Production Diary
Monday 10th November
On the 10th we began our planning for our film opening task. Before this lesson we had to come up with our own film pitch idea to show the others in our group, we did this so we could agree on one of our ideas which we would then plan, film and edit. In this lesson both Tom and Chay were absent so it just left Bonnie and Lucy to show each other their ideas. We had to discuss good and bad things about the ideas and thought about which one would work best.
Tuesday 11th November
On the second day, Tom and Chay were here again which meant we could show each other our ideas and agree on a final film opening. We told each other our film pitch but couldn't decide between a couple of them so we presented them to the class to see what they preferred. After this we had decided to go with Tom's idea which was a Christmas themed film but with a different audience to the normal genre, teenagers rather then young children.
Wednesday 12th November
On the Wednesday we got together and started thinking up some narrative ideas, looking for music to use in the film opening, possible locations and unique title ideas. These titles included Christmas decorations which told us we need a lot of props but this was good because at this time of year they can be easily found. Later, Tom and Chay thought a lot about the storyboard, characters and narrative whilst Bonnie and Lucy discussed locations, costumes and props needed.
Thursday 13th November
Today we thought about timelines for other films. We went on the computer to do some individual research to look up other films with a similar genre to ours and saw what order they put their titles in. Our opening scene focuses on the titles so this was an important task for our group. We all watched different films so we didn't all do the same. We wrote down the time at every title that came up and who was mentioned. For example the films title was shown early on but was not the first name that came up. We learnt which order these names usually appear in which will be a big help for us.
Friday 14th November
On Friday we looked at the 'art of the title' website which had lots of successful title sequences from well-known films. We chose a title sequence that related to our films genre and created a timeline for the film. We spent the whole hour taking screenshots from the title sequence, cropping them and putting them in order on one photo to add to our blog. We had to screenshot every time a name appeared, wrote down the time and took a photo of it. This took time as it was a long process but it was needed to help us.
Monday 17th November
In this lesson we were given a list of over 20 planning tasks to do which we organised between the four of us by giving each person a number of the tasks to do. These tasks were to help us plan, they included the storyboard, music, prop list, recce shots, planning photos, a mood board and a risk assessment. We all took on the jobs we thought were best for us so we all had something to plan for the week.
Tuesday 18th November
Today we started planning our own individual tasks, Lucy looked at text fonts and sixes for the titles, Bonnie made a prop list and Tom and Chay began creating the storyboard together. To communicate we have made a chat on whatsapp so we can share thoughts easily and share photos for our task.
Wednesday 19th November
Lucy was absent on the Wednesday so Chay, Bonnie and Tom wrote a title list of who was what role in the production of our film. The logo was chosen which was Bonnie's because it was the best as it looked professional and had a good name.
Thursday 20th November
(No media lesson)
Friday 21st November
We carried on with our individual jobs and peer assessed our blog so we got a second opinion for our work. This was good as we gathered new ideas for our blog and we found what we still need to do.
Monday 24th November
Chay started the risk assessment for our filming and Tom carried on drawing the storyboard and added some text to it. We also told our media teacher our final ideas and discussed when we will film. We worked out when we could all film which was going to be the following Friday (28th) as we all have a free period last lesson.
Tuesday 25th November
Today Lucy brought in the Santa costume for Tom and Chay to try on to make sure it fit them, we needed to make sure it fitted so we knew if we needed to get anything before filming. We also continued to work on our individual tasks. Chay worked on the risk assessment, Tom worked on the storyboard, Bonnie made a title list on her blog and Lucy did the production diary.
Wednesday 26th November
Today Tom finished the storyboard and Chay begun writing the script, Tom has also added timings to the storyboard so it is completely finished. Bonnie worked on her blog writing up prop lists and uploading photos and Lucy added more days onto the production diary.
Thursday 27th November
Today Tom started writing up representations, Chay started the script, Bonnie wrote up about the music we will use in the film and Lucy also looked at music, production diary and worked out what props people needed to bring as our filming day is tomorrow (Friday 28th).
Friday 28th November
Today is filming today, before this Tom and Chay filmed the storyboards and made a voiceover, Bonnie added more to her blog and Lucy added the risk assessment to the blog which included all the possible risks that could occur when filming.
Filming:
When it came to filming, we left school at 1.30pm to go to film. We left at this time so we had plenty of time to film as we had the whole afternoon/evening. We got to our location around 2'o'clock which meant we had about three hours to film. First, we looked at the room we were using and figured out where we were going to place all the props. We used the fireplace, two tables and the mantle piece on top of the fireplace. Bonnie and Lucy decorated the mantle piece with props we had bought and Chay and Tom decorated the tree and picked out tinsel and baubles.
After this we did some practise filming which got us used to the camera and how we were going to film. We didn't actually film this but we looked through the camera to check it looked good. We then checked the lighting, our film is supposed to be dark as it is set in the evening/night so as it was daytime we shut the curtains and dimed the lights. This lighting was good because it created the scene we wanted. We then stared filming the first shots of our film. We practised many times and got many videos so we had enough to edit and eventually created a long duration shot for the title sequence which lasts about 2 minutes which is what we hoped for.
Once we had filmed the first bit, we started to plan the second part which was when Santa gets 'kidnapped' by the robber. This took time as we had to get all the acting and filming just right. Whilst Tom (Santa) and Chay (robber) acted their small fight scene, Bonnie used the elf costume to be in the foreground who was oblivious to what was happening behind her, Lucy was filming at this point using the tripod in the corner of the room.
Once we had filmed the second part, we then filmed another shot which will appear before the 'fight'. We filmed the 'fight' before because it was going to take longer. The third thing we filmed was when Santa (Tom) is emerging from the fireplace. Chay used the camera to film this from the side of the fireplace so it looked as though Tom (Santa) had travelled down the chimney. Santa then stood in the room ready for the following shot (which we filmed before this- the 'fight scene'.
All our filming took about four hours in total which included setting up which took about half an hour. We managed to film everything which was great because we only have to film again if we missed anything or if something isn't right. This means we have even more time to edit which we will need as it is especially important for our film.
Monday 1st December
Today in lesson all we did was watched our shots we had filmed on Friday, we looked at what went well and what could maybe be improved if we have time. Lucy looked at lighting on premiere as the camera had made the footage look dark, we should have made lighting more bright in the room but we thought it was okay as it needed to be set at night, however we could easily adjust lighting on premiere to make it look less dull. Chay and Tom also put the footage onto a computer to see what could be done with editing.
Tuesday 2nd December
Today Tom wasn't in so we continued to work on our blogs instead of editing. Lucy uploaded storyboard photos to the blog and wrote up about them. Bonnie finished the shooting schedule and Chay added some more to his blog.
Wednesday 3rd December
Today Lucy and Tom were not in school but Chay and Bonnie started to edit the draft of our film. They managed to arrange shots in the correct order and add the music. They also added some more to their blogs, but mainly used the lesson to add and edit on premiere.
Thursday 4th December
(No media lesson)
Friday 5th December
Today Lucy added more to the production diary which included what happened on filming day, Tom spent the whole lesson editing the filming and Bonnie and Chay added more to their blogs such as the risk assessment and the shooting schedule. Tom had watched the editing Chay had done the lesson before and then added to it eventually making our draft copy to show to the class, this will allow us to receive feedback for our film and see what we need to do to improve it.
Monday 8th December
Today we watched all the film drafts and gave feedback, we commented on what went well and what needed to be improved. This was good for our group as not only did we get to see all the other film opening ideas, we got to see what people liked about our film.
Tuesday 9th December
Today we received our feedback sheets and Lucy and Bonnie looked through them to see what people had said. Tom and Chay were both absent for the lesson so Bonnie and Lucy sorted out the good and bad comments we got from the class.
Wednesday 10th December
Today we carried on looking at the feedback sheets and looked at what had gone well and saw what we needed to improve. We discussed re-filming as some people had commented on the titles being unreadable. We decided we needed to re-film or do a lot of editing, we then made the decision of re-filming which would then happen the next day (Thursday).
Thursday 11th December
Today in lesson Lucy wrote on the baubles with tipex to show some names for the titles, Bonnie helped with names and what titles to use and Tom and Chay thought about new shots to use for a slight change in the film opening as the props will have to be moved when we re-film.
Filming
When it came to filming for the second time, we went after school to the house we were using and got there at about 4.00pm, we took about 2 and a half hours to get all the footage we needed. Lucy re-wrote the labels for titles whilst Tom and Bonnie got changed into their outfits. Chay worked out where everything needed to be filmed and worked out what props we could use.
When we were ready to film, Chay filmed the part where Santa (Tom) comes out of the chimney, at this point the elf (Bonnie) was in the background.
We then filmed the fight scene (when Santa is captured) and carries him out the room which will lead to the final part where the wreath is shown.
After this we filmed the title sequence, when doing this Chay filmed the whole shot and to avoid shadows, Lucy shone a torch above to improve the lighting.
We then filmed the final scene where Santa is taken and they leave the house, the door then shuts behind them which reveals the title of the film on a wreath on the door.
This time filming went a lot better than the first time as the props and tree were improved, the lighting was much better/brighter and the titles were different.
Friday 12th December
Today we looked at the footage we had filmed the day before and made a folder of what we liked and what we didn't (good and bad footage) we then put the best filming onto premiere and started to edit. Tom did most of the editing and got a lot of it done. We need to add music to make it better and edit some of the shots. Bonnie, Lucy and Chay added more to the blogs.
Monday 13th December
Lucy was absent from the lesson so Bonnie took in the outfits so that Bonnie Chay and Tom could make the film poster. Using the drama rooms and a tripod, they produced a few images for the film poster. Although Lucy managed to catch up writing and adding to the production diary to keep it updated.
Tuesday 14th December
Today Bonnie and Lucy added to their blogs whilst Tom and Chay looked for a classroom to film another shot. Lucy added more to the production diary and Bonnie added the shooting schedule to her posts.
Wednesday 15th December
Today we added to our blogs, Tom wasn't is school. Lucy added to the production diary, Chay added to his blog and so did Bonnie.
Thursday 16th December
(No media lesson)
After school, Lucy and Bonnie stayed for a couple of hours completing final editing for the filming. We changed music and adjusted some timings to make finishing touches. We then uploaded I to Lucy's YouTube to then put on our blogs, this took a very long time as it had a lot to process. Whilst we waited we added some posts to our blogs, Lucy added more to the production diary and Bonnie added more to her blog. Our film is now ready and up on YouTube.
