R&P Locations

Wisley Airfield

This is a good location to choose as it offers a wide expansive landscape that is an old airfield, which means it is the closed we will be able to get to having an abandoned city landscape. The locations also gives a good feel of emptiness and will help to make the characters in the scene look small and vulnerable, which is the feeling that we were going for. Wisley airfield also offers a wide range of shots, for example you have the shots of the airstrip itself as well as some open green field shots which will hopefully give good variation to the trailer. This type of location is common in the genre of film trailer that we are hoping to produce, as well as in many zombie films, such as I Am Legend, this is undoubtedly because it makes the characters within the scene look vulnerable and small, which helps to grip the audience.


Weybridge Gravel Pit

Weybridge gravel pit is another good location for use to use as it offers an old industrial site which is good for our film as it is based after a chemical war, this location offers all the features that we need to make our trailer look good. As the site has been abandoned it means that it is old and rusted as seen in the pictures, this will hopefully mean that we have a good set of scenic shots for the trailer. We plan on filming in this location early in the morning to to give it an even more desolate feel, as well as to avoid the traffic noises from the road near by. Industrial sites in the same genre are also common as it help to allow the audience to understand what has happened in the film if it had not already been disclosed to them in the narrative of the film, however, as our production is just the trailer for a film, it will be a good idea to incorporate some shots that will help the audience to identify what has happened in the film and what the film will be about.

 

Filming Diary 1

Day 1 of filming

We went down to Wisley airfield to do the first session of filming. We got some establishing shots of the main character in the post apocalyptic setting. We got some good shots of the main character exploring the desolate world after the events. The weather was good other than the wind which made the audio a little muffled which may mean we need to ADR that section of the film. The lighting was perfect and gave the scene a good desolate feel. The clouds stopped the light causing over exposure. The location that we chose was also extremely good and gave the footage the feel that we were hoping for. The location itself was very good for the shots we had intended to get there, however we did not get all the shots that we were hoping for which means we will need to go back there at a later date and get some more of the story based shots as we did not get many of the story shots when we where there due to a lack of time. After getting the rest of the shots at Wisley that we need we plan to go and get some other shots from the other locations mentioned in the location research. Other than the fact we didn't get all of the shots we had intended on getting the filming we did went well.

Things that went well:
We got some good scenery shot that will be placed at the start of the trailer.
The main character is introduced in the shots we obtained.
The location was a good as expected
The light level were perfect for filming

The challenges:
The wind levels on the day of filming were high, meaning that some of the audio in some of the shots is not suitable for use in the trailer
Time constraints meant that we did not get all of the shots that we wanted to get and means we will have to return to the same location to finish filming, however this is not a bad thing as we have come up with a few other shots that would be good at that location and will have to go back anyway to film those.

Screenshots from day 1 of filming:

Main character bios'

Chris Robinson

Chris will be the main antagonist in the film, having a relatively small part in it Chris will be the unstable  psychopath which leads the main criminal faction within the wasteland. He will essentially be a sardonic mockery of a human being without any real sense of morals. At his side there will be many inferior thugs which can be used as pawns to him. he will wear clothes similar to many other criminals, bad, dirty jeans with a hoody/ T-shirt. All of them in a state of disrepair to give the character a sense of ruggedness. 

The weapon will change depending on the situation, for example if he is performing an execution style shot to the back of the head then he will have a large, eye catching pistol (such as a revolver) whereas if he is in a fight he will use a compact sub machine gun or a similar, more readily available weapon. This variation will accentuate the unpredictability of the character. He will not really have a set objective, he will exist simply to hurt people for fun.




Will is starring as the main character of our film, he will essentially be a normal person, with no special abilities or traits, perhaps a small amount of military training and a natural sense of intellect, but all of his abilities will be within the capabilities of most normal people. He will lead a small group of survivors which will essentially be the "good" faction of the film. His costume will consist of nothing special, basically just military surplus combined with casual clothes, practical but not so much so that he looks like a professional (such as a soldier or police officer) however it will be practical enough that he looks like he knows what he's doing. 

His weapon will be a simple Colt .45 pistol, this is more for dramatic effect than anything else, it looks much better when everyone is fighting with rifles and shotguns while the main character chooses to use a big pistol, this has been shown in many different films and T.V shows (e.g The Walking Dead, Terminator)  His main objective throughout the film will be something that the average person can relate to, such as searching for a member of family or a friend or simply just to survive.

R&P Questionnaire results

How old are you?

This was generally answered with 15-19, which shows that many of the people who answered this questionnaire were part of our target audience.

What film Genre do you generally like?

Action and horror were among the favourites here, this bodes well for us as our film is mainly an action.

How often do you generally watch films?

This was answered primarily with weekly/2-6 days this is a useful insight into the film habits of our target audience.

Have you ever seen a post apocalyptic film?

Many people said no however much less than what I expected, it shows that this kind of film is relatively recognisable

What is your view on the theme of post apocalypse?

Most people seemed to think the post apocalyptic theme was a good concept, which shows there is still much public interest over our type of film

What catches your eye in the trailer of a film?

The general trend for our answers was the effects, actors, amount of action and generally how the entire trailer catches the audience's eye. We will take this into account while making our trailer.

Is there anything that may be in the trailer of a film that may deter you from watching the actual thing?

Many people talked about corny acting, boring/generic scenes, cheesy effects and basically any indicator that the film is generic or dull. This is relatively useful as we have always been trying to aim to make our film one of a kind and interesting from the first look.

R&P Questionnaire

How old are you?

-Under 10

-10-14

-15-19

-20-24

-25-29

-30-34

-35-39

-40 or over

What film Genre do you generally like?

-Action

-Romance

-Comedy

-Adventure

-Sci -Fi

-Fantasy

-Horror

-Other (please specify)

How often do you generally watch films?

-Every day

-Every 2-6 days

-Every week

-Every fortnight

-Every Month

-Every Year

-Never

Have you ever seen a post apocalyptic film?

-Yes

-No

What is your view on the theme of post apocalypse?

-Very good

-Good

-OK

-I don't know

-Bad

-Very Bad

What catches your eye in the trailer of a film?

__________________________________________________________________

Is there anything that may be in the trailer of a film that may deter you from watching the actual thing?

__________________________________________________________________

Feedback

Well done; you have acted on my last targets. Your blog is looking detailed in terms of research and you have begun to move on to focus on the planning aspect.

To complete over half term:
Location and actor photos/profiles, along with an explanation as to why they are appropriate for your chosen genre.
Questionnaire (and feedback) about your initial ideas.
Initial animatic storyboard.

R&P Story board

Shot 1: This shot will show an establishing shot of the main character in desolate area where everything has been destroyed (hopefully we will be able to use Wisley airfield for this) The camera will pan around the character and the shot will be a medium shot, the shot will then zoom out into a long shot. There will be no dialogue in this shot however there will be the ambient noise from the scene and some music playing
Shot 2: This shot will be for the title credits which show the producer and director of the film. The music will still be playing and the text will fade in and out.
Shot 3: This shot will show two characters talking before the event that the film is based around takes place. This will help to give the audience a better understanding of the background of the protagonist. The camera will do a shot reverse shot of a close up of the two characters and maybe a few over the shoulder shots mixed in.
Shot 4: This is another credits shot but this time it will show more institutional information rather than credits
Shot 5: These shots will be based after the event has happened. The main character will be looking for food and supplies and will be scavenging through houses and building. This sequence will have varied shot types that will include close up and extreme close up shots of the character as well as some of the props. Once again the music will be playing, but this shot will start a voice over monologue from the main character.
Shot 6: This shot will also show the character scavenging for supplies but this shot will focus on the character rather than the objects they are handling, Once again the music will be playing ad the monologue will continue
Shot 7: This shot will be the first encounter that the main character has with other survivors. The camera will swap between the characters focusing on their faces using shot reverse shot as well as over the shoulder shots. At this shot the monologue will subside and the diagetic sound will be the only audible sound apart from the music that is playing in the background.
Shot 8: This shot will be a plain black screen and the monologue will return for a few seconds, then the the next shot will be shown. The music starts to quieten down in this shot and fades to almost silent.
Shot 9: This will be a sequence of fight scenes that the main character has with other survivors. This sequence will be a series of fast cuts and the music will start again. The shot will mostly consist of close up shots and medium shots to help make the sequence faster.
Shot 10: This shot will be a follow on from the previous and will feature fast moving scenes with the music playing and some dialogue.
Shot 11: This shot will be a scene where the main character is meeting the other groups of survivors and the sequence will include some arguments with the other survivors and disputes between the main character and the other characters.