Planning for The Prisoner

Planning of The Prisoner

 

How I started planning:

• I started by reading through the script and planning out what shots to use and how it would look when I used them.
• I then considered the movements of my actors and how I would want them to react to what they're saying. To do this, I looked through the script and thought about how I would feel if I was in this situation. I then wrote down what I thought would work and how I would explain it to my actors.
• I then wrote up the script with all of the directions the characters would need to be able to act out the scene. I had to ensure that there was enough detail for them to understand how the script would work.
• I then printed off the script and updated my original copy to make sure that everything was the same on each script.
• Once I had become accustomed with the script, I started planning my storyboard and how each shot would look. I needed a lot of sheets for planning this out because I would be using quite a lot of shots so that anyone watching my video would understand what was going on. For example, the beginning has quite a few shots and this is so that the audience will be able to see where the character is walking and where they are walking to, how they are feeling and what the character looks like.
• The storyboard included the type of shot I would use and what movement I will use. It also has the timing of each of the shots so that I didn't waste too much time recording a line that might only need a short amount of time to be spoken.
• I also started considering where I would film my video because the script is quite specific. I needed to find a dark room that was quite quiet as well as a building that I can film one of the actors walking into.

 

Planning for Filming:

• I needed to start thinking about how I would film and to stick to the rules.
• Firstly, I started by thinking about my master shot and recording the whole scene to make sure that I would always have constant audio and video to refer back to.
• I then considered how many times I would need to take each shot. To ensure that I got the right shot, I would need to take the shot at least 3 times.
• Something else that I considered was making sure that the camera was recording for at least 5 seconds before the scene is meant to officially start. This was to ensure that I got the whole shot and didn't cut out any of the lines that the actors will say.
• I also considered recording 5 seconds after the shot so that it wouldn't cut out too quickly and miss some vital information.
• My actors will find it incredibly annoying because of the amount of times I need to film each shot so I also needed to consider how I would keep them entertained. I would need to give them a break so that they wouldn't get too tired or start complaining.
• I have also considered using more than one camera to see if I could try different shots and quickly flip to another shot of the other character and how they were reacting to what was being said. However, this would be quite hard to do when it comes to editing because the audio will need to flow together and if the shot changes then the audio will too. So if I do decide to go down this route then I will have to ensure that the audio will work when I edit the video.

 

Health and Safety

Health and safety is another factor that I have considered because it is important that I can keep my actors safe when I am filming them.

• Firstly, I will need to make sure that there aren't any hazards in the room when I start filming them because they could potentially hurt themselves.
• I will also need to make sure that no one will trip up over the camera and tripod because the actors could hurt themselves and it could also damage the equipment.
• When I start filming, I will need to make sure that no one else is in the shot because some people will feel uneasy about this.

 

Other aspects I have considered:

1. Continuity - I will need to make sure that my actors don't change anything about the way they look because this could potentially ruin the video. The lighting could even change and this could be a problem when filming.
2. Making sure that the actors know their lines before I start filming - this could be a problem if I start filming my master shot and one of the actors forgets their lines.
3. Booking the camera and tripod to make sure that I have it for my scheduled days of filming.
4. Working to a deadline and making sure that everything that needs to be recorded has been done and that anything that I planned to do on a certain day has been completed.