2nd Day Filming : Sunday 10th October

Location: Enfield, Greater London
Date- Sunday 10th October
Camera Type- Canon Mini DV MD235
Tape Type- Panasonic Mini DV, 60 SP Mode, 90 LP Mode
Time Spent Filming- 2 1/2 hours

Yesterday myself and Conor filmed the bedroom shots at my house, i could have taken these shots by myself however we both agreed it would be best if Conor was there too to have a say in the different types of shots.

Conor arrived at my house at around 10am, we then set up the camera and tripod. After this we went through our storyboard and shot list and looked at the shots we needed to take and began filming. Once we began filming we realised the lighting in the room wasn't too good. We tried closing the blinds and just using the light in my room, but that didnt work. Then we opened the blinds and turned the light off which was even worse so in the end we turned the light down a tad with the blinds closed which worked best, however it was still not what we wanted. However our main aim was to get as much footage as we could so then it gave us more options once coming around to edit.

We started off with taking the shot where the camera was positioned on top of my wardrobe, it was hard to keep it still and at the angle we wanted however we managed to pull it off which we were happy about. We were also happy about the way the shot gave a good view of the room which we can use as an establishing shot of the overall aspect of my room.
We then went onto film the panning shot of the bedroom which also gave a good view of the room in which we could cut into when the mother is talking or in another part of the documentary. We did however have to film this shot a few times as the movement was stiff and jumped as we moved it a few times.
We then also got the shot of Matthew's shoes and the images he has on his walls which he describes and his 'best memories'. We feel this could give the viewers an impression of his personality which is one of the main aims we wish to portray.

Overall we feel that the filming we performed yesterday was successful in the way that we managed to get all of the shots we needed too except for the shot of the cat on the bed which we felt was not needed in the end. However the lighting was not too good however I feel that we still now have more options when it comes to editing which is good.

Other Props

Prop List

Production schedule

1st Filming Day :Thursday 7th October 2010

Location: Ware, Hertfordshire
Date- Thursday 7th October
Camera Type- Canon Mini DV MD235
Tape Type- Panasonic Mini DV, 60 SP Mode, 90 LP Mode
Time Spent Filming- 1-1/2 hours

The first day of filming commenced at about 4:20pm, however we arrived at our destination about twenty minutes before and we began by finalising the position in which we will film and set up our equipment. The two locations within the household where we filmed was in the garden and in the front living room inside the house.
The first problem we encountered was when we were about to film our first shots of Matthew's mother and the lighting didn't seem to be on our side. As we framed the shot Matthew's mother was backlit which we did not want therefore we had to shut the curtains, however once we did this it was too dark in the room, therefore we had to interfere with the lighting setting on the camera to brighten it up a tad and we also added artificial lighting by turning on a lamp which was situated over the right shoulder of Matthew's mother.

Once we resolved the lighting situtation we began to film the shots of Matthew's mother, therefore we moved the camera to the position we thought was best and filmed the shots where the mother is talking about her son. We made it clear that we didnt want the mother to be looking near the camera therefore she was looking past it to the right. We filming this about four times to give us more variety to choose from and incase we noticed an error in one which we did not once filming. It was also good to have back up filming incase something went wrong.

We felt the shots of the mother went well and we also filmed a variety of shots which gives us more options when it comes to editing. As the Mrs Allison (the mother) had lines to say as she had to give an account of the night Matthew went missing, we had to be careful what she said, therefore we wrote out a script for her but then decided it would be better if it was spontaneous, therefore we showed her the script so she had an overall idea of what to say and then she put it into her own words which we feel work well and was successful.

Once the interview shots were complete we felt it would be good to get some other shots in the living room which consisted of shots of the mothers shakey hands and playing with a scrunched up tissue. We also used a photo of the missing person which was behind the mother by zooming into this however you could also still see a part of the arm of the mother which worked well. We also zoomed far into the mothers face to give us more options on what to use when editing therefore we have more shots to use and to work with which will be beneficial once we are editing.

As we finished filming inside the house we decided it would be best if we got some shots of the mother outside hanging up the washing which is an every day job, therefore it is realistic. The lighting again was a bit to bright so we toned it down a bit which worked in our favour. We varied up the distance away from the mother when filming these shots to give us more options yet again.

I feel our first day of filming was a success as we got the shots filmed which we wanted too, without any major problems.

Animatic feedback

Since our animatic got completed we have recieved some feedback, some of the information was positive and some not so positive however we believe it was constructive.
This included points such as the idea of our documentary was clear and the shots worked well togehter.
Also as we did not have a complete and finalised ending some points were made to us that it would be beneficial to make the ending as powerful as we can, whilst at the same time do not reveal too much as it would be better to leave it on an untold end.
We now also understand that other people feel it would be better if we cut into different shots which are relevant to Matthew when his mother is being interviewed and talking about him, to make it more interesting and to avoid the viewers being bored of the same shot of the mother.
People seemed to also like the shots where Matthew's friend is driving in his car and the variety of shots which are used in that sequence flow well and are interesting.
With regards to this feedback we will be sure to encorporate this into our ideas when we are filming and we aim to vary our shots up a lot more.

Update: 9th October 2010

A few things have happened since the last update. We finally managed to get the animatic uploaded onto our blogs which we were pleased to announce, however we understand our animatic will not be a complete replica of our final production. This is because we begun our filming on thursday, after school. The location was down the road from our school, in a house. We filmed the shots where Matthew's mother is in her home, being interviewed in her living room. We also got some footage of the mother in the garden putting the washing up which we can cut to to vary our shots up. We have began to edit our footage that we have recieved also. We also have the equipment to film over this weekend and we are planning on filming tonight, and tomorrow therefore there will be a new update soon.