Pre-Production

Shooting Script

The Third Scene in Detail

Below are the ideas and a more in-depth shooting script for the K-Bar scene (Scene 3)

I have also added some rough examples of overlays I have created in Flash to give everyone an idea of the finished product. The text will stay roughly the same in the final edit but the layout style may change.

Walks up to the bar

Bartender asks ‘What can I get you?’

There will be a ‘Fallout’ style selection system, all the actions are predetermined but the ‘viewer’ will see, which option is being clicked as though they are watching someone control the characters interactions.

(Note: The actor won’t actually say this, the scene will continue as though he has)

Handing the money over                                                            a selection of close-up shots

Receiving the drink

Drinking the drink (Maybe fast forwarded)

He will walk over to the girl                                                                              Two Shot MS

Girl ‘Yea that would be nice’

To the Bartender:

Handing the money over                                                             Quick sharp close-up shots

Both of them drinking the drink simultaneously (Drunk meter)

Girl ‘I like vodka’

Handing the money over                                                               Quick sharp close-up shots

3 Vodka shots each

The actor smiles, slightly drunk                                                          Extreme Close-up shot

Handing the money over                                                              Quick sharp close-up shots

Drinks

The actor smiles, drunkenly                                                                Extreme Close-up shot

Girl grabs drink and throws it at him or slaps him round the face – depending on which we can get away with in K-bar                                                               Mid Shot of the guy OTS

Goes outside the bar                                                           Tilted frame? To show he is drunk

Collapses either outside or in the red room                          High angled medium long shot

‘Wasted’ is stamped on the screen over his body

Post Production

The Seminar

Unfortunately due to the sheer size of all our film clips it meant they took ages to download from 'Dropbox' so the two hour session wasn't dedicated to editing. Instead Moritz, Stephen, Luke and I went through the shots we did have and decided, which ones were good enough for the film and which were not.

Some Overlays

During the seminar Harry felt that all five of us sitting front of one computer wasn't a very efficient use of our time so he decided to create some 'game' inspired overlays for the film using Photoshop and Flash, which he would then import into After Effects later.

The Money

This really cool 'GTA' inspired animation will be shown on the screen during the cash machine sequence to show the money going into his inventory.

The Hygiene Meter

The animation above shows the layout of all the 'meters' we will use  i.e. the drunkenness meter. It is rather similar to 'The Sims' style needs bar shown below. The hygiene meter will be used in the first scene shower sequence.

 

Production

Day two of shooting

Today we filmed scene 2 of our film. It is split into three parts; the walk to the gym, the cash machine and the lecture theatre.

Moritz – Cameraman

Luke – Sound guy

Me – Director

Stephen and Harry – Runners and After Effects guys

The walk to the Gym

We wanted to get a few different close-up shots for cutaways but camera shake was a bit of an issue so we had to keep trying till we managed to get smooth enough shots. The noise of passers-by affected the sound dramatically especially if they wore heels or walked on the pebbles. I kept an eye on filming devices we had to consider like continuity and the 180 degree rule. We had to time each sequence very well as students were walking to and from lectures. We acquired some decent close-up, mid shots and a nice pan. At one point while we were filming this section Harry and Stephen booked the green screen studio for next Friday because the actor plays on his phone in one of the walking sequences and we had an idea to have an overlay of someone texting on the screen so it looks like he is texting someone.

The cash machine

We decided that filming the walk to the cash machine would be tedious even using a range of shot types, also it wouldn't really help with conveying the story so we shot a few sequences of the actor at the cash machine, taking money out and leaving. Our plan is to have a map, created in after effects, which is enlarged on the screen and make it seem the cash machine is closer than it really is; this style is very similar to a video game. We used mainly close-up shots of inserting the card and mid shots for the rest.

The Lecture Theatre

We tried a variety of shot types; long shot, mid shot, close-up and even a low angled shot which was rather dangerous in the cameras’ perspective and didn't turn out like we’d hoped. We had a bit of refection problems in the window but I think with some crafty editing we can make sure it doesn't affect the final piece or worst comes to worse have a re-shoot.

All in all a successful day of filming, it’s surprising that it only took around three hours to get the scene done. Harry and Stephen also created some nice graphics in after effects for the overlays in that time when we didn't require their assistance in filming. 

The medical, restaurant and cash machine symbols will be used on the map to show where the character 'is' and other possible places to explore.

Production

Day one of shooting

Today we filmed scene 1 of our film. I've split it into three parts; Game style selection shots, having a shower and playing on the Xbox.

Unfortunately it was just me and Moritz so I handled the director and runner roles and Moritz was the camera and sound man.

The day didn't get off to a good start but we didn't want to lose time so we continued with our planned filming sequences. I tried to think about continuity because we were in a bedroom, with many objects that could be moved without us thinking about it so I tried to keep tabs on everything. Me and Moritz would talk frequently about different shots and how we were going to shot them. I mentioned a few times about headroom, which worked at some points but he really likes his headroom and the shots didn't look to bad at all and we can use the extra space.

Game Style Selection

This was difficult because the actor couldn't move to much and we didn't want anything distracting in the background. We went for a traditional middle shot whilst following the rule of thirds by placing the actor on the 'invisible' right vertical line. This gives us room to put in the game style overlays later on, which will show the 'Day in the life of a student' as being selected. Unfortunately we had a lot of head room in some of these shots but we will use them to our advantage by using the space for different overlays.

Having a Shower

This sequence was rather fun to film as we had to film him leave the room and walk up the stairs. We used a variety of long, mid, low angle and close-up shots so we could get some cutaways to make it look interesting and continuous. We also got some high angle shots from the top of the stairs that worked well, although we did contemplate that it was rather risky to hold the camera over the banister of the stairs, we did however take precautions. We took a close-up of the door when the actor walks in and out, we made sure to include the shower sounds and actually put the shower on to create steam when the actor walked out.

Playing the Xbox

The actor had fun doing this sequence as he was required to play Halo 4 for at least 15 minutes whilst we shot him and when were getting ready. We had some interesting debates about filming on the bed as it made the camera very unstable and therefore wasn't producing decent shots. In the end we did majority of this sequence using the tripod. We attempted some over-the-shoulder shots, some close-ups of his hands tapping impatiently, playing the controller, some mid shots and a few shots of the screen as he plays, which turned out really well. The last shots were really effective. We wanted them to look fast to show the actor is rushing so we had him throw the clock down, grab his back and run through the door, using a mixture of long, mid and close-up shots to give a nice fast-paced affect. Then the very last shot is a long shot of him rushing through the kitchen door, which we took from the right and back angles to ensure we had enough footage.


Overall we had a good days filming and even though there were some head room issues we can use them to our advantage and add more game like features in the areas like a map or point system.
It took us around 3 hours, we were so happy to have shot the 1st scene and called it a day.
We came across a few problems but I think we dealt with them well.

Pre-Production

A Recce

Luke and I went around campus and took some location shots for our second and third scenes.

 Scene 2

The images above show the journey along Park Wood path. When we film it we will try to get a variety of angles so that the journey doesn't seem so long. We may use overlays in after effects while he is walking to add to the game style and keep the audience intrigued.

The above image shows the gym, which the character will look up at and our idea is to have an objective come up on screen saying that he needs to go to the gm later.

We are thinking of including a scene taking money out as we could include a really cool game style overlay and 'ka-ching' sound.

The images above show the walk to the lecture theatre Grimond and inside the building. We're thinking of doing a scene where the character sits in a lecture but we do need to find a free lecture room and a lecturer or someone a bit older than us who could pretend to be a lecturer.

Scene 3

We are debating a library scene, although it wouldn't be very practical filming in there because we would have to be very careful not to disturb students working.

We are also contemplating  a shot where the character meets his friends outside, we think this would be a nice open area, with some good opportunities for subtly emphasizing the main character with 'leading line' affects.

For a night-life scene we could use The Venue (on the left) or K-bar (below)

The image on the left is of the Red Room in Keynes, it a nice room near K-bar, which could come in handy.

Pre-Production

A Recce

Here are some still shots of the locations (from my phone).

Scene 1

The Bedroom

High-Angled Shot

Low-Angled Shot

The Bathroom

The Hallway

High-Angled shot

The Final Shot

Pre-Production

Harry and I went through all our film ideas and I wrote down some notes so we could get some sort of order and an idea on what we would have in each scene. Later on I typed up and fleshed out the notes in neat and created a screenshot script so everyone knows the basics of what we are doing when we start shooting.

Screen Shot Script

Scene 1

Start-up screen

Previous game selection on screen

Previously saved game                                                                                  Medium shots

Choose ‘student’ game

Loading screen

Character standing in his room, click on objectives, and show the list                         mid shot                             

Sits on chair                                                                                                                        mid shot

Picks up controller                                                                                                           close-up shot

Plays game on xbox        (will be fast forwarded like 'The Sims')                                                  over shoulder shot

(Fun meter goes up)

Go out of the room                                                                                                            mid shot

Up the stairs                                                                                                                     

Into the shower room (film the door and shower sounds)

(Hygiene meter will go up)

Door will open; actor will come out                                                                                 mid shot

Character walks down stairs                                                                           long shot from upstairs

                                                                                                                       long shot from downstairs

                                                                                                                 Close-ups of hand on the rail

Scene 2

Loading screen ‘Going on Campus’

Walks to campus                              (Try Point-of-view shot or long shot form the back with close-ups)

Show the inventory

Walks past sports centre (adds another objective to list ‘work-out’)        over-shoulder low angle (looking at gym)

Goes to cash machine (Cash goes into inventory GTA style)                                   long side shot

Walks to lecture hall                                                                                           long shot from behind

Shot of the building (experience and knowledge points)                                               long shot

Scene 3

Phone call ‘GTA’ style                                                                                                       long shot

                ‘Coming to the club?’     Phone on the right hand bottom corner

Saving and initiating fast travel

Loading Screen

Outside the bar                                                                                                                  long shot

Walks up to bouncer                                                                                   over-shoulder shot

                ‘Fallout’ style bouncer interaction

Get into the club                                                                                   zoom out into mid shot

Buy a drink

                ‘Shaun of the dead’ style close-up shots:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t--mSXDeETc (0.45 - 0.48)

-          handing money over

-          getting the drink

-          drinking the drink    (drunk meter increases)

Chat to a girl at the bar                                                                                                  long shot

                ‘The Sims’ style interaction

Buy drink for himself and girl X3                                                            From mid shot to close-ups

‘Shaun of the dead’ style close-up shots                                                              

-          handing money over

-          getting the drink

-          drinking the drink    (drunk meter increases)

-          conversation gets more bizzare

Drink gets thrown in his face                                                                                       mid shot

Goes outside collapses on a bench ‘GTA’ style ‘wasted’                   from mid-shot to close-up

We could use a similar font and possibly a high-angled shot of him passed out





Screen fades to black - achievements appear

Pre-Production

The Start

We discussed the beginning of the film and we didn't want our start to be too generic so we were trying to come up with ideas that didn't involve the usual getting up from bed. Here are some of the ideas we came up with. We liked the game style idea.

-          Waking up in a lecture: -

o   Slow Mo fight

o   Gangsta lecturer

o   Random Vampire

o   Someone punches him in the face and he wakes up?

o   He falls of the chair and wakes up?

• Waking up at his desk
• Waking up on the floor in his room
• Loading screen – New game screen
• Saved data slots previous character
•               o   E.g. Day in the life of a nurse is available for selection; Day in the life of a student is selected.
• Loading screen to start new game
•              o   Angry voiceover ‘Animal Crossing’ themed to tell off the user for not saving when turning of the game