Filming!

Photographs

We started by taking photographs of Ellie before we did her make up to make her look as though she had just woken up. The photographs were very successful and we hope to use some of them in our ancillary tasks. Taking photos of each step is a very important process in designing and processing of our products, for we are able to show every aspect of our practical filming and also our making of storyboards and timelines.

We used a variety of angles and places to photograph Ellie, giving ourselves a wider range of photos that could be potential CD covers, posters, etc.

Lights, Camera and... Make up!

The clump of photos below show the process we went through in order to attain a good set of film. We prepared Ellie's make up to the appropriate state (which was waking up, consequently making her make up look smudged). We also set the lights accordingly in order to get the right lighting in the room, making sure our actor's face is not masked in shadow, etc.

Filming

Filming proved to take longer than we expected. This was merely because we did not realise how long it would take to set the lights up, get the shot right, get the set and props right, etc. However, after already filming one set of shots for our initial video idea, we have had some experience already. We found that after starting to film, it became easier to know where the lights should be in order to gain the best outcome in our film. When filming, some shots took longer because we had to get the lighting absolutely correct for the angle and distance we were shooting away from Ellie. Below are the scenes in the bedroom, which will be seen at the beginning of the video.

The bathroom scenes below were probably the hardest scenes to shoot. This was because the spacing in the bathroom was incredibly tight, making it hard to get the right lighting and also making it difficult to film because of the small spacing. We will have to re film a few of these shots in the bathroom because we realised when we played the scenes back that the camerawoman can be seen in the mirror. This is a minor mistake that we can easily rectify by filming again and learning from our mistakes.

Although we were very well equipped with lighting as you can see below in the bedroom scene just before Ellie leaves the room, we did have some problems with the sunlight coming in through the window. We had to cover it with a big white sheet to stop the sunlight from reflecting on the wall as Ellie walks past it. We wanted to follow Ellie down the hallway  with the camera and this was successful, but it took us a few tries to get the right shot, which, evidently is to be expected.

With Ellie leaving the house in the video, we wanted to make it look as though Ellie had gone to the bathroom to sort her make up, put her hair up and put her shoes on. Obviously, we had to take off her smudged makeup and make her hair look a little more tamed than it was when she first woke up. As she leaves the house she also has a coat on, making it evident that she is leaving the house. We have one shot where Ellie walks out the house and comes closer to the camera, looking ahead and consequently walking past the camera, which can be shown in the bottom picture below.

As I said before, the outside scenes were very significant to the story, for Ellie spends half her time in this video outside. We set the camera up on the other side of the road and filmed Ellie for about five minutes sitting on the wall watching cars, people and bikes go past. We wanted it to look as though time was passing, so when it comes to putting this scene in the video, we will speed it up to make it look as though she has been sitting on the wall for a long time. Sitting on the wall, Ellie looks like the type of person who does not care what people think of her, which is the exact characteristics to go for in this character.

Overall, filming went very well, for our first time properly filming our new idea. We have a variety of shots to put into the video, even though we need to refilm a few of them in order to attain a better quality and flawless film!