Preparing for costume and makeup for opening sequence

I watched this video on YouTube about applying special fx makeup to create cuts and scars on the body and face. I bought this kit which includes scar wax, a wax spatula, coagulated blood, stipple sponges, skin wax extension oil, neon body face paint and makeup brushes. 

 

Recasting our villain

As we never got a reply back from Nick who we were going to use as our villain in the opening sequence, we decided to recast the character so I sent out an email to Adam, another one of our teachers. 

Roles on Set Research

The main different roles on set are the director, editor, art director and camera person. Media

Thelma Schoonmaker (famous film editor)

projects like the one my group is carrying out is a social
collaboration which requires a division of labour to achieve an end goal or product. In many cases the division of labour is done based on specific skills and knowledge that correspond to a specific role. This allows a great number of people to work collaboratively on a large scale. The various different roles will culminate together and a media product will begin to take shape, the benefit of such specificity in each role allows the project to manufacture the right shots, getting the correct genre conventions and tone. 

Cedric Gibbons (famous art director in film)

Martin Scorsesse (famous director)

Janusz Kaminski (famous camera operator)

In the case of my own media project we have decided to divide the different roles on set to the members of our group. Sophie has been made the editor, Raffie is the director, Elias is the camera operator and I have been made the art director for our group.Art directors have the responsibility of the location, props, costume, makeup and continuity because of these elements. With this role I have the opportunity to experiment with the overall design, colour and mood of the opening sequence. I will create different designs of how I believe things should look ie costume etc which I will show to the rest of the group for their opinions and thoughts but mainly our director Raffie. I obviously need to ensure that the director's vision is conveyed throughout the design and have good management skills in terms of the budget and schedule. I believe I will be a good art director as I have a creative imagination and good artistic skills. I enjoy doing makeup and have had a lot of experience especially when working with lighting and makeup ie how the face will look under different lighting. I am very capable of communicating the visual ideas to the rest of my group and have a good eye for paying attention to detail which will be beneficial with the continuity of the opening sequence. 

To prepare for our opening sequence, as the art director, I will need to ensure that everything is correct

with our location including the design and props used. Some things in the design will need to be set up such as the Titan tube lighting and the crime scene board which will be pinned up against the wall of the shipping container which I will be in charge of setting up. I will need to ensure we have all the props and check both costumes for any flaws before filming. I will most likely be doing the makeup of our actors therefore will need to watch some more tutorials on how to apply the bruised effect looking makeup. I will also need to make sure that all the mise-en-scene don't affect the continuity with mistakes such as makeup looking slightly different and hair not being positioned correctly. 

Reply from our cast for the shoot day

 This is the reply from Ali from our cast who agreed that our shoot day would work for him as well.

Receiving our shoot day

Today we got told that our shoot day would be the 7th of March 2022. Therefore Raffie emailed Nick and I emailed Ali who are the only two members of our cast.

Foley Sound

Foley sound is a sound effect technique which involves making everyday sounds for different media products created by foley artists. It was first used during live broadcasts in the 1920s for radio plays where radio studios hired sound artists to create the effects on demand. They create everyday sounds such as footsteps, wind blowing and other ambient noise. 

There are three main types of foley sound:

- Feet (creating footstep sounds)

- Movement (people brushing past each other)

- Specifics (phone ringing or door creaking)

Foley sound helps with the narrative ie sound effects however it is everyday sound. Pleonastic sound is exaggerated sound e.g the sound of lightsabers slashing the air in Star Wars - or a tap dripping more loudly than normal in a horror film etc. A technique to create this kind of sound is Foley Sound. Foley sound is creating sound in synch with what is happening on screen. Jack Foley created foley sound ie the reproduction of sound effects added to film in post-production. For example, for snow people use regular play sand and cornstarch to create a sound effect as if walking in the snow. Pinecones can be used for cracking ice. There is the mixer and the two foley artists involved in this process. Sound effects are often performed by a foley artist.

Call Sheet

 

Shooting schedule

To prepare for the day of our shoot, as a group we made a shooting schedule to help organise ourselves on the day and use our time productively. 

 

Shot lists

As a production group we created a shot list. We split up the step-by-step into 4 sections and then each created a shot list for our own section. We did this to use it as a checklist when filming and so we are prepared and organised for the day of our shoot.

This is Elias's shot list which begins the opening sequence.

This is my shot list which is the next section.

This is Sophie's shot list which is the next section.

This is Raffie's section which is the final section. 

Shot list preperation

 My production group created a shot list to make our filming process more efficient as it means we can film each shot based on set design and costume instead of chronologically which makes the process a lot more complicated. We haven't all numbered our shots yet as we will know more about this when we have a more detailed step by step of the opening sequence.

We divided the shot list template into four sections so we could each complete a section of the opening sequence which will then all be put together. We then all emailed each other are sections of the shot list which we individually completed.

Extra Research about Adobe Premiere Pro

These are some of the keyboard shortcuts we learnt in the opening sequence.

Undo... Cmd + z

Redo... Shift + Cmd + z

Cut... Cmd + x

Copy... Cmd + c

Paste... Cmd + v

Clear... Forward delete

Select all... Cmd + A

Deselect all... Shift + Cmd + A

Zoom in... =

Zoom out... -

Mark in... I

Mark out... O

Mark clip... X

Add marker... M

Play... Space

I also watched this youtube video to get a better understanding of Adobe Premiere Pro.

Editing workshop 1

During our camera workshop, we filmed a range of short clips using a range of shots. We used our footage and put it on the editing software called Adobe Premiere Pro. We then created log bins. These were so we could name each part of our footage making it is easier to find which one we needed to edit eg 'close up Alice smiling'. We then put together the sequence using the 'in' and 'out' technique which is used to cut down the footage.

On Adobe Premiere Pro there are four different sections. One is to view the footage, the second is to import and select footage, the third is to edit the footage together and lastly the fourth is to view the edited footage as a final product. We constantly saved our work as we edited our footage together so as not to risk possibly losing it and having to start again, in Premiere Pro you can quickly save your project by pressing the keys command and then the letter 'S'.  

The footage, rushes and daily's is the unedited footage from the shoot. When the film was shot on physical film it would have to be 'rushed off' to be developed overnight so that the director could view the footage the next day which is where the name 'rushes' came from. However, in the UK it is referred to as dailies. 

The cutting tool on Adobe Premier Pro is used to cut footage into different sections if needed. It looks like a razor blade icon. The In and Out points are used to show a specific section of the clip or sequence. The first frame is the In point and the Out frame is the last frame in the sequence. Trimming is when you modify the clips In and Out points in the editing sequence. The + tool is used to zoom in on the timeline of each clip and the - tool is used to zoom out on the timeline tool. The shortcut for undo is Cmd + Z. 

Preparation for props for media shoot 4

I ordered some white handkerchiefs for our opening sequence on Amazon. However, we only need one but I ordered numerous for backup so we our extremely prepared.

Preparation for props for media shoot 3

Today I took some more photos to create the crime-scene looking board. I will then print these out onto slightly smaller than A4 paper which we will put all together with red string and pins. Here our all the photos I have gathered. The majority of them I took myself, however some our passport photos which I got my friends to send me.