Filming the Preliminary Piece

Saturday: So, yesterday we filmed most of our preliminary piece.

We had to find an appropriate place to film, which didn't take long, as there is an old, mostly disused block in our school which we found had the right atmosphere for the film once the lights were turned off. Actually, since we put the compulsory table and chairsunder a skylight so that we could see the characters in the film, we found it was too bright, but if we moved them away it would be too dark, so we will have to add an effect on afterwards, which we hope won't be too hard. We filmed most of the sequence, only one essential part missing as we ran out of time, so we will finish filming on Monday. For the sake of continuity the actors will bring in the clothes they were wearing yesterday, so that they don't suddenly change clothes half-way through the film.


We filmed out of sequence, so as to make the process simpler, and started with the main conversation, during which the two main characters are both sat at the table. Then we filmed the opening, in which the first character gets up and bumps into the second as she tries to leave, and they both sit down. Finally, we filmed the corridor - empty, and with the third character, who discovers the apparently illegal meeting, standing in the corridor. We still have to film the incriminating speech - "If you tell anybody about this, I will kill you" - that is shown between the two shots of the corridor. This should only take a few minutes, and the editing should also be done by the end of the day.

Monday: We tried to get the footage onto the computer today - we failed, because the camera ran out of battery, but at least we understand how to do it all now. It took Sam and me at least a quarter of an hour to work out how to use the Vegas program. Now we understand, the footage shouldn't be too hard to sift through.

Good times.