Practical Log: Day 3 of Filming 'Unknown'

During our third filming session, we worked on re-shooting footage to improve certain shots while maintaining continuity. When filming we focused on framing of shots and lighting as these elements of the previous footage was weaker compared to the other elements such as mise-en-scene and camera angles. 

We decided to work on the section were Cara makes her way from her bedroom and walks downstairs. We decided to start off working on this section of the film as with this part of the house being naturally quite dark, it was easy to try and maintain the type of dark, ghoulish lighting that is a common convention within the horror genre, which is one half of the genre hybrid in which our film is labelled with (Horror Comedy). We maintained this dark lighting by trying to block out any light that was leaking into the shot through the use of cloth and other materials to block things such as windows and other places were unwanted light was being seen.

However, this session didn't go as planned after this as we planned to continue and film the rest of the film however as the space is much wider and we had to film shots from the outside, we couldn't film these while daylight was present so we had to wait for it to get dark. Unfortunately, it didnt get dark before 5 o'clock and this was when we panned to end filming so we decided to leave this section of the film.
Below are some of the shots we re-filmed:

The plan for our next filming session is to plan an evening where we can film during the night and therefore we don't have to worry too much about maintain darkness within the film as there won't be any unwanted daylight appearing in our shots.

To-do List

Here is a list of things that we, as a group, need to do during our next filming session:



- Try to re-film footage for our film during the night as this will help with issues lighting and the continuity of the lighting within the film. Any shots that contains any sign of daylight should be shot during the night. This mainly consists of the majority of the shots after the main character (Cara) begins to make her way down the stairs.


- Try to use crosscutting and extra establishing shots to both create tension and extend the film


- Try to create some further narrative to extend our film so we have the 5 minutes of footage that we need  

Individual Film Poster Idea

My poster idea for our short film "Unknown".

For my own poster idea I decided to use a hallway with a door at the end with some light boarding the door as to let it be seen. With this I also added a silhouette as to add a eerie quality to the poster. I included a picture of India's character from the film as to link it to the film and put the title in red as it is associated with anger and danger.

Title sequence story board

The font on our story board is just a general idea of the spooky and chilling font we will use.

'Unknown' Typography

As part of our film, we must have a title sequence that illustrates the title and the cast and crew behind the film. Here, we have to think about typography and how it can help create a tense and chilling atmosphere for our film. Here we are going to pick a font that will run throughout our short film. This will act as a form of iconigraphy that will be immediately associated with our film 'Unknown'.

 This font is effective as it immediately connotes horror which is what we want to portrayin our film. Its good as we want to give off a false sense of horror which will then help create a sense of surprise when there is a comedic ending to the narrative.

This font isnt as effective as the first font as it doesn't connote horror as well as the first font however it is very bold and would stand out during the film.

This is a very effective font as itis quite deformed and this connotes the idea of something strange going on and this once again creates a false sense of horror which ultimately leads to an anti-climatic ending.

This font is very effective as it gives off a sinister vibe to the audience. This is connoted though the thin lettering which is usually associated with grand houses which are associated with being haunted

This font is also effective however I feel it isnt as good as some of the other fonts as it doesn't connot horror like the others however the bold properties of the font give a subtle hint to the audience that there will be a comedy element to the film

Marketing

The most popular ways to market a film are posters, trailers and radio trailers. Many people listen to the radio on their way to work, making it a prime way to reach adults with your film and, as I stated in my radio trailer analysis, they give just enough information to get their audience hooked and then leave them wanting more. Television adverts are usually longer than radio trailers as they have more scope with their being picture on it too. They are even longer when shown in cinemas before other films as they often have extended editions in cinemas to entice people back to the cinema. Posters are usually large and in public places in order to catch the attention of passers by and they give a small amount of relevant information along with either a logo or a still from the film.

"The dark knight rises" used a viral marketing campaign where they stuck bats around the world in big cities and aske people to tweet pictures of them when they found them. There were lots of these bats all around the world, but people were so involved that they were all found within twenty four hours. Viral marketing campaigns such as this are a good way to get your film out there and have people talking about it./ Furthermore, getting the audience involved like this makes them feel like they're a part of the action so they are more likely to see the film.

Practical Log: Day 2 of filming 'Unknown'

During our second day of filming, we filmed a lot of footage that helped contribute to our final product. During this shoot, we filmed from where we left off (From the moment the protagonist makes her way to the door). This was difficult at first as we had to maintain everything that we ended with during the last day of filming. This included things such as costume, positioning of characters and props, lighting and setting/location. The most difficult aspect was maintaining the same type of lighting as we filmed at the same time of day but the weather was slightly cloudy and this therefore changed the natural lighting within the house. However, we hope to resolve this issue through use of colouring during the editing process.

One thing that we thought went really well was the conversation between the main character and the pizza man. We thought that once looking at the footage, it was well framed and we know this gave us the oppurtunity to use shot-reverse-shot within our film to show the conversation between the two characters.

However, during filming, we decided to add a part to the storyline where the main character decides that, after all the hassle, she wants to order a pizza. So we decided to film this addition to the storyline. After doing this, we looked at this section all together and we decided that we didnt want to incorporate this into the final film and will find a way to fill up this gap during our next day of filming.

Below are some of the shots we filmed during this session: