Practising Focus Pulls

Today I spent a few hours with fellow student Jose going over the art of a focus pull. This is a skill I have learnt in the past from professional photographers, but I felt it would be of benefit to go over this skill and try and perfect my technique. My plan is to use a focus pull to switch the attention of the audience during a specific shot we plan to use in our production. I feel this is the best way to subtly pull the focus onto the other character, quite literally. Jose and I feel that now we both have a real feel for the camera we will actually be using to film the footage for Breaking the 4TH Wall that we are a lot more prepared than we would have been otherwise. I also practiced my rule of 3rd's once again by taking normal photos to help get used to the Manual Focus option the camera offers. I have put the footage we got into a video and upload to Youtube. I used Windows Movie Maker to produce this video and downloaded the Music off iTunes.
Below are a few clips of how we got on during our practice.





I feel now I have gone back over the art of focus pulling that I am very prepared to go and put it into practice during the time our group has at the theatre and feel that it will give the right effect off into our final product. We feel this is time well spent because now we have really got to grips and not only gone back over the technique but improved our technique which is always a bonus. Next up is filming, we will begin filming in 3 days time and will keep our blogs updated accordingly.

New Prop List

I have spent today gathering up a number of different props and objects that we wish to use during our production. Jose, Jordan and Pav aswell as myself have contributed different types of items that will help us achieve the effect and correct feel that we our all aiming for during this production. These items range from portable lights/torches to Good Luck cards to help set the scene. In order to present these props I have produced a slideshow with images of these props within it. (Shown Below).

I feel these props will not only help set the scene but give the production a more realistic and authentic feel, we have tried to target every little aspect of the set and make it all feel like a proper theatre setting. We feel the portable lighting will help us if we come across any dark spots within the set that we our struggling to film in due to lack of light. We feel producing this Prop List will help us be more prepared when we go to the theatre and feel we won't be caught without the right equipment.

New Shot List

Today I have decided to come up with a new shot list of my own that I will run by the group, the shot list is open for change and I will allow my fellow producers to over-rule any shots I propose. Below is what I came up with.

1. (Fade out from titles - Fade into filmed footage) mid-shot of seated main character in front of mirror and dressing room table - Side on.

2. Close up on Main characters face (short shot)

3. POV shot of suited man picking up hair product.

4. Mid shot of him applying into hair.

5. Panning shot of him standing up, walking over to mirror and looking into it.

6. POV of mirror, Main character looking into the mirror, prepping suit.

7. Close up of side face, get him turning into shot and walking past the camera.

8. Shot from behind of him opening the door, leaving the room and having the door shut behind him. (PIECE OF PAPER WITH BEWARE ON THE BACK OF DOOR AS IT SLAMS SHUT.)

9. Tracking shot of Main Character walking towards the stage

10. Close up on mask on the masked man as the voiceover states ‘behind the mask’

11. Return to Tracking shot.

12. Close up of robed mans hands

13. Panning shot of main character walking to mid stage

14. Crane shot of main character mid stage.

15. Close up of main characters face

16. Western rise shot from feet to mask of the robed man

17. Super Close Up of main characters eyes

18. Close up of mask

19. Audience View of main character slamming to the ground.

20. Crane Zoom out of dead body.

Ordering Outfits

Today the group has been hard at work making final decisions on what outfits we wish to order. We have come up with a number of different twists on the original plans for costumes but have opted to go with the original plans as shown below. We feel going with our original plans will mean that we know the effect we will get from our outfits and it will fit in to everything we have planned and researched up until this point.

Firstly is the main character, we wanted to go for someone who is a figure of importance and has a roguish, demonic look about them. For this reason we wish to use a suit. I went out and brought a suit as I will now have to act this role due to other commitments from the 1st choice actor.

(Above) Me styling the new suit that I will be using during our production.

Secondly, the secondary character. With this character we wanted to go against the normal conventions you see in a horror, but still keep it linked. For this reason, instead of your normal black robes (grim reaper style) we have opted to go for monks robes. We took inspiration for this look from Scary Movie as we will also be wearing a slightly different mask with the slightly different robes. This robe has been ordered just earlier and we will be expecting it to arrive during the next working day.

(Above) The robes our killer will be wearing.

A final piece of outfit that our secondary character will be wearing will be the mask. The mask was ordered in preparation many months back and has been kept safe by Jose (members of production team). The mask is a twist on Scary Movie's killer and we feel is a great bit of symbolization on the conspired Illuminati. We feel the mask nails the cliches that people associate with the Illuminati and feel it gives a mysterious look and presence to the character.

(Above) The Killers Identity.

Location Confirmed

Today I took it upon myself to ring up The Lighthouse Theatre and personally contact Lucy (the manager) directly. Having waited over 3 weeks for replies to several emails we felt it was a matter of urgency that we get in direct contact with her. I rang her and she told me that she would get back to our emails right away with a time and date that we could come in a film in.

However, we realized that the time and date she had set clashed with our school hours and would intervene with important lessons for all of the group. Knowing this I emailed her back and asked if we could have a time outside of school hours in which we could film in. She replied with the following

Now that we have this sorted we can move onto further preparation for filming, next up we will begin to sort out costumes, props and arrangements for next Wednesday. We will also sort out a filming schedule and a new shot list that we can use in order to ensure we don't leave the theatre short of any shots.

Adobe After Effects

Today, the group came together in the Mac Suite to look at a range of different After Effects that can be used during our post-production editing. Jordan, being the knowledgeably one in this department in the group talked us through Adobe After Effects and showed us a number of tutorials on how to use the software. We have already decided that we wish for Jordan to be the head of special effects in the group and nominated him for the job.

(Above) Adobe After Effects Icon.

We discussed and confirmed as a group on a number of different effects we wish for Jordan to try and include on certain shots we originally planned to take during our time at the theatre next month. Here are the different effects we are considering incorporating into our post-production process.

Group Progress Meeting | With Mr Henton.

Today our group was instructed to come and pay Mr Henton a visit at 12:15PM for a progress meeting. He wanted to talk about our progress, what we our doing well, discuss were we are in the pre-production stage and ways to improve our pre-production. He first of all touched upon our blogs, he used Jose's as an example and went over and stressed the importance of posting regularly. He mentioned how the coursework alone is 20% our coursework mark and that one of the main criteria in marking our blogs is time management.

He then went onto discuss our plans for our production, I told him that we have been sorting out our location and have had it confirmed that we will have access to the theatre. We then went onto tell him that our future plans were that of ordering mis-en-scene.He told us that we should continue to post our progress on our blogs and use it as an progress diary for the examiner to read.

The group now feels we have a clearer idea of which direction we need to head in, in-order to reach success. Next up we will begin to look at different types of after-effects we can use, alongside ordering out outfits/props. We will keep our blogs updated in respect of this.

Location Confirmation Processs

Over the course of the last 3 weeks I have been working hard to try and gain confirmation of a time and date in which the production team can film. I have emailed the manager of  The Lighthouse Theatre on a number of separate occasions without success but I will continue to try and gain confirmation. I have got in touch with a friend of mine who works at the theatre itself and he has recommended I ring her up to gain direct contact with her. I will wait 3 more days for a reply on my emails before ringing the contact number he has given me for Lucy Hatfield (Lighthouse Theatre Manager).

(Above) Here is the email I have sent to Lucy on several dates - CLICK THE IMAGE TO VIEW LARGER

We are now working to tight deadlines and it is urgent that we get this confirmation asap as we need all footage filmed before April. Once we have the confirmation on a time and date then we can form a filming schedule and order any props or costumes we need.

Group Meeting

Today the group came together for the first time in the New Year, after 3 weeks apart during the festive period. We felt it would be a good idea to come together as a group simply to re-fresh our minds on were we are up to with the production and go over our previous thoughts and plans for the production. We discussed the work we had each got unto over the Christmas holiday's and gave ideas on how to improve each others work.

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We also created a basic list of different tasks that needed to be completed before the deadline, we discussed the different props and costumes that we need to purchase, new shots we wish to include and new soundtrack ideas etc.

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Now that we have completed this meeting as a group we all feel that we are in a more able situation in terms of continuing to progress. We will continue to carry on posting our plans and work in the run up to deadline day. We will now look to get in contact with the manager of the theatre as she instructed us to last month.

Camera Shot Research