Short Film | Draft 1

After completing some of the required footage from Day 3, I quickly put together a new edit of the short film over the weekend to help Alex and I visualise better the next few film shots needed as we wait for the next film day. In this draft, I have included the new shots from the city scene we filmed back in December as well as the recent footage of the interrogation scene. On Day 4, Alex and I hope to revisit some of the camera shots we forgot to edit in as well as redoing the running through the woods scene since this was a little bit scrappy in our opinion.

Short Film | Day 3

On the 22nd January, Alex, I and the rest of the film spent the afternoon up at East Hill car park to film the first cut of the interrogation and running scenes for the short film. We all assembled at around 11:15 and began straight away to film the interrogation scene with Luke, Morgan and Alex (with Harry appearing briefly when the fight breaks out in the scene) and eventually the running chase scene with Luke and Morgan after our deadline of 15:00 to give us enough time to setup for the running chase scene.

The film day itself had its highs and lows. Firstly, a low point of the day was the lack of quality footage we had obtained for the necessary scenes that we had planned to film. Despite the organisation we had made prior to film day, there were still a few camera shots which we had forgotten to shoot because of time pressure. We therefore will have to wait until the next film date to film the missing footage which we need to construct the scenes we intend to include in our short film. Another low point of the day was when we were on set. The cold weather which had an effect on our actors as Luke and Morgan, who were already wearing fairly thin materials for their costumes, were beginning to get really cold as the temperatures began to drop. As a result, the quality of their acting when on camera began to decrease as the cold temperature began to affect their overall performances. We therefore spent a lot of time trying to perfect each shot instead of recording all of the footage we needed in the whole day so that we can begin editing with what we've got. On the plus side however, there were plenty of funny moments which helped us to lighten the mood of the day despite the cold weather. One thing which surprised Alex and I the most was how much fun our actors had during the day since they were thrilled in the early stages to be able to take part in this short film production. They were all so enthusiastic when on camera and were really trying their best, despite occasionally letting out a laugh or two when they incorrectly said a line or someone was doing something silly.

Although we didn't completely finish the interrogation scene as we had hoped, we at least managed to film the forest chase scene which we were very pleased about the outcome for. We were able to accomplish this camera shot by driving alongside our actors Morgan and Luke at the same speed as they were running. The two video test shots below show this technique we experimented with.

Overall, the 3rd film day was a success in many areas but also had its flaws as I had already explained. Alex and I are looking forward to begin editing our new footage from these new scenes and look forward to seeing the rest of the cast back on the next film day for re-shoots (10th February). Unfortunately, Harry is going to be unfit to act as of next week as he will be having an operation on his left ankle. Which was just as well that we were able to film the bits where he arrives to the interrogation by car but also being involved in the fight scene.    

The day was probably was one of the most enjoyable times the actors have had so far as they are all great friends with each other and Alex and I and they were all really happy to see each other whilst arriving and performing on set, which meant that in the end we all had a really great time nonetheless and look forward to see each other again at our school Oscars in April!

Preparation For Film Day 3

For the past week prior to our next film day on 22nd January, Alex and I have been organising our filming equipment and props in preparation for our 3rd day of filming up at East Hill car park with the rest of the remaining actors for our short film. Tomorrow, we plan to film the footage for the interrogation scene at the car park as well as the running chase scenes where Luke and Morgan are running after each other in the woods. Alex and I are ticking off on our checklist the equipment we are planning on taking for tomorrow as well as reminding our actors through the group chat on Facebook all of the costumes they will be wearing for tomorrow.

Rough Updated Checklist

We are planning on meeting the rest of our cast members together at around 11:00 and aim to finish at around 16:30 as most of the cast members have other commitments to be working towards aside from the filming. We are therefore hoping to shoot the interrogation scene up until 15:00 and complete the running through the woods scene by around 16:20.

As I did with the previous two filming dates, I will be bringing to the set the same filming equipment as before as well as in addition the Tripod for any still shots which we will be shooting. I will also be bringing some of the costumes worn for Crimson (Alex) and Jack Morgan (Morgan Taverner) as they do not have any of the required costumes they require for the short film. Furthermore, Alex will also be bringing all of the props which he has stored away safely for us to use on set for tomorrow. Props such as the smoke grenades and the stunt guns need to be handled with caution during the day to prevent any injuries happening when on set.


Since we will be filming on a Sunday, we expect it could potentially get very busy by mid afternoon, so we have to make sure that we place signs all across the outside areas of the car park to remind any public members that we are filming and do not wish to be disturbed. Moreover, the weather forecast is expected to be both sunny spells which is the perfect conditions we want for the short film since the grey weather will promote the portrayal of our film in the style of a typical British Action/Adventure genre film.

Risk Assessment 2

Since the filming the cityscape scene in Exeter and looking ahead for the next filming dates, Alex and I thought it would be appropriate to update our current risk assessment for the Day 3 and Day 4 schedules as we are intending on using more dangerous equipment on set and performing more risky stunts. This risk applies to the fight scenes and the car escape scenes.

Color Correction vs Color Grading

In the analog world, "colour timing" was a lengthy photo-chemical process that took place in a photo laboratory. Now colour processing is done digitally; the colour profiles of images and footage can be utterly transformed with just a few clicks of a mouse.

There are two main types of colour manipulation, and their names are often (mistakenly) used interchangeably. Colour correction and colour grading are similar in the process, but different in how and when they are used.

Colour Correction

Colour Correction is a singular process that involves making adjustments to an image to "correct" any deviations from its standard appearance.

These corrections include:

• Exposure
• White Balance
• ISO Noise
• Contrast

Colour Correction can be used to cover mistakes made with camera settings as well as to pull more information from flat-profiles. I should colour correct my footage whenever possible, as it creates cohesion between shots.

Colour Grading

Colour Grading is a multi-process that can change the visual tone of an entire film. Once the footage is corrected, it can work to change the thematic and aesthetics. Grading is used more as a brush to paint a picture with purpose. These include:

• Shot Matching
• Removing Objects
• Shape Masks
• Cinematic Looks (day-to-night, underwater, flashbacks, etc..)

Colour Grading is considered a more "high-end" process than colour correction and it's not used quite as often for most videos. If we are looking to create more detailed colour profiles, I need to be prepared for more labour intensive editing and longer rendering times.

This video below shows the differences between colour graded footage and colour corrected footage.

Improvised Filming Equipment

Whilst Alex and I mostly have the correct filming equipment for this short film, there are going to be some occasions when we will need to improvise our filming equipment since there are certain scenes which will require filming techniques which are not possible to be filmed without the help of additional equipment. Examples of scenes in our short film which will require specialist methods include the scene where the characters are running through the woods, the underside shot of the car and the ending aerial shot.

Alex and I took our time off school one day to go up to the filming locations to test out potential options for filming these scenes which we may have. For the chase scene, we originally going to hire a dolly cam to track our actors whilst they are running past the trees. The solution to how we overcame this issue was by Alex driving in his car at the same speed as the actors running and me sitting in the passengers seat filming at the same time. The photographs below show the planning we have made so far for this shot. 

The actors would be standing the opposite side of the line of trees whilst we drive alongside the actors

In terms of the underside shot, we figured out to attach my GoPro Hero 5 Black in the middle of the road whilst being supported with a couple of sturdy items to prevent the camera from falling forward as the car drives above it at a high velocity. For the sake of the photograph, we used sellotape as this was all we could find to demonstrate the method we are thinking of using!

In addition, for the aerial shot, we improvised our equipment so much to make this shot as close to a genuine aerial shot as possible. We originally thought that it would be preferable to rent out a filming drone to record this last scene, but after looking at our over spent budget for this film so far, we realised that we will need to think of a new method for this ending shot. The solution I managed to come up with would be to strap the GoPro on the boom pole of the RODE Microphone. The long extension of the pole would be high enough for the GoPro to simulate an aerial drone shot, whilst the image stabilization technology of the camera would help stabilise the footage more which will match the stable aerial shot normally achieved on a very expensive drone camera.

Alex and I wish to adhere to the conventions of the impressive cinematography shots made for the Action/Adventure films we have researched (James Bond, Batman etc.). These shots will hopefully make our audience more interested in our short film and will hopefully be asking questions about in the future about how we exactly pulled off these shots.

Crimson | Final Costume Design

Alex and I have now come up with several different design ideas for Crimson's costume. Some ideas we created have been saved and others have been altered slightly to fit more with the character. After several drafts and design tests, we have both now completed a final design which we are both extremely proud of. 

The design of the clothing has been changed for a black coat and hooded sheath which matches the colour of his gas mask. The coat design was also implemented since we wanted to cover up most of the characters body and make the assumption up that he his hiding the non organic limbs he has. The colour of the dark coat now reflects the characters role as a villain in the narrative and makes his presence more sinister when on set. The black colours were chosen since the iconic villains we had researched from Star Wars wore all black clothing and in our opinion scarier than other villains we found such as Bane who had a costume similar to what a marine soldier would wear.

Even though the render above is of a concept we both had for the final design, we were very fortunate to find costumes which match very closely with the concept design we came up with. The photograph below shows the model wearing the costume.

Alex and I are very excited to be bringing the character to life when we begin filming on set after thorough planning for this costume design.

Props and Costume Preparation

During the Christmas Holidays, Alex and I met at his house to begin organising the props we will be introducing in the interrogation scene and car escape scene which we have organised with the rest of the class to be in February and March. For these scenes, we are intending on using smoke grenades and realistic looking BB guns which are unloaded. Prior to the film days, we have clearly informed our cast members as well as putting this warning on our new risk assessment that we will be using dangerous props that may cause significant harm to others if they are not used correctly. If any damage was caused to any members of the public, anyone else on set or even the environment around us, we would be the ones held responsible for any damage that is caused; so we have to be very careful!

In order for our short film to be following the prop conventions of an action/adventure film, we intend on using BB guns which have been spray painted black to remove the orange paint on these guns. The orange paint by UK law is there to visually distinguish the differences between a prop gun and a real firearm. Carrying firearms as we know is complete illegal and the fact that we chose to spray paint a BB gun black increases the risk of public pedestrians confusing our prop guns with real firearms. In order to prevent this risk, we will be paneling on small sign posts on set with warning signs that there are prop guns on set being used. Despite this being an over exaggeration on informing the public about our film props, Alex and I thought it was best to inform any oncoming pedestrians first what is happening rather than running the risk of being accused of carrying illegal weapons.

This sign post is a similar notice we will place alongside the sign post we have previously used which notifies audience members that there is filming in progress. We will reword the use of firearms to make this less obvious to them that we are carrying illegal weapons.

With this in mind, we were also thinking of the same thing with the smoke grenades we will be using since these could become hazardous for the people on set and off set. Such risks include:

• Choking
• Fire hazards
• Blindness
• Irritation Burn

We will be very careful when using these smoke grenades and to only use these at the appropriate time. 

Aside from the risks we both discussed, we were working very hard in his workshop on making the props we needed for the next approaching film dates. The images below show me making the prop guns and adjusting the mask for our character Crimson.