One Shot Short Film - Planning and Filming

Initially, as a group, we had many interesting and unique ideas as to what could happen during our one shot film. However, then we were given a few specifications, these included; the camera had to be on a tripod and the tripod itself was not to move from a fixed position, we were also not aloud to cut during filming then continue. The entire film had to be done in one shot, hence the name. This was relatively simple to stick to, although it meant if we made any mistakes during a shot then we'd have to re-film as we were not aloud to simply edit that scene out.

During one of the 3 hour sessions we all sat down and decided to discuss what could be happening in the film, but although we all had some sort of idea as to what it should be about, only Kieron had put pen to paper, and produced a rough example of what the scene should look like. Below I have detailed the rough idea we chose from Kierons ideas, which we later adapted.



Initially the idea consisted of a patient lying on a hospital bed with two doctors either side of him. The camera was to act as the patients head and simulate head movements. We all agreed this was a clever technique and would like to take it further. However, we didn't think it likely that we could secure a room at a local hospital for the sake of a film so though of possible ways around this. After much deliberation we decided to stick to the hospital/doctor theme, with the camera simulating a patients head, but trying to do it in a real hospital was not that likely.

I suggested that maybe we should have it more like a local walk in health clinic, that way the doctors could look a little more casual and the room would not greatly influence the theme of the film. We all agreed this was a good idea and started planning a rough dialogue, general story and when it would be convenient for everyone to film it.

In the end we had roughly decided that the patient (Michael Close) was suffering from an unknown illness and had decided to visit his local doctor (Kieron Powis), with the company of his brother (Me, Chris Williams) - Accompanying the doctor were two local university students (Gigi Chan & Shelley Yijun), there to watch a doctor at work. Michael also operated the camera to simulate his head movement. Michael's visit to the doctor consists of him getting mis-diagnosed for Swine Flu on a previous occasion (we felt this a relevant topic) and still suffering from several symptoms, throughout the film Michael's condition gets worst and worst - simulated with blur and sound effects done in the later editing stages - until the end of the scene where we collapses, giving a rather appropriate ending to the film.

Having decided on a topic and planned a sort of rough guide of events we thought it was probably best to book the equipment needed, which I will list below, and the booking of the studios for the actual filming.

We requested the following in order the film;
* Sony HD DV Video Camera
* Tripod
* Lighting Set (3 lights + Protective gloves)
* Orange Gel Sheet
* Blue Gel Sheet

The gel sheets for the lights had initially been requested for use to simulate a code blue type effect in the hospital. However we decided against this and after some experimenting used a blue gel sheet on one of the lights as it appeared to give off a more natural light effect.

We also brought some of our props to make the whole film a little more realistic. Fortunately for us, my house mates doing Forensic Science, so acquiring an authentic looking lab coat was relatively easy. Also, Michael works at a costume shop so was able to get hold of a doctors stethoscope with ease. Kieron also brought along some candles and a small fake flower to add to the effect. All of this, along with the use of a computer (already situated in the room), plus a desk made for a fairly reality

After all props were in order, dialogue 'roughly' revised (mostly structured improvisation) we started filming. We thought the first run through was fairly good, however, upon watching it through the camera we had neglected to notice that whoever had used it previously had used an external microphone and in doing so had turned the internal mic down. Thus, had no sound. However, not letting this get us down we decided to go at it again, this wasn't a bad take but we thought it could be better. Having watched it through, we noted and discussed what could have been improved and set about doing that in the following shot. After watching back the third take we thought it had been done rather well, so we decided to use that one for the final editing.

Having filmed everything and decided on the actual shot to use, we packed up, returned the equipment and looked forward to editing it in Adobe Premier the following day.