Production Diary

On the 24th January 2010, we filmed the opening two minutes of our horror. We met at midday at Matt Thomas' house and prepared the equipment and set out to film. In total it took us about three hours to get to the location, film, and record sound.


Sound

When recording, we had the problem of being right next to a busy road. Although we were using a shotgun mic which reduces background noise, the cars were still a problem. To overcome the background noise problem, we turned the mic sensitivity down and held it closer to Tayo, avoiding getting the mic in the shot. To create some of the diegetic background noise, we used the method of Foley to create noises like rustling in the bushes-


Fliming

When we came to filming, the road and other objects in the scenery proved to be a problem. To overcome this, we kept the camera low to avoid filming unwanted objects and cars. This helps to keep the idea that Tayo is in a field, in the middle of no where, making him seem more helpless.

Another issue we encountered when filming was the sky. Because of the weather conditions we filmed in, the white clouds were very blown out which means the white was overexposed, meaning when when we came to editing, the night time effect we used didn't come out as good as it could have been.

For our camera work, we chose it to be quite shaky and unstable at times. This is to give a 'Blaire Witch' feel to the opening, making it feel more real to the audience. We also chose to use some still shots aswell. These shots are when we see tayo laying on the floor over a dead body. For these shots we used a small tripod, usually for things like video blogging.



Editing

In total, editing took us 4 nights to complete, working about 3 hours each night. We editted extra diegetic sound, transitions, titles and added the night time effect to our piece.

For the sound, we used freesoundproject.org which provides thousands of royalty free sound clips. The only issue we had was that most of the horror sound clips were made for doing a Tron remake, meaning they were more sci-fi than general horror. We used ADR (Automated Dialogue Replacement) to add in Tayo's voice over some clips.

For the transitions, we stuck mainly to fades.

The Field Trip

Double click on the video to watch it on YouTube. This will allow you to view in full screen and see the full width of the video.

Filming Schedule

Sunday 24th January 2010

12:00 meet at Matt Thomas’ house

12:10 prepare equipment

13:00 begin filming

16:00 end filming


Monday 25th January 2010

Film video diary

Shot List

Shot List

Equipment

Equipment

Camcorder

Canon Legria HF200

For our media work we will use a Canon Legria HF200 that will be recording at native 24p in 1080p HD. We decided that we would only need to use one camcorder for two reasons. Firstly, when looking at the animated storyboard, we only do a 180-degree shot. Secondly, the scene is divided into two locations, which can be shot at separate times. The Canon Legria HF200 films in the format AVCHD. This is a format that is good for working in HD. The camera’s battery pack had to last 100 minutes filming in the highest quality.

Memory Cards

SanDisk 8Gb Ultra II SDHC Card

The type of memory cards that we will be using will be a SanDisk 8Gb Ultra II SDHC Card. SDHC cards are good for storing large amounts of footage, such as HD footage. We will use two SDHC cards in case we fill up the first memory card.

Accessories

RØDE Microphone – VideoMic and RØDE Microphone Mini Boom Pole

We will be using a professional microphone that can remove all background sound. This is useful because the location we are filming in is located near a main road. The boom pole is used to make the microphone closer to the actor and will therefore make his voice clearer. Secondly, it will be beneficial to use if the camera is being moved around in the shot, as it will ensure the audience does not hear the camera operator moving.

Consent Form

Consent Form