Chess Film Day 9

        Our plans for Tuesday were changed drastically because one of our actors, the one who plays the winner/victim, was sick and could not come to school. He let us know the night before so we had a little time to rethink our plan. The cinematographer worked out the shots on the storyboard again, picking shots that could be optional and prioritizing others. 

Shot that needed to be color corrected to finish the chess game 

       In class we finished organizing shots based on what we already had. To trim the movie and make up for our missing actor, we had to omit the shots that involved placing the medal on the winner. Our new plan was to finish the chess game, then finish up the second scene. The other actor had to fill in the role so we could finish the chess game. He is the editor and said that later it could be color corrected so we rolled with it. The rest of our shooting was finishing scene 2 with chicken man. 

Ending of our movie, chicken man walking away.

        I initially panicked at first because I did not plan for this to happen. Everyone was supposed to be here all 3 days of filming. Now we know to prepare better and make backup plans. 

Chess Film: Plans for Tuesday

          Our crew has finished filming about half of the shots we need and we only have 1 day left to shoot. As we are on a time crunch, the cinematographer reviewed the storyboard and made some shots optional. This way we can prioritize shots with the chess game and still have a functional movie. 

           As our filming is coming to an end, I realize how unprepared we were for the problems that we faced. The crew members not bringing props, the rain interrupting, even the wind was an issue. It was definitely a worthwhile learning experience. 

           By Tuesday our movie will be done shooting and we can move on to editing.

Chess Film Shooting Day 2

         Our second day of shooting was off to a much better start. I brought a new chess set and we had the medal to use. We went back to the original plan of shooting in order, starting with the establishing shot. We were able to complete about 3 more shots before it started to rain. It wasn't heavy at first, we were going to push through it, but it started to fall heavier. All film crews had to strike set and hope the rain cleared. 

         The weather really changed the way our shots looked. The sky was cloudy and overcast, which was a big contrast to the previous day where the sun was out and shining. This would be fixable with editing but it was still extra work to do. While it was raining, my crew continued to film our scene 2 under a sheltered part of the walkway. This way we would not lose too much shooting time and get a good amount of shots done. 

Today we completed shots 1,2,3,5,19,20,23,24

Chess Film Shooting Day 1

        Today was the first day of shooting the Chess Film. We faced some setbacks because we did not have a chess set or a medal. I did not prepare to deal with these unexpected circumstances. Our crew had to modify plans, instead of shooting scene 1, we ended up shooting all the close ups and extreme closeup shots. A total of 7 out of 29 shots were completed at the end of shooting today, shots 4,6,14,15,17,21 and 22. 

                                                                

It was a productive day of shooting overall and we plan to have all the necessary materials by next class.

Chess Film Day 5 cont.

        During our time outside, we used the equipment provided by our teacher to try some practice shots. Because Justhyn was absent, my phone was used take shots because it was the only one that could fit in the mount. Kensey, the cinematographer, worked out some of the more complex shots.

An off-level shot of the first location.

A shot with medium distance.

Chess Film Day 5

        The goal for today was to scout out locations for filming. Everyone had to stay within the school patio but we could have our own sections. We needed 2 different locations, one for the beginning where they are playing the chess game, and another for the encounter with chicken-man. 

Here is the first location, one of the patio tables facing the baseball court. This will be used for the chess match. We picked this location so we won't have to worry about anyone filming behind us. 

Table which will be used for chess game.

The second location is not directly on the patio but our teacher said we could film there as he could still see us. This location is where we will shoot the rest of the movie. There will be the stand-off between the winner and chicken-man in the hallway. Then the chicken-man will drag the winner around the corner before re-emerging. 

Hallway where we introduce Chicken-man.

There was another location we could have used, but decided against it. There was a great possibility that we have to deal with other groups filming behind us. In addition, other random students wandering outside would interfere with our movie. 

Chess Film Day 4

        Today our film crew did some final editing on the production portfolio. We decided to use an instrumental of Duckworthy by Kendrick Lamar instead of a generic Beethoven piece. This would make for a more unique sound choice that fit with our movie. 

                                                    John David planned on using parts from                                                             the first minute.

Once we finished with that, the production portfolio was submitted and we awaited feedback.