Barriers Faced

During our process of filming we knew there were going to be issues and problems that we were going to have to overcome as best we could. We prepared ourselves as much as possible and we were rewarded for our anticipation.

The first issue we were aware of was lighting. This time of year (January) the sun tends to set early in the evening or late afternoon and so we had to ensure we had enough hours of natural light to film any scenes. To overcome this issue we decided to leave school early to get the bus to our location at around three o’clock. This gave us around an hour and a half to two hours of natural lighting to utilize. While still having to work quickly, we were able to film the required scenes within this time slot.

The next problem we encountered was the weather. On the day we were filming, there were strong winds present at our location, in which we had no real shield from the air. This presented a hazard to us as the wind could potentially knock the camera over and damage it. It also meant that that the sounds in our scenes were virtually inaudible. We created two solutions to this problem. The first was to bring an umbrella with us which we used to shield the camera from the wind, making it less likely to fall and cause damage and lose any footage we had recorded. This also helped with the audio and sound quality of our footage slightly. The second solution was to make the decision to mute all audio for these scenes and instead decided to play a soundtrack over them. Our group decided this would be the best solution and also add a suspenseful effect to our thriller.

Next, we realized that members of the public may be present in our location. This was proved to be a wise assumption when we noticed a person sitting in an area we planned on using for a scene. To solve this problem we re-evaluated the scene and worked out a way in which the person could easily be kept clear from the shot. This worked well and we did not have to change the scene we were filming and managed to keep any other member of the public out of shot.

Next, the location we originally chose to film at had to be changed due to the aforementioned lighting issues. The original location was further away and meant that by the time we arrived there would be even less time for naturally lit filming. We instead changed the location to a slightly closer area which meant we had more time to film the required scenes with appropriate light. This solved the problem effectively and with only a small compromise as the new location, we believe, is actually better than the original.

Due to a communication error, we found ourselves unable to film in another location: Medway Youth Trust. We had been told to speak to a member of staff, however a breakdown in communication meant this meeting did not materialize. Instead, for purpose of time above all else, we decided to abandon the idea and instead use the school for the indoor and office scenes.