P2: Photographs of me using Cameras and sound equipment

For my unit 3, i had to create a media product, which included a front cover, contents page and double page spread. I called my magazine 'ANTI', which was a reference to the theme of my magazine being a rapper and he had a tattoo that states 'ANTI'. I used some of the same equipment in unit 3 as I had to create my unit 5 short film. In addition, I have also used the same conventions which I had to consider before I created the products, such as genre codes. I considered codes and conventions from other horror films such as 'About a Girl', 'Finley' & 'The Detective', where I had to consider colour, music, proxemics, acting, costume, camera angle and camera shots.

Here are shots of me and my group setting up the equipment we used:

For our short film, we had to consider what props to use, what equipment we needed to complete the film and ensure we were following health and safety protocols and followed our risk assessment and recce. 

To create the short film we used many pieces of equipment. We used 2x Canon 250D SLR cameras for different angles and shots. We used fish eye lenses for the 'hallucination' scene to create suspense. Also, we used a standard 18-55mm lens for normal shots such as talking together in the hall. We used tripods to ensure the talking scenes are steady and stable. We used a DGI mavic mini drone for shots in the forest as the drone creates fast pace and has a weird, distinct angle of the scene that wouldn't usually be seen. We used 2x gun microphones on the camera to make sure our audio was heard fully and that there were no audio issues.

We had to consider mise-en-scene, which means 'what is in the frame' or 'placing in the scene'. We used our short film research from P1 and used it to apply codes and conventions of the horror genre. We all had to play certain roles in our movie to ensure the narrative was portrayed properly and fully. Isaac played the character called Isaac, who was a lazy teen who turns up late. I played Noah, whos role was to complain, but I also hallucinated and saw the killers mask on random people such as teachers. Alice played a kind girl who ends up being killed by the killer. Isaac also plays the killer and acts weird throughout the entire film, which is revealed right towards the end.

We had to ensure we considered legal and ethical constraints, which are key to ensure we keep the film up on YouTube. Copyright is a huge issue that many creators face, which can cause moral panic if not handled properly. Copyright is when a creator protects their own work from being used without their permission. We made sure we created our own narrative to ensure we had no copyright issues as well ensuring we used copyright free fonts and graphics and music. We gave our short film PG as there are no scenes of violence and there are no unsettling scenes such as use of blood. There is also no scenes with strong language and there are no sexually explicit scenes. 

Risk Assessment:

What are the hazards?	Who might be harmed and how?	What are you already doing to control the risks?	What further action do you need to take to control the risks?	Who needs to carry out the action?	When is the action needed by?
Allergies: Pets Food Hay fever Chemicals	Crew with allergies must be careful and ensure they are aware of any traces of allergens before they arrive on set	Make sure all crew are made aware of all possible traces so that there are no medical emergencies.	Ensure Crew have EpiPen’s or know of locations to get EpiPen’s as another crew member may need it.	All casting crew must be weary	Before production begins it must be planned
Props	Crew must be careful when using props as they could get cuts. Also small props could be a choking hazard so everyone must be aware.	Make sure all props like knives are fake and blunt so that people don’t hurt themselves. Also there are no small props being used so we can make sure nobody will choke.	Ensure everyone is being safe and cautious on and off set.	Everyone	Before production begins until production is done
Equipment	There will be expensive equipment and cameras on tripods and if someone trips they might damage the equipment.	Be careful when carrying equipment. When travelling we must make sure that any attachments and other equipment is safe and secure	Store equipment in safe environments. All travel together so nobody travels expensive equipment alone.	All personnel	As soon as production begins
Trip Hazards	Film crew, Any actors could be hurt when we are filming in the forest. There could be branches or stones or unlevel ground	Make sure everyone is using their eyes while walking with the equipment as someone may get hurt	All shoes must be tied, wires must be hidden out of site and out of reach, make sure we complete scenes on level ground.	Everyone	As preparations begin for filming

Recce:

Rushes: 

When directing and casting crew, i had to consider my recce and risk assessment to ensure the workspace was a safe environment to work and collaborate together. We did this by ensuring all wires were hidden away or use completely wireless technology, we made sure all cameras were attatched fully and safely onto tripods to make sure there are no damages such as falling/breaking cameras.  

After we shot at the fields, we realised that we had many issues with audio so we decided to research and reshoot. We also wanted to make the narrative simpler and more effective to our genre so we got together re-write our script and storyboards to really effectively plan our scenes.

In the picture above I was directing the cast to ensure the scenes went exactly how I imagined and I used cuts and scene numbers to ensure when editing we know what to use. I ensured the camera was secured onto the tripod and made sure the microphone was on by taking test shots. 

In the photos above, Alice also demonstrated her skills by directing a scene for the short film, which made sure we put all of our ideas together before the completed edit. It helped having multiple directors as it allowed us all to visualise different ideas and combine them.

In this scene Isaac was directing and had us recite the lines on the script to ensure we were comfortable with the narrative. We did this to cut down on filming time so we had enough time to edit the shots together.