Day one of filming

After we all met up at Stephen's house we shot several scenes; firstly it was the second house scene, secondly the running outdoors scene (that we didn't manage to finish so it was leaked into our overflow day), thirdly we did the opening scene and we finally did the first house scene. 

The first set of filming we did, the second house scene, was a tough shot to do. We used lighting effectively to convey the feeling of a dark room- even though we began filming at 1:00pm. The use of blankets to cover the window worked rather well, as through the curtains you couldn't see the blankets blocking the sunlight.  We made use of a reflector to direct the artificial light, lighting up our main character's face.







 

How we recorded the pot smashing against the wall: A piece of wood resting on a suitcase leaning against the wall, to stop the pot smashing against anything that may break (ie: glass window). The curtains were always closed in this scene and they effectively blocked out the view of the wood.

We began filming our 'scavaging' scene; however half way through the filming we noticed a drastic change in lighting- one we couldn't recreate. So, we postponed that film shoot to the next day. 

We decided to take the time to record Foley sound for the pot breaking; below is evidence of ourselves recording the smashing of the pot:

 

With the change in time and lighting, we decided to do our opening shots. Making use of a hand-held, high-powered, torch and a blue filter we could still show the main character as well as an effective 'moody' lighting. Nonetheless, it was still really dark, thankfully the risks surrounding the road were low- plus a high visibility jacket to know we were filming resulted in no accidents. 

To wrap up the day we did the first house scene, a few simple shots that show our main character going to sleep and waking up again. Again, we made use of artificial lighting however this time we also used a black filter to block some of the light, as it was too much to give a dark vibe.  

Production roles

• Director: Ben Mongardini
• Exec. Director: Stephen Griffin
• Director of Photography: Ben Mongardini
• Sound Technician: Nigel Furminger
• Lighting Technician: Stephen Griffin
• Location scouts: Nigel Furminger
• Casting: Ben Mongardini
• Actors: Katy Gerard, Stephen Griffin, Nigel Furminger

After filming views

We finished the filming in 3 days, so we used the day which we allowed for overflow and re-shoots just to shoot more of our project as we didn't get it done in the first two days that we expected to be done in. We had thought we'd finish so there would be allowed time to fill in the gaps and perhaps re-shooting shots which didn't meet our expectations but in the end we needed the day to actually continue the sequence. 

I think it was a success. The amount of time that we gave ourselves allowed us to spend more time on shots and have more takes which meant that we could seek perfection in what we desired in some shots. This also meant that we could take a large amount of takes minimizing chance of error but this time used could always create continuity problems as lighting can change for one shot to the next if there is a large time between shooting, even clouds could cause this, but we used lighting and a reflector to try and combat this which I feel like we did well. We shot scenes again once we encountered this problem too, to keep continuity. Although this may be true, we may still have to redo some shots and also take pictures for our poster. So we could have used with more time, but that isn't a major problem. We could work well with the actor and they developed their character well which gave us a better performance in our short film, which helped bring it to life and that helped us flow through each scene without needing to take the actor aside and talking to them that much as they understood the concept and what was going on purely from the script. We tried to record some footage as evidence of us working but we were limited as only one person had their hands free during shots (behind the camera) and when it was handheld we would have nothing free to record it.

Script - Final Draft

New ideas and changes to the film meant that the script had to be reworked. In other cases, some lines of dialogue no longer had the right feel for the movie.

FADE IN.

EXT. COUNTRY ROAD - NIGHT

Car slows to a stop, chugging to empty fuel tank.

EVE, A strong girl with fire in her heart, trying to get back home. Her split personality disorder often causes problems for her.

EVE steps out of the car. Annoyed at the empty fuel tank she kicks the wheel. She opens the back door and takes her belongings and walks away.

CUT TO:

INT. BROKEN DOWN BUILDING - NIGHT

EVE walks into the room and begins to relax. She drops her belongings and prepares a place to sleep on. EVE gets comfortable and falls asleep.

DISSOLVE TO:

EXT. DREAM PARK - CONTINUOUS

EVE and LUKE are atop a hill looking at the sunset. They are laughing and having a good time together.

LUKE, EVE's father and a very good friend. Always smiling and happy with his guitar.

EVE (dream)

I don't know, it's just a lot to think about.

LUKE (dream)

Hey. Don't worry. You always pull through.

EVE (dream)

Thanks Dad.

EVE and LUKE hug. LUKE disappears and the dream world collapses around EVE, turning into a nightmare. People screaming begin screaming off screen. Eve becomes highly distressed.

INT. BROKEN DOWN BUILDING - CONTINUOUS

EVE wakes up in the room she went to sleep in, in a panicked cold sweat, panting heavily. She tries to calm herself down after the nightmare.

FADE TO BLACK.

OVER BLACK;

TITLE CARD: The Way Home

FADE IN.

EXT. RESIDENTIAL STREET - DAY

EVE walks down a road looking around through garbage for supplies. Music is playing from a nearby car's radio. EVE notices the music and begins to dance to it. LUCY cuts in, shouting.

LUCY, Alter ego to EVE, the basis for all her fears. More confident with a sadistically playful tone.

LUCY

(Panicked)

RUN!

EVE begins running, ignoring everything else. She runs past a wall and hides behind it.Out of breath, she looks back to see nothing chasing her. EVE sits down and begins to calm down.

LUCY

Why did you stop? I told you to run!

EVE

(Exasperated)

There is nothing there.

LUCY

You don't know that, anything could be behind you, waiting to pounce. Now start running and keep us alive.

EVE

I'll walk, thanks.

LUCY sighs and disappears, EVE slowly stands up and walks away.

LUCY

What am I going to do with you?

CUT TO:

INT. HOUSE - NIGHT

EVE walks into new house as night time approaches. She searches the entire house, peeking through doors with a torch. Once she is confident it is safe, she drops her bag, sits down on a bed to relax.

LUCY

(Bitchy)

Hi darlin', why did you leave me behind?

EVE

You're in here. You can't possibly leave, no matter how hard I try.

LUCY laughs and stops to think.

LUCY

Tell me something. Do you seriously expect him to be alive?

EVE

Dad is alive!

LUCY

Hah! Dad plays guitar. And besides, why would he want you back? You were gone for so long, how do you think he felt when he was still alive?

EVE

THEY'RE STILL ALIVE!

EVE stands to throw a ceramic plant pot at LUCY but she is not there to receive the blow. LUCY reappears somewhere behind EVE. EVE's hand is shaking profusely after the throw.

LUCY

You need to stop lying to yourself.

LUCY walks out of the door. EVE tucks down into a ball and sobs.

FADE TO BLACK.

EXT. FOOTPATH - DAY

EVE walks down a road and passes through a footpath. LUCY appears beside her with a big smile.

LUCY

What you doing?

EVE

(Annoyed)

Minding my own business.

LUCY

Aww, are you still mad at me?

EVE

Yes!

LUCY

Okay, I'll be over here, when you need me.

EVE keeps walking. LUCY jumps in front of EVE.

LUCY

PSYCHE BITCH! Whatcha gonna do?

Eve punches in front of her, punching the air intead. EVE looks at her fist in nuisance.

LUCY

You still haven't learned have you.

EVE

(Resentful)

Fuck you...

LUCY smirks with glee. EVE walks away in anger with a heavy step. She walks over to a tree and starts to kick it, screaming in pure rage.

LUCY

(Laughing)

Gee, take a chill pill.

EVE calms and takes a deep breath. A metal pan falls (O.S.) alerting EVE. EVE goes to investigate inside the house.

INT./EXT. KITCHEN - CONTINUOUS

EVE walks through the front door, carefully checking behind each corner. LUCY looks on from a distance in silence. DAYZ MAN is walking upstairs, making EVE nervous. DAYZ MAN starts moving down the stairs and stops when he see EVE.

DAYZ MAN, A passerby and fellow survivor that happened to bump into EVE.

EVE and DAYZ MAN stare at each other in silence and fear.

DAYZ MAN

(Scared)

*heavy breathing*

EVE

Hel-

DAYZ MAN cuts of EVE by running into her and knocking her down. DAYZ MAN runs away as fast as possible. EVE tries to catch up but soon stops. She rests against a wall to calm down.

LUCY

You were never good with the boys.

EVE turns to face LUCY with rage in her eyes and begins to walk at pace towards her. She stops when face to face with LUCY.

LUCY

Oh, this is new. What are you going to do now?

EVE

That, was the first human being in months! The only one other than me, and you just make a joke out of it!

LUCY

(Sarcastically)

Well... Really it's you making the joke...

EVE throws a punch at LUCY, making contact. EVE looks at her fist in surprise, smiles and walks towards LUCY.

LUCY

Wait, what are you doing?

EVE

What I should have done a long time ago.

LUCY

(Terrified)

Don't do this, you need me! Who will make you laugh? No. No. PLEASE, OH GOD PLEASE.

LUCY stumbles backwards as EVE catches up to her in anger. LUCY falls and EVE jumps right on top, punching down hard.

LUCY

*Cries of pain*

LUCY stops making noises and dissapears. EVE rises, still on her knees, taking it all in. EVE slowly breathes out in relief, her hand not shaking anymore.

FADE TO BLACK.

INT./EXT. EVE'S HOUSE - EVENING

EVE walks up to her house, looking up and smiling in content. EVE walks inside, touching surfaces, smiling and laughing at a her past. A guitar falls upstairs surprising EVE who begins to run up the stairs towards the sound.

EVE

Dad? Dad I'm here!

EVE walks through a room to a find a cat has knocked over a guitar. EVE picks up the guitar and drops it. EVE goes down on her knees and looks down at the floor contemplative. LUCY slowly appears from behind and places her hand on EVE's shoulder.

LUKE (O.S.)

Eve?

EVE suddenly turns her head to look behind her at LUKE. LUCY lifts her hand off EVE's shoulder in fear.

CUT TO BLACK:

Actors

We have need for three main actors and possibly one more extra.
The Roles, what they entail, and who has been casted is listed below:

Eve & Lucy: Katy Gerard

The main characters. These roles require the same actor due to them essentially being the same person. Katy will be required to change costume during the day, possibly more than once. This is due her double role possibly causing confusion on which character is which at any given moment. This difference in costume will assist the audience in determining just that.

DAYZ Man: Stephen Griffin

DAYZ Man is stand in name this character. He is supposedly the only other survivor other than Eve, and is here to give Eve the push to attack Lucy. Having Stephen play this character is simpler than outsourcing from outside the group and having to incorporate the schedule of another actor.

Luke: Nigel Furminger

Luke is the father of Eve and the reason for Eve heading back home. Like Stephen, casting Nigel is easier than having an actor from the outside.

Filming Scheduling

Filming will take place during the Half Term (23/10/15 to 01/11/15). This way, we will will have the least amount of scheduling conflicts especially with college lessons. Furthermore, we will have more time to iron out any kinks in research, planning, and again, scheduling.

The current dates for filming are:

26/10/15 - This day will be in the Burgess Hill location. This will possibly be the shortest day despite having the most scenes from the film.
Scenes: 1, 2, 3 & 4

27/10/15 - This day will be in the Haywards Heath location. The longest day. The large majority of this will be spent waiting for the sun to reach position.
Scenes: 5, 6 & 7

28/10/15 - A backup day made on the chance that some shots may need reshooting.

Editing experiment

We decided that we needed to make sure one of our edits would work well in our film, so Nigel and Stephen went to a quiet part of the college. We then shot some example shots of Stephen performing one of the shots we wanted for our final project; just to see if it was actually possible and we wouldn't waste time on the shot during a critical period. We used a tripod to make sure the shots were steady enough: as if there was a slight difference in the composition of the shots the effect of the two different (yet the same) characters would be broken. To make sure we didn't ruin the shots we set up a centre line that the character could not cross; in the first example it is the door handle- a focus point. We also placed a line on the floor to make it even more obvious on where not to cross.

In the editing suite we used two different techniques to crop the films together. An 8 point Garbage Matte and a simple crop. The Crop involved overlaying both videos on top of each other. Then cropping the one on top from the opposite side of the subject. This reveals the subject on the other video clip. The disadvantage of this is that the crop line is perfectly straight, and unless the lighting stays the same (as it would on a studio sets)
The Garbage Matte works on a similar basis, cropping into one video to reveal the one beneath. The Garbage Matte has the advantage of being more manipulative than the crop with 8 points of articulation. Furthermore, the feathering option allows the borders of the two videos to fade into each other seamlessly. An issue that needs to be resolved is the feathering giving a transparent edge to the frame. This in turn has made the subject transparent at his edges. This may be solved through further manipulation of the points and feathering, or during Production, altering shot composition so that the actress is not on the edge of the frame.

Crop placed on the door hinge line.

Garbage Matte's feathering can have the points placed nearly anywhere

Inspiration for this idea originated as a natural progression from having a character hallucinating herself in front of her. However it may have also stemmed from the BBC America TV show 'Orphan Black'. Much like this short film, the lead actres, Tatiana Maslany, plays several characters in the show, many of which interact with each other. One of the more ambitious shots of this type, includes a long shot of 4 of Maslany's characters dancing together with a supporting actor. The camera is moving in all directions during this and it was clearly well thought out. What was used was a blue screen, draped onto the set to allow the editors the ability to collate all the dancing together. We have neither the equipment nor the skill for this, therefore, we shall need to keep the camera perfectly still and time the acting very carefully so as not to have a reaction too late or too early. Below is a breakdown posted by BBC America of the shot I am referring of.