Production Stage (Third Shoot)

Cast:

Mohammed Adel as Andrew
Ashriel King as Clint

Crew:

Reuben Gill - Cameraman
Adam Alti - Director


The Third Shoot was a different scene from the other nights. The other nights were the Samson scenes this is the Andrew Scenes.

First of all we filmed an establishing shot of Kro Bar. This was to set the scene and introduce the gritty nature of the film.

The lighting in the scene was something we loved. It looked like something sleazy, which was the desired aesthetic.

We then filmed the homage two-shot scene between Ashriel and Mohammed this looked good as they were sat in front of the red heaters which made the scene have more ambience and atmosphere.

We did several takes of the conversation, we had learnt from our mistakes and decided that we will make sure we got the shot we wanted.

Rough Edit

This is a very rough edit of the film opening, we hope that once we have tightened it up it will good. We still have to add the proper sound, and we need to re-shoot some scenes.

Editing Stage 2

We logged and captured our stuff onto Final Cut Pro.

Being a bit more experienced on Final Cut Pro, having used it previously on the first editing stage, we knew what we were doing and were able to get on with it.

The fight scenes worked quite well, we were able to edit them and they flowed well. However to create the look and feel we wanted we had speed some of the fight scenes up, this way the punches seem harder and some seems more violent.

The scene that worked the best was Dale's POV as he has been picked up and thrown into a punch, we decided to use a freezeframe at the end partnered with a fade-out dissolve to create an end to the scene. The POV scene from Dale's perspective on the lights in the underpass is effective, so is the scene where Nathan picks him up. It looks professional and is a highlight of the footage we have right now.

Problems again arose with the lighting, when we have a close-up on Dale's face as he is covered in blood the scene is particularly dark. The blood however looks good.

We edited the footage into a short cut and it looked good the fight scenes seem brutal and the camera work is good.

We still need to shoot more scenes and do a lot of editing but it is coming along nicely

Production Stage (Second Shoot)

On the second shoot, we had to choreograph the fighting to make it seem more brutal and more realistic. The location we used to shoot this was in a dark place, so we tried to shoot most of the scenes in light places.

The first scene we shot was a close-up on Samson's lips as he lights a cigarette, this looked good and we decided that we will use this as the introduction for Samson.

To film the fight, we used a handheld style, this was to emphasise the brutalness of the scene. It also contradicts the way the rest of the film opening is filmed, which is mostly stationary camera shots.

Firstly we started to film the scene where Dale is dragged into the underpass, we filmed this in a long shot reverse-tracking shot.

We then filmed a overhead shot of Dale hitting the floor, this was done for two reasons, the first being so the viewer would be able to see the pain he is in. Secondly it was done for the next shot, which would be a POV of view shot from Dale looking up at the lights in the underpass, and Nathan blocking the light and picking him up at which point he is punched back down by Bruce. This was especially hard to film since all of that is from Dale's POV. We did many takes until it looked and felt right.

We then tried to do a scene from Bruce's POV showing Dale's reaction from the punch, when looking back at it, it looked cheesy and forced.

With the beating up scene being shown in bits and not all at once, we had to do many different takes and try many different things, this way we could pick the best ones to use in the film opening.

After doing Dale's POV shot, we went on to another scene. Influenced by a scene in Reservoir Dogs. We had Reuben, Bruce and Nathan stand in a triangle and punch, push and kick Dale, while we filmed it from the outside going round them. This wasn't an easy scene to shoot because it involved very unorganized choreography, this was to add realism to the scene. They were basically given free reign to do what they wanted as we filmed it. This led to many takes being ruined by people looking at the camera, laughing or by the scene just not going the way it should have.

We then tried to do a long shot scene of the beating up. This was done by using the tripod as the beating is taking place. This looked good and is going to be used in the final edit of the film.

The second shoot was good, we didn't manage to finish filming the scene but we got some good stuff.

Editing Stage

We logged and captured the footage onto Final Cut Pro. With this we were able to properly watch the footage we got. The first thing we noticed was that a lot of the footage was dark.

We then decided that we would edit the footage anyway, that way we could see what we needed to re-shoot and how we could solve certain problems with the scenes.

The tracking shot we did, although it looked good, the camera work was too shakey and didn't have the right look that we wanted. So we are going to re-shoot the tracking shot.

We also noticed that we had violated the 180 degree angle rule which makes the film opening look amateur and cheap. So the next shoot we will have to remember not to break the 180 rule.

Another thing we had a problem with was the continuity, the scenes didn't flow right. We had a good tracking shot, but then the next scene would ruin it because it didn't flow right. So we need to rethink our shot list.

The first editing stage was good, because we got to experiment with the different effects and transitions. Some of which will be used in the final cut of the film.

Production Stage (First Shoot)

CAST:

Reuben Gill as himself
Nathan Lowe as himself
Bruce Betts as himself
Dale Broadbent as himself
Adam Alti as Samson

CREW:

Stephanie Castillion as camerawoman

Adam Alti as Director/ cameraman

Andy Fielding as Cameraman 2.

FILMING:

After finding a suitable location for our production we began the filming process. We all met up on a Saturday night in the underpass of choice to film our scene.

The first thing we did was practise the tracking shot, of Samson as he goes into the underpass, this is because as Samson is walking down into the underpass Dale has got to be beaten up, it all has to flow properly. We then filmed the tracking shot however one of the crew had gotten into the shot, ruining it. So we had to do it again, this time however the scene was shot great.

We began by choreographing the fight scenes, making sure Dale knew when to move so as not to get hit and everyone else knew when to throw the punches. We also had to choreograph the camera work into the fight to ensure the chosen shots and angles were achieved. Once everyone knew their timing and positions we shot these scenes.

After filming the fight scenes, we decided to film Dale's scene where he is dying, he is covered in blood. This scene came out great and looked realistic. On a point of interest, as we were filming that scene some people walked past and looked very scared off. When they thought they were out of hearing perimetre of us, they started talking about how Dale looked.

We are going to edit the footage and see what it looks like. We will post a rough cut soon.