Changes to Filming

On location, we discovered that there were problems with some of the original decided features of our scene:

• When filming our test shots, it became apparent that the path we had originally chosen for the victim to follow around the Royal Naval College into the foot-tunnel would cause difficulties. We had to block out a separate route through the grounds ensuring that no restaurants, passing visitors, sign posts for the gift shop or shots in which the glass casing of the Cutty Sark were visible. This proved difficult due to the lack of lighting upon the foot-paths in the area and the obvious commercialisation of the location.
• On our original storyboard, no filming was included from the individual view of the victim as we decided to film the majority in CCTV format due to no intended empathy being felt towards the victim as an emotional bond between them and the audience as their character is insignificant as part of the plot.
• The skyline shots we are using within our scene originally were not planned and were added as a decision during filming. We had planned to include establishing shots to determine the importance of our location as an anonymous city (London) but originally of the college and Cutty Sark itself but on location, we found the brighter and more definitive example of London as a location would have been better represented using the skyline shot of the City buildings across the Thames as a universal symbol.
• Our first plan depicted the entirity of the scene filmed in the tunnel to be produced in black and white as CCTV footage but due to the supernaturality of our plot and our intention to emphasise this, we can now chosen to switch between colour during these shots to distort the image.

Evaluation of the test filming.

Evaluation of the filming

In the winter holidays we decided that it would be a good idea to start our filming for our trailer. We decided to start off with a test shot, to enable us to check the location, the quality of the camera, the business of the location and also the lighting of our location.


Location -Tunnel & College

As we have chosen Greenwich footpath tunnel and also the grounds of the Royal Navy collage as part of our location, we chose a early start to enable us to capture the emptiness of the tunnel, and the surrounding locations, in which we completed.
This was the first time I had seen the tunnel, and I feel the location is perfect, as it gives off a ominous mood, and by even being a spectator and walking down the tunnel, the grime on the walls and the darkness puts you on edge and uneasy about the walk down the tunnel. I think that for these reasons when we are shooting the film opening the location will be completely perfect, as it fits in completely with our storyline. By having the naval college in the background, and showing that the walkway is used by a variety of people also gives our story a backing, to show that the protagonist has a reason for walking down this tunnel and choosing to walk this route at this particular moment in time.
As the walk into the tunnel is quite open, but still fenced, this could show that the protagonist is already trapped, and their fate has already been sealed even before they choose to step into the tunnel, the destiny in which is before them has already been chosen and cannot be altered. It also links to the theme of danger and uncertainty, as we already fear for the protagonist. As the walk is quite open, but walking on the paved path, this could reinforced the idea that the date has already been sealed and cannot be altered.

Establishing shot & Surroundings.
Within the tunnel it is quite hard for a location to be established, in which is why we have chosen to include a sequence of establishing London landmarks to set the location up in the minds of the audience, as with just having a walking path and a tunnel, the location could be anywhere and would be unknown to the audience. In this location we are right next to the river Thames, and are also looking onto particular London buildings in which any audience member would establish with London, such as the London eye, the shard etc. I feel that this will work effectively within our film opening, as it gives it more background and the audience a little bit of knowledge into the storyline and the surroundings of the area , in which is subverting expectations as it looks like the usual London surroundings, nothing bad is going to happen.

Quality of Camera.
As we are using a style of CCTV footage as our footage within the tunnel, we wanted to test the camera to see how effective it was in creating this footage, in which I think looks extremely effective, as we used a broom and a clip to enable the camera to stay up high without shaking, it looks incredibly like CCTV, and with the changing into the settings into monochrome, I feel that it creates the desired look that we were going for incredibly well. Also as we are using a photography camera instead of a flip camera, we are able to use HD Filming, of which i think will be effective in showing the CCTV footage in a high quality, and will make the glitches stand out more, which is the effect that we want in order to make our film opening scarier to the desired target audience, as they do not expect there to be blips and glitches, in which we are going to be creating ourselves.


Business of Location. 
As we arrived at the tunnel at 8, there seemed to be very little people around, even though it was a week day, in which proved useful for us, as it means that the tunnel will be deserted and empty at the time in which we want to film, which will give a more isolated and alone effect to the protagonist, and give the antagonist a stronger purpose, as if there was a multiple amount of people, then it would take the motive off of the antagonist, as there would be many people, which would show that the people are taking a interest, and are also they are witness's to the murder, which would be a complete other storyline, and also we would not be able to predict how each person would react, and would have to ask permission from each person taking part for our scene to be published online.

Lighting of the tunnel. 
The lighting within the tunnel was perfect for our location, as it was not too dark, so we would be able to see what was going on, but it was all artificial light, there was no natural light, in which make the tunnel feel disinclined from the natural world up above, creating a scarier atmosphere, in which we were achieving to make, As you can see on both of our youtube video's.

My Evaluation of the Visit to Location

Inside The Tunnel 

Outside The Tunnel

On this visit to the location we looked at the tunnel as a group and also looked around outside at the lighting around the area to see whether or not it was possible to film in certain locations or not. We found that the camera filmed really nicely in the tunnel with the focus going in and out creating a really interesting effect which would look good in our credits or whilst filming the fighting sequences. The grainy effect also was good as it had that CCTV camera feel when we played it back on the computer as it wasn't crisp clear and neither is CCTV footage when it is played back. Therefore it will work well with the static as it will follow up on one scene to the next and that is what we really wanted. We therefore decided that we wanted to film in the black and white to again conform with the ideas that it is like real CCTV footage rather than keeping it in colour. We also thought that, that would conform with the terror and tension for the scene and also with the black and white of the static as well.

When we went outside we looked around at the lighting and different places which we could film depending on how strong the lighting really was and therefore make it easier for when we went back in the dark another day. We found and really nice fountain which has three lights above it and also a part in the pathway and then track behind them with different camera shots to follow them to the tunnel. We also found a winding pathway which cuts out the restaurants that are around the area, however that could be quite interesting with the ambience that other people can't see the clown and therefore brings in the supernatural element. However without the lights actually being turned on that means that we couldn't film under any of the lights and therefore it made it difficult to judge whether or not it would bright enough for the camera in order to pick up the person or even the balloons and therefore we planned another visit in order to see the location in the dark. 

We took pictures whilst doing the test shots as well on another camera and this helps us track our progress and also is the proof of us filming the test shots on the location. It also means that we have more material on the blog in order to show our progress over time with more pictures later on. When we where in the tunnel the flash on the other camera was on and when we watched the video back we saw that it created a sort of strobe lighting effect which looks like flashes of light coming across the screen and this means that it could be used again in our filming later on.