Draft One Notes 1/2

We filmed the practice on my iPhone and I edited the clips together on iMovie.

We wanted to do a practice run of the whole film to make sure all the characters knew the plot, order and how the whole thing was going to come together. There were a few problems along the way but we can learn from this and make sure the real one is the best it can be.

When we filmed the practice, we only used a phone to film because it didn't matter as we knew it would only be a draft. Filming with a phone made all the scenes very shaky which lowers the quality of content and can distract the audience. It also makes the film look unprofessional. 

Filming on a phone meant that some of the shots were blurry or grainy, especially as it started to get darker. When we film the real thing we will make sure to use a higher quality camera and a tripod.

The natural light outside, during winter, changes dramatically very quickly. When we started filming Jenna's outside scenes it was light outside but, by the time we finished we needed someone so shine a torch in her direction so the camera could pick up her face. This means that in the film some of the clips don't flow smoothly as in one scene it'll be light and the next its almost pitch black. This is very disorientating and confusing for the audience.

It was also very difficult to coordinate with the actors when they were needed and sometimes we struggled with getting them in the right place at the right time. For practice filming we had to substitute some of the characters so the story still makes sense once edited.

To solve both of these problems, before filming anything for real we will make a full schedule with all the cast and crew and make sure everyone knows where they need to be and when.

Inside lighting was also a problem during filming as some rooms we tried to film in were too dark and there was no way of changing that in the moment. As a result some of the scenes look like they are set in different places even though its the same house. This can be really confusing for the audience as they might not follow whats going on if it looks like their location keeps changing. This can we especially confusing as during the 'getting ready' sequence, the shots alternate between Jinx and Brittany getting ready.

One solution to this problem would be to take some lamps with out to each location to make sure the rooms are not too dark but also the brightness stays the same in each room.

There is not sound or dialogue during the practice film as this was purely for the cast and crew to understand the order of filming and how it would work when we do it for real. 

This was also so that we could write about what was going to go where, with visuals to make it easier when we look back it it when editing the final cut.