Filming Session 1 21/1/2011

First Day
Jimmy
Police
Ivy Leaf Corridor
News Report
Richardson Way
White Powder

Our first filming session took place on 21/1/2011.
This Post is a detailed account of how the day went and problems we encountered.
In this filming session we planned to film the following scenes

• Informant Scene
• Chase down alleyway scene
• First chase scene
• Drug Deal Scene
• Strutting down the street scene
• News Reporter Scene

We decided on certain scenes we could do on certain days because of availability of people we needed in individual scenes and the locations we knew were free. Firstly, we decided to film at an old warehouse entrance lay by down Station Road. We felt that the area was secluded and old enough to tone in well with our 1980's style for this scene as it was when the police officer met the informant. This was an effective location for us because it was away from the centre of Whittlesey and we filmed it to make it looked like an abandoned area. Firstly we set up the car on the end of the lay by so we could set the camera up on the tripod in the boot so it was in a safe, stable position. We then got all of the props together and made sure that everyone had the props that they needed for the scene. We then issued ourselves into our starting positions and waited for the go-ahead from Michael who was directing this part of the scene as he wasn't in it. It was difficult at the start as we had a road next to the lay-by and cars kept on passing by when i made my entrance which meant that we had to start again. When we managed to get past this point to when DC Summers met Toby, we had to start again and decide certain lines as there were big pauses when one of the actors thought about the next line as we did not script any of the lines throughout the trailer. Once we decided these, we managed to film that scene after 3 or 4 takes. We stopped after the handover of the document and moved on to the next scene where DC Summers left just before an armed criminal called Billy sprung out suprisingly and fired two shots at the informant. This was done successfuly on second take after the informant failed to react fast enough to the fired shots on the first take. The third part of the scene then started with DC Summers attending to a wounded Toby. We added make-up and blood to Toby to show the wound that he had suffered. The audience will now want to know if he survives or not and with DC Summers trying to close the wound, will he save him?

Our next scene we did was opposite the Ivy Leaf Club down Gracious Street. We used this scene to film the start of the trailer which was DC Summers chasing a suspect down the road and with him eventually caught by his colleague round the corner, DC Curtis. We wanted to start a low shot of feet running to open the trailer as it immediately grabs the audiences attention as it is quick and direct. This took about 3 takes to complete as both DC Summers and the criminal had to make sure that they ran at a distance so that the criminal could be caught before DC Summers caught up. This scene was filmed by Robin and directed by Michael. A long shot was used to show the running until the criminal turned the corner which is traditional of a chase scene as they are running directly towards the camera and the audience feel involved in the chase as they are closing in on them. We then changed angle to a medium shot of the action but behind the action and behind DC Curtis so the audience can expect what is to happen next, which is that he gets caught. This final scene was filmed in three takes as the criminal did not react to getting caught and the camera angle had to be changed because it was in the way of the action and didn't get the best view of DC Summers and the criminal entering.

Also down Gracious Street, we did a news reporter scene where the reporter was interviewing DC Summers on capturing the robber. This was a scene we found challenging as we had to find a backdrop which suited the environment of the piece and we had to space the characters quite far apart so that the news reporter could introduce himself and then bring DC Summers into shot. The news reporter found it difficult to work with the noise of the traffic and he did not remember some of his lines so it took a considerable amount of time for him to introduce himself and ask the correct questions to DC Summers. Once we managed to get past the reporter's part of the interview, we completed it pretty rapidly.

The next scene we decided to do was down the alleyway that we entered the start of from the last scene as it seemed logical to do it when we were already there. It was from the opposite end of the alleyway and was another chase scene with DC Summers chasing Billy down the alley to try and arrest him. This was a difficult scene as it was tough to interpret how fast to move and the actors had to rely a lot on the director in this scene. Also this scene was filmed near a public area so it was difficult for us to film and create a tense atmosphere which was especially needed for this scene. Also during this scene without being pre-planned, a police siren was used in the background during the scene which we tried to incorporate live within this scene, but we didn't like how the scene went so we had to re-film it. We decided to film on the two corners and show both characters trying to look for each other in order to build suspense.

We filmed the next scene down Richardson Way where an under-cover DC Summers met Billy to buy drugs. This was a difficult scene as the powder we used as drugs could only be used once as when it is given to DC Summers, he throws it back at Billy and arrests him. If we did not get this scene correct the first time, the bag would have split and gone everywhere and there would have been a big white mark on the wall behind Billy. We did this particular scene in a small space inbetween the garages because it was compromised and Billy would not be able to escape DC Summers. It is also away from the public eye and traditional of where a drug deal would take place. We managed to complete this in one take as we carefully pre-planned our camera angles and what we would do in the scene. This was very successfully done and we were happy with the outcome.

Also down Richardson Way, we had the two policeman walking towards the camera. This took a few takes as we improvised with our character's and stuck on a walk that showed their personalites best. This was quite simple to film as we were doing a scene where there would be no distractions and once we decided on a bodily stance for our character, we could complete it quickly.