Filming journal summary

Due to our film being an independent film we left a lot of our filming to convenience hence why we had a very unstructured and arbitrary meeting schedule. Luckily for us we were able to find locations such as Goals where the boys would get free access into on Tuesdays however, this also limited us as it meant we had to wait an entire week to film there again. On top of this we were also lucky in the sense that all the boys played for football clubs including Kallums younger brother who plays the younger Jack. This was advantageous as it meant we were able to collect footage of football matches with our actual actors without having to worry about costuming or props as it was all already there as they played their matches. This also had its limitations, we faced a lot of difficulties trying to film these matches for instance at Kallums little brothers match we didn't have parental consent from all of the parents therefore we couldn't film. Also at Jacks match he ended up getting injured less than 10 minutes into the game so we weren't able to get much footage. One thing I am proud of is that we didn't need to use any existing footage and every scene in the title sequence we filmed ourselves however I will say that in future I would definitely not rely on leaving things to convenience as things may not always go to plan.

Filming: Day 16

In addition to the scenes we shot at White Hart Lane yesterday we  also filmed younger Jack looking at a poster of White Hart Lane to show that it was his dream to play there growing up.

Filming: Day 15

As filming is coming to a close, we have just been filming little details that'll help establish the narrative. Yesterday Jack and Kaan went to White Hart Lane to film jack in front of the gates. This will establish the setting and the stadium where jack will now be playing with his professional team. We took over the shoulder shots so you could see jack looking up at the stadium gates.

Filming: Day 15

Today Kallum filmed younger Jack watching tv in his living room. He was watching a football match and was cheering as the team he supported scored. This was to show that Jacks enthusiasm for football and as a little boy he'd watch so fixated on the game and wishing he would be playing on the field too. 

A problem we faced with this is that our protagonist is meant to be from a poor background however Kallums house possessed features such as a flat screen tv and expensive furniture so it isn't convincing at all that Jack is from a working class background.

Filming: Day 14

Kallum was able to film his younger brother doing kick ups and dribbles in his garden in order to add more clips of transitions of Jack from younger to older. We also need to film older jack doing these exact same tricks to show the development in skill. We will show the growth of maturity and social class by either filming Jack in a more professional looking location or in better, more sophisticated clothing. 

Filming: Day 12

Today we went back to the dance changing rooms. We hung football tshirts on the pegs all around the room to create mise en scene. We placed the football shirt with the number 10 directly under the light to show importance as it was jacks t shirt number for his school football team when he was younger and his number now that he's signed. We did a pan around the room showing all the shirts until finally stopping at number 10 where we did an over the shoulder shot with jack looking at the shirt.

Filming: Day 11

unfortunately our plans for filming throughout the weekend fell through starting on Saturday when the tripod we rented out was faulty so we tried to film jacks football match with a handheld camera. The footage came out very fuzzy and shaky so we couldn't use it. On Sunday Kallum's mum was going to film Kallum's younger brothers football match as he plays the younger jack in our film. Unfortunately due to lack of consent from the other kids and their parents playing in the match, we did not have permission to film. We have come up with a new filming schedule in which we hope to get all the footage we will need by next Friday. 

Filming: Day 10

Today we will film on our schools huge football field. Conveniently Jack had to teach a year 8 PE class so we will film the kids playing a football match as if it was young Jack playing football in his unprofessional football club before the fame with all his peers.

Welling School football pitch

Filming: Day 9

Today we went back to the dance changing rooms and filmed Jack taking all his new shiny football equipment out of his expensive training bag. We laid it out in a line and filmed across the clothes so titles can appear on them.

The camera was sometimes out of focus and blurry therefore we may need to redo some of the scenes.

Filming: Day 8

Kaan, Kallum and Jack returned back to Goals in Bexleyheath to film Jack taking some shots into the goal. It replicated the footage we got of Kallum's little brother who plays young Jack, taking shots into the goal. This makes for a nice effect as it shows his growth and progression

We will need to return back to goals one last time to shoot both the boys playing in a match scenario with other boys.

Filming: Day 7

We went to the changing rooms in our schools dance studio. They were a lot cleaner and new looking than our football changing rooms so it shows the progression in his career and lifestyle.

We filmed the same type of tracking shot that we did in the football changing rooms, however instead of scruffy football boots Jack was wearing smart loafers as it isn't long after he's just signed his football contract. 

We brought additional lighting to the changing rooms to make scene brighter than when we shot in the football changing rooms which was quite dark to show that Jack has left that dark period of his life and entered on a lot brighter and happier

Filming: Day 6

For our title sequence we are going to be showing contrasts between Jack as a young boy with a dream to Jack grown up and fulfilling his dreams. Jack, Kaan and I designed this contract as if it was made by younger Jack fantasizing about one day signing a football contract. We made sure our handwriting and drawings were messy and immature so it seems like a young boy did it. We are also thinking about maybe incorporating some credits onto it.

 We filmed a boy in the younger years that had blonde hair like Jacks to sign the contract so we could get an over the shoulders shot which will replicate the footage taken of older jack signing his real football contract.

Filming: Day 5

We found a new location to film Jack signing his football contract. We went into the computer room, cleared a desk and put it in the centre of the room. Because there were still computers around the room, to avoid making the setting not look like a convincing office/meeting setting, we did an over the shoulder shot of jack signing the contract and also a birds eye view shot of the contract which we captured by Kaan standing over jack on a chair

Filming: Day 4

Carrying on from day two of our filming to establish setting, today we filmed some shots of our school changing rooms. This was the perfect location to film as it resembles a football changing room. The floors are muddy and dirty which further connotes the inadequate upbringing of our protagonist. Unfortunately, for legal reasons we could not shoot the children entering the changing rooms without parental consent, we would've used this footage to show all the other boys secluding young Jack as they entered because they don't like him due to him being poor.
I like that there are a lot of clothes and backpacks hung up and around the changing room as it makes it more convincing that the changing room is in use by many school boys, all who would be in Jacks year group.

Filming: Day 3

We used this contract, which we got from google after searching 'football contract template' , and used it in the scene where Jack is signing his contract. This is a good action prop and helps with the mise en scene of our title sequence as it looks like a real football contract making the scene more convincing

Filming: Day 3

On our third day of filming we wanted to get the scene of Jack signing his football contract. We thought the library would be a good place to do this as there is a high table and a long table in front making it look somewhat like a board meeting. 

clip from the filming, bookshelves seen in the background

However when filming we realised surrounding areas causes miss en scene issues as items such as book shelves and other tables and chairs got in the frame. This made it difficult to pass the setting off as a meeting and not a library. Because of this we reshot the scene filming just jacks hands signing the contract. This way we get the shot without getting the background in the frame as well.

Also the camera was on the manual setting for lighting instead of auto thus the footage coming out very dark.

We will find a different location to film the over the shoulder and moving shots of jack signing the contract, preferably in a room that has no disrupting objects and items in it so it will look realistic.

Filming: Day 2

Today we shot medium wide shots in order to establish setting. We filmed our school football pitch which looks quite rough and deserted to show where Jack first started playing football before becoming rich and playing on expensive professional looking astro turf football pitches. This shows that our protagonists start in life was in a poor neighbourhood and he didn't have much. It shows the financial and social struggle he faces 

Filming: day 1

Filming location: Bexleyheath Goals

Conveniently Kallum and Kaan knew of a location local to use that was perfect for our film. The location was a sports centre that consisted of mini football pitches. 

The boys went on Tuesday evening to film around 5pm. As it is winter I feared it may be too dark to film however the boys said they location had flood lights and they also changed the camera settings to make it brighter. The footage came out quite stylistically, creating a midnight blue type of colour scheme. Although it was not what we initially intended the lighting was no issue.

However Josh, Kallum's little brother who was cast to play younger Jack, was the only person in the frame along with another young boy who we cast to play the goalie. We decided this wasn't representative of the scenario we wanted to create as we wanted to show younger jack at football training with a bunch of other boys his age playing a match so we would then replicate this scene when jack is older and playing in a professional football match. 

We may still use the footage we collected, possibly to be used as little flashbacks clips but we will also go back to the location and cast about 8-10 other boys to be in this particular scene.