Post 18

Whilst planning for our filming, we came across a lot of obstacles which needed sorting before attempting to film otherwise it would cause disastrous effects on the final result. The two main problems were the weather and actors required for our film. The weather would affect continuity issues and the actors were hard to get as they were chosen from our school and obviously had their own lessons/things to do.

The main actor couldn’t do some of the days we had originally set to film due to personal commitments therefore we had to pre-plan in advance and set dates according to our main actors diary in order to prevent any clashes leading to no main actor.

The weather was a main issue as at the time we had set to film, the majority of days were fine however we had the odd day which would suddenly change leading us to delay filming, although at some points our cameraman was capable of adjusting the camera in order for each filming scene was the same as what was required. Also we had to be careful when it was raining due to the equipment costing a lot of money therefore could be damaged by the rain, we protected such equipments like the camera by placing an umbrella on top.

Another problem we came across whilst filming certain scenes was a primary school located to the side of the alley way in which our filming took place. This became a problem due to the noise of the students; our filming took place during their break time therefore the primary school pupils were on the field producing noise which distracted our filming which needed to be taken in a quite surrounding, also the nursery within the primary school had finished early meaning there were many parents who had come to collect their children which also distracted our filming. These interferences became a problem as the scene was supposed to reflect an early morning time period therefore a quite surrounding, whereas the parents would affect continuity issues as in some shots they would be there, and in others they wouldn’t. However our main problem was sound, as once we had finished filming we looked back on our recordings and noticed there was no sound, this was due to one of the microphone sockets being faulty, resulting in our group having to record these scenes once more.

After the mishaps of the first couple of scenes we filmed, our first successful filming was scene 5 in the science classroom. This was filmed after school as it was the only time any science room would be free. We only had three extras in the end however after a group discussion we realised that many sixth form classes do not have many students anyway so the lack of extras would not be an issue. Before we began filming, as a team we ensured the classroom was fit for the scene according to the script; this included the use of books, pencils, planners etc.

When we filmed the first two scenes again, we all realised we were more equipped and prepared to film as we had a better understanding of the surrounding and picked the times we knew would have fewer interruptions. Also due to the sound not being recorded before, we all became a lot more cautious to ensure the sound was constantly working. Other problems we encountered was unwanted noise by cars travelling along the road, aeroplanes, a removal lorry parked nearby as well as a dog located in the house we were using to film. Although whilst dealing with these problems and waiting for an all clear, we used the time to rehearse each shot in order to receive the best final production, as well as ensuring our director, Emily Downer, was happy with how each shot turned out. These rehearsals also proved to be useful for our cameraman, Liam O’Connor, as he now had time to practise how to film each shot perfectly as well as decide on what movement would prove best for each shot.

Once looking back at the filming we had done, we realised that the image our film was portraying was not correct to its full extent; rather than Lucieanne being shown as the bully, she came across more of a victim of bullying. This made us want to enforce the image of her being a bully therefore focused on this a lot when filming the final scene. Within this final scene, Lucieanne was originally supposed to push another student to the ground however as a group we agreed that it was a bit over the top therefore changed this into her pushing a student into the wall.

Also, for the scene in the corridor, we had to change our location from the technology corridor to the English corridor as we realised the original corridor didn’t have enough space and contained too much background noise which we didn’t want.

The main skills I learnt and developed throughout the filming of this project was all the different techniques capable of being used with the boom microphone. One technique was called booming, this includes attaching the microphone to a boom pole in order for the subject to have more space and movement. Others included booming from overhead and underneath.

I also increased my knowledge on lighting, mainly on reflecting unwanted light. This was due to the weather being unexpectedly bright on some days, therefore to prevent any lens glare i had to use a reflector in order to shade the camera as well as ensure the scene was to its expected visual appearance and visible to the audience.