Production Diary

27/01/2014
Today  we began by choosing the script that we would shoot. After a lengthy discussion, we decided to choose Shauna's horror short about a possessed doll that haunts a young teenage girl (main character) and her younger brother. We read through the script discussing certain elements such as the characters, locations and viability.

28/01/2014
Today we began completing the pre production paperwork. I read through the script once more before completing a detailed list of the Props, costumes and equipment that would be used in the short.  Lewis completed the Risk Assessment paper work; Mikey created a Budget Sheet, while Johnny and Shauna read through the script discussing possible changes and shot lists. We were also given the sections of the script that we would be story boarding. The scene that we individually storyboard will be our responsibility to shoot. We have also decided to shoot at Shauna's house, so she has agreed to complete the Location recce/release forms in her own time.

29/01/2014
Today I began creating the storyboards. I have at least 28 shots to storyboard spreading over 3 scenes. I have roughly finished half of the shot list. I hope to finish by tomorrow ready to shoot next week. We had some slight issues with locations but we were able to resolve them. I also began posting the Pre Production paper work onto my personal blog.

30/01/2014 & 31/01/2014
We have decided to shoot at Ellie's house on Monday. We went to her house and completed both Location Recces and release forms. Today we also began looking at the talent release forms and completing the budget sheet. The prop/costume/equipment lists are all completed. My other team mates are completing their storyboards and refining certain aspects of the script that will allow us to shoot more efficiently and without any issues arising.

03/02/2014
Today we went to the shoot location (Ellie's house) and began shooting the first couple of scenes. Johnny was in the directors chair for the first few scenes and by the end of the day we were ready for Lewis to  take charge of his scenes. We were on location for roughly 2 hours. The first couple of shots consisted of establishing shots of the house to the Father discovering and giving the doll to Rachel. We ended the day with the 3rd or 4th scene in which Rachel begins to notice how creepy the doll is. I feel as though for our first shoot, we were a little slow in shooting and setting up shots/equipment. I personally feel that we need to improve out time management and grind through scenes more efficiently.

04/02/2014
Today we began editing the first couple scenes that we shot yesterday. We began going through shot by shot deciding which would work best and entered them into Premiere Po CS6. We began arranging the clips and editing them around the dark horror theme. This included adding dark color effects to the shot. We want to try and create a slow short that shows subtle changes from the beginning. For example, we intend to edit the clips, with the shots slowly darkening to create a dreary,cold effect. We were unable to shoot today as Shauna was ill will be for the remainder of the week. Myself and Johnny are also attending a Media trip on Thursday and we return late Friday. Shooting is most likely going to take place next week, which is frustrating for all of us but unavoidable none the less. We have also discussed today shooting the basement scene at college. Its something that we have been talking about a lot recently as the room W12 has all black walls allowing us to create the dark scary atmosphere of a basement.

05/02/2014
Today we began experimenting with light in the w16 room. We have an important basement scene and as Ellie's house only has an attic, we decided as a group to look into creating a dark dreary basement in a college room. Using low lighting and careful camera trickery, we hope to create the basement effect. We shot a number of different clips using a range of angles, zoom lengths and lighting effects. Our findings were very positive. The main issue is the brightness of the lights, we found that using the desk lamps create the scariest effect. We intend to bring in a number of torches to help with the main shoot. We also found that close ups look particularly good, as you can control the shadows on the face, which allows us to create altering moods and feelings effectively.

10/02/2014
Today we again headed to Ellie's house and began shooting Johnny's final few shots. Once he had finished, myself and Lewis began shooting his scenes. I was helping Lewis shoot as he was acting in his scenes. Before each shot he directed me in terms of the shot angle etc. My job was to simply set the camera up, correctly expose the shot and then press record. Overall, we worked really well together, he was clear with his instructions and lead the team very well. Once our time was up, we headed back to college and uploaded the footage into Premiere Pro. Johnny's footage had some initial problems as most of the shots were a little under exposed. However after editing the raw footage, most of the shots are usable. We also agreed that the darkness of the shots suits the genre of our short. Overall another very productive shoot. We have agreed with Ellie to shoot again on Wednesday in order to hopefully wrap up Lewis's scenes. We also improved on our time management; each shot was set up far more efficiently than before and it's mainly due to the fact that we were more organised this time.

11/02/2014
Today we continued editing the footage from yesterday. The problems with some of the shots being under exposed have been sorted, however we may decide to re-shoot the few unusable shots. Once Johnny finished editing, Lewis and myself began editing the scenes we shot. The shoots look rather good, one in particular caught my attention. Lewis wanted a slick pan upwards to Mikey walking down the stairs. The outcome was very pleasing, as I wasn't sure if it would look any good in the editing stages.  We also liked the close ups that were shot, again we were not sure of the shots would look any good in Premiere but we were happy with the outcome. Tomorrow we head to Ellie's house to continue shooting and hopefully we can grind out a number of Lewis's scenes before it's my turn to take charge and shoot my own scenes.

12/02/2014
Today we went to Ellie's house and continued to shoot Lewis's final scenes. Johnny also re-shot a number of his scenes that were under exposed on the first shoot. I also began shooting my own scenes. I began shooting the bedroom scene in which max is found crying in his room. I continued to refer back to my shot list and the script. Overall I feel as though my first shoot was very successful. We also intend to shoot again tomorrow at Ellie's house, but if not, I intend to shoot in W16 for the basement scene in which Max and Rachael search for the Ouija board.

13/02/2014
Today I spent the majority of my time in W16 shooting the main basement scene. It is the 3rd and final scene in my lot. I feel as though the shoot went fairly well. I was able to create a dark and spooky atmosphere with the use of lamps. I began shooting the first 5-6 shots consisting of mostly medium to close up shots. I feel as though both Mikey and Shauna acted really well in this scene. Lewis worked with me to create the correct lighting and shots. Shooting was a struggle today due to the heat of the room. We found ourselves getting a little frustrated if a shot was taking a while to get correct. However we pulled through and the overall shoot was very productive and I am very happy with the results.

14/02/2014
Today I began editing the footage that I shot on the 12th. I began by converting the files onto the computer and then arranged the footage in Premiere pro ready to be cut and edited. I then placed rough cuts into the timeline trying to create a basic sequence of clips in order to gain an understanding of what will need to be re shot or added to the scene. Once I was happy with the rough copy I began fine tuning the individual clips, adding colour correction were needed. I also fine tuned the cuts in order to create the seamless flow and to avoid continuity issues.

17/02/2014
Today I finished fine tuning the rough copy of last Wednesday's shoot and then began editing Thursdays Shoot. I went through the same stages as before and ended up with a rough copy of the basement that I am fairly happy with. However i did notice that I was missing a couple of close ups of Mikey and Shauna, so i have arranged with my group to shoot them in tomorrows lessons.

18/02/2014
Today I re shot a few clips from last Thursdays shoot. I shot a number of close ups and transition shots in order to fill gaps and fix continuity issues in the rough copy edit. Once I was finished re-shooting I went back to editing the rough copy of the basement scene adding the re shot clips into the timeline. I also finished fine tuning the original clips.

19/02/2014
Today I finished my editing work and we began shooting Shauna's scenes in W16. I helped frame shots, must mostly worked alongside Lewis in lighting the shots. We used my candelabra and candles to create a spooky atmosphere. As Shauna was acting in the short, Johnny shot the scenes under Shauna's Guidance.  Lewis and myself found lighting the shots difficult as we were using small lamps due to the studio lights being overly bright and also white. The small lamps create the orange light and help create the scary atmosphere however the lamps were awful at lighting Shauna and Mikey's faces.

20 & 21/02/2014
We spent the last two days shooting Shauna's three scenes and editing them. Lewis and myself continued to help with setting up frames and lighting up shots. Johnny continued to shoot under Shauna's guidance. After each shoot we edited the clips in Premiere pro.Overall the past few shoots have been very productive.

24/02/2014
Today we continued shooting Shauna's last couple of scenes in which Rachael and Max use the Ouija board to summon the Dolls spirit. These couple of scenes are meant to create the most suspense and are therefore very important. We have spent a long time on these shots in order to create the most gripping horror short possible.

25/02/2014
Today we finished the second scene of Shauna's three scenes and began editing the clips. The editing is going very well and we are happy with most of the shots. We have only had to re shoot a few clips due to small errors but mostly as transition shots and fill gaps in the timeline. We then began shooting Shauna's final scene in which Max and Rachael make contact with the Dolls spirit.

26/02/2014
Today we finished shooting Shauna's final scene and then began finishing off her editing in Premiere pro. We also began shooting Mikey's work.

28/02/2014
Today we continued to shoot Mikey's first couple of scenes. His scenes consist of low light shots and so it was up to Lewis and Myself to try and create the dark scary atmosphere of a basement. We used a mixture of lamps and studio lights. Overall the shoot today was very productive, we shot most of Mikey's first scene and hope to try and complete the next one on Monday.

03/03/2014
Today we began shooting the second scene of Mikey's three. The first shoot really well and so did this one. The scene we did today continues in the basement and is one of the most important in terms of creating the fear factor of the entire short. In this scene, the doll reveals its self to Max and Rachael. From then, weird and spooky things begin to happen. Shooting was really good today; we have seen the rough copy of the scene in Premiere pro and we are really happy and excited to show the rest of the group our work.

04/03/2014
Today we shot our final scene of the entire shoot. This scene was great to shoot as it allowed us to be really creative and use all the techniques that we have learnt of the past year. The scene was shot with the same gloomy atmosphere as the rest of the basement scenes.  Once finished we began editing the past couple of scenes we shot including all of Mikey's scenes.

05/03/2014
We continued editing Mikey's work today sorting clips into the timeline and cutting them in accordance to other clips. The editing process today was a little slow as these scenes are particularly important and must be edited without fault. Mikey to charge from most of the process with the rest of the group watching on, giving advice or working on their own scenes working out if we needed any final re-shoots before we begin to edit the final cut.

06/03/2014
Today we continued the editing process for our short. We intend to have a final rough copy of the entire shoot, which will be watched by Sean. He will then give us feedback on Monday, giving us the week to either re-shoot and edit or just simply tweak a few clips here and there.