Week 2: Filming 'Holloway Road', The Scenes Outside

We filmed the outside scenes for our film opening in Ware, Hertfordshire. We were very specific on our location before hand. It was vital that it had an alleyway with a run down sort of look to the houses. We decided to have this sort of location for our filming as we felt it would give a sense of atmosphere to the film opening.

We encountered a number of problems whilst filming, firstly we arrived at our chosen location, turned the Camera on to start filming and noticed that it had no battery. Therefore, we had to walk back to my house and charge it for half an hour or so, this nearly caused another problem as it was another half an hour of daylight we would loose. Fortunatly we managed to film all of our shots before it started to get dark.

We all decided that Will and Andrew should walk some journey to my location, we wanted this not only to show their journey to my location but to reflect on the theme of the film, My journey in the rest of the film. Shots of Andrew and will making their way to mine shows structure, instead of them just randomly turning up at my door, without any indication of how they got there.

The last shot we filmed, turned out to be the most successful. It was one of Me, Andrew and Will making our way down the alley. For this shot we lowered the tripod and set the camera at a low angle, this made our characters look very purposeful and intimidating. We gained inspiration for this shot from other football hooliganism films such as 'Green Street' and 'Football Factory' with the characters walking in slow motion with a voice over on top.

Overall our filming went very well. We did have a few problems but we believe that our number of varied shots, a good story structure along with a powerful ending, will ensure a strong, well presented two minute fim opening.

Week 2: Filming 'Holloway Road'. The Inside Scenes

Location-Standon, Ware, Hertfordshire
Start Date-19th November 2009
Finish Date-26th November 2009
Camera Type-Canon Mini DV MD235
Tape Type-Panasonic Mini DV, 60 SP Mode, 90 LP Mode
Tripod Brand-Manfrotto
Filming Time-5 Hours in Standon, 1 Hour in Ware

We filmed the indoor shots in Standon, Hertfordshire. We mainly used two rooms in the house, the bedroom and the living room. Me, Will and Andrew got the bus to Standon, to meet Conor at the filming location. Whilst he was waiting for us to arrive, he set up the Tripod and Camera. However he had some difficulties. The underneath of the Camera would not screw onto the tripod head. For this reson we had to be extra careful when filming. This problem also meant that our shots were limited, and some shots such as the one of Will and Andrew walking along outside, may have to be eliminated.

Our filming as a whole went well in Standon. Although we did have to move some furniture around and make sure the cats were locked away as they consistently kept getting in the line of our shots. We had to replace some furniture with Tottenham memerobillia, such as a picture in the living room, we replaced with one of some former Tottenham players holding the European Cup. In the bedroom we had to move the Chest of Drawers to make room for the Camera. We also had to prop the camera up for one shot and make sure there was no unwanted noise in the background. It was very important that we prepared for all of the shots, such as placing objects that would be in the shot but not the main focus, to give clues about the story and set the scene for the rest of the film.

Animatic- Feedback

We recieved both compliments, and constructive criticism for our animatic. The criticism we recieved will benefit our film opening as we can change any slight mistakes. We were told we had a good number of shots, although we need to vairy them more, rather than just sticking to simple shots.

Taking the criticism on board, as a group we have decided to discard some of the shots, such as some of the ones in the bedroom, along with the montage and add some new ones. We have decided, instead, to use some shots which show who the character is, what role they have in the firm and how long they have been part of it.

week 1: film plot and summary

My group for this task, consists of myself, Conor O'sullivan, Will Turner and Andrew Lloyd-Jones. We have all been allocated different roles for our two minute film opening. We have been inspired from films suc as, 'Green Street', 'Football Factory' and 'Rise of The Footsoldier.'

The name of our film is 'Holloway Road.' It is a british crime drama, exploring football hooliganism at it's worst and the anti-social behaviour of the people involved. I will play the lead role in the two minute opening, and also narrate over the footage. Conor O'Sullivan will be in charge of filming, whilst Will Turner and Andrew Lloyd-Jones will be extras.

We have decided on 'Holloway Road' as the title of our film, as it is set in north London. The film is about my character, who has just joined the Arsenal firm. He becomes very close with everyone involved, when he has a dark secret that none of the others are aware of. He is part of Arsenal's most fierce rivals, the Tottenham Hotspur firm. The only reason he has joined the Arsenal firm is too set them up. We have not yet decided on names for the characters, although we have decided on common London names. The opening two minutes of our film shows an inkling into the pure intensity, hatred and violence of the footballing underworld.

Animatic for film opening

Our Preliminary exercise video

Preliminary Exercise

For our preliminary exercise we had to create a short scene, which consisted of someone entering a room, and have a conversation which consisted of at least four lines of dialogue. I played the part of the girl's father, whilst Andrew Lloyd-Jones played the boyfriend, with Alice Haydock as cameraman. We were able to keep our shots in focus,by using the rule of thirds we could ensure we kept the viewers attention. After filming once, we were aware that I was backlit against the light from the window. We corrected this by lowering the blinds for the second time of filming. The main changes we would have made is to have shot an over the shoulder shot from my point of view when Andrew enters the room to show the intensity of the moment. We would also have used high and low angle shots more effectively to give a sense of power or weakness.

There was no real problems with editing. Our shots were as good as they could be with the background we had too use at the time. we did have one jump cut, but we managed to sort it out by using a different version of the same shot. By shooting all the shots a number of times we could be sure we had a variety to choose from once we came to editing.

Once we lowered the blinds the lighting was fine for shooting, the background wasn't the most appropriate place to use, but it was all that was available at the time. We had a view different ideas on shots and dialogue etc, but as a whole our group worked well, with a good use of constructive criticism which helped to improve our scene.