Analysis of second time filming the train station scene

We did some filming at the train station as planned on Friday, however we still did not manage to capture all the shots that we wanted. As the train station was very busy between 7:30 and 8:30am due to it being rush hour, they did not want us to film then due to health and safety reasons. Nevertheless, we were allowed to film a bit later on in the morning and as we had planned our shots much more carefully this time, we managed to capture some successful footage. Also, as we filmed at 9am, the train station was much busier this time than last time; hence there were more people about on the train station platform, helping to create verisimilitude. However, although we did manage to capture some footage we still did not capture all of it, and are going to have to re visit the train station another time to film the rest of that scene. The ghost shot in particular (where Lucas walks towards the train door and Grace, reflecting how he has two options to choose from) is one which we need to capture, and we couldn’t film it on Friday due to the fact there were too many people on the train platform. Furthermore, due to not being able to film at 7:30am, we were unable to film our time lapse shot, so we will have to capture that another time too.

The train station scene has been the only one so far where we have encountered difficulties, probably owing to the fact that the setting is a very public place and there are health and safety risks to consider too. We have not reviewed our footage which we captured on Friday yet, but hopefully it will be of good quality and we will have a large selection of shots to choose from when we come to editing.

Re-shoot of Train Station Scene

We are planning to re-shoot our train station scene tomorrow morning. Last time we felt we were not fully prepared, so this time we have planned things much more efficiently and hopefully everything will go to plan. We have also organised to take more than one camera with us, as the trains do not arrive very often and when they do, we have to film in as few takes as possible. For instance; with the scene of Lucas walking onto the train, we need to effectively have that perfect by the first take, due to the factor that other people will be boarding the train at the same time too, which creates verisimilitude. However, if we have to capture that shot in more than one take, then we will not have the other people boarding the train, therefore it will not look as real and effective. Last time we felt the train platform was not very busy, due to the fact we were filming off peak and it was a Sunday, however tomorrow we are planning to film from 8:30am to 11pm, which will hopefully be a better time. Furthermore, the fact we are taking more than one camera means we will be able to film from more than one angle simultaneously, of course making sure that the other cameras are not in shot. Additionally, we are planning to start our film off with a time lapse looking down on the train station, which we have scheduled to film from 7:30am to 8:30am, steadily for an hour. Hopefully the time which we have allowed to record this will provide us with sufficient footage for the time lapse to work effectively.

Analysis of Indoor Scenes footage

We managed to capture footage for our short film yesterday evening. Everything went to plan and we filmed a couple of scenes for the family orientated life of our film, including: the romantic meal scene, the sofa scene and the argument scene. We captured much more footage than needed as recorded 30 minutes even though we have only planned for these to be short scenes. Nevertheless, we are happy that we have a lot to work with, so we will have a will big selection to choose from when we start editing. Furthermore, we recorded our scenes from a variety of angles, so when we edit it together we will have a range of shots, making it interesting for our demograph. Also, before capturing our footage we scripted some dialogue before hand, yet after reviewing our footage back, we are contemplating whether to include the diegetic sound of the dialogue. Instead we think just having a montage of shots, accompanied by relevant non-diegetic music will be more effective, especially as pictures can sometimes have more impact than words. Nonetheless we will make a final decision about this matter when we edit this section of our short film.

Filming of Indoor Scenes

We are planning to film the indoor scenes for the family orientated life of our short film tomorrow night. We hope to capture footage for the romantic meal scene, the sofa scene and the argument scene. We recently decided to incorporate an argument scene within our film because, as we were showing the negative sides of the successful life with Lucas stressed out at work and being alone, we felt it would be fair to connote the negative aspects of being in a relationship too.

All of these scenes are set inside and are being filmed at one of our houses so we have planned to film them all at the same time as it will be most convenient. We should not encounter any problems as we have planned out the shots we intend to capture and as we are filming inside the weather will not be a problem.

Analysis of weekend filming

We filmed part of our short film on Sunday, however we did not do as much as we had intended to. We filmed as planned up into 2pm; capturing footage for the train station scene, beach scene and dog walk scene, yet we did not film any of the other scenes due to members of our production team having other important commitments. Nevertheless, the weather was great so we managed to capture all the outdoor shots successfully. We knew our train station scene would be difficult, mainly for the fact it is our longest scene so includes a variety of shots, and is being filmed in a very public place. A couple of problems occurred at the train station, and therefore have decided that we may need to reshoot certain aspects at a later date. Our first problem was we had members of the public waving at our camera, which was enormously irritating, especially as it happened during the scene of Lucas getting onto the train. That scene was very difficult to film already due to the fact the trains did not come very often and we had to film quickly when they did come as we were worried about our actors getting trapped on the train. Another problem that arose was when planning this scene beforehand, we had developed the idea of a Lucas walking through a busy platform, however when we filmed, there was no one else on the train platform, so it destroyed the idea we had imagined before.  A further problem was when reviewing our footage, we noticed how the noise of the train overpowered our dialogue, therefore we are going to have dub our sound later.

Plans for filming this weekend

We are planning to film a large section of our short film this weekend. The table below indicates our schedule. We have checked the weather and for Sunday it is expected to be sunny, therefore that is why we have planned to get all our outdoor scenes done first. We have allocated the largest amount of time for the train station scene because that is the main part of our film and therefore will take the longest to film, especially as is a location where we may come across the most problems. Moreover, all of the footage we are planning to capture on Sunday are all scenes which portray the family orientated life. We are going to make sure we capture more footage then needed, so that way when we come to edit our film we will have a large selection to choose from.

Time	Scene	Characters Needed
8am – 12pm	Train station scene	Lucas and Grace
12pm- 1pm	Beach Scene	Lucas and Grace
1pm – 2pm	Dog walk scene	Lucas and Grace
2pm – 3pm	Romantic meal scene	Lucas and Grace
3pm – 4pm	Sofa scene	Lucas and Grace
4pm – 5pm	Argument scene	Lucas and Grace
5pm – 6pm	Opening the letter	Lucas and Grace
6pm – 7pm	Pub scene	Lucas and Grace

Re-cast of main protagonist

Due to our previous main actor being unreliable, we have had to re-cast. Nevertheless, we managed to find someone quickly which was good as we were already behind schedule. Our main character Lucas, is now being played by Sam Keep. We decided to use him because he is best friends with our other actor who is playing the role of Grace, therefore, they will have good on screen chemistry, thus helping to create verisimilitude.

Our new actor in the role of Lucas in the successful life

Our new actor in role of Lucas in the family orientated life.

Both of our actors.

Complications in Filming

We were scheduled to have finished capturing all of the footage for our short film over the Christmas holidays; however our main actor was unreliable and was unable to film on the arranged dates. Therefore, we have now decided to find another actor who will be suitable for the part and committed to our filming schedule as well.

We therefore need to reshoot all the previous scenes we had already captured as well as film the rest of our short film. Although this has set us behind schedule, we have everything planned out and hope to have the footage for our film all captured by the beginning of February 2011.