During Filming

Wednesday 14th December 2011

We decided to shoot some of the dance studio scenes today, due to the fact that we recieved and email from the leisure centre (who own the dance studio where we desire to film) was free after school on Wednesday afternoons. We headed there and filmed all of the dance sequence. Some shots I was unsure of whilst shooting, yet it is hard to come to a final decision until the footage has been looked back on on a computer screen. Looking back now, I am pleased with what I managed to shoot, yet I feel that some scenes may need to be reshot, such as the spinning sequence where Leanne holds the camera and spins. This doesn't seem to fit well within the sequence, as it is primarily graceful, slow movements, and I feel that this shot will remove the desire affect. Apart from that, we managed to stick to our schedule, and after we had filmed the dance sequence we went to Hannah's house to film the scenes in her bedroom. The lighting was very effective within the scene, as the sun cast Leanne's shadow on Hannah's wall. This was not a shot that was storyboarded to be in our film, but, as cinematographer, I saw the shadow and decided to include it within the production. We had to film the scene of Leanne looking out of the window quickly, as the natural lighting moved quickly throughout. However, I am pleased with what we filmed and I do not think that any of the sequence will have to be re-shot, as it is all visually appealing and gives an insight into the character of Sophie.

Wednesday 21st December 2011

We expected to film today at around 4pm to 5.30pm, but the lighting around this time was much too light. I wanted to film whilst there was dark lighting to create an urbanised atmosphere, to show the area in which Sophie lived in. It also complies with the stereotypes within the drama genre - youths living in an urban area. I am pleased that we decided to wait until 5pm as the lighting was much more effective and darker than if we would have filmed at 4pm. The dark lighting resulted in the fact that I was able to get some good shots of unnatural lighting - such as street lamps and car headlights, which looked really effective. I also ensured that some of these shots were blurry, and then gradually came into focus, as this meant that it portrayed Sophie's confusion. However, we were unable to film in the public toilets due to the fact that they were closed. It is shown that they are being closed for a quite a while, so it is necessary to change our location. Because of this, we have decided to film the scene in the toilets at Sandwich Technology School instead.

Wednesday 12th January 2012

Today we shot some more of the Rope Walk scene of Sophie walking by the river. We filmed that at around 4pm, so that it was a tad lighter than what we shot on the 21st of December, as we wanted this scene to be Sophie contemplating her purchasing of the drug. The lighting which I managed to capture looked very appealing, the sky was a lovely shade of purpley blue, which was reflected in the river. The difference in lighting also portrays the amount of time Sophie spends thinking about the drug exchange, adding to the narrative, which I am really pleased with. There are also many beautiful nature shots within this scene, such as birds flying over a purple sky, with the silhouette of a tree in the foreground of the shot. Leanne asked that I captured many sounds, so I ensured that do so, so that she can play about with them in post-production. Despite the fact that many shots will need to be cut out (due to them being too shaky, or having little relevance to the plot), I am very happy with how today's filming turned out, particularly because of the beautiful colours and lighting.

Monday 23rd January 2012 

The last two remaining scenes of our film - the drug exchange, and the end scene in the toilets. We changed the location of the drug exchange. Originally, it was to be filmed in the town of Sandwich in an alleyway but we decided to change this location to one within the grounds of Sandwich Technology School, as the previous location was too stereotypical of the genre. We wanted to break some of the conventions of the drama genre to make our film unique, and also make it so that the audience can connect with Sophie. I took the role of the drug dealer, as we did not like to rely on other people as actors as it could halt production, so I had to ensure that I gave Hannah, who took my place for filming, careful guidance. We both decided that the drug dealer should be on the right of the screen, slightly hidden by a flight of stairs. This gave him an ominous look and was sure to intrigue audiences. Leanne then entered the scene from the left, entering from the light and going into the darkness. We wanted the exchange of the drug to be relatively quick, as to keep the feel as authentic-looking as possible. I feel that we achieved this effectively. I really like the lighting in this scene as it is dominantly un-natural and looks quite effective. Hannah decided that she was going to edit this scene with jump cuts, which I think, upon looking back at the footage, will be very effective. After we shot this scene we shot the scene in the toilet. We made effective use of the mirrors in this scene as it represented the choices which Sophie faced, and it also made a link back to the mirrors in the dance studio, which makes the film flow nicely together.

Wednesday 8th February 2012 *reshoot*

Today we re-filmed some of the dancing scene. We done this between the time of 1.20 - 2.10pm, in the multi-purpose at Sandwich Technology School. We contacted the fitness centre (which shares the multi-purpose room with the school), to check that it would be free. Before we filmed, Hannah, Leanne and I spoke about why we didn't like the footage which we had filmed previously. Hannah said that she thought that the costume was not effective or believable, so we decided to change it to something that dancers would be more likely to wear. Me and Leanne both felt that the shots of her were either too close to her, or too far away, which resulted in the scene not feeling very graceful, which was the feel that we wanted to achieve. We also said, as a group, that the dance scene seems quite separated from the rest of the film. Because of this, we decided to make the fact that our character, Sophie, was a failing dancer, so we decided to portray some of her anguish over this fact. Futhermore, we ensured that we had a clear idea of sound whilst filming, as this meant that the shots would compliment the sound that Leanne had chosen. I decided to shoot the whole scene on a tripod which remained stationary. This made the character of Sophie be continuously in the centre of the frame, which looks visually appealing to the audience. It also meant that Hannah, our editor, would be able to edit the sequence more effectively, as it meant that she would be able to effectively use time lapses.