P2(D) FOLLOWING PRODUCTION PROCESSES

During this experience, I wrote up a production journal explaining what the filming days consisted of and what role I took during production. I did this so that when writing up the production processes, there would be a clearer idea of what happened and I would be able to refer to this rather than having to remember everything that occurred. 

Production Journal

As editor and cinematographer, my job was to get the footage that the director wanted and try to edit it together in the way that the director visioned their film to be. My challenge was the create an effect of sadness and sympathy towards the main character, Ivy. In the making if the film, we went to several different locations, including one location in which we filmed the scene when the younger Ivy, played by Milly Friend, got hit by a car. This place was a good location to film at because it was not too busy, and we could take a couple of different shots of the crash scene without being interrupted. It was also a good location as we could get the crane out and take different shots using that. This scene was inspired by a real life event that happened to the director and her family, Chloe and Milly Friend.

In my role as editor and cinematographer, I aimed to keep the films colouring, quite light to create a the sense of "It was all a dream." This kind of lighting was also used to make get the effect of a flash forward, to what would've happened in the future if this unfortunate turn of events hadn't of happened. For the older Ivy's character, we wanted someone who would be able to act exactly how the director visioned them to. So we thought p that the director herself, Chloe Friend, would be good for the role as she knew exactly what she wanted to get out of the character, Ivy.

During the editing for the film, we realised that for the proposal scene, the sound of the wind, overpowered the sound of the actors talking. I made this mistake during filming by not putting the mic closer to the actors. But in the end the scene worked very well, by editing it together so that only one line is said and the rest of the scene has a sort of montage theme.

On the first day of filming, everything was filmed at our school. This was an advantage as we knew where good places to film were. A problem we had was that the place that we were going to film the office/work scene at, we found was too smaller space to take the shots. So we found a different location around the school and it worked very well for this scene we were trying to produce.

Through this experience I have learned to plan ahead in a lot more detail, so if there are any problems, they can be resolved quickly.

To make production easier, I produced a shot list consisting all of the shots that I wanted to capture during the filming process. This made production run very smoothly as I knew exactly what shot I needed to frame next, allowing for my time effective work. Using the shot list when following production processes, allowed for a smoother filming schedule, as I knew exactly what shot I'd planned after the other, which gave me time to plan in advance the steps I needed to take in order to prepare before each frame. This was also helped by the set designs I drafted, as I could refer to these when setting up the scenes, reminding me of the lighting I intended to capture with each shot. This was especially handy when shooting the scenes that were indoors, as additional lighting was required in order to light the frame well. Whereas when filming outside, it was easy to refer to the set designs to know that additional studio lighting was not needed as this along with the natural lighting, would cause for an over-exposed shot. 

Shot List

1. Ivy running, looking at her watch. (Running at the camera. Full body shot.) (Maybe the title sequence while she's running?)
2. Gets to the side of road and runs out, not looking. (Full body?)
3. Gets hit by car. (Flips to car then back to girl then car again.) Then crash sounds, girl lying on the ground. Blood coming out of her mouth, eyes glazed over.
4. People rush to surround her. (Birds eye view. People shouting (make then shouts muted.))(High angle/ birds eye view shot. Zooming out.)
5. She lies eyes open and dies with blood trialling out of mouth. (High angle/ birds eye view shot)
6. Whole time talking over the top.
7. REWIND TO STANDING AT THE SIDE OF ROAD (Rewind sound.)
8. She looks and the car passes. (Mid shot.)
9. She smile widely and looks before crossing the road. (From behind, see her walking across the road.)
10. Goes to loads of clips of her future life.
11. First kiss. (Close-up)
12. In university robes with a diploma. Giggling with other people dressed the same. (Long shot.)
13. Laughing on a first date with a cute guy Freddie. (Flipping over the shoulder shots.)
14. At work. Working at a desk, writing. (Mid shot.)
15. Getting Engaged. Freddie on one knee. (Over the shoulder shots.)
16. Outside the church in a wedding dress with her husband, people trowing confetti. (Long shot.)
17. Looking at herself in a mirror with a pregnant belly, after a few seconds husband hugs her. (Long shot.)
18. Holding baby, smiling with family all around. (Mid shot, pan.)
19. Last clip of an old lady saying, “But you can't go back and change the past, my children where never born, my grandchildren to even thought about.” or “And that's what could have happened if I'd have looked.” (Super Close-up of just the sad face.)
20. Then back to her lying dead in the road as a teen. (High angle/ birds eye view shot)

This image demonstrates out group during the filming process whilst using the crane. The director is telling me how she wanted it to be filmed next, which was good to have the direction so I knew exactly what I needed to capture. The director and myself had a clear idea of what needed to be done next from the shot list shown above. 

Following production processes, I had to make sure every piece of equipment was set up correctly. This included the camera, tripod and especially the crane, to ensure that nothing would fall on any of our crew. From this, I had to take the risk assessment into consideration, which made it easier to remember which pro-cautions I needed to consider before putting anyone in danger. The crane was quite risky during the production process, as the camera was being held by it directly above where the actor was positioned. Due to this, I had to take the risk assessment into account and take extra checks to ensure the actress would not come into danger when using the crane. Below is an example of the risk I used. 

Below, I have includes some conclusions about how I used the equipment and lighting to capture the frames I wanted and how they helped to create the genre I was aiming for for the film.