Second Day of Filming!

On Sunday the 7th I was able to head up to the woods again to film the rest of my nighttime scenes. This time instead of just going to the woods, I went to the abandoned farm that I had been so keen to film in. When we got there it was still a lot lighter than we needed it to be seeing as the scenes that we were shooting were going to be edited in after the scenes from the first day of shooting and to have it lighter than that just wouldn't make any logical sense. So we made sure that we didn't get the skyline in the frame. My camera man (Gerard Staines) was able to position the camera so that the light skyline didn't show in the frame making it look just as dark as when we filmed in the woods. 

We began by filming shots of the main character (katie) running in, through and around the farm looking for hiding places. Eventually it was dark enough to film an establishing shot of the farm which was on my to do list after the last day of filming which I was pleased with. 

I was also able to get some shots of the villain snooping around the woods looking menacing and trying not to make a noise that might scare Katie. At one point the freezing cold got to my sister which set the filming process back by quite a bit and she was refusing to be filmed which caused a lot of problems as she is my main and most important character and so without her the film simply wouldn't work. I was able to negotiate with her and the filming carried on smoothly without any more problems. I even accidentally caught some footage of my sister crying on camera which she has given me permission to use which I think will look really good and effective to her being lost in the woods which is exactly what I want.

I was planning on having footage of the villain and main character in the same shot together but instead I had the idea of filming the long grass blowing in the wind to which I will add the voice over of the villain attacking the main character with screaming. With the right editing and filter, I believe this shot will look really scary and will help to build the tension in the film opening.

My next day of filming will hopefully be my last, I'm going to be filming the crime scene investigation in the day time. I have the police tape and all I need is the fake blood which I am going to make and post a tutorial on how to make it soon. My goal is to have filmed this scene before the weekend so I can begin editing it as soon as possible and be able to meet the deadline.

I also managed to get some shots of the woods in the dark and by using the torch and shining it through the woods I was able to take some really spooky shots of the the twigs and branches moving in the wind. I've made it like a point of view shot from the main character's perspective as she's looking for a place to hide. The camera pans across the woods quite quickly as well which looks really good and helps to build up the tension with the dark atmospheric woods.
When editing these shots into my film opening I also managed to add in the title which I'm very please with as it is very jumpy and loud and you don't know when it's going to come up in the film which I find very effective. I've used the same 'Bad TV effect' as I did in in my film institution 'Twisted Productions' and along with some very loud static noise, I've managed to create the perfect jumpy film title. This is really effective as all the scenes before it really build up the suspense and brings the audience into the film when suddenly the title pops up and scares them all which I find to be exactly what I want in my film opening!

My goal is to be finished filming by the end of this week. I planned on filming the last of my footage on Friday the 12th which I managed and now all I have to do is finish editing.