Final Project - Prop "Blood-shooter" First Test

Here is a short clip of me testing the "Blood-shooter" I made for my final project to simulate the gunshot in one of the scenes in my trailer. It uses compressed air to propel the fake blood out of a hole in the the tube, while slightly tedious in needing to pump 250 times to get a sufficient looking spray. In this test we only used water to see if the general idea actually worked and we will be testing it with fake blood tomorrow as it will be thicker and the hole will be cut larger to allow are more convincing effect to be made. Thanks to my dad who is the one demonstrating the device while I filmed it.

*Update*

I have done another test with my "blood-shooter" but using some fake blood this time. It went reasonably well  but due to it being a process of trial and error, it wasn't all bad. I pumped the spray gun 250 times and it gave a reasonable spray but the fake blood was not thick enough so the gunshot effect was a little weak so for next time we know to thicken the blood and possibly increase the air to 300 so compensate for the thickness of the new batch of fake blood.

Final Project - Holiday Filming (Test Footage)

I am currently organising a day near the end of next week to get some scenes shot for my final project so it will leave more time for editing, design tasks etc. So far, I have got a some of the needed cast and crew like Make-up, a couple of the needed actors along with possibly the head of photography to allow for some shots to include for the preliminary planning along with possible shots to edit for the actual magazine cover. Currently, the idea so far is for Friday due to general availability for most people at around 1 to 2 being the ideal time but later is manageable. It will be in Framwellgate as it has the most places where the shots are needed so I can potentially get most of the scenes done. When all the details are finalised, I will update this post with the actual details.

*Update*

Well, the filming was changed to the Sunday due to most people being available then. The filming itself however, didn't go well. Some people turned up and left soon after, making it impossible to shoot certain shots as they accidentally took some much needed props with them and for obvious reasons if they were actors or extras. The actors I had left varied in levels of seriousness which made it hard to direct them in what I intended to shoot and ruined certain pieces of footage if they acted out of character. Craig and Stephanie were the only ones who listened to how I wanted the scenes to go and gave it their best, with Stephanie being entirely professional when doing her scenes which I greatly appreciated. I'll admit I could improve my directing skills greatly as I mainly did editing in my last project and chose this style of project to challenge myself and see if I have what it takes to get each of my shots perfect and of sufficient quality. The conditions were actually reasonable for a change, with the a decent amount of light until the wind picked up later on but fortunately didn't effect audio too much. Some footage is salvageable though, parts of the opening scenes aren't bad but during a key scene Jonathan strolled into shot so it decreased its use in the final project. So in all, it wasn't a great success but taught me a few things of what to improve next time I shoot and also if any tweaks are needed to the project itself. One thing is if certain actors can not be serious or are affecting the production negatively, a recast is needed. Another is to possibly reduce the scale of project, if some of the shots are too ambitious or not possible, they need to be redone which is what I'm currently doing at the moment by drawing up new storyboards with simpler shots that still adhere to the conventions of vampires films and also tell the narrative in greater detail. So while it wasn't a total success, it was still useful as it warned me to the potential problems within my project early so I can remedy them soon as possible.

Final Project - Cast List

Here is the current cast list for my project. Most postions have been filled but there are some extras I will need at various points which I will mark on the cast list as needed so if anyone wants to or thinks they can do a particular role, leave a comment saying you would like to have the part etc. (No tapes of auditions necessary since it is mainly extras)

Main Cast


Matt Von Drac - Craig Mullen
Rose Nightley - Stephanie Cubello
Ryan Dacrual - James Corker
Dorian Angelo - *Recast or potential removal*
Felicia Shade - Unconfirmed

Extras


Ghouls -*Recasted or possibly removed all together*
             *Extra Needed*
             *Extra Needed*

Army of minions - *Many Extras Needed* (Likely to have one scheduled event to get this shot done)
*Likely to be removed due to new storyboards being drawn up*
Crew


Writer & Director - James Corker
Assistant Director - Craig Mullen (Duties will pass to another member when both of us are in a scene)
Make Up Department - Fran Minney
Head of Photography - Rachel Fairbairn
Music and Sound Department - *Open*

A big thank you to everyone in advance who was willing to help me out with this project, whether it be acting or crew duties, so we can make it the best it can possibly be. Its deeply appreciated for having such helpful friends to help me out. Thanks again.

The Director

Final Project - Storyboards

Here are the storyboards for my final project as from previous projects, I have seen what an improvement they make to a project as it helps us visualise how we want it to look, if its achievable and how it will fit with the rest of the shots. Due to some problems with the original draft, I have crossed out some shots and will be replacing them with more achievable shots that also fit better if the plot and feel of my trailer. They will be added to this post when finalised and complete.

Holiday Work - Extensive Planning for Final Project Test Footage

Over the following weeks of the holidays, I have been completing my planning for my final project by finalising my storyboards, getting together some of the basic props and organising for my some test filming to take place next week which is still being confirmed with the required actors and actresses. Currently, my storyboards have had a few tweaks and are finally finished to give me a clear indication of how my shots should look when filmed. While finalising however, I noticed some parts would not work so I have added a few extra shots to compensate and fill in some elements of the characters and story too. The voice-overs I also have planned have been basically written, as in not finalised completely, along with some snippets of dialogue. Initially, I wanted to avoid any dialogue but it was inevitable as its needed to help quite the story I want to portray and add to the atmosphere of certain characters like the twisted side of Dacrual or the cold, blunt Matt character. So before I left school, I asked for ways to improve sound capture and got a few ways like separately recording it and adding but may sound weird compared to the scenes shot but we will work that out when it comes to it. In my following posts, I will uploading my storyboards and any prior planning I have done like cast list etc. Hopefully, everything will run smoothly if filming goes ahead and if not, I will work on the design elements of the course so the time is not wasted if filming falls through.