Day 1: Filming Scenes 4,5(a & b),6,16,20,21,22 and 23
Classroom & Corridor
Our first day of filming took place on Thursday the 27Th January 2011, meeting the relevant actors at college before hand as the scenes we had chose to shoot on this day were the scenes that centred around a school environment to depict Erin, the lead characters shift in attitude, image and new found power amongst her peers. We met at around 3pm as this was the most convenient time for our actors and began filming in the Sandsfoot block of college which is the Science and Humanities department and therefore it has a more school like feel to the classrooms and corridors than some of the other buildings in College. Below is a link to the risk assessment sheet that was conducted before filming took place
CALL SHEET FOR FILMING AT PARK
We had a few problems that we encountered when organising this first initial filming day as we had set up and arranged to film the week before but the actor from the Performing Arts Group at College had still failed to get back to us the night before and so we felt that it was better to cancel and arrange another time and date a week later, giving more notice. We then changed the lead character to a friend of ours called Laura Gray as we knew that she was available at this time and therefore would not be let down by our lead and it worked out that everyone turned up on time and put maximum effort into their performances.
The filming itself took a little while for us to adjust back into as its been a while since we did our first assignment brief for AS Media Studies. We used a tripod to gain a steady image throughout and encountered a small problem when wanting to track alongside the lead character, Erin, walking down the corridor and concealing the knife up her sleeve as we had no way of making the movements slow, steady and consistent, as our own body movements through holding it made the filming jolty and jumpy. We decided that the best possible solution was to use a panning shot instead with the actor carrying out the same movement, but just showing the knife more so when she was closest to the camera during the pan as this makes it appear more subtle and also reinforces the idea to the audience that no one else can see the knife that she is concealing except them, keeping them involved in the story line and maintaining the connection and relatability with the lead character.
We also repeated each shot a number of times, from different angles and slightly different heights and zooms, fore example going from a long shot to a medium shot and vice Versa to ensure that we have enough to footage when beginning the editing process and that we also have a selection to choose from to gain the most professional edit. The scenes which involved a female teacher (4 and 22), which was played by the part of Sue Dafter, a lead Tutor here at College, as well as the scene where Erin attacks a girl from her school, were needed to be repeated more times as it involved Erin attacking the teacher as they went to leave the classroom and holding the knife against her throat and we needed Sue to look genuinely fearful and shocked at the happenings, as well as Laura's attack and attempt at pushing Sue into the wall was also realistic and did not look false and put on. We also needed to make sure that the actors didn't laugh when the 'Girl Gang Fight' took place as Laura had to haul herself across the corridor into Megan as if she was going to hit her and initially they found it humorous. Overall they both made very good attempts and after about three or four takes, they were all fully in character and we were able to get a very good result that looks realistic and un-staged and is also quite shocking to the viewer.
The corridor scenes which involved a number of actors and was meant to appear like an everyday school corridor with cliques and gangs separating themselves from each other actually worked very well. Our actors all arrived in white shirts and black trousers or a skirt, with hoodies and jewellery on to make their uniform their own, which was a major part of school dress sense when i was at school as many people wanted to rebel against the system and a lot of teenagers at this age tend to look fairly untidy, so this gave us a very realistic representation of age group for our characters and actors and also made it clear that they were attending school.
We had to repeat these scenes, again a few times, as on the first take Voni West, who is one of the girls that throws something at Erin and then calls her a 'freak', tripped her up as part of the bullying scene where everyone in the corridor is pushing her around and she appears alone and Laura was unaware that this was going to happen and began laughing mid scene. The second attempt was probably the most successful as although there was laughing at the very end of the shot, we will be able to edit this out easily and also the third shot we took, Megan, the girl who throw the paper was a bit late on queue and Laura had already left the frame before it hit her.
Day 2: Filming Scenes 7,8,9,10, 17 and 18
The Park
Our second scheduled day for filming took place on Thursday the 3rd of February and we met our actors in college with the filming equipment at around 3pm which was the most convenient time for both us and the actors we had asked to participate, before escorting them to the park, shown below, that is situated a couple of minutes walk from college, across the road on Carlton Road, Weymouth opposite the Hospital and the Park Pub and is situated in one of the most urbanised areas of Weymouth, therefore giving a more city feel.
When we arrived there we talked our actors through the scenes that were taking place and experimented with positions and angles for the camera to make the most of the natural sunlight and to ensure the best shot was achieved that made the most effective use of space and the surroundings of the park, allowing us to maintain and establish this run down, lower class, inner city setting, with a broken bench, crumbling wall and fence and a run down smoking shelter all being situated within the shots.
With any fighting scenes there is a potential hazard to equipment and actors, as although you want it to look realistic you also want to ensure the actors and equipments welfare is kept at highest priority and below is the link to our risk assessment sheet looking at possible hazards on a whole, and so we rang the local police station to inform them that a staged fight was going to take place so that no distress was caused to neighbours or un-neccesary call outs were made:
Risk Assessment Day 2 Filming
As these few shots in the park take the form of the bulk of our action shots, showing the fighting scenes within the quick edits of the trailer and reinforcing and representing the culture of Youths of the modern day, especailly those in run down city areas, who feel a need to fight to survive, we wanted the shots to be as best quality as possible, to create a realistic effect that would capture the audience. We began filming first with a mid shot of Erin sat on a bench looking lonely and out casted as an establishing shot and to also draw emphasis to the fact during the fight, which will become clear through editing, that Erin is in fact watching them attack the victim. We experimented with the zoom to see how close to her face we wanted the shot to be and allowing a connection with her eyes to be made with the viewer, and so we filmed for as long as possible before our actress became uncomfortable, so there was more footage to use and edit with during the editing process.Our second scene to film was where we had to stage a gang fight. This involved the "gang", a group of friends from college, attacking a victim who is lying on the floor, with Erin looking on. As this could potentially damage the park or harm someone we had to
ensure that the actors knew exactly where to stand and what to do and how long for so that no one got distracted or was uncertain of what was going on, especially the actor playing the victim lying on the floor. We chose to start the shot with the victim lying on the floor as we thought that it would be dangerous to stage the fight right from the beginning where he would have been pushed to the floor, as the actor playing the victim could have been hurt. This also works in our favour as due to the fast paced nature of film trailers and quick cuts and edits it also means that a lot of establishing information is also removed and the most important, thrilling and action filled scenes are kept in and compiled together to create intensity and suspense which is what we will try to achieve through our own trailer.We had to ensure that Erin was seen in shot watching on the fight while it took place, but also did not want to get any glare from the sunlight so we had to position the camera carefully as the bench we had originally intended to use, which faced towards the sun meaning the camera would be looking away from it, was in occupation by a dog walker. We took several takes of this shot and a close up shot of the victim being "kicked" to ensure that we had enough takes to choose the most realistic, as we found that the characte
rs became more relaxed and confident as each take went on, however we feel that the first take was most effective as it captures the "fight" less staged as its the first time they had done it and therefore it looks less set up and were overall very pleased with the outcome of this take, deciding to extend the end and have the actors walk away from the victim leaving him lying on the floor, with Erin still looking on, before cutting to the shot of her legs walking towards the victim, keeping enigma and suspense and also making her character appear quite sinister and dark.
We then went on to film the girl gang member fighting with Erin. Our actors got very into this scene and in fact began tackling each other to floor on the path which we thought could be potentially harmful and so moved them to the grassier area, although their acting was superb due to them being close friends in real life and therefore we were very pleased with the outcome of this particular scene. We then also took an extra shot of them fighting in a run down smoking shelter with Erin pushing the girl gang member up against the wall as we thought this would be less harmful to the actors to carry out and also could be used as an extra shot in our film trailer if one of the other didn't film properly or didn't look as effective.The most difficult shot to film was the worms eye view shot from the victims point of view looking upwards towards an onlooking Erin who is stood with her hood up looking down on the victim sinisterly, and then smiling. This was slightly problematic as due to the fact the camera had to be hand held to get it so low to the floor and ensure a steep enough angle was created there was an element of camera shake on the first few seconds of the shot. We overcame this problem by over shooting the scene, filming for as long as possible, to ensure that enough steady handed footage was recorded to enable as best possible outcome shot as can be achieved with the circumstances.
Overall i feel that Day 2 of filming was very successful as a whole and we didn't experience many challenges with our filming as it seemed to run fairly smoothly and as a whole i am happy, and we as a group, are happy with the shots we took and the footage that we have recorded ready fore editing, once the final scenes have been recorded, hopefully on Monday the 7th of February, next week.
Day 3 Filming: Final Day- Scenes 2 (a&b), 3, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 24, 25 and 26
Bedroom, Kitchen, Road and Subway
The final day of filming took place on Monday the 7th of February after college and only included the actor who played Erin, along with the mother character who was played by holly, the other member of my groups own mother, as we filmed the house scenes at her house.
Firstly we filmed the daylight road scene, where Erin is seen walking along a housing street, with a number of cars parked, walking behind them along the street. We orginally had set this as a still medium shot however decided during filming that it could look more effective as pan shot, following her walking along the street, until she finally walked out of shot. We did experience some problems with outside influences as a car parked near by where we were filming and the children who were getting out were being fairly noisy, and so we had to wait until it was clear again as they were being picked up too clearly on the audio of the tape.
We then filmed the scenes in the house, of the bedroom, bathroom and kitchen. We used Holly, a member of ours groups bedroom, so that it was not a problem to stage the "trashing of the bedroom" scene where Erins character changes and she throws things around her room in anger and desperation at her loneliness. We did experience some problems with the size of the room as the camera did not capture a wide enough shot to include everything we wanted within the scene of Erin sat on the bed, just after she opens her eyes. We moved into the corner as far back as possible and eventually managed to get a shot that we were happy with that made the bed visible and the blank wall behind her. For the scene with the throwing of belongings, we placed the camera and myself and Holly outside of the room, with the camera in the doorwa
y looking in, firstly so that the equipment would not be damaged and also because this scene 
was meant to reperesent Erin's frustration and anger with her life and the fact that she keeps everyone at a distance from her, keeping the camera and ultimately the audience at a distance. We shot this scene three times as each time would obviously come out differently as you cant really plan where things land, although we had set out objects on the bed, hidden behind the wall, for the actor to throw and found this scene came out very realistic and effectively, as she played the character very well and it seemed realistic and angry.
For the scenes that took place in the bathroom with the mother banging on the door shouting at Erin, and her stood looking into the mirror and then cutting her hair off, we wanted these scenes to be fairly emotional, as they represent and portray Erins transition of character as she takes on anger and violence as her only escape of loneliness, bullying and poverty. We filmed this scene a number of times from slightly different angles to gain the best shot of her facial expression in the mirror and to also make it clear when she picks up the scissors to cut her hair. As we had to physically cut hair, to show the scene of the hair falling to the floor by her feet, in front of the mirror, we used some of our actors old hair extensions that were unwanted and unused so that no ones real hair had to be cut, this also meant that the hair looked more realistic as we had orginally planned to use a wig which may have looked cheap and tacky or given off a comical effect which is not the mood we wanted to create as our genre is action thriller.
We then filmed the scenes of the kitchen, where the mother is shouting at Erin, while drinking and then Erin pushes her alcohol off of the kitchen units onto the floor, as a symbolic representation of her having enough of her negative life. As we had to actually push some glass alcoholic bottles of off the units we needed to pad the floor with cushions and blankets to ensure that none of the bottle broke, although there was the possibility of some of them hitting each other. We repeated this scene twice, once a close up of them being pushed off the counter and another time from a more mid shot point of view so the audience are able to actually see them falling and we then plan to add the smashing sound in at a later date once the editing process is under way, as we have another smashing bottle scene later in the trailer. We asked hollys mother to dress in jeans and a hoody so that she appeared quite plain and asked her to hold a beer can in her hand as opposed to a glass, again, to reinforce this lower social position and the hardships associated with money problems, such as alcoholism.
For the scenes outside in the Littlemoor subway and nearby surrounding road, we decided again that we should ring the police station to inform them that we would be filming a smashing bottle scene, but planned to clean the glass up afterwards with a dust pan and brush. As this is a potentially dangerous scene we had to plan it very carefully and made sure that she threw the glass bottle a fair distance away from her for the shot where it smashed, with practise shots and various other shots for editing havbing her roll it along the floor to ensure it didnt shatter on her. Due to the fact we were filming at night we also had to use the lighting from the tunnel, which was fairly bright anyway and created quite a lonely feel to the shots, which was exactly what we had wanted. The scene of her walking alone at night did come out fairly dark however due to the fact that the streetlamps nearby were not very effective, although this could work to our advantage as we wanted the shot to connote an idea and feeling of loneliness and danger which is shown through the lighting and pathetic fallacy.
Overall now that the filming process has been completed over the three days i feel that as a group we have done very well in creating the scenes and shots that we had initally set out and planned to create. i think that we have been so successful due to the careful and detailed planning and story boards and scripts that we made, as we knew exactly what shots and scenes we wanted to create, which meant that most of our effort could be put into ensuring it was perfect rather than deciding how to go about filming. From experience we also knew that it was best to take as many takes as possible of the same shot, to allow a more professional edit, due to a wider choice of scenes. The fact that we also knew the actors well, as they were our own friends, made it much easier to communicate when filming and made us more confident in terms of telling them how to act, where to look and where to go as there was no awkwardnes between us. Our previous experience with the equipment from AS media has also helped a great deal as we knew how the camera and tripod worked which gave us more freedom in our shot types and compositions, although we felt that it was particularly difficult to attempt a tracking shot, due to lack of equipment that would make it smooth and steady. Personally i think that the biggest problem we faced when filming, initially, was lack of communication with actors, as the actor we had initially lined up to play Erin was very hard to get hold of and didnt tuen up to a filming day that we had arranged, however we fixed this quite quickly by asking one of our friends to take part, which overall has worked out for the better, due to the fact some of the scenes needed to be so personal and emotive and this may not have been as realistic or effective if the part had been played by someone who didnt know us very well and may have felt uncomfortable.
The final day of filming took place on Monday the 7th of February after college and only included the actor who played Erin, along with the mother character who was played by holly, the other member of my groups own mother, as we filmed the house scenes at her house.
Firstly we filmed the daylight road scene, where Erin is seen walking along a housing street, with a number of cars parked, walking behind them along the street. We orginally had set this as a still medium shot however decided during filming that it could look more effective as pan shot, following her walking along the street, until she finally walked out of shot. We did experience some problems with outside influences as a car parked near by where we were filming and the children who were getting out were being fairly noisy, and so we had to wait until it was clear again as they were being picked up too clearly on the audio of the tape.
We then filmed the scenes in the house, of the bedroom, bathroom and kitchen. We used Holly, a member of ours groups bedroom, so that it was not a problem to stage the "trashing of the bedroom" scene where Erins character changes and she throws things around her room in anger and desperation at her loneliness. We did experience some problems with the size of the room as the camera did not capture a wide enough shot to include everything we wanted within the scene of Erin sat on the bed, just after she opens her eyes. We moved into the corner as far back as possible and eventually managed to get a shot that we were happy with that made the bed visible and the blank wall behind her. For the scene with the throwing of belongings, we placed the camera and myself and Holly outside of the room, with the camera in the doorwa
y looking in, firstly so that the equipment would not be damaged and also because this scene 
was meant to reperesent Erin's frustration and anger with her life and the fact that she keeps everyone at a distance from her, keeping the camera and ultimately the audience at a distance. We shot this scene three times as each time would obviously come out differently as you cant really plan where things land, although we had set out objects on the bed, hidden behind the wall, for the actor to throw and found this scene came out very realistic and effectively, as she played the character very well and it seemed realistic and angry.
For the scenes that took place in the bathroom with the mother banging on the door shouting at Erin, and her stood looking into the mirror and then cutting her hair off, we wanted these scenes to be fairly emotional, as they represent and portray Erins transition of character as she takes on anger and violence as her only escape of loneliness, bullying and poverty. We filmed this scene a number of times from slightly different angles to gain the best shot of her facial expression in the mirror and to also make it clear when she picks up the scissors to cut her hair. As we had to physically cut hair, to show the scene of the hair falling to the floor by her feet, in front of the mirror, we used some of our actors old hair extensions that were unwanted and unused so that no ones real hair had to be cut, this also meant that the hair looked more realistic as we had orginally planned to use a wig which may have looked cheap and tacky or given off a comical effect which is not the mood we wanted to create as our genre is action thriller.
We then filmed the scenes of the kitchen, where the mother is shouting at Erin, while drinking and then Erin pushes her alcohol off of the kitchen units onto the floor, as a symbolic representation of her having enough of her negative life. As we had to actually push some glass alcoholic bottles of off the units we needed to pad the floor with cushions and blankets to ensure that none of the bottle broke, although there was the possibility of some of them hitting each other. We repeated this scene twice, once a close up of them being pushed off the counter and another time from a more mid shot point of view so the audience are able to actually see them falling and we then plan to add the smashing sound in at a later date once the editing process is under way, as we have another smashing bottle scene later in the trailer. We asked hollys mother to dress in jeans and a hoody so that she appeared quite plain and asked her to hold a beer can in her hand as opposed to a glass, again, to reinforce this lower social position and the hardships associated with money problems, such as alcoholism.For the scenes outside in the Littlemoor subway and nearby surrounding road, we decided again that we should ring the police station to inform them that we would be filming a smashing bottle scene, but planned to clean the glass up afterwards with a dust pan and brush. As this is a potentially dangerous scene we had to plan it very carefully and made sure that she threw the glass bottle a fair distance away from her for the shot where it smashed, with practise shots and various other shots for editing havbing her roll it along the floor to ensure it didnt shatter on her. Due to the fact we were filming at night we also had to use the lighting from the tunnel, which was fairly bright anyway and created quite a lonely feel to the shots, which was exactly what we had wanted. The scene of her walking alone at night did come out fairly dark however due to the fact that the streetlamps nearby were not very effective, although this could work to our advantage as we wanted the shot to connote an idea and feeling of loneliness and danger which is shown through the lighting and pathetic fallacy.
Overall now that the filming process has been completed over the three days i feel that as a group we have done very well in creating the scenes and shots that we had initally set out and planned to create. i think that we have been so successful due to the careful and detailed planning and story boards and scripts that we made, as we knew exactly what shots and scenes we wanted to create, which meant that most of our effort could be put into ensuring it was perfect rather than deciding how to go about filming. From experience we also knew that it was best to take as many takes as possible of the same shot, to allow a more professional edit, due to a wider choice of scenes. The fact that we also knew the actors well, as they were our own friends, made it much easier to communicate when filming and made us more confident in terms of telling them how to act, where to look and where to go as there was no awkwardnes between us. Our previous experience with the equipment from AS media has also helped a great deal as we knew how the camera and tripod worked which gave us more freedom in our shot types and compositions, although we felt that it was particularly difficult to attempt a tracking shot, due to lack of equipment that would make it smooth and steady. Personally i think that the biggest problem we faced when filming, initially, was lack of communication with actors, as the actor we had initially lined up to play Erin was very hard to get hold of and didnt tuen up to a filming day that we had arranged, however we fixed this quite quickly by asking one of our friends to take part, which overall has worked out for the better, due to the fact some of the scenes needed to be so personal and emotive and this may not have been as realistic or effective if the part had been played by someone who didnt know us very well and may have felt uncomfortable.
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