Progress Journal: How I feel about doing Pre-Production Work

Pre-production is the process of gathering ideas, planning, and preparing for the film. Pre-production work includes storyboards, script, shooting schedule and preparation for costumes, props, makeup, locations and sets, etc. 

Even though doing pre-production work takes a lot of time and effort, it has given me an opportunity to improve the mise-en-scéne our film and change how our final work would look. I will be researching about Western costumes, props and makeup, which would help make our film appear more realistic and help the mood, environment and story to be set and conveyed easily. Pre-production work also allows me to organise what I need for the film. Our group listed out the props, costumes and equipments that we need and also planned out the shooting dates and locations that are suitable for filming. The storyboards and script would also give us a very clear idea of what the story is about and what camera shots, angles and movements we will be using. With a very clear and detailed plan, the shooting process of our film should be performed smoothly. 

Progress Journal

20th September, 2014

Today, Tung Tung, the director of our film, and I decided on the final plot of our film. Our group has chosen a 30-second scene from the movie, The Lone Ranger, and we will be reverse engineering it. In the scene, it jumps back and forth from one scene to another, which made it very confusing. Tung Tung and I had to do some research on the movie to understand what the scene is about. After combining the ideas from our group mates and working out the details of our plot, we finally came up with a story for our film. 

23rd September, 2014

Today, we went location scouting in the school auditorium.

I have written a detailed blog post on my location scouting experience:

http://y9candacelaw.blogspot.hk/2014/09/location-scouting-auditorium-cis.html

24th September, 2014

We started working on our production portfolio today in film class. I have created a list, listing our what I should include in my production portfolio. Then, I began to research on some camera movements, angles and shots. I did not do much in class as it took me a very long time to figure out what I should include in my portfolio. Therefore, I need to work more efficiently.

26th September, 2014
Today in class, I continued working on my production portfolio. I did some research on how to create realistic fake blood. In addition, I started working on the final storyboard and script. I tried to find the script of the original movie, however, there weren't any results. As I am the camera operator, I am responsible for most of the storyboard. It was difficult to decide on what shot I should use for some scenes that were not in the original movie. Hence, I should do more research on camera shots and movements before I start working on the final storyboard. 

3rd October, 2014

Today is our first shooting day. Originally, we planned to look for costumes and props that we need and start filming on St. Stephen's Beach afterwards. However, unfortunately, we were not able to film because it started to rain.  Therefore, after buying the costumes and props that we need at Stanley Market, the actresses changed into the costumes and we took some photos of both the costumes and the props. I genuinely hope that the mise en scene of our film can clearly show characteristics of Western films.

Location Scouting - Auditorium @ CIS 23 / 9

Today after school, I went location scouting in the school auditorium along with the director of our film. We took some photos and here are some of my findings:

We will be shooting two of the scenes of our film in the auditorium.

Shot (1) from The Lone Ranger 

The Indian (Kaia) will be standing on the stage (in the front) and the little girl (Yoonjin) will be standing near the door.

Shot (2) from The Lone Ranger

What we will be shooting

Our camera (with tripod) would be placed on the stairs for Shot 1. For shot 2, the camera would be placed near the seats. 

Of course, there would always be obstacles and challenges that we will encounter: 

I have found solutions to solve these problems.
                                   


As you can see from these two photos, the "Exit" sign above the door is very bright. You can see the reflection of the light on the floor. To solve this problem, we can ask the support staff to turn the light off. Secondly, the lectern would be in the way of the camera's view. We will move it away when filming. Lastly, I noticed that the air conditioners in the auditorium tend to make loud noises. We can ask the support staff to turn the air conditioners off for us. 

I realised that location scouting is a very important job. It is essential to pay attention to all the details to make sure that the location is suitable for filming. 

Camera Notes

Camera Basics

Camera Model: Canon HFM400

1. Make sure that the camera is on M (Manual)
2. Turn on the camera by pressing the Power button
3. To record: Red button (in the back) - Start / Stop
4. Initialize SD card

• Do not touch lens 
• Right side of Camera - SD (Secure Digital) Card 
• On top of camera - Zoom (left: W - wide angle , right: T - Telephoto)  

Screen 

Top Left - Function

Top Right - Battery 

Hand - Stabilization

PF25 FXP - 25 frames per sec

Settings

--> Function Button 

Initializing 

- Menu --> Initialize (1. Wipes all footage in the card 2. formats the card) --> Card A --> Press Initialize --> Press 'Yes'

White Balance

White Balance: Telling the camera what pure white is

--> Custom WB

To set custom WB, put a piece of white paper in front of camera (3cm / 4cm) and then remove paper, wait till symbol stops flashing

Every time you move to a new location, you have to set the White Balance again.

Focus

--> MF (Manual Focus) button --> Touch where you want to focus and 'target' will appear 

Leave some distance between background and character

Exposure : Overall Brightness of an image

Press M --> Increase to make it brighter / Decrease to make it darker 

Onscreen Markers

Function --> Menu --> Onscreen Markers

Level (White) 

Level (Grey) : Shows grid -- Rule of Thirds

* To reset everything: Switch back to Auto and then back to Manual 

* Every time you move to a new location, you have to set the White Balance, Focus and Exposure. 

• Tripod

- Three Legs - 2 sections each leg 

- Side of tripod has a lock 

- Pan arm for movement 

- Green air bubble : tells you if the floor is level

- Base plate - Lock --> Slides down plate --> Line Camera with plate --> Tighten it (do not over-tighten)

Movements 

- Tilt: Up and Down

- Pan: Side to side 

• Microphone

Videomic Pro Compact Shotgun Microphone 
Attaching:

Get Adapter --> Open top of camera ("magic door") --> Slide Microphone Adapter (Bottom) in --> Turn dial to lock --> Plug in microphone "Mic" --> Turn on microphone 

Function --> Menu --> AV/Headphones (Audio Output of Camera) --> Headphones

Turn headphone volume up:
Function --> Menu --> Headphone Volume

1. Attach
2. Turn on microphone O: Off I: ON 『: Cuts all low sound frequencies
3. Input Volume of Microphone: -10 (If it is too soft, put it on 0)
4. Headphone Volume & Microphone Volume

In-Camera Control
Mic. Level: ALWAYS Manual - Adjust
Green Dot: Decent Sound

Microphone Volume | Headphones Volume
Make sure you ADJUST both of them

Input Volume of Microphone: -10
(Manual) Microphone Close to 70
Headphone 8-10 / 15

*AIR CONS OFF

Always wear headphones when recording
Try to avoid using the small headphones (Apple)

At the end of section (during class time),  capture the footage and plug the camera in (with battery) and charge it.

Battery Lifetime: An hour and 40 mins
Take extra battery if you are shooting for a long period of time and make sure you charge before shooting
The camera will only charge when it is off.

Little Door at the back: Power plug

What does a professional location scout do?

Location scouting is a very important process when it comes to filmmaking. Location scouts start searching for locations that are suitable after directors have decided what kind of scenery they need in their film. Searching for locations might seem like an easy job, but actually, professional location scouts have to consider a lot of factors, such as weather conditions, costs and lighting. They also need to ask for permission for access from the owners of the locations. 

My Artistic Statement

In this unit, we are creating Western films and our group has decided to reverse engineer a film based on a scene from The Lone Ranger, a Western film directed by Gore Verbinski. There are different camera shots and movements used in the scene that we picked from The Lone Ranger. As the camerawoman, I hope that I will be able to recreate the scene by controlling the shots and movements of the camera. In addition, I want our film to be easily identified as a Western. Therefore, our work has to clearly possess the characteristics of Western films, focusing particularly on the mise-en-scène. Ultimately, I hope that our group can create an interesting film that the audience would enjoy watching.