List of Sounds I Need

Here are a list of primary sounds I need to help bring my film to life;

1- Walking on grass.
2- Running on grass.
3- Walking on soil.
4- Running on soil.
5- Walking on gravel.
6- Running on gravel.
7- Walking on the pavement.
8- Running on the pavement.
9- Sound scape of the woods... about a minute will be fine. 

Last Film Date Changed

Due to circumstances I've had to move the last film day to Tuesday the 24th of May, this is because Cameron is taking part in a music festival and we wouldn't be back in Blackburn in time for him to leave along with the other course students. This has freed me up some time to go out and record the audio for the film. The film is likely to be completed right at the last minute but that cant be helped, organizing my crew and actors is not easy when they themselves have FMPs to complete.  

Re - Shoot Day

On the 18th of May I went back to Billinge woods with Millie to re film some of her scenes. As she is a nymph its important she relaxes and moves about in a playful, comfortable way so I thought it would be good for her to have another crack, see if she can perform better than last time.

- I filmed the dream sequence where the nymph is sat looking over the pond. I just set the camera up with the tripod and left it recording for about a 60 seconds.

- I also re filmed the last scenes of the 'pear' chapter. The nymph offers the lost spirit a pear and way back into the spirit realm, a sign of him accepting he is not going back to human civilisation. Again it was important Millie was relaxed so she could appear more at home in the woods.

- I also shot two new scenes; Millie sat in a tree watching the lost spirit run about and another where she appears from behind a tree. Originally that scene was at a distance but now I can cut the two together and create a scene with a bit more going on and a bit more camera movement. That scene is a very important scene, its at the very beginning of the lost spirits entrance into the woods so I did feel that scene needed something more, now, I think its just right.    

Majority Of The Film Captured

On the 12 of May myself, Ryan, Millie and Cameron went to Witton park, Billinge woods then to Feniscowles to shoot about 70 - 80 % of the film. Thankfully, though it did take a while, we stuck at it and we did capture more than enough footage.

We had a problem with the microphone, Ryan who was working with the mike and the headset said he was unable to hear the audio properly. A discussion with Brian at a latter date revealed there was no problem. Watching the footage back I've realized I wont be using any of the sound we captured anyway, I'll have to go out myself and record the sounds again so that the film will have consistent audio. The wind was a big problem on the day of the shoot.

More notes for this shoot can be found in my notebook.

Office Scene's To Be Cut Short

I've completed editing the opening office scene for the film but I've had to cut away quite a lot of footage, stuff I intended to use but they simply weren't working. The film jumped around far to much, one moment the spirit was at home then at work then back home; it just didn't sit well. What I have at the moment is a short scene that's complemented by the prologue, we get to see a lost spirit struggling to fit in with every day, normal human routines without over showing his boredom or frustrations.    

Mask Swap

The mask I ordered for my film didn't arrive in time for the first day of filming (I'm still waiting for them now) so I had to go to plan B. I remember seeing a shop in Manchester that sold cheap carnival/ball masks so I went and had look, Millie came along with me, it was a chance for her to try on a few masks and see if they fitted well; the last thing I wanted at this point was a nymph without her mask.

In the end we found a purple mask that seemed to be the best quality mask out of a limited selection but it was a mask attached to a stick with no ribbon to fasten itself to Millie's head so I had to buy some ribbon and Velcro it to the inside, the short stick came off quite easily.

As there wasn't a whole lot to choose from I'm slightly disappointed I couldn't find a green or earthly coloured mask. As it is the purple mask is quite nice but I cant really explain how or why that colour fits in the with the theme of spirits and the nether realm. Having said that the whole appearance of the nymph is quite mysterious, playful and beautiful so I guess it ticks all the right boxes.

The Dreams

This is the opening 'prologue' were the lost spirit describes his dreams. I'll record Cameron saying this with a audio recorder;

'I keep having these dreams about being lost in the woods, but strangely I feel at home. I see a girl, I cannot see her face but I think I know her, I cant be sure.
The dreams feel as if they are a faded memory, a dying remnant of a past life. All I know is that I cannot remember the days before I began having these dreams. They have consumed me, I cannot breath while I'm awake.'  

The Beginning

Now that I have all the opening scenes filmed I can see how the film will open and I have to say I was a little concerned. I don't think the office and the home scenes cut well together so I've decided to create a new opening scene.

The film fades in from black and we see a small boxed image of the nymph playing about near a small pond in the woods, its black and white and slightly blurry, its a dream. Then we hear the lost spirits voice describing his dreams and how they are affecting him. This will help give the audience a stronger understanding of the character and will set the film up in the way I intended, with the lost spirit unable to live a normal life and his desire to just get away, get lost somewhere.

First Day Of Filming

Today we filmed the opening scenes of my film (working title; Dreamers Rest). We filmed in one of the college's staff rooms and my living room at home with Cameron as my lost spirit struggling to find the desire to work, he's trapped in a life not his own and therefore cannot find peace, he's restless in our world.
Ryan helped me with the camera equipment, at first I wanted him to use the camera and I would do the required paperwork and hold the microphone but the truth is only I really know what my film is going to look like and its hard for any of my crew members to really get to grips with my 'vision' for the film without the sufficient briefing and so after a couple of shots I decided it was best for me to use the camera and Ryan hold the microphone.  Soon after; the session went by very quickly and without much fuss, I'm also very grateful to Cameron and Ryan for putting the time in and giving me there own input throughout the session, its much needed at this stage of my education and greatly benefits the film.  

Theme Music

I've spoken to Mark about the music I would like him to make me for the film. Unlike what we did with my Spain film, I cant just hand over the finished film for him to work on, there just isn't enough time. So what he's doing is making me two pieces of music, both about 30 - 40 seconds long. One will be quite upbeat and the other will have much more of an edge. What I will do is put these pieces of music in specific places in my film and just raise or lower the volume when I need to; because the film lacks any strong dialogue the music is a very important part of the film and it would have been a shame to use another films music, my backup plan was to use the music from The Lord Of The Rings, thankfully that doesn't appear to be needed now.
I'll just have to keep in close contact with Mark over the next few weeks, as I have already said the music is a vital piece of my film.  

Filming Dates Set!

Today I have spoken to my film crew and we have set a plan for the days we can make the film;

Film - 5th May
Edit - 10th May
Film - 12th May
Edit - 17th May
Film - 18th May
Film - 19th May
Edit - 24th May

This will likely change as the weeks go by but at least now we all have a good idea how long production will last and what days we need to film.
A slight concern is Ozzy, he seems to be quite busy with his own FMP so I may need to search of another crew member before the 12th of May.

Test Shoot, Billinge Woods, Edit

Having filmed a short test scene in the woods with Cameron I was eager to get in the edit room to see how the footage looked and how the various shots appeared on a bigger screen. Thankfully I was very pleased with what we had taken, Cameron looked very comfortable on screen, before hand it was a big worry but now I'm very pleased with both my actors, I think they'll both do really well.
If the footage told me anything then its the need to film on a dull day, though it may seem strange to want to film a picture about nature on a darker day it does allow the lush greenery of the woods to take hold of the film; the sunlight seems to white wash the area leaving the footage to bright and it covers the beautiful, natural detail of the woods. Obviously due to the circumstances I cant pick and choose what days I want to film because I have to take into consideration the time of my crew, they also have an FMP to make. I hope, with a bit of look we'll film on a dull day and let the true beauty of nature break through on screen.

Test Shoot, Billinge Woods

On the 2nd of May Cameron (my lost spirit) and I went to Billinge Woods to do another test shoot in preparation for the main film. We found a small part of the woods unknown to me, a place quite secluded and hidden, a place we can film a good portion of my film. There we found a small rocky ridge and a stagnating pond, we filmed a short scene that we made up on the spot just so that I could see what the location could bring to my film and it also gave Cameron a chance to get into character for the first time.The day went well and we managed to achieve the shots we wanted without much fuss.

Mask Bought

I have just bought the mask that Milly will be wearing for the film. I chose the colour blue because of the its calming shade. I want to show that this is a character not to be feared but because it covers her entire face your more likely to doubt her, the mask is emotionless so it will be difficult to trust her completely. Green would have been a safer colour but the blue is more likely to stand out, your more likely to focus on her face when watching the film. I will have to do a few test shots first to see if it does fit well, however I cant keep buying different masks so perhaps it will have to make do.

Bought On Ebay