The location for our shooting was the inside of a bedroom in Cornhill Manor, one of the boarding houses. The night prior to our shooting day was spent tidying the room and arranging it to look like a couple’s bedroom. We were originally going to use a different bedroom, but we had to use mine and Izzy's bedroom because our beds were the only beds which had space underneath them which was crucial for our opening sequence.
On the morning of our shooting day, everything went to plan. We ensured that we had all the props we needed to take to our location for our shooting. This involved collecting the gun and fake blood from the theatre department. After this, we collected the camera, tripod and lighting from the media editing suite, which we loaded up on to the mini bus. We arranged to meet Jake Cecil, the only required member of our cast, who traveled with us on the mini bus to Cornhill Manor.
We were aware that we were quite short for time due to our actor and a member of our group having to be back at school to go on a theatre tip at , however we only had 1 actor to film, and so we knew that this shouldn't be too much of a problem.
On the morning of our shooting day, everything went to plan. We ensured that we had all the props we needed to take to our location for our shooting. This involved collecting the gun and fake blood from the theatre department. After this, we collected the camera, tripod and lighting from the media editing suite, which we loaded up on to the mini bus. We arranged to meet Jake Cecil, the only required member of our cast, who traveled with us on the mini bus to Cornhill Manor.
We were aware that we were quite short for time due to our actor and a member of our group having to be back at school to go on a theatre tip at , however we only had 1 actor to film, and so we knew that this shouldn't be too much of a problem.
When we arrived at our location, we set up the red head light, pointing it towards the ceiling so as to get the reflected light from the ceiling to give the room a warm glow. This was also to avoid the lighting looking too staged and unnatural. After doing this, we set up the tripod and camera, and white balanced it to fit with the lighting in the room. Our camera angles and positions were fairly similar to the ones from our story-boarding; however we adjusted them slightly in some cases because some angles looked better than the ones we had storyboarded. We also added some additional more experimental shots which we thought would work well in the sequence. For example, we chose to do a ‘pull-focus shot’ which is where in the foreground, there was a close up of Jake putting on his jacket, and in the background there was a gun and passport on the table. The pull focus changed the focus from the action from the foreground to reveal and bring out attention to the gun on the table. We thought this worked really well, and we were very pleased with the results.
We generally shared around the jobs involved in the filming. For example, when one of us was filming, the other would be directing the actor and we would rotate these roles around so that we all had a chance at filming. In some shots, for example the ‘pull-focus’, we all had a go at filming it, and we would then choose the best shot to use. This worked well, as we all gained experience in filming and the filming was done quickly and efficiently.
I felt that we were well-organized for the day, as we had all the required props ready to use, we had already arranged our set for filming, which saved time when it actually came to the day, and we had thoroughly storyboarded the sequence and so we knew exactly what we were doing. Due to the nature of our film, our opening sequence wouldn’t necessarily be ‘scary’, but instead we were going for the effect of building suspense as the man is getting changed as we anticipate whether he will get away in time before the girlfriend discovers him. Throughout the opening of the sequence, everything would appear to be normal, and is would be fairly slow moving, but as the man is putting his trousers on, he hears the front door open. He has literally be caught with his trousers down, and from here on, we increased the shutter speed to conjure up a feeling of hurry and panic.
We chose to have the man getting dressed into a suit, because there is a sophisticated feel to it and it suggests that he has power in the situation. We also knew that there were some interesting shots we could get from buttoning up the shirt and putting on the tie. We chose to include fake blood as he is washing his hands. This suggests that he has committed a crime and is washing his hands clean from sin. The blood heightens the feeling of suspense and therefore implies that it is a thriller film. We also used a gun and passport which he picks up before he escapes from the room. The gun suggests that the man is violent, and that he is dangerous. This conforms the typical thriller genre, as there is normally death or violence within thrillers and horrors. The passport however hints at the identity theft which is suggested through this opening sequence, as the man is believed to have killed the other man and stolen his identity. The passport ultimately conforms this identity theme.
We chose to cast Jake Cecil, because he was the oldest looking boy in our year and so he fitted the age of a young man who is on an undercover mission as part of a conspiracy. The role required getting dressed into a suit, so we were aware that the man’s body would be on show throughout various parts in the sequence. We decided to choose Jake because we knew that his body would appeal to the female viewers. The male viewers would appeal more to the action aspect of the film.
We wanted to create a warm feel to the room we were filming in, to suggest a homely couple’s bedroom. To do this, we turned on the 2 bedside lamps which were positioned either side of the bed, and we turned on the lamp which was on the dresser. We also used a red head light which we positioned in the corner of the room next to the dresser. We directed it towards the ceiling so as not to make the light in the room look too artificial and direct at the actor, but instead the light reflected off the ceiling to create a subtle glow. For the bathroom scene, we just used the lighting from the bulb in the bathroom. This created quite a grungy looking light, which fitted with the man washing the blood off of his hands, however I don’t think it looked the best it could. If we could change it, I would want to put the red head into the bathroom to give it more light to make it look more professional. Because of the narrative of our opening sequence, we weren’t really aiming for the lighting to create a thrilling aspect towards the audience which is why it would differ greatly to other thriller opening sequences. However in the context that it was, I think it worked well and was successful in creating the illusion that it was filmed inside a couple’s bedroom.
Most of the sound that was recorded on the camera whilst filming won’t actually be used when we come to edit the clips together, because they weren’t clear or loud enough. After filming, Izzy and I went around the school with a camera and a microphone to collect sounds that we thought resembled the sounds made in the video. For example for the wardrobe door being closed, we would direct the microphone towards a door as it is being shut. However, we also had to collect some sounds which we wouldn’t visually see. For example, at the beginning of the sequence, we wanted to have the sound of a body being pushed and dragged along the floor whilst the screen shows a plain black screen. These sounds together with the black screen create suspense, as the audience are wondering what’s going on.
We didn’t delegate any specific roles, as all of us wanted to gain experience in every area of the production, and the three of us were on roughly the same level in terms of knowledge about filming and shooting. We took it in turns to shoot different shots, and when one us wasn’t confident to do a particular shot, the others would support them and help them. Prior to the shoot day, because we were filming at Cornhill Manor, which is mine and Izzy’s boarding house, Izzy and I spent time tidying and arranging the room the night before. When Honey came with us on the shoot day, we made sure she was happy with the mise-en-scene, and a few minor adjustments were made.
We generally worked really well as a team, and the workload was divided equally between the three of us which improved efficiency and meant that we were finished at lunch time. This was also due to our good organization and pre-production planning. The shoot day was actually much more enjoyable and laid back than I had expected, and I think ultimately it was very successful. Generally the mise-en-scene was successful in creating the illusion that it was a couples bedroom, however as I’ve said, there were some lighting issues in the bathroom scene, however hopefully we can sort this out post-production during the editing phase. We were particularly pleased with the pull-focus shot which we hadn’t actually storyboarded, but it was something which we decided to do on the day. Overall we were really pleased with the efficiency of the filming and we were also able to enjoy the filming day also.
