Production

When filming for our short film, we used equipment owned by the school to record and set up everything ready in preparation for filming.

This included 2 canon cameras, a gun mic, a drone and a tripod. We decided to use 2 cameras instead of 1 to get shots from different angles (to then decide which ones we prefer when editing). We also took a range of lenses for different kinds of shots. We also decided to connect a gun mic to the camera in order to get high quality audio to pick up sounds. In order to protect the cameras, we used bags to carry the mic and cameras in, including the SD cards to ensure that they would not get lost. We also made sure to reset and clear the SD cards at school for more storage (and to make it easier to access the clips once imported into an editing program. In general, we used bags and cases to make transporting them from school to where we planned to film easier and to prevent them from breaking or getting lost. We also carried the drone in a case along with spare batteries and cases for the wings to protect them.

Once we were ready to film in the environment we planned to record in, we set up the tripod to get perfectly angled shots (and to set the camera to specific levels). Throughout filming, we adjusted the tripod several times depending on the shot type and what we planned to film in the shot. We had to consider how we were going to include all the props and fit the actors in the shot when using the tripod (we adjusted it accordingly to the shot type). We would frequently change the camera lens to achieve different shot types.

In terms of following health and safety laws, we created a risk assessment to assess the dangers around us during the production of the short film and assessed ways to prevent them from happening. We assessed things such as the weather, moving vehicles and other moving objects, equipment and the surrounding area.

Here is an image of our group setting up a cork board ready for the first scene: We printed out an image of a fake missing poster and used other props to attach to the board. We did this to establish the detective like setting, with a bunch of clues linking to each other. 

In terms of the storyboard, there were several changes we had to make and worked around our constraints. An example of this is that we did not have an any photos taken in preparation for the corkboard. To resolve this, we printed off copyright free photographs of forests and crime scenes to pin on the corkboard for the opening scene. This was crucial to the production process, as the corkboard was a big element in our short film. 

Another slight change we had to make was the weapon of choice: We decided in the end that we would use a bat, as it is ethically the safest prop we could use. In the brief storyboard, we had not yet established what weapon would be used and improvised by drawing a gun in the concept.