OK: Production Log - Wilderness Woods

My role

- My role in the production of our 'Wilderness Woods film' was to co-direct the film and to also help create a suitable story for us to follow the criteria that was capturing footage of somebody following someone else in the woods

- I helped to analyse the areas that we discovered after our recee by going back to the locations that we had looked at, and to identify what footage could be shot their and how it could fit in with the story

- I helped with the tracking shots as the weather was making it difficult to reduce the amount of unfocused footage we captured

- I also helped with some of the handy cam shots we captured, as Finn was helping Leo to show him where he should walk through the paths

What did I learn?

- From this experience, I was able to learn how to use the Jib, understanding how to capture high quality footage starting from a low angle and ending at a high angle or visa versa

- I learnt that the weather can help make footage look a lot more professional and help with the scenery, as we filmed the first clip in our film in the rain

- The weather can also cause problems in capturing the footage as we attempted to use the tracker however, the ground became muddy which caused our footage to be shaky and out of focus on a number of occasions

What was I most pleased with?

- I was most pleased with the first shot.  The jib helped to create a very professional opening as we see Leo starting on his journey in the rain whilst walking past the tyre swing

- The cutting rates towards the end made it clear who was the antagonist and the protagonist and also introduced a number of enigma codes, as the audience questions what the antagonist did to the protagonist at the end

What challenges did we over come?

- I believe we used the weather well. Although some of our shots are not as still as they can be, I think that we were able to put up with the muddy conditions that affected our footage, and used the rain to our advantage

What didn't work as well?

- I feel as if we spent too long on the recee which meant we weren't able to capture enough footage for our final film. This meant that we had to use the footage that we had filmed, and use editing to make the final film much longer

How has this influenced our production?

I believe that this experience has enabled us as a group to understand that we can produce a high quality film. Finn's camera enabled the footage to be high quality, Leo's acting allows the story to feel more professional as he co-operated with us as a group and adjusted to the conditions of the weather. Overall, as a group I believe that we will be able to create a good story for our final horror film and with all of the components we are able to offer to the final production, we will create a high quality, understandable horror film