurally safe, so there wasn’t any need to worry about it collapsing and being unstable. We also found a metal bar which we used as a weapon in one of our shots. It could be seen as an offensive weapon, but as it was found there as some debris, we thought it would be fine to film with it for a shot.

Home and Office
We did a couple of the interior shots involving weapons at our homes and in an office. This eliminated the risk of any public concerns or any laws being broken. We filmed a low angle shot from a cellar also in which Tom then peers over the cellar door with a rifle.

Problems on Shoot

When filming, it is imperative that you and your group are fully prepared and organised to the utmost standard otherwise potentially challenging circumstances may arise. Some variables can be easily averted by planning to do filming at certain times of the day, evaluating the surroundings and checking weather forecasts. However, other variables can be unpredictable and spontaneous, such as people interfering with filming. 

People entering filming area

People entering the area of filming is often an unpredictable circumstance whilst shooting; especially in areas nearby populated areas or that attract dog walkers, runners and chavs. When we filmed close to an abandoned factory in Rochdale, some filming was briefly interrupted by a small posse of kids aiming to loot the place of any diminished amount of copper, although they did help by finding ways into the factory for us. Later on in the day at the same location, a group of men, filming and taking pictures themselves, inadvertently entered some shots/made noise in the background which spoilt a few shots. Obviously, all this required to prevent was to inform them of our filming and the conditions we needed for it to work as we planned. Once again, this meet resulted in more help, when two of the photographers possessed gas masks and volunteered to be in the production. The same group gave us all some practical, lightweight respirators which proved to be useful in the dustier recesses of the building. 

Weather

Though weather can be unpredictable sometimes, such as the sporadic rain showers we were subject to one weekend of filming that WASN’T forecast, it is generally easy to avoid problematic weather conditions like rain and gusty wind by accessing forecasts. Simply planning around times of bad weather is a start, but you must also take daylight hours into account. For instance, with winter drawing nearer, the time we have to film after school is drastically reduced since darkness sets in around 4 30 – 5:00pm and that is the time we get home on a typical day. Therefore, we have to film at the weekends on days that all members of the group are free.   

Sometimes it is inevitable facing film-unfriendly weather conditions which means the group should be dressed appropriately, that means plenty of warm and waterproof clothing when outside. This was made easier by the fact that we required coats and warm clothing for our actual production. 

Lighting

Lighting in buildings can be a problem; if there is too much or too little light in the environment it can ruin the mood of the shot, or even make the shot completely illegible. In addition to this, when rooms are partially shadowed and then partially deluged with light, the shots can come across obscured and therefore useless. Although this can be tricky because relocating to another location isn’t always available, we did prevent some shadow problems by bringing a torch with a wide lighting radius.

Filming Day 8

9^th December (Sunday) – After putting our trailer in the order we wanted, we realised we needed to do a few more action shots and other various small shots. So we went to a field in Whitworth to film the action shots for our montage and we got the majority of them done and I don't think there will be a need for anymore filming.

Filming Day 7

21^st November (Wednesday) – We filmed inside an office at BRGS to have a correct mise-en-scene set up for a business man. We needed this as we were filming our friend Curtis who will be portraying the main antagonist of the film and he is seen as a government official, making an office a suitable location. None of us were being filmed this time as the focus was on Curtis, therefore we worked together to find the best places for the camera to shoot our footage as well as moving around some of the props.

Filming Day 6

15^th November (Thursday) – We filmed the bulk of our trailer in this factory in Rochdale. It was ideal as many people go there to take pictures of it from the inside because of its creepy atmosphere due to it being desolate. We filmed some action shots outside of the factory on the grass as the building acted as a good backdrop to a fight scene. We then filmed within the factory which had a great feel to it. I was involved slightly as an antagonist trying to fight Tom, but Tom and Max were the main characters we focused on. 

We met a group of photographers in the factory who were taking pictures of the inside of the factory for their blog. They were carrying around gas masks and respirators with them to help make their pictures seem creepy. Once we began to talk to us, they gave us a respirator to use as a prop which was remarkably useful for setting the mood of the film. They asked if we needed anybody filming with gas masks on and volunteered to appear in our film themselves. The footage we shot with them has the perfect atmosphere and will definitely be used in our finished trailer production.

Filming Day 5

15^th November (Thursday) – We set out to get the majority of our dialogue oriented shots out of the way so we could place the film together. We ended up going on a football pitch near a riverbank near lots of dead trees with their leaves lay on the floor. As it was getting dark quickly, we managed to get the majority of the footage done in this area which makes it seem like a camping ground. We also managed to get some footage in the dark using a flashlight which helped create tension in the film.

We then went to this demolished building which is now just a heap of rubble. This location was ideal as in our film an explosion has happened, so this sets the scene as a blast sight because of all the bricks. It also helped us enhance the characters personality a bit more than before.

Very Rough Cut

Very Rough Cut from Kieran Brooks on Vimeo.

Film Improvements

Remove car sounds

Add dialogue scenes + news reports for narrative exposition and characterisation

More sound effects

Bus stop scene – Strobe lights in pinnacle and sound effects

Start with disruption, then create pace and drama to separate parts

We need to stop being precious with our footage as we won't be able to fit it all in

Good elements

Lots of good shots, but needs to be more like a trailer

Music creates atmosphere

Lots of enigma, too many

Add more colour filters such as Chroma key to wash out certain colours

Obvious people are dead and the world is desolated

On top if this we will be changing the title of the film trailer, 'Skylapse' was just a prototype to test if the font worked and if it fitted in well with the film. We have also been filming recently to add more action shots within the film, change some of the footage and correct some of the criticisms which were received.