Pip Hawthorn - New Heights Productions

The Test Shoot:

During the Christmas holidays, Issy and I filmed the test shoot. As we had not casted our female protagonist, we asked my sister to be in the test shoot, however she wasn't able to make it, so my mum stood in at the very last minute.

The purpose of our test shoot was to practice using the camera and mastering the angles. It was like a first draft of our film opening; also to communicate our ideas and visions to the final actress/actor's.

We are really pleased we did the test shoot as it acted like a rehearsal and pinpointed the small errors we wouldn't have noticed before filming, like the missing shots which broke the continuity flow. 

In post production we were able to notice that we need more powerful artificial lighting, as it got dark outside quickly and cut off the natural light. However, we took turns in holding a phone torch really still to help brighten up the shots.

From completing the test shoot we feel confident and prepared to set up the bedroom scene, as are film is set in the 1920's and the mis-en-scene is crucial. This involved disguising plugs and wires with fur shawls and hiding the radio and lamp under the bed and pillows. We also think we will reduce the filming time because we know where all the shots are and we have previous knowledge from the test shoot.

Whilst filming the test shoot, we changed some of the shot angles, purely because we found alternative, more effective shots, and also some of the frames we drew on the storyboard were incorrect when it came to panning. You can see the comparison shots on the 'emaze' we completed.