Behind the scenes 2.0

For this day of filming more issues occurred when the original car used was unavailable and had to find a replacement. this made it very difficult with continuity in post production. how ever we came out with some good footage and we put it into Final cut and tried to make the editing as smooth as possible.

Second day of filming

On our second day of filming we were trying to film this sequence where the characters were running down a country drive towards a farm. To be able to keep a steady distance from the cast while maintaining a smooth shot we decided the best course of action would be to use the convertible ‘mini cooper’ to use as a fast pace dolly to get the shot we wanted.

Using the rig allowed for more control but also creating an impressive effect with a slight shake to add to the intensity. Safety measures were made. we did not exceed 15 miles an hour and it was on a private road with no traffic. 

First rough edit

Our first rough edit of the sequence which we originally thought would be the opening to our production was more of a learning experience. As this day of shooting was not well planed, we did not stick to the shot list and it was challenging to get everything done. However it gave us the our first hands on experience with our new equipment which consisted of a glide cam, which allowed for high levels of mobility while giving seamless and smooth footage, which we used for the majority of the day, along side a shoulder rig which again gave us more mobility but not as smooth as the glide cam, we used this where it was not possible to use the glide cam. (inside the car)

The experience learnt from that day of shooting consisted of time management, Organisation of crew and cast, organisation of shot list and a briefing of what we planned to do that day. our main way of organisation was through the social network site Facebook. as a group conversation can be made in seconds and there were two groups, one with all members, crew, cast and logistics. And another which just consisted the members of the group. this was a great tool to use for the organisation of the entire production.

Behind the scenes

This behind the scenes clip shows our first shoots where we attempt to film the first scene where the group abruptly breaks down on a country road and obviously isolated from anyone else.some difficulties that we encountered were firstly, lighting. Ensuring that there was a suitable lighting setup was crucial to having a high quality shoot and being successful as a part of the final piece. we tried best to fit our filming times during the lightest parts of the day but as we wanted the best result it took an hour and a half to get the fist dialogue shot the way we wanted. this made for a long day of filming and the light slowly made it more and more difficult to get a shot that was well lit. this made editing in post very difficult as upping the exposure often caused the picture to be full of noise and not usable. we over came this but tweaking the colour grading to make the footage clearer without distorting the image too much. We made specific presets for the darker scenes where we could match the colour and tones as best we could


Before                                                                                                        After

                                                                                                       

Cinematography: Camera movement

Through out the production we discussed multiple aspects of  our production and ways in which to improve the outcome of the production and to progress from my AS project. The main key difference i discovered is camera movement. from studying film language and in my own time observing closely to existing films such as Inception, pulp fiction and Shawshank redemption. And saw that all these texts show huge evidence of camera movement and cinematography which exactly reflects the atmosphere of the scene and is still able to emerge you into the film without it being made obvious that there is an operator and crew behind the camera creating the illusion that you are watching it as it happens.

 

An example of the camera movements used in film are put together in this clip where it collaborates all significant camera movement and explains the motive behind using the specific movement. Close ups make you notice the characters facial expression. Which works along side the slight camera movement to immerse you with what is usually an intense or emotional scene where select moment and shots are needed to make the effect needed for the end product. in our first shoot we experimented and attempted to not use any static shots throughout the scene which meant not using a tripod and instead using a rig to create the slight unsteady shots which add to the urgency of the scene.

"Lightning Before Death" Shot list

A2 Media short film shot list. 

Opening sequence – Ecstasy of Gold – Train track

-Black screen with the noise of a shovel being dragged across the train tracks. 

-We see the shovel from a wormhole view being dragged towards a line of people in the distance.

-Camera follows the man’s shovel and legs whilst walking, slows down, and moves up above his head.  

-CU of the bottom half of his face and shoulders. 

-Long shot of him walking from behind. 

-Tracking of the man looking up and walking towards the fence.  

-Long shot from the group’s perspective of the man walk off of the railway road. 

-Snap shots of each member of the groups face. 

-CU of his face walking. 

-High angle panning around the group. Who start walking towards the man. 

-MCU of the group stopping

-MCU of the man stopping 

-Side view establishing shot of all characters in a stand off at the end of the short, with the title between them.  

SCENE 1- (Atmospheric joker music) – group are sitting around a table in a bar.  

-Close up of a member of the group putting a pint down. 

-Exposition establishing how the characters have gained the object with a slow pan around the table. 

-Exposition turns into irrelevant dialogue as we have traditional 180 degree close ups.

-In the background we see a man walking up to the table. (Camera out of focus on the table leaning up.) 

-Close up of the individual faces of the characters reactions. 

-Shot with the killers back to the camera placing the shovel down and sitting down. 

Pause. 

-Medium close up of killers face. 

-Introduces himself whilst grabbing a drink from one of the group. 

-Shots of confused characters 

-Prolonged shot of him telling the story, with a few shots of the characters reacting. When he mentions a precious thing that’s been stolen, close up of a group member pushing their bag under the table.  As he gets more intense the camera dollies towards him further. 

Pause. 

-One of the group, chugs their drink down quickly and proclaims that they are leaving. 

-The camera follows a group member from behind whilst focusing on the killer saying fee fi fo fum. 

-Side shot of the bag as the group are leaving. 

-Shot of the waitress cleaning a glass. 

-POV shot of the killer walking up to the bar. And sitting down, putting the beer down. 

-Irrelevant dialogue with some meaning between the killer and the waiter. 

SCENE 2 – stretch of road – 3 members of the group. 

-MCU of the group running towards a dollying camera, in a panic. 

-Close ups of three of the member’s faces running. 

- Intertwined with the psycho path getting into his car and driving away. 

-Shot of the group running over crossroads. 

-MCU dolly shot of the group running away from the camera. 

-High Angle Shot of the psycho driving down the road that the group was running down, and running -out of petrol, on the crossroads. 

-ECU of the empty petrol sign. 

-Side shot of the psycho getting out of the car. Walking to the boot. 

-Wormhole shot of the man opening the boot. And grabs the shovel. 

-Back to the side shot of the man walking off with the shovel.

-MCU of the man walking toward the camera away from the car 

-Long shot of the man walking away in the distance. 

SCENE 3 - barn

-Multiple side shots of the group’s legs running in different locations and then putting their bags down. 

-Long shot of the group sitting down from inside the barn. 

-As they start talking the camera slowly pans as they are asking themselves who the man is and why he starts chasing us. 

-Ali Leg starts to hurt as he screams out. 

-Cameron says “you know what, fuck this I’m done, we can’t just keep running away from this guy forever.”

-Some one else says, “well what are we gonna do? He’s a psycho.”

-Cameron, “I see a whole group of my friends, here in defiance of massacre. We have come to live as -free men, and free men we are” 

-Someone Interrupts “and women” 

-He carries on… “ What will we do without freedom? Will you fight? Fight and you will die, run and -you will live at least awhile. would you be willing to trade all the days from this day to that for one -chance, just one chance, to come back here as young men and tell our enemies,  that they may take our lives. “

-Someone else says, “wait isn’t that brave heart?”

-Cameron - “So? Shut up” “but they will NEVER”

-Someone else again, “well its just not really relevant”

“Oh my god let me do this, Where was I? Urgh lets just go”

-Montage of them kitting up. Last shot is Cameron clipping a helmet on. 

Scene 4 – back to the stand off. 

-Same shot as the last shot of the opening sequence. 

-left tracking shot from behind the group. 

-CU of the mans face panning. 

-He picks up the shovel MCU. 

-Front view of his foot stepping forward. 

-‘This is it’ close up of Cameron, he takes a step forward. Group follows. 

-Quick Side view of them walking towards eachother. 

-Cu of groups heads

-Close up of killer 

-Side view 

-Ecu 

-Ecu 

-Side view 

-Blackout.

"Lightning Before Death" script

A Lightning Before Death

Script.

By Joel Pickard and Joe Sandford 

And Xav Sinden. 

Cast:

MR X – Tats Nyazika

Bar Maid – Skye Radford

Matt – Cameron 

Libby – Charlie O’Brien 

Alex – Ali Henderson 

Opening sequence – Train track – Dusk – ‘Ecstasy of Gold.’

Blackout, we hear a shovel sound dragging across the ground. We fade up to ‘MR X’ dragging a shovel behind him. He’s on a train track; he has an eerie, but vacant look on his face, although inside he is determined. 

We cut to the group walking through a field, they look frightened but ready. 

Mr X spots the group in a field adjacent to him,

He exits the train track and starts walking across the field. 

They are now walking towards each other in a field, MR X walking considerably slower than the group. 

Once they get close enough they eventually come to a stop. 

The title appears in-between the two bodies. 

Scene 1 – Pub – Lunch – ‘Why so serious?’

A deafening sound is cut short by a pint of beer being put down on the table; we cut to a shot of the group chatting around a table.

Matt 

(Excitedly) FUCK.

Libby  

Holy shit, that was close man. 

(Alex leans back in his chair sighing in relief)

I can’t believe we actually did it!

Alex 

(Stressed) Can we all agree never to do that again?

Matt 

Sure 

Alex 

(Panicking) Is it safe? Where is it?

Matt

(Reassuringly) It’s in the bag don’t worry. 

Libby 

What are we doing now? 

Alex 

(Nervous) Did anyone see us? 

Matt

(Looks at Alex) No, We’re fine. (Looks at Libby) just laying low for a bit I guess. 

Alex  

What about that guy though?

Matt

(Confused) What guy? 

Bar Maid puts two beers down, one for Libby, one for Matt, and an orange juice for Alex.

Cheers. 

Alex 

The guy with that shovel. 

Libby

He wasn’t part of it he was just there. 

Alex

He looked pretty weird though

Matt 

Calm down its fine.

Libby 

How much do you think we’ll get for it? 

(We hear/see a door opening in the distance, out of focus, the group carries on talking) 

Matt 

No idea but it better be worth it 

Alex 

It will, I’ve done the research. 

Matt

I’d hardly call looking it up on Wiki leaks ‘research’. 

Alex 

‘Wiki leaks’ is a very reliable source of information. 

Matt

So this entire operation is resting upon Alex reading half of its bloody wiki leaks page and then getting distracted by hot girls looking for some fun in his area. 

(The man is close to the table; he’s dragging a shovel behind him. He sits down. All is silent.) 

Mr X  

Have you ever heard the story of jack and the beanstalk? 

(The group is silent, they recognise the man) 

Well? have you? It’s a pretty simple question. 

Alex 

Well uh.. 

Mr X

(Interrupting) Now I know I have, but I don’t like it very much, I have my own version that I think I like better. 

(He’s smiling uncontrollably)

So the story starts with this little scamp

(He takes the orange juice from Alex, drinks the whole glass and put it back on the coaster.) 

Jack. 

(The trio start looking at each other in fear.) 

Now, you see, Jack doesn’t have much regard for other peoples things, decides that he should trade his poor mothers cow for some pesky beans. Fast-forward a little and we have this giant beanstalk, which this little scamp (anger) decides to use to steal from the big scary giant. He does this for some time until, now this is where my story changes a little bit, the giant catches him, he tries to escape down the beanstalk but the giant can easily reach down and grab him before its too late. The giant decides to kill the boy,

(He grabs a pencil from the waitress’ ear. Holds it between his hands) 

So he places him between his two hands,

(Snaps the pencil)

 And he breaks him. 

(Matt looks nervous, but starts to get frustrated.)

Matt 

Come on lets go guys 

(They all get up abruptly and walk out, as they do ‘Mr X’ starts chanting) 

MR X

FEE FI FO FUM. 

(MR X, turns around, gets up and walks over to the bar)

Bar Maid 

What was all that about? 

(MR X, stares at the girl, he looks back down into an empty glass on the bar.) 

Were you with them? Cos I’m probably going to need someone to pay for that. 

(He stares at her demonically)

I think one of them comes in here often so I can… 

(A phone rings, they both look at each other, and suspense builds. She breaks the stare to answer the phone. He throws a 50-pound note on to the bar. He gets up and walks off.) 

Ok thanks? 

(Fade to black) 

Scene 2 - Running away - Street - ‘Can’t stop instrumental, red hot chilli peppers’  

(Music begins as we hear footsteps of running; we then cut to Libby’s face whilst running. All three people are running away as fast as possible, they are panicking but determined. They run into a barn.)

Scene 3 - In the barn  - music unknown

Libby 

Shit, shit what are we gonna do. 

Alex 

We’re screwed, oh god. 

Matt 

You know what, fuck this I’m done, we can’t just keep running away from this guy forever.

Libby

Well what do you suppose we do? he’s a psycho.

Matt

I see a whole group of my friends, here in defiance of massacre. We have come to live as free men, and free men we are.

Libby 

And women.

Matt

What will we do without freedom? Will you fight? Fight and you will die, run and you will live at least awhile. Would you be willing to trade all the days from this day to that for one chance, just one chance, to come back here as young men and tell our enemies,

that they may take our lives…

Alex 

Are you quoting brave heart? 

Matt

So? Shut up. BUT THEY WILL NEVER

Alex

It’s not even that relevant. 

Matt

Oh my god let me do this, Where was I? Urgh lets just go. 

(They begin to kit up with whatever armour/weapons they have in the barn or in their rucksacks.) 

Scene 4 - final scene - ‘Ecstasy of Gold’ - field.

Back at the field, the group is staring down at ‘MR X’. They look at one another as they prepare for a fight. ‘MR X’ smiles, it turns into a light chuckle. We see him move forward. 

And then we fade the fuck out.