Friday 27th February

Today the thriller opening sequence must be handed in by 3 pm. The soundtrack was not done so I had to do it because no one else was coming in to do it. I got to college at 9 am bearing in mind I did not start until one. I was starting on the soundtrack when Tony came in, after a while. We went slowly through the sound bank trying to compose a decent enough soundtrack for our thriller.. At break I left to have a break and left Tony in charge, which was my mistake as Tony did not even save the work and I had to restart the soundtrack after lunch. Zeneath briefly came in to see the sequence but did not participate. I had a lesson but told my teacher I had to finish this project so the teacher allowed me to stay until I completed it. In the edit suite I sat there by myself trying to complete the soundtrack even though Tony looked through the sound bank for music and put aside the ones he thought were decent which was very helpful. It was very hard to make the soundtrack and this has shown me how much of a difficult job the production team of a movie have. After finding music suitable to the action in the thriller I had to save it in Soundtrack Pro and then compressed the file and exported it to FinalCut Pro then had to save it there in a different format, I checked for any final changes and then I save the completed sequence. Then the thriller was completed, I thought I had trouble with the soundtrack as it was not flowing with the action it seemed to be about two seconds behind, so I fixed that with the help of Mary and the finally I felt complete. I the showed Nicole who came in just as I finished, I showed her and then I save the project and the feeling of completion was great knowing that I did a great deal of the work.

Thursday 26th February

Today was the day before the deadline, we had a lot to do which seemed impossible to complete in an hour and a half. We had to add a soundtrack and credits to our opening sequence which I feel is a little late as now we were rushing to complete it. The group previously thought we would finish this sequence in 3 lessons as the idea of The Lady Killer was very simple. 

I was editing and I had Nicole helping out, telling me which footage she thought went well, but basically I felt that the opening sequence was not that great but I could only work with what I got and did not think the camera shots were that good but all I could do was edit it to make it better which I think I did. As I added in slow motion towards the end of the sequence where Nicole leaves Tony on the floor, I felt that created tension to Nicole also where Tony falls to the floor the slow motion used there allows us to portray to the audience that he has been knocked unconscious. Those I feel are the best parts of the opening sequence. 

We tried to do the credits which I did, where I feel I was a bit biased as I wanted to put my name as director as I feel I have contributed to the group the most, but that caused an argument so I decided not to put no one's name. 

I put Nicole and Tony as an actress and actor.

Zeneath did the camerawork. 

Nicole also came up the theme so I put that down. 

I did the editing and the soundtrack.

After that all we had to do was the soundtrack which we attempted during the half-term but gave up after the sounds were not that great. So we left it and decided it would be done tomorrow by Tony. 

Day one of filming - 26/01/09

Today we knew exactly what we were doing. Myself and my group arrived in our lesson very promptly which was the start of success i thought. Because we did not have to wait around for any one we just got straight down to work. As soon as we were all present we went straight to Mary informing her that we were ready to leave. She took our details which included mobile numbers, our time schedual, the location we were going to ect. which was followed by what equipment we were planning on taking.
From there we headed off to the technicians room where we picked up the equipment we needed and then begun our journey to London bridge.As soon as we had arrived at our destination we didnt waste anytime in getting started. Myself and Rebecca were incharge of filming and directing the scene. Nichole and Tony were the stars of our film. I started off with a slow pan from a perspective showing the sights of Tower bridge, across the River Bank, then gradually coming onto the London Bridge where the camera met Nichole walking down towards the end of the road.
Rebecca then started to track with the camera keeping the it focused on Nichole continuously walking but also focusing on her surroundings which showed tony waiting by the railings. We then shot from many different angles and many different perspectives showing Nichole walking down the stairs which lead to where all the drama begins. Unfortunately after this i was voted unexpectedly off the camera and over rided by Rebecca. So this is were my film career ended sadly. So while Rebecca and Nichole where filming me and Tony were looking after the film equiptment until it was time to head back.

Thursday 22/01/09 - location, location, location!

In the media lesson today we went over our production schedule and storyboard to check we were ready to start filming. Everything was complete but the only problem was that Tony and Nicole had accidentally foregotten they're props and costumes at home. We all came together as a group and decided that we cant just waste valuable time so instead we went location hunting!

Our teacher suggested a road not to far from college which looked very promising. We needed a road that could pass for an upper class area with Victorian houses, but also lead off into estates and new blocks. After observing and taking lots of pictures we thought maybe it wasnt what we could use. It gave the edge we needed to show that thrilling effect which Rebecca liked alot but me, Tony and Nichole weren’t to sure.

We asked for advice from the media technician and he said it would be a bit bland just walking throughout the whole two minute concept. So after a brief discussion we decided that we would use a another location to make our film concept work and make it more effective. So Nicole and Tony decided they would look for a location on Saturday which unfortunately i had to miss but told both of them in advance. In the end London Bridge was chosen which was one of our choices from the begining so i was pleased.

Monday 02/02/09 - cancelled

Unexpectedly, due to the weather college was closed and this meant me and my group loosing a 3 hour lesson. This time could have been used for either filming or editing. Due to this unfortuneate event, we have lost valuable time meaning that my group and the rest of the class are at risk of falling behind as the deadline date has not been changed. This only means that we have to put all our effort into our work to ensure that everything will be complete by the 27th of Feb.

Monday 23rd February

Today we had already scheduled what we going to do. Upon arrival to the lesson we went into the editing suite, everyone was prepared to film, Nicole and Tony had their costumes and props. Our decision today was for Nicole,Tony and Zeneath to go filming and I would have stayed back and do the soundtrack. We decided to split into groups to get each section of our project done quicker, I feel I am better at the music and Zeneath feels she's better at filming. But this did not happen of course because Zeneath had a dentist appointment and had to leave early so Me, Nicole and Tony decided we can not do the filming. Instead we did some more editing adding effect like cross dissolve and dip to colour to enhance our bad thriller's good points. We then started the credits which was not that hard to do, Mary showed us how to do it. But now we feel our thriller is not the best it could be and team work would have made our project better but unfortunately I do not think people realised this in the beginning but at least we are nearly finished.

Rebecca Thursday lesson

On the Thursday lesson after the extreme weather on Monday, it was another bad day for us to film due to large amount of rainfall that day. It would also prove very difficult for us to edit our clips for one minute in our clip it is not raining then next it begins to rains suddenly which would cause continuity in our thriller. We took the camera out none the lesson and done some shooting of sceneries to put into our thriller.

Rebecca lesson - 05/02/09

Today there was a change of plan as we had planned to continue filming due to being unable to finish filming completely in the previous lesson, however as Rebecca’s lesson only lasts for 1hour and 30minutes there was not much point in travelling all the way to London Bridge as by time we would have gotten there, it would have been time to come back making it not worth our while. Due to the distance of our location, we thought, instead of not doing anything constructive with our time we decided to go into the editing sweet and start editing. We then borrowed an editing camera and hard drive connecting both equipments to the Mac, where we begun to log and capture our work which we had filmed last lesson. After we had finished that, we began to place all the clips together, so that we could at least have an idea of what we had already done, leaving us enough time to change or improve any parts if necessary. After finishing editing what we had already filmed, we realized that the footage we had filmed could have been better, as there was some issues such as the floor was uneven, we had some trouble with the amount of people that was walking past, etc. All these problems interfered, along with some faulty shots we took which all contributed to the disappointing outcome. Nevertheless, luckily we starting editing before we were expected to, giving us enough time re-film, and not make the same mistakes we made before. We were more determined to make sure we took more than enough valuable shots so that we could have an impressive outcome. Based on this, we planned to reschedule what we were going to be doing the following lesson in order to fit everything in without losing out on any time.

Lesson cancellation due to snow

The following Monday after editing our clips to see that they were not good to we suppose to film on this Monday. To my surprise on waking up on the Monday morning to see that the snow over the night had built up so much that there was no public transport so millions of people were unable to go to work. I myself was able to get into college easy because I could walk to college but college was closed due to the safety risk which made it very dangerous for students and teaches alike to travel to college.

This cancellation of college was a huge blow to our group and everyone else’s group alike I believe because it was a 3 hour lesson that we could of been film. This would most definitely cause a set back for our group for the coming lessons. In my opinion, I think that we should have had our deadline for our thriller opening extended because of the weather which was completely out of our control. Though I also believe at the same time that we shouldn’t get extra time because in real film making when a deadline is set that it needs to be meet no matter the circumstances, so we must work extra hard to make up for the lost time due to the snow.

Editting lesson

In Rebecca lesson we was suppose to film but due to the distance of our location we decided not to film that day and rather not doing anything we used our time wisely and to edit the clips we already had from the previous lesson. Rebecca said this was completely fine to do. We had to borrow out an editing camera and our hard drive. We connected the camera and hard drive up to the Mac and begun to log and capture our work. Once we had finished logging and capturing we were task to put out clips together, as we put out clips together we realised that we had done very poor filming and many of our clips were not good enough to use for editing. This was due the lack of knowledge of how to film. Thankfully to the editing lesson we were able to see that we needed to rethink on our filming and start filming over again. So we planned to start all over again the following Monday lesson.

First film lesson of our thriller

On the Monday morning we all got to the lesson at 9:00am, right on time every1 was ready to go, me and Nicole had our costumes ready and set to go all we need now was to get the camera which was taken care of by Rebecca and Zeneath while me and Nicole were getting our costumes on. Once we was all set Me and Nicole need to inform the group about our Saturday trip to look at locations and tell them which location we thought was best and ask of their opinion. It was an easy decision because the whole group agreed to film there after hearing what I and Nicole had to say. Once that was all done we was set and ready to go all we need to do is tell Mary where was going to film and we was set on our way.

We hoped onto the 43 bus which took us all the way there, we knew which bus to take exactly because we had been there previously. Once we had reached London Bridge we got down to film right away. We did shots of the scenery to establish the location which we set it in, which Rebecca and Zeneath both tired doing. Once that was dealt with the scenery shots we moved to the shots of Nicole. We had pans of Nicole walking down the bridge and down stairs, which took up a large amount of time to our surprise. Once that was complete the same was need to be done to me and over the shoulder shots of me. We had done so much shooting that we didn’t realise it was almost time to go back so we had to pack up and get the equipment back for 12:45am.

Searching for the perfect location

Me, Zeneath and Nicole and decided on the Thursday lesson arranged that we would meet up on the following Saturday to look a other possible locations that we could film our thriller opening. We had already sorted out a time and date that we was going to look but Rebecca was unable to attend because she had other matters to attended which she informed us about, which was also unfortunate. On the Saturday we meet up but only me a Nicole had appeared and we knew that Zeneath could not make it, as she already told us in advance. None the less I and Nicole went to look at locations. We already had a location in mind which was London Bridge so we went there to check it out and takes pictures on my camera phone. Once we had finished looking around it was time to report back the whole group and see what there views was on the location that we had chosen, the following lesson.

Half Term Workshop

During the half term the college was running a workshop where anyone could come in and finish there work as we had previously missed a lesson due to snow. So my decided we would attend and edit the rest of the sequence and make a soundtrack if possible. But only Nicole, Tony and I turned up we called Zeneath but she was sleeping unfortunately and did not really want to come. So all the hard work got pushed to us again, we attended from 9am til 1. The workshop would have benefited us as a group because it would help us get ahead as we were personally a couple weeks behind. The workshop was alot of help as we logged and captured all of our shots and started editing again. The shots they filmed of Friday 13th February but I wasn't there as I was on a university trip to sussex and it was already paid for so I had to miss this session. The shots logged were not that great and I had realise that the group were making big decisions without me so I decided I could not miss another filming session no matter the case so I re-scheduled with the group to film again next week Monday 23rd February.
Back to the workshop we did a basic soundtrack and did a first edit which was not that bad, but obviously we knew it needed work but it was not alot. Making the soundtrack was hard we went through a bank of musical sounds and instruments and we still did not find a rhythm that we liked and that we thought went well with our piece. It was extremely difficult as our opening sequence is a very slow paced piece so we had to find music to fit.

Thursday 12th February

Today we decided that we were going to go filming we travelled to London Bridge our location of choice and started filming. The weather was not great it was very cold and was starting to rain. However we knew we needed to get as much as possible done to we started filming regardless. When we got there we knew what we needed to do, as we edited on Monday it revealed the flaws in our camera work. With Zeneath on the camera Myself and Nicole directed the camera angles that needed to be shot. The camera shot were okay we thought as this point we thought it could only get better. We stayed at the location until 3 and Tony kept the camera until the morning where they we going to go filming again.

Monday 9th February

Today we came to college for another day of filming, hopefully we thought. But again unfortunately we could not film so we decided to edit the shots that we had.

The shot we edited were the shots that i had taken in the previous filming day. The shot were okay and we were going to use them. Afterwards we went into the editing suite and started editing , I edited what we had got and it seemed okay, only to find that our whole concept for our thriller idea had changed and we needed to avoid showing the characters faces. So that meant that all the shots I used were not able to use.

Whilst editing I noticed that the were so many shots missed out and that the footage did not flow,  so we planned another retake which would have been on friday which I could not attend.

Monday lesson with Mary - 02/02/09

Unfortunately, because of the unexpected weather we had, college was not open meaning we lost 3hours worth of lesson time, where we could have either been doing filming or editing. Due to this, not just us, but the whole class has the ability of falling behind as the deadline date has not been changed. This only means that we have to work extra hard to ensure that everything will be finihed by the 27th of Feb.

Monday lesson with Mary - 2/02/09

Unfortunately, because of the unexpected weather we had, college was not open meaning we lost 3hours worth of lesson time. Due to this, not just us, but the whole class is falling behind as the deadline date has not been changed.

Rainy Day

Thursday 6th February

We assumed after the snow day that we would be ready to film immediately to catch up, as we were now a week behind but as it was raining we couldn't continue. We could film as when we shot the first half it was not raining and it would not a very good opening sequence because both days were different. Eventhough it was raining no one came prepared anyway. So after that lesson we realised were two weeks behind and we need to organise ourselves properly.

Snow day

Monday 02th February

Today we were suppose to have a media lesson but of course that did not happen as it was snowing and public transport had all buses suspended so there was no way of getting to college.
Because of the snow it was cancelled which has put us two weeks behind schedule but becuse we had nearly completed our opening sequence we know we are not to far behind but on thursday's lesson we will be filming hopefully so we can complete the opening sequence and continue editing as soon as possible.

Rebecca Lesson - 29/01/09

In this lesson we had planned that we were going to be filming, however, the previous night, Tony had told me not to bother bringing in my costume as we were no longer filming, due to the length of our lesson. It would have not been enough time to travel there, film the last fraction, and travel back all within the time of the lesson. (The lesson only lasts 1hr30mins). In this case, instead of wasting the lesson, as a group we decided to use the time efficiently, and go into the editing sweet, and begun to edit what we had already filmed, leaving only a small part to film, and a small part to edit, keeping us ahead of what we were expected to accomplish by each week. We also decided to start editing, as it allows us to see what we have done so far, giving us enough time to make improvements, in case we need to re-film any parts.
As I looked threw each clip we filmed, organising it and naming each clip, making it easier for editing, I felt like we needed to re film some parts as the ground was unlevelled and uneven, causing some parts hard to edit as you could easily notice this fault. This is an issue I will be discussing with my group as I feel like it is vital to re- film these parts in order to get a better grade.

First filming session - 26/01/09

As we were much organised, on Monday we knew exactly what we were doing. Myself and my group arrived in our lesson very promptly which was good, because we did not have to wait around for any one we just got straight to business. As soon as everyone had arrived, we went straight to Mary, informing her that we were ready to leave. She then took our details, (as in our mobile numbers, what location we were filming in etc), followed by what equipment we were planning on taking. From there we just went straight to the technicians room where we picked up the equipment we needed, and then begun our journey to London bridge.
As soon as we had arrived at our destination, we got straight to work, Zeneath and Rebecca were the camera men, and myself and Tony were the actors. We started off with a slow pan from a perspective showing Tower bridge, across River Bank, then gradually onto the London Bridge, where the camera meets me walking down towards the camera. We then done a tracking keeping the camera focused on me continuing walking, however also focusing on my surroundings, which shows tony waiting by a railings. We then shot from many different angles, and many different perspectives, showing me walking down the stairs which leads to where all the drama is going to take place. At this point, the camera again pick up on tony while walking out a building towards me. Next, we show an over the shoulder shot, showing things from Tony’s perspective, over looking the River Bank, and me walking down another flight of stairs. We then use a long shot showing tony walking down the same flight of stairs. Coincidently, we saw a security man who insisted on playing a role in our script, therefore we asked him if he did not mind playing a police officer, telling me to stop hanging around. At this point of time, it had already reached 11:45, and we were expected to be back before lunch which is at 12:15, therefore we decided to pack up and start heading back to college, as we had finished majority of the filming anyway, due to our good teamwork and determination, leaving us a small minority left to do.
As a group, we decided to continue this filming in our next lesson which was on Thursday 29th.