Assignment 1: an update.

Well… moving right along. Having made a couple of simplistic movies and a couple of AMVs in my time using some very basic software, I figured that I should probably do a little background research in to film making and video editing before going any further. After all, I’m looking to get awesome grades for this project so I want to push the boundaries of what I can do. So research wise, I found myself going to all the dark corners of the internet, but it paid of quite handsomely as I found this  which is a pretty awesome place to go for beginners looking to make movies and film. The short version of all the advice, pointers and guidance looks like this:

Make sure you batteries are fully charged.

1. A large enough memory card with enough free space on it… you should be able to get away with a 4GB card, but I KNOW I’ve an 8GB floating around somewhere.
2. Make sure your lens is clean otherwise that’s going to ruin your shots.
3. A stable base also helps – a tripod is really useful here obviously, or if you can rest it on some flat surface at the right angle. On a side note: one thing I found was that a lot of the advice was that you don’t want to move the camera too much but get the subject(s) to move more.
4. Focus on the subject for at least five seconds.
5. Make sure you balance and compose the shots (composition, proportion and the rule of thirds… everyone who did games narrative or is doing games narrative will know what that means).
6. Lighting is a separate thing but in general: you don’t want lighting from BEHIND. This will cast A LOT of shadows on everything you do, which basically makes it really dark and gloomy… unless that’s the effect you’re trying to get.  Put lights in the front to properly illuminate and if necessary use a deflector (cardboard and aluminium foil, shiny side out for those who plan to DIY like this one here.

At this point, shout out and thanks to my lecturer – most of you know who he is – who gave me a well-deserved metaphorical slap to the back of the head a-la Gibbs from NCIS. I needed it because my problem has always been the same thing: Perfection… when I don’t have the budget, and I don’t have any experience going LOW BUDGET…. It’s probably why my modded NERF Blasters cost me a small fortune…

 Anyways.... I figured I’d do up a detailed – really detailed – outline of how the whole project is going to shape up before I start doing any rough filming… I managed to track down one decent enough camera that has an audio pick up, but I can always record the audio at a later time. Given the current plan, ain’t that much audio anyways so that works for me…. It will be a few lines of dialogue at the moment. The problem will be trying to find the right music for a soundtrack…. Not sure if I want to go moody creepy violin or just hard rock and metal…. But with over 60gbs of music I got to be able to find SOMETHING. More on that later… now to the whole plan thing: Looks like this:

Event	Camera angle	Sound effects.	Props/misc stuff
Running along a corridor. Fires two shots wild over his shoulder. Stumbles. Gets up. Keeps running	Fixed camera angle, tripod. Running up the corridor. Will run past the camera	Gunshots A growl from a monster
One person staggers in. Slams door.	Fixed camera angle, tripod, other side of the door.	Door slam sound effect
Close up face Sweat, blood Semi healed scratches on the face Looks down Checks his weapon. Out of ammo. “fuck.” Checks second: Out of ammo “Well… fuck… “	Close up on the face,     Zoom out/ cut away shot	Heavy breathing       dialogue	2 low grade nerf blasters: core recon CS-6 jolt pistol.
Door shakes and he jumps off it. Barricades up the door Silence. Whatever is out there goes away. Breathes a sigh of relief	Second fixed camera angle. To show the door, and the stuff used to barricade it.	Banging on the door	Junk to barricade the door with.
Turns around to face the room close up on face over the table camera angle eyes widen in surprise blink walk towards the table. …”interesting”	Close up on face Pan shot towards the table
Food, water, med kit Lots of guns, lots of ammo A tape recorder with a message taped to it “play me”	Pan shot over the table, stops on the tape recorder. Pressing play	Audio recording. “day 74…. Only three of us remain. Whoever finds this cache, I … we hope that… it helps… that you survive. For us, there is no more running. We draw the line here. We fight, and if we die…. We die in a pile of brass! Legion 31-10, signing off.”	Nerf Blasters: 2x stampedes 1x recon 1x retaliator 1x longshot – custom build 1x jolt pistol Multiple mags (6,12,18) Ammo bags x2-3 Scattered darts. Bottles of water Snacks A medkit prop
Close up on the face, idiot grin. Wipes away sweat. “Heh…Power up”	Close up on the face
Water Drinks, spills, soaks the shirt Rises out his hair	Mid range shot		Full water bottle
Patches up a couple of wounds, focus on face close up expression	Mid range shot		That medkit
Turns to the table. Starts loading magazines, Loads a few blasters Gun harness/rigs Camel back. Fill a backpack	Pan over the table Background sounds of weapons being loaded etc The stop on him still loading a clip Mid range, adjusting harnesses, slings etc. Donning the backpack		Table top with all the accessories.
Hip 2 Shoulders 2 SMG on a sling Main battle rifle in hand. Something smashes against the barricaded door Barricades begin to collapse the cocking/priming of weapons. Kicks open the door. Charges out, starts to fade. Fades to black, Moster/creature roar “come on you mindless mother fucker!” gun fire	Close up on adjusting armor etc… lord of the rings – aragon scene.   Second fixed camera angle,   Shoulder/over the shoulder camera/gun camera     See a pair of glowing eyes.	Whatever sound effects fit for such a scene       Crash sound     Weapon priming       Dialogue

VENUE: Need a corridor with a room at the end of it.  I know a corridor that fits.. that’s half the fight. The other half will be finding the right room: Decent sized, not too large, few windows, curtained/blinded. I want the half shadows sorta feel for this one.

LIGHTING CONSIDERATIONS
Lighting will be relatively low, but fixed in the corridor
Room lighting will be brighter 2/3rds half shadows. Edge lighting primarily, some limited use of reflectors to get the light on the characters face as appropriate

SOUNDTRACK: Two possible three different songs cut together, fade in and fade out. I might dust off my outdated copy of virtual DJ and see if I can mix something up, otherwise I’ll just use basic cut, fades, intros and outros. Time is the critical consideration here.

 

Now to source the venue, and camera person