Update 23/02/12

The test shoot has now been edited, although the shots of the computer screen where graphics are supposed to be have been left blank.


Some of things that have noticed and/or changed from the original animatic:

• Two focus pulls of the phone might be waste of time so we removed the first one, that way we can use that time for more varied shots rather than repeats.
• Changed the first typing shot to a still isntead of a pan that we took just in case. We decided to do that because we wanted the action to build up, instead of jumping straight into it.
• We noticed that at the end we had two shots that were from a similar to one another in terms of angle and framing, this was a bit disconcerting to viewers so we got rid of the frame where he looks shocked and simply kept the shot of the hacker taking off the headphones. This made the sequence flow easier.
• I edited and matched the speech of the main hacker to the footage as it was not long enough, we'll have to extend the script in order to fill the time, at the moment there are some gaps in the rough cut where the main hacker is not speaking at all.

Update 07/02/12

After school on Friday, Anna and Raef both helped dress the set ready for the shoot on Saturday. We stuck posters up and chose items we thought suitable for a teenage boy's bedroom. Afterwards I changed the curtains and bed covers to something less feminine.

The next day we put the final touches onto our set; placing mugs, moving tables into place, arranging objects, setting out a plate with biscuits and chocolate, writing code onto the whiteboard, hanging wires from the computer and more. I covered the windows with black bin bags so that unwanted light would not get in the way. Raef brought lighting and we experimented with the filters, trying red, green and yellow before choosing blue which helped with creating the atmosphere for the room. For some of the shots we used an honeycomb grid which focused the light on one point, this was really useful for when we wanted the viewer to focus on something in particular during a shot, for example, the hacker's hands.
 

Soon after we finished setting up and experimenting with lighting, our actors/assistants (Nico and Francis) arrived. After choosing an outfit for Nico and gelling his hair, we were ready to start filming. The shots were equally managed between us, roles such as keeping track of shots, filming, lighting were rotated among us so that everyone had a chance to do a bit of everything.

The shot was successful as we managed to get all our shots taken in the allocated time, despite having to rush slightly at the end. One of the problems I noticed is that if anything needs to be shot again we'll have to retake all the shots as the set design is so unique that attempting to recreate it would almost certainly result in continuity errors.

Update 04/02/12

So we finished our animatic on the Friday before our test shoot. Raef chose some music suitable for opening sequence and we added some titles, using a font we all agreed on, though we might decide to change it later. Anna matched the shots to the beats in the music so that footage and music generates a stronger impact. Movement was added to the frames, something we could not have done with a storyboard.

Creating an animatic has helped us get a gerneral idea of which shots work best and what changes need to be made, for example, we originally wanted a central shot of the hacker's back but after creating the animatic it seemed appriate to change it to a over shoulder shot, focusing more on the screens infront of him. It'll also be easier to edit when we have our test shots captured as we can then match the shots to the animatic frames, then if we notice anything that doesn't work we can change it.

The animatic will be uploaded onto the group blog in a while.

Update 31/01/12

Last week we worked out a shot list and began sketching/outlining frames of our storyboard, we managed to finish this yesterday and began taking photographs of each frame so that we can create an animatic on Adobe Premiere Pro. So far, it has been going smoothly, although we have come up to a total of roughly 53 shots, which means an average of 2 seconds per shot.

Update 27/01/12

After our first pitch we received some feedback and suggestions. Here are some of the issues that was highlighted and some ideas of how to solve them.

• Opening sequence and film plot is too complicated. We need to cut unnecessary parts or change change the opening sequence/plot of the film to something more straightforward.
• Adding a gun shot would be unrealistic to the situation and complicates the process. We could simply take out the gun shot and have the agent simply knocking out and/or tying up the hacker.
• Lacking use of film theories. Could rethink some aspects of our current characters, settings and plot to fit more of theories such as Todorov's theory of equilibrium and disequilibrium, Propp's theory of character roles and Levi-Strauss' theory of binary opposites.
• Will the audience understand the hacking details? We could limit the detail the audience sees, but seeing as we plan to have the hacker speaking out loud, similar to the scene in The Social Network, we'll have to research basic hacking terms and other details, but being careful not to make it too complicated.

Update 24/01/12

Today I caught Anna up with the ideas and suggestions that had been going around during the meeting that she was ill for, then I finalised a post that Raef and I had been working on the day before. Here are some quick ideas that I've been having between then and now:

• I am happy to work with the latest idea since I feel as though we'll be able to cast more actors to play hackers, not just the stereotypical nerdy boy, but some females, adults, etc. Having a wide variety appeals to a larger audience, therefore generating more interest.
• However we still need to establish the plot for the rest of the film, this could incorporate Todorov's theory of equilibrium and disequilibrium.
• For the characters we can use Propp's theory of character roles, our protagonist is the hero, the princess is one of his friends who we may see in the opening sequence, the helper is the other friend who we may also see, etc.
• Perhaps we could construct the narrative using Levi-Strauss' theory of binary opposites and create a clear contrast between our rookie hacker and lead hacker.
• We'll need to plan the new film treatment and schedule a repitch.

Update 18/01/12

Just finished sketching and uploading "The Hacker"'s character design sketch on the group blog, I also uploaded some photos of my room as a suggestion for the set of the hacker's room last night.

I'm back.

I will now be working on our opening sequence and recording my personal progress here. Any other work will be posted on our group blog. So far we've had two meetings where we've developed our idea and assigned tasks.
Today I was given the task of sketching some character designs and doing a location recce for the hacker's room. The sketch for "The Agent" has been posted on the group blog.