P2(d) Following Production processes

P2(d) Following Production processes 

Meaning: Following production process is a part of filmmaking, video production and photography. It occurs in the making of motion pictures, television programs, radio programs and advertising etc. It is a term for all stages of production occurring after shooting or filming .

Purpose: The purpose for this section is to show how I follow my plans/ storyboard, and what I do to achieve the best result or effect as I wanted it to be. 

Filming Diary

3rd of March: I have filmed these scenes in the 3rd of March, the location was the geography/language department of the school. I decided to film the scenes from the geography block first because I had to book the location from the teachers after school, so it is better to do it as quick as possible. These scenes describe Carmen's life at school, also leads audiences to observe her personality and how she behaves normally. This is very important as it links to her behaviour afterwards and show the audiences her changes. 

I have invited 2 of Carmen's friend to act in the video, firstly because they are good friends of hers, so Carmen could feel more comfortable with them, and perform better in front of the camera, secondly, they can act as the friends of Carmen in the video, as they are there so emphasise the changes of Carmen, like how Carmen treats them and what activities do they do together. 

4th of March- 5th of March : I have filmed these scenes below on the 4th of March, because the project has to be done as soon as possible, so I try to film bits by bits everyday. I have filmed this scene after prep time, because I don't want Carmen to miss her time for doing homework, therefore I chose to do it after roll call from our house. It is because there is only one hour till bedtime, therefore, I have to do everything as quick as possible. I decided to film all the scenes that shares the same location, which is in her room. I decided to do so, because it is her most comfortable zone, that will make the filming smoother and easier. 

It was a bit difficult as there is limited time for me to film, because I have to set up the camera, the tripod, and also organising the props and finding the suitable  camera angle for the scene, because this really affect how the scene looks and the feeling of it. Therefore, I realised I did not have enough time for it, so I spent 2 days to film all the scenes of the activity of what Carmen usually do at home. 

7th March: I filmed the scenes that is located in Austen House, because these scenes are quite convenient to film as the location is our dormitory, therefore I decided to do it quickly after school. These scenes are the scenes that show Carmen's daily routine of her going out to school and her attitude towards her mother, showing her relationship with her parents to the audiences. 

The only difficulty I found was the sunset, as I am only using natural light, therefore, the sunlight is very important for my filming. However, sometimes Carmen has her after school activity, that makes time really hard to manage, eventually, the light seems look acceptable at 5pm after all her school activities, and is clear and bright enough for audiences to see the scenes.

I also changed some scenes, for example, originally my idea was to film her outside the entrance of Mrs.Pocock's door, however I found this really interrupting for her as she has her children and dog that might bring her inconvenience, therefore I filmed it outside Austen, and it turns out quite good, also without changing the original idea of the scene. 

11th March: This is one of the scene that I was concerned the most. This is the Dinning hall scene, where Carmen and her friends have lunch. I need this scene because I would like to show the difference between Carmen before and after having a smart phone, she used to chat with her friends and not anymore after having it.

I deliberately chose a weekend to film this scene, because on weekdays there are too many people walking around, and if I film at that time I might block people walking through or affecting people having their meal, therefore I chose a Saturday when people go to town and less people during the day, so my actress could feel more comfortable filming in front of less people, and will reduce the inconvenience of the people having lunch in the dining hall. 

It was a little bit hard to film there as my actor Carmen was not feeling really well on that day, and needed some more rest so I had to film it quickly, also without wanting to block people's road so I have to film it with one take. The lighting in the dinning hall wasn't really positive, so I had to change different angles and directions to match a better lighting for the scene, however I managed to have the best lighting for the scene at last. 

14th of March: This is an additional scene for the school scenes. It was my mistake as I did not film the scenes properly of Carmen after having her smart phone as a gift, therefore I asked Carmen to film it again on the other day. I had to film it today, because there are too many students borrowing equipment out from the studio, so we had to queue to borrow them. 

This scene does not include Carmen's friends as they were not free on that day, however the main focus was on Carmen, and it would be better for to audiences to watch only Carmen and Gemma, so it means that Carmen got told off by another teacher, and the main focus will be on the teacher and her. 

Also, Gemma is one of my actress, and she is really good at acting as a teacher, therefore I decided to film a scene only with these 2 actresses. 

13th of March: I decided to film the birthday scene after school, because there is supervision from my house manager, so she could lit the candles for us, this also matches the risk assessment to ensure all my crew's safety, as candles could burn them or injure them. I decided to film it on that day because all my actresses are free and it would be the best time for them to film, also the cake was going to expire soon so we had to get the filming done and finish the cake.

This scene is very important as it is the twist in the film of Carmen's attitude, and the reason explaining to the audiences why she has a smart phone. This scene had a little change as I realised there was a better Camera angle to film this scene properly, and also include more information for the audiences, for example, her friends standing next to her, and her mother's arm, so that audiences could understand that Carmen was spending her birthday with her friends and her mother. I think this changes is better than my original camera angle. 

14th of March: This is the last day of my filming, and it is also the last scene of my short video. This scene is also very important because this is where Carmen stabs her mother, also showing the consequences of a smart phone brings to a child, the main mortal of my short video. 

This scene could be very dangerous as there is a knife in this scene, therefore I asked my actress to handle it very carefully without hurting herself. This scene requires a lot of acting, so I chose to film it during prep time with my house parent's permission, so that they could act with a quiet atmosphere without anyone coming in and out the dinning area. 

The filming went well and so far matches all my original idea, although some of them is different from the storyboard of what I imagined before, however, I was quite pleased with all my raw material.