Cinematography

To achieve a finished copy, to which the whole group were happy with, many decisions had to be taken. The main hurdle which needed to be overcome was the titles, and in what method they would be incorporated into the opening sequence. We then, as a group, had an open discussion and settled on some ideas:

• a name written in condensation
• the name burnt onto toast
• composed using cereal

• made using fridge magnet letters

These were then discussed further to find out which of these methods would be achievable. Straight away the toast concept was eradicated, due to its vast complexity, as it seemed to hard to a) fit the desired text onto a slice of bread and b) how were we going to format the text upon the bread.

This then left the group with three concepts which were tested in the filming process. The condensation effect was created by holding a mirror next to a hot shower for several minutes. then writing in the desired text. However, this was not visible looking through the lens and the amount of steam in the room would cause the lens to blur. So this idea was modified as the steam couldn't be extracted because the condensation would have vanished. So toothpaste was used as a substitute, which was easily visible, could be applied under normal circumstances and was easily removed after use. (Also links with scene as character is brushing his teeth.) So this was kept and captured as part of an over shoulder shot, so as character leans to spit in sink the text is revealed.

Cereal was next on the agenda:

• took several takes to get the correct distribution of cereal knocked onto the table.
• then used a close up on the cereal which was arranged to form another title construction words from cereal and randomly placing pieces around text to make it appear less staged

There was an alternate shot for the cereal being disposed of, this being with vacuum cleaner rather than a sweep of an arm, this was originally an out-take, yet added to comedic feel. However, we opted to avoid the idea due to background noise.

Next came a concept which was thought of on set which was to write a name on a letter and have it come though the letterbox. We created this to go along side the scene where he received the post.

The issue which made this scene susceptible to several retakes was the speed at which the letters were posted.

The other scene shot at the doorway also had timing issues. We needed a suitable time for the character to leave with his bag, closing the door behind him having enough time to zoom out then move him to return and pick up an item he had forgotten, without causing an awkward pause. This issue was corrected fairly quickly after watching the footage back.

Final title inclusion was the fridge magnet lettering:

• due to availability of product wanted we opted for a piece of paper with name on attached to the fridge with a fridge magnet.

Finally due to the lack of filming time my name was not included into the title sequence.