Day 56-60, 11/25-29

1. Filming Week!

Starting today and throughout the entire week, we will be filming our suspense films. Each group will have 2.5 days of shooting time or five days in total. In other words, we should all aim to be done with production by the end of the week. Make sure to grab all of your equipment quickly go over the shooting checklist. Make sure to review your equipment settings!

Setting up the Camera
Clear the SD Card. Go to Settings > Format to wipe the card clean. Set the sensor sensitivity. ISO to 100/200 if outside, 400/800 if shooting inside. Avoid shooting at ISO 1600. Set the White Balance to AWB to get accurate colours Set the framerate and resolution to 1080, 24FPS is ideal for movie quality while 30FPS is best for Youtube/TV quality

Setting up the Shot
Adjust exposure by changing the shutterspeed and aperture by scrolling the wheel or holding the A/V button while scrolling until the exposure indicator is in the middle of the line Adjust the focus by zooming in on the focus area with the + button in the top right, move it over your subject, then rotate the end of the lens until they appear crisp and clear

Setting up the Audio
Recording close to your actors in a quiet environment? Grab a shotgun (camera mounted) microphone. Make sure to check your connections and frequently review clips to make sure you haven’t lost the proper connection. Otherwise, please grab a boom, sound kit, or portable recorder. Review the procedures and be sure to constantly monitor audio levels. Make sure the microphone turned on and is as close to your actors mouths as possible.

Day 55, 11/23

1. Finalize & Print Script

Finish up edits to your script. It’s always a good idea to have a couple of other people read through it aloud to find any issues with clarity or awkward language. When you are done, print five copies and put it on your clipboard.

2. Finalize Storyboard

If you haven’t done so yet, please finish your storyboard and shotlist. Figure out what props, costumes, locations, and actors you will need and make sure that you will have them on hand for Monday.

3. Prepare Actors

Pair up with another group who will be working as your actors. Pitch the idea, walk read through the script, and show them the storyboard shot-by-shot so they have a good grasp of what will be happening when you shoot. Switch and look through the other script. Afterwards, practice reading through the lines and say them aloud!

4. Production Prep

Find or create props! Scout your locations! Gather your production documents!

5. Start Shot List

Have time left over? Fill out a shot list, putting it in the logical shooting sequence. Remember that we are shooting over a two day period for this project, so break your shoot up appropriately. This will be your road map when shooting, so take care of it! You can leave it with Mr. Gilbar if you are afraid you might lose it.

6. Open Studio

Experiment with lighting and sound equipment. Find and download (or shoot) whatever special effects shots that you need. Grab a camera and shoot B-roll footage (establishing shots, hallways, setting, etc.) Fine tune the script if anything seems clunky. Review your shotlist and see how to best sequence it. Go and check out the locations you are planning to use.

Day 54, 11/22

1. Peer Critique

Sit back and relax! We will be watching the Conflict Through Dialogues at the start of class.

2. Crummy Mistakes

Together, we will come up with some general guidelines for ourselves afterwards on how we can improve afterwards as a class. We have to be able to learn from our own experiences as well as those of our peers. Once it is on this list, they are no longer acceptable mistakes to make.

Day 53, 11/21

1. Finalize Script

Edit, edit, and edit some more! Your final script should be roughly two or three pages long. Time it out to see if it is too long or too short to see if you need to bulk it up or edit it down. Complete the final draft today and print four or five copies. Finish early? Start working on your storyboard!

2. Project Criteria

Please remember, the suspense project will be valued at fifty marks and should satisfy all of the following components (please note that marks are approximate):

  • demonstrate a clear understanding of storytelling by following the five components of plot structure (10 marks)
  • a polished script and complete storyboard (5 marks)
  • suspense is well built through the use of a effective lighting editing (5 marks)
  • audio is well captured and clean, recorded with the boom and/or Zoom recorder (5 marks)
  • music and sound matches the tone and helps build suspense (5 marks)
  • final runtime is 90-180 seconds in duration (3 marks)
  • cinematography is consistently thoughtful and effective (7 marks)
  • performances are well considered and/or directed (7 marks)
  • has one or more believably implemented special effects/green screen effects (3 marks)

3. Storyboard

Work together to visualize your story in advance. Work quickly with simple stick figures to show the sequence clearly. Please remember that you could always stray from the guide and shoot additional shots later on, but that these are just the shots that are absolutely necessary to tell the story.

Day 52, 11/20

1. Partner Pitch

Pitch your concept to your partner. Like we did before, a classic pitch is usually a summary of the story idea in twenty five words or less that conveys the exposition (who, where, and when), the inciting incident (what has happened) and hopefully hooks your audience. You want the excite them on your idea, getting them to exclaim “Now THAT is a movie I need to see!” After you’ve verbally pitched the idea, take a few minutes to read over each script, discuss the merits of each, considering qualitative traits (“your idea is so funny!”) and technical traits (“my idea is on the moon with two robots, which might be too difficult for this project”) to decide on which of the two scripts you want to produce.

2. Revise Script Together

Edit, edit, and edit some more! Work together to polish it into a final script. If you need more time, you may need to work on it from home. It should be roughly two to three pages long. Time it out to see if it is too long or too short to see if you need to bulk it up or edit it down. We will aim to complete the final draft tomorrow. Finish early? Start working on your storyboard!