Shooting: Lizzie's House and the Campfire

Daniel, Clare and I all went to Lizzie's house for filming with her and her brother, Matthew. We filmed the sequence of Eve and her Mother's "Goodnight" and then we were filming the shots when the folder is discovered by Haden and missing from Michael's group. We also filmed the campfire sequence, which Sam arrived later for. While we were there we had some new ideas and improvised as well.

We first filmed the sequence with Eve's mum disappearing and Alfie discovering the empty kitchen. We deviated from the storyboard in that, rather than have the dramatic shot of the door, we had Lizzie's mum walk out of frame and then recorded the sound of a spoon falling out of her hand. This is so we could edit them together so as Eve's mother walks out of the shot you would hear the spoon drop to the ground. We filmed the sequence between Haden and Selene when he knocks the magazine out of her hand. The shot was filmed from a variety of angles in order to have a good selection when editing, there is a compilation of these shots below.

We then had a break for lunch in which time we talked about which shots to film next.

After Lunch we filmed the scenes with Haden's discovery of the folder and Eve realising the folder was missing. We decided to use Lizzie's storage room so it looked like a lot of things were there and it seemed like a good place to find the folder. We filmed without using a tripod and did a tracking shot of Lizzie (as Eve) coming down the stairs to find the folder missing, we filmed without a tripod to get a more fluid movement and also we took influence from the Hunger Games (dir. Gary Ross 2012) cinematography which was mainly made up of handheld/steadycam. After we had filmed Michael's group searching for the folder, we then filmed Haden and Selene finding the folder (this happens before Eve searches for it in the narrative though). We made a shot of Haden's (my) hand picking up the folder as an improvisation and we added movement to the shot we had storyboarded of Haden reading the folder, so the camera had a close-up of the folder then travelled upwards to me reading it.

Sam arrived and we started to make our campfire set-up in Lizzie's garden. We dragged some large logs near a wooded area and then put them next to each other, in front of which we made a ring of rocks and inside the ring we piled firewood and newspaper. We lit the newspaper and had to sustain the fire through the filming. The fire would occasionally dim but by the end it had become rather bright especially when we were losing the daylight. We added in a few handheld pans of the group as well as doing the storyboarded conversation between Eve and Michael. Lana was originally going to be having the conversation with Michael, but Hannah was not available to film and we felt that Eve would be a more appropriate person for Michael to talk to in the trailer.

We also added in a shot of Eve comforting her brother Alfie. This involved her reaching across to him (he was on the other log) but the way the shot is framed it looked as if she was reaching over the fire. This has semiotic meaning that she would go across fire to protect her brother. Then we put the fire out and then made our way to the gates on Lizzie's drive-way. We had Lizzie and her brother run up to and through the gate (in one take) and then in another take, we had them slamming the gate shut, together. The final shot was of them continuing running up the driveway afterwards.

We then had some ideas of shots with torches, Selene and Haden searching for Michael's group in the house. So we turned all of the lights off and me and Clare were filmed coming up the stairs with the torches and along the landing (handheld again). I liked the idea of the torch light blinding directly into the camera (I was influenced by the TV series Supernatural) and it also gave a sense of point of view as well. We did this again in Lizzie's room, Clare and I were filmed entering the room with the torchlight sweeping about. We then filmed the exact sequence again except I had the camera so it was a point of view from Haden, looking for Michael's group.

Going downstairs Lizzie, Matthew and I went into a small room and turned off the light, we then tried to get the shot with her and her brother when she blows out the match. It took a few attempts because the camera struggled to focus in the low light, and someone accidently turned on the light in the middle of filming. But, we got a selection of shots, that we were confident would be included in the trailer.

Our final filming involved the sequence that came first in the trailer. Lizzie got into her pyjamas and her mum put a dressing-gown over her clothes and we set about filming the "goodnight" scene. It took a few takes to get the looking through the door shot just right. Sometimes the door wasn't opened enough. We got a few variations of the hug between Eve and Eve's mother (Lizzie and her Mum). We also did some alternate shots of the folder, with a zoom and without a zoom, this was so we could decide in post production which was most effective. After that it was a wrap (well for that day).

 






















The day of filming at Lizzie's house was the day that included the most dialogue, so made a script to go through the day, although we weren't afraid to modify it in parts to make it sound more natural on the day

Below is a gallery of photos that were taken behind the scenes on that day of filming:

Filming the scenes with Eve's Mother and Alfie:

Selene's make-up:

 Filming the scenes of Haden and Selene with the magazine:

Filming the search for the folder:

Filming and making of the Campfire scene:

 Putting the Fire out and heading to film the Alfie and Eve run through the gate shot:

Lastly we finished our day of filming with the beginning sequence of our trailer with Eve and her Mother's goodnight scene:

Shooting: The Forest and Chase Scene

We wanted to secure a large section of our trailer. So we set up a day when everyone was available to film (which took some organising). Then we borrowed two baseball bats from the PE department and bought our own to customise with nails. The latter raised some issues. We knew that it would attract attention- a group of young people with baseball bats and one with nails in. So we agreed on the rule that whenever we were not recording a shot that required the bats, we would have them away in a bag.

On the day Daniel was already at my house (the agreed meeting place). We had decided to meet at my house because it was the closest to the nature reserve where we planned on filming. It was also directly close to fields which we also had planned on using. Lizzie had stayed at Clare's house (a short walk from mine) this was so she would not have to worry about travel but also so Lizzie could style Clare into her character Selene. We had agreed prior to filming that the girls in Michael's group should wear minimal or no make-up because they have been living in the forest and Selene should way a lot of make-up particularly dark eye make-up to add to the sophisticated villain image and to show that because Haden's group lived in the town she had access to her make-up.

After we had all assembled at my house, we gathered our equipment and made our way to the field for our first shots. Once we had the shots framed we did our first take which uncovered a problem: the mud. The mud of the field had a clay like consistency and to mine and Clare's horror from behind the camera Daniel's shoe came flying off and people struggled to run on the surface. We reset the camera and filmed again making sure everyone's shoes were secure. We gathered some bonus shots, because we thought the more you have to edit with, the better.

We came up with some bonus shots such as Haden's henchmen running past Haden and Selene in pursuit of Michael's group. We decided as well instead of the whole group jumping over the camera it would be more effective if it was after the split-up shot and it was Fiona jumping over the camera and the camera following after her. Likewise, when filming the tracking shot with Fiona we decided to frame it more tightly and this made it seem a lot more dramatic. Daniel also did an extra shot of Fiona fighting her way through the undergrowth as well. The shot was long but we knew it could prove useful when editing. Then came the shot of Fiona falling. We decided to have her falling in one shot so it was more dramatic and we got it on the first take. On reflection we should have made a few variations to choose from, but it seemed very natural and realistic so we were happy with it.

We then made our way to the tunnel which we had storyboarded. The tunnel had been considered for the making of our AS Opening to a Thriller: Parallel. But, it had gone unused and so we thought it would add visually to our trailer. Me and the rest of the bad group climbed down into the shallow stream and walked into the mouth of the tunnel ready to begin filming. We knew it would be difficult due to the slippery floor and the debris was also problematic. This coupled with the fact our shoes were filling with water meant we wanted to get the filming of the tunnel done as soon as we could.

We were filmed coming out of the tunnel twice, due to the fact that a started flailing my arms around the first time because I had tripped on some rubble. Daniel also got a bonus shot of us standing outside the tunnel with the camera doing a point-of-view shot looking out from behind a tree. We had not storyboarded the shot but we liked the idea so we did the shot. We made a few final shots of me saying the lines "Find them" we opted for just a close-up rather than the extreme close-up because we liked the fact you could see Clare and Alex lurking behind me.

We later found out that we had not recorded the best shot  of "Find Them" and so we had to use one of the other recordings of the shot due to time constraints.

Behind the Scenes:

I was influenced by The Road (dir. John Hillcoat 2009) trailer, to have a shot of Haden's group searching the forest for Michael's group using flaming torches, the camera would move down to reveal Michael's group hiding. I drew this sketch to explain the idea to my other group members. Lizzie and Daniel liked the idea but argued that they would probably use electric torches because there would be less people using supplies so they would be available (in the narrative) but also it would be a lot safer to film. We did not film this scene but we kept the idea of Haden's group searching for Michael and his group, to add to the drama of the film and the trailer.

Shooting: The empty road and Town Lanscape

We originally had scheduled to film the empty road location shot and the town skyline shots on the 6th of October. But due to issues of availability, we were unable to film so the filming was postponed till later.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Postponing the filming of these shots to 20th October, we then carried out the filming. I stayed around Daniels and we woke up around 4AM and then went to our location of filming. We stood on the bridge along the road and realized we could not fin how to adjust the tilt on the tri-pod. On top of this, some road works and flashing lights had taken up a spot on the road. So we had to go to the next bridge along. This was near a bend in the road which meant traffic could come at any time. So we had to wait till it became a little bit lighter and then began doing handheld tilts up. It took a few attempts and we took turns in warning whichever of us was on camera whether cars were coming.

 

After we felt we had enough shots, we began walking back to Daniel's house. On the way we walked through an empty and eerily quiet street. So we quickly got the camera out and filmed the street still, zooming-in and zooming-out. We felt this spontaneous filming would come in useful when it came to editing our trailer together in post-production.

 

Later in the day we met up with Lizzie in town to get the town shots done. We decided to do the skyline first. We went to the top of the multi-storey car park and filmed from inside out of the window. We all took it in turns to do a few pans. After this we went onto the roof level and again took it in turns to do a pan or a few. We were just about to move to another side of the roof level to get a shot of the industry on the skyline but the car park attendant approached us and told us that we would have to get a permit from the council in order to carry on filming. So, we politely began to leave, but attendant was still explaining how apparently some university students had also tried filming up there and the attendant had to call an "armed response team" to take them down. Doubtful and downtrodden we left the car-park. But, we knew there was another multi-storey car park. So we headed directly there, but when we arrived the Car park was already closing. We considered getting shots of the streets but, we thought we would have enough location shots already for editing so we wrapped up for the day.

 

This experience has taught me, that just because a place is public, it does not mean you can just film there. So in future I will know to see if I can access a location by getting a permit to film there.

 

I took the camera and equipment home, so the next day I went out to the forest area we were due to film and got some location shots there and I also planned on getting another shot of an empty road. However, the road was busy all day so I did not get any footage of the empty road but in the video below is the location footage from the forest.

 

 

Behind the Scenes Gallery:

 

 

 This was the bridge that we filmed the road shot from. This is the second bridge we filmed on, due to the first being near road-works and flashing lights, we had to move to get a clear shot of the road.

 

The Photo was taken near the street that we filmed the improvised location shot, we liked how the sky was getting lighter but also the street was still completely empty.

 

I took this photo, when we were filming from inside the multi-storey car park. We all took it in turns to get some pans of the skyline before going outside to get some from the other side of the building.

 

 

Prior to mine and Daniel's filming of the road shot and street shots, he had done some of his own location shots, that we could also utilise in our trailer, there is a compilation of these shots below.

 

Shooting: Making Ged Disappear and the Corridor Location Shot

We had to film, the sequence of Ged disappearing on two occasion. A relatively simple shot in principle, in practical it was a lot more complicated. The idea was for the camera to be in a dolly movement along the back of the lecture theatre. As the camera goes behind one of the heads of the students, Ged would quickly duck down and when the camera came from behind the student's head he would have disappeared.

 

 

This was very difficult in practice. Due to the fact that firstly- we do not have a dolly. So we overcame this decision with the idea of placing the camera onto some fabric (a hoodie usually) and then dragging the hoodie along one of the continuous back desks in the Lecture Theatre. Once we had solved this, another difficulty arose. Without a monitor for the camera, Ged could not see when to duck down out of the way. We resolved the issue by having Clare (who plays Selene) to give Ged a signal to duck.

 

We had to borrow classes of people to use in the lecture theatre and selected seats so the room looked as full as possible. We included Lizzie and Daniel (who play Michael and Eve) so the eagle-eyed audience member could see this was their teacher who disappeared.

 

Then, we had to find the right speed of the camera movement and perfect the timings for Ged to duck down. We re-arranged the formation of students in order to find a way to conceal Ged but the first day of shooting left us with no usable footage. So, we tried again another day and eventually we finally succeeded and gained a shot we could use.

 

The same day we decided to get a shot of an empty corridor. We chose the corridor because of the clinical quality of it- it could look like part of a hospital. Also, we knew the corridor was rarely used. We got a number of shots both zooming in and zooming out as well as fixed camera shots. We would decide which to use when editing.

 

Pre-Production: Locations, Props, Costume etc

Location:

We had brain-stormed some ideas of location prior to storyboarding. We wanted our plot to look diverse in terms of location and setting. So we selected some places that we thought would look effective and then thought about where they would fit into the story of the film and trailer.

College- we knew that much of our story would start in the college when the adults first disappeared but after the disruption of the equilibrium (Todorov's narrative theory) the characters would not stay long there.

Forest/fields- we thought that a chase scene would look most effective across fields and through forests as it would mean the characters could use the landscape and scenery as part of the chase to add a dynamic to it.

Houses- the narrative would also start in the homes of some of the characters, not only this but we thought in real-life if a catastrophe like this happened people would need to raid empty houses of supplies. On top-of this we knew that Haden and Selene would need to discover the folder at Eve's house.

Campfire- similar to the forest location, but used entirely differently. We had storyboarded the split-up shot in the forest. This sequence would be the binary opposite to that, in that the characters would be united around a warm campfire.

Beach- the beach we knew would look great on an overcast day. The finale section of the trailer would look very dramatic there and the wind and any rain we would encounter would only add to the high-drama epic battle that we envisioned.

Props:

Within our storyboarding we ended up creating some key props to the plot of the trailer, they would add a sense of realism or they would contribute to an aspect of the story.

The folder- arguably the most important prop, the folder holds the key to finding out what happened to the adults in the plot. We used a plain black folder and then designed a government/official looking logo on Serif DrawPlus and then inserted it into the cover of the folder.

The locket- quickly scrapped, the idea of the locket containing a note from Eve's mother, it would've function as a sort of means to getting the folder back.

The baseball bat(s)- the baseball bats show a loss of innocence as a potential child's toy is used for violent purposes. This idea is furthered by our intended modification by adding nails into at least one of the bats.

The fire/matches- the fire and matches would serve a similar purposes showing symbolically that the good group are carrying some form of (natural) light with them.

Costume:

After we had finished our casting of characters we knew that we wanted the main two villains Selene and Haden to have a sophisticated look. So, we decided to incorporate elements of sophistication and richness into their costumes. Haden would wear dark clothing and over the top a broad grey pea-coat. This coat looks smart and my hair would be swept back in style to add to this. Clare (as Selene) would wear a navy blue pea-coat that was more fitted, this was a more feminine take on the sophisticated look. Underneath the coat she wore a black jewelled necklace which added to the extravagant quality. We also had her wearing dark eye make-up (semiotics with evil), the make-up showed she could still wear it even at the "apocalypse" Haden's group had taken control of the town and so she was the only female in the narrative who wears make-up. Selene's hair goes through a number of stages, we wanted to show a metamorphosis of character. In some scenes we wanted her hair pulled straight back into a severe and functional pony-tail, in others she would have her hair curled into a classic and sophisticated look and then towards end of the narrative we would want her hair looking most natural to show even the "bad" group is suffering. Michael's group was different. We suggested that even though the group was "good" they should still wear relatively dark clothing to reflect the genre and the story. We made an exception with the character of Eve. Eve was meant to symbolise purity and so on top of the archetype of blonde hair and blue eyes we also suggested that she should wear white to add to the sense of innocence and possible naivety. The people in Michael's group were also agreed to have much more natural hair and the girls should wear little or no make-up as stated earlier.

Storyboarding the Trailer

Once we had looked at influences for trailers and planned the narrative of the film. We set about storyboarding the structure and shots in the trailer. We found it difficult to not storyboard whole scenes, but eventually we got used to the idea of having a few shots of the important scenes.

For our first shot, in our trailer, we had the idea to show the clock (links to the idea of time running out). This would also aid the dialogue in the sequence that followed between the character of Eve and her Mother. The close-up would clearly show the time, so the audience would be aware of what will happen later on in the trailer. We did not want music to be included yet, so the ticking could be audible and the audience's full attention would be on the clock.

In order to introduce one of our main character's quickly into the trailer we decided to have the face partly concealed and then revealed, so the audience takes the time to remember the face (due to the emphasis placed on it). Also it would start a bond with the audience and also because unlike an entire film we did not have time to slowly introduce the main characters.

 We included a point of view shot, so that the audience would already begin aligning themselves with Eve. The dialogue of her mother on the phone "twelve hours from now" incorporates the idea of time running out, again. But, it also suggests a plan or plot.

 So the audience could see the equilibrium just before the disruption starts in the plot we added some interaction between Eve and her mother. The dialogue features Eve identifying her mother to the audience, although simple it shows their relationship is close with the hug that follows.

 We considered merging shots 4 and 5 together to reduce the amount of shots, because we wanted to make sure that we were not creating a whole scene. But, we decided to film both and decided during editing.

 We used an eye-line shot, so the audience already begins to question "what is she looking at?" and we would want to start fading into non-diagetic music, to make the shot more intense.

This is the reverse-shot of the eye-line shot, showing the audience a suspicious and official looking folder, in order to suggest that Eve's mother is involved in some government department. We simply labelled the folder "logo" in the storyboard to design the logo later on.

 After the beginning sequence we would showcase the new logo for Eden Pictures. In our research of codes and conventions, the production company logos frequently came in after a introductory sequence.

After this, we wanted to get right to point of dis-equilibrium. We would have a dolly shot of the camera going behind the heads of students as the teacher disappeared. We knew we would not have access to high-quality special effects and we did not want to make too much of an effect about the adults disappearing so we used the obstruction of the heads as a way for the adults to vanish.

 By including more than one adult disappearing it would show that the phenomenon was wide-spread. Also, by using an adult the audience is familiar with, will put them in a similar situation as the characters.

 Again, we did not need to use special effects, as they would distract from the point of the film. This shot implies the disappearance of the mother, by diagetic sound of the spoon (she was using) hitting the ground. The slow zooming out and central framing of the door makes it very dramatic, which foreshadows the drama to come.

 Using this as a device to introduce Eve's little brother: Alfie. This again leaves the audience in a similar position to him, he is unaware of what exactly has happened.

 Again, we considered combining shots 12 and 13.

We wanted to include some form of copy, to explain to the audience that all of the adults had disappeared. Unsure of exactly what we wanted to say, we liked the idea of a question but decided to finalise it later.

 Taking influence from The Road trailer, we decided to use a sequence of establishing shots, displaying how empty the world is without adults. We would fit this to music for emphasis.

 Using a variety of locations would again reiterate how widespread the problem is.

 By using imagery such as power stations serves as a semiotic of themes in the film. The desire for power of Haden.

 By using locations that we would be using in the sequences shown of the film, it would help the audience to envisage the area that the film takes place in.

 Using a main road, we thought would be very effective at showing the disappearance of adults (as adults are the only people who know how to  drive).

 By having shots of desolate areas that are usually heavily populated, it would show the harsh reality of a world without adults.

 Not all the shots we storyboarded would actually be used especially the similar ones. But, it helped give us more ideas for shots

 Originally intending to have copy explaining the plot of the film, we thought back to our influences like The Road, The Hunger Games and Tomorrow When the War Began. They all had copy informing the audience the film was based on a "best-selling novel". This also serves as a unique selling point for the film (USP).

 We wanted to use hidden identity in this shot, so people would wonder who Eve is walking with before revealing Michael as the main-character. The cantered angle suggests the world is not right without adults.

 By having Alfie enter the shot after Eve and Michael, it shows the formation of the group and the plot starts to take shape for the audience.

 Copy would be inserted at this point as a bridge between sequences and to inform the audience.

By including a number of two-shots of Michael and Eve, we thought it would be effective in implying a relationship or romance between the two characters.

We wanted dialogue about the need to adapt to change, although we also considered having narration.

Also, by including more sequences with Eve and Michael, it would show the audience that they were the main characters and it would begin a connection with the audience.

By including shots of the characters grabbing food and supplies, we thought it would add a sense of realism to our sci-fi drama. We knew we probably would not use all of the shots, otherwise it would become a scene. But, we liked the idea of the hand grabbing the camera as a tin, so the hand would plunge the shot into darkness. This idea contained semiotic meanings of fear and darkness.

Bringing the folder back into the trailer would serve in the film's narrative as the "unobbtainium" or the object of desire, like the Philosopher's Stone in Harry Potter. The two groups would be fighting over the possession of the folder, the folder would hold the secret as to why the adults have disappeared and hold the key to bringing the adults back.

A shot of Haden with the folder would show the audience that the bad group has the upper hand and the audience will feel they need to see the film in order to find out how the good group wins it back or whether they do.

This was an alternate shot we had planned to show the bad groups possession of the folder.

We originally were going to have this sequence of dialogue between the characters of Michael and Lana, but we changed our minds, due to the fact that Lana isn't a main character and this may confuse the audience if she had more dialogue than Eve. Also, as stated earlier we wanted to hint at romance between Eve and Michael.

 

As with the appearance, we wanted Michael to be an unconventional leader, he is a binary opposite to Haden, who needs and wants to lead. Michael does not want to be a leader, but he has to become one to save everyone else- an unconventional hero.

 

We wanted to include a campfire to show that the good group had been forced to leave the urban areas because of Haden's violence.

 

By including this shot and dialogue, we wanted to add a sense of urgency to the trailer- time is running out.

 

But, by including this group campfire shot it shows signs of a teen film. The group seems united and content by the fire.

 

This was an alternate shot we had planned to introduce the character Lana into the group.

 

The trailer has a non-linear plot. This sequence would happen earlier in the film. Haden's henchmen chase Michael's group away from the town and into the forest.

 

The idea of baseball bats shows that unlike in America weapons are not easy to come by, so they have to create their own- this shows more violence that they will fashion everyday objects into weapons to kill.

 

This shot would be a challenge to film, but we liked the idea as it was reminiscent of deer being hunted and them bounding through the forest.

 

The group splitting-up would immediately set alarm bells off in the audience's minds and they would know something bad was coming.

 

Somewhere between these shots Fiona would trip and fall over, we would edit them together so it would fit match on action.

 

The audience would feel a connection to the good group and Fiona's character looks particularly innocent and the audience would be distressed on her behalf.

 

By adding a point of view shot, again the audience is aligned with the characters. Due to the spinning motion of the camera, they will feel just as disorientated.

 

We had planned this shot of Fiona falling and leading to a point of view shot, from the very beginning of planning our narrative, we had sketched it out on some paper. We revisited the sketch when we were storyboarding the chase sequence.

 

 

We wanted to include a side to the bad side, so the audience get a sense of omniscience. They would be able to see that all is not well with Haden's group, as he paces up and down. He strikes the magazine out of Selene's hands after he loses his temper. This also would show the audience the instability and volatile nature of Haden.

 

We would include a reaction shot of Selene, so the audience may find themselves sympathising with her as well, creating a complex relationship between the audience and characters.

 

Haden would then sit down next to Selene and perhaps put his arm around her. Portraying the sophisticated psychopath archetype- he looks on the outside to be sophisticated but on the inside he is unstable.

 

We considered Eve having a locket from her Mother that contains a note which would help with the folder. But, we soon scrapped the idea as it seemed too cliché and was not very related in terms of the trailer's narrative.

 

This shot linked with the Locket shot above, Haden's henchmen telling him about Eve's knowledge of the folder.

 

We then included quick cut shots that could be used towards the climax of our trailer. Eve hides with her brother and extinguishes a match, the darkness taking over the shot would show how dark the world has become without adults and authority.

 

Haden's group would emerge from the tunnel, like his name suggests Haden's group would look like they were entering the world as if they had come from the underworld.

 

On-going there would be non-diagetic music in the background. A baseball bat would be dragged along the ground, implying violence particularly because this one has been customised with nails.

 

The extreme close-up would show the evil intent on Haden's face and the music would stop and quickly start up again- adding drama to the shot.

 

Eve and her brother would be running up to the gates of a house (her house), this would also make the audience wonder where the rest of the group is.

 

Copy would appear with just single words that tie-in to the plot of the film. The idea of single-word copy was an influence from The Road (dir. John Hillcoat 2009) trailer. But, we would use ours to a different effect, in The Road trailer they are used as introduction, but we would use ours as part of the climax.

 

There would then be a shot of the gate slamming shut accompanied by the diagetic sound.

 

More copy would then appear quickly letting the audience know what to expect from the film.

 

The groups would oppose each other on the beach and then surge forward into a fight.

 

As part of the montage we were thinking of including a shot of Haden attacking Michael when the adults first vanished in the School/college.

 

We were then going to include shot/reverse shot between the two leaders of each group to add an increased sense of rivalry.

 

The imagery of a clenching fist would suggest the strain and will to fight.

 

The idea of trust would be incorporated into the trailer.

 

Eve and Alfie running away, this would then cut to the next shot.

The next shot would have a close-up of Eve and Alfie holding hands as they run, showing the bond they share and the trust between them.

 

There would be a close-up of Eve as she checks behind her and her brother- looking out for his safety.

 

More copy would link to the next shots about the fatality and need survive in the post-apocalyptic world.

 

A shot of Haden slamming the nail baseball bat towards the camera and the scream of Fiona would imply the death of her character. This would let audience's know the film is not for younger viewers so a 12A certificate would be a minimum for the film.

 

Then we planned to include various shots of the good group trying to scavenge food to survive.

The copy would intrigue the audience as to which character is the "traitor".

 

Although the location was not definite, we considered using the arches of a nearby church to have a long-shot/over the shoulder shot of Haden's group being approached by a hooded person (hidden identity) so the trailer did not give everything away.

 

There would be a shot included of Haden holding Alfie back, and then fading to a shot at the beach.

 

Linking to our ideas for the poster and our influences for posters Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 (dir. David Yates 2011).

 

We decided that we would improvise much of the fighting shots at the beach. This was because we found it was more natural and also the location would enable us to decide what kind of shots we wanted. We knew we would want the shots tightly framed so if there were any members of the public on the beach they would not be seen and also to make the action more dramatic.

 

We wanted one of the final shots being Haden slamming Michael into the ground, so it looked as if the bad group were winning and the audience would want to see how Michael would survive and want to see the film.

 

We then were inspired by the trailer for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (dir. Francis Lawrence 2013), when a shot of the heroine being powerless and dragged away is shown. We wanted a similar effect of ever being dragged away screaming by Haden's henchmen.

 

A shot of Selene pulling Eve's hair is shown and we later came up with the line "Watch them die". This implies that a fight between the two female characters will take place. This can be seen as catering to the Male Gaze- under the premise that it is exciting to see two women fighting each other.

 

The title chosen for the film was "TIME" this has obvious links to the plot that time is running out. The title is one of the final things seen by the audience so they remember the name.

 

The final shot would be the release date for the film, again so the audience remembers when to expect the film so they can see it. We were planning on including a thunder-sound I had already recorded. Lizzie suggested we use it in our trailer for impact.

 

During filming we did not stick directly to the storyboard, we did not want to be restricted. If we had difficulty filming a shot or thought of a better one, we knew we could explore other possibilities and then select the best when editing. We also knew that much of the trailer was like scenes, but we knew if we filmed them as scenes (like a real film) then we could edit them in a way which was more conventional to a trailer.

 

 

These were originally part of the storyboard but were scrapped, due to the repetitive quality of them and they added nothing to the narrative of the trailer, I have included them in the blog as a way to show our thought-process when storyboarding.