Film Opening - Blog Post #5

We Meet Again!

        After researching our genre and creating a backbone for our film opening, all we have to do now is fill in the blanks and solidify the storyline, plot, character(s), and techniques that will allow us to successfully develop our story. Once again, we were able to meet during class to discuss our idea further. Here is what we came up with.

(Virtually) Visiting Our Location

        Since we knew our potential filming spots and our idea, we narrowed down our location to Sabrina's mom's office space and the nearby factory. This allowed us to focus on this specific place and what we could visually show in order to make our story cohesive and understandable. We went on Google Maps and looked at the area through street view, which was extremely helpful for both Logan and I (since we have never been there before). By doing this, Sabrina was able to show us around and point out potential spots, which in turn allowed the entire group to gain a better understanding of what the film opening will look like (and ways we could creatively tell our story). Since this location has a variety of buildings, a factory and an office space, we will be able to get very different shots within the same general vicinity. 

        Since we want our post-apocalyptic film opening to show a person surviving and searching for resources, we could film in the offices during non-working hours and make the place look abandoned, possibly through lighting, messy set design and audio (silence and basic foley). We could also utilize the nearby factory to not only get an interesting filming location, but also to emphasize that the character is actually living in a post-apocalyptic world (since factories are not usually open to the public). Moreover, we could film between the buildings where the grass is and have the opening end with the character finding out that they are not alone (by showing the train passing through the area that the character thought was completely abandoned). Knowing that all of these places are available to us, our group is now very excited to see what we can do and how to make this film opening as creative as possible, all while establishing a cohesive story and dark mood.

Here are some pictures of our filming location! As you can see, there are a lot of possibilities...

Other Available Resources

        Surprisingly, our filming location is not the only interesting resource we have available to us. Since Logan's dad works in the production industry, he happens to have a GoPro that we could attach to a drone (which he also has) in order to get some overhead establishing shots. This would not only bring up the quality of the film opening (since drones are usually not available to high school students like us), but also allow us to create that dark mood of abandonment and isolation by showing that the character is fully alone. Unfortunately, we would have to get the shots blindly (meaning we won't be able to see the shots as we get them), but Logan's dad will be there to supervise and give us advice on how to capture the shots we want. We really do think that having this resource available to us will help us fully establish the character's aloneness but also give us the opportunity to learn about drones and how to use them. I am very excited to see what we do with this!

Production Techniques

        After discussing the whole drone idea, we began to talk about our personal equipment and what we could do in order to pull this idea off. We conversed about lighting, types of shots, and times that we would like to film. First of all, in order to create the dark and abandoned mood we want, we thought that using more low-key lighting would benefit us. The only problem with this, however, is that shooting without sunlight can get difficult very quickly (unless you have the equipment and skills to pull it off, of course). Thankfully, Sabrina happens to have lights we could use in addition to the small light kits that Kimberly and I have. This would allow us to create that moody, cinematic lighting we want (however, I want to research cinematic lighting more before filming just to make sure we are prepared). We will also have access to Sabrina's new camera, which is much better at capturing video in low-light situations in comparison to my Canon T7i. 

        In addition to the type of lighting we want and the equipment that is available, we decided that we will be using a lot of wide and extremely wide shots (especially when the character is scavenging) to establish that they are alone. We also decided when the shots should look more stable and when they should be shot handheld, since a lot can be told through the way the camera is moving. We chose to keep the camera stable throughout the scenes of them scavenging inside, while shooting handheld while the subject is outside (to give it more of a "survival" look). We also decided to have Sabrina in front of the camera (since she the best actress among us) and have one of us behind the camera with the other two taking care of lighting and making sure that everything is running smoothly. 

Conclusion

        Overall, I am feeling quite excited to start fully planning this film opening and eventually start producing it. I think it has a lot of potential and with our group's efforts combined, I am confident that we will be able to create a high-quality video. Next, we will have to refine our story outline, get more pictures of the office from Sabrina's mom, and find out when the train passes (in order to start creating our filming schedule). We hope to visit the location in person before filming in order to avoid any issues. I'll let you guys know how our project progresses! I have a good feeling about this film opening...