Account of shoot day

The setting up for the shoot location started the day before. We were using the studio and wanted the Mise-en-scène to look like a twisted child’s den with props such as cut, burnt and covered in blood children’s toys. We chose to use the studio as our location because we could have complete control of everything and would not be effective not natural light or the weather. The only real problem was the amount of time it took to set the set because we had to start completely from scratch. Although it was time consuming we had the ability to build the environment exactly how we wanted it. We started to make these props the night before filming. On the day of shooting we took four and a half hours to set up the location. This included laying out the tracks for the camera, the strategic placing of the props including the toys and diary, the panting of the pictures on the wall and the setting up of the swing (which was used to give the illusion of hanging) we feel this created an effective Mise-en-scène for the shoot. The same way that the Mise-en-scène in “the ring” when the girl is sat in stool with her long black hair in the middle of a white room.
. The set was quite similar to our last one-shot story board, but in the story board we had only diary pages and in our shoot we thought it would be more effective to use toys and pictures as well as this gave it more dimension. We did this by having some props on the floor, some flat on the wall and one hanging from the ceiling. I feel as if we were very well prepared for are shooting day, every one knew what they had to do and got on with it, also that we did our props the day before so that we did not waste time.
We had decided to do our thriller in a one shot style. We used a continuous tracking shot that tilted up and down as if someone was looking around the room. We decided this because we thought it would help for continuity and build tension. One of the main problems we encountered was that it was hard to keep the camera movements fluid as it moved across the tracks, we managed to overcome this by rehearsing it and moving the tracks slightly to make it easier for the camera to move along them. My favourite part of the shot is when the camera tracks over the pictures on the wall and then the rope comes into the shot, the camera then tilts down the rope till a hanging baby toy which has bright red blood over its head, which is a effective juxtaposition between the darkness of the rest of the room and colours. At first we placed are props on the wall to high up on the wall, when doing a test run with the camera we saw that this did not look right so we moved them further down to make it easier for the camera to pick them up.
We had a very basic costume for our actress; a simple black dress as it would turn out we never saw the actress’s body but it was good to be prepared. We chose a simple black dress because it was unobtrusive yet slightly creepy. The destroyed children’s toys gave the set more depth then are original idea of just the diary pages. The toys were used to portray the torched mind of the girl and the people we will die later on in the film.
We only had one cast member in our film. We needed a youngish girl, with pale skin and long dark hair. We wanted her to look a little bit like the girl from “the ring” with a creepy edge. There where a few girls in the school who fit the mould of what we were looking for. In the end we choose I girl called Petri Kimber, as she not only had the look but was a strong actress as well. We also wanted are main actress to be a teenager young adult as this is the age of the target audience and by this they would relate to her better. As it ended up on the shoot day we only saw her shadow and at the end her feet. Both of these did look effective as she has a slight frame which was clear in the shadow and small feet which made her look like a child when she was hanging.
We used quite basic lighting as we thought it would be more realistic and therefore more effective. We had a softer spot light over the area where he hanging was going to take place and we used a bare light bulb hanging over the room so the lighting looked like a loft. We also used backlights behind the girl to cast her shadow on the wall when she opens the door and walks through the room.
There were a few certain sounds that we needed to record so that we could use them in post production. We first recorded the ambiance of the room which is always important to make as realistic as possible, we did this by just recording the sounds of the room for a short amount of time. We also wanted to get the sound of the stool rocking, the rope tightening, chocking and feet twitching. We recorded these in the same way, making sure the room was completely silent. The other sounds we are going to use we will source from sound effects files.
My role on the shoot day was director; I made sure everyone knew what they were meant to be doing and when they should be doing it. I helped in the setting up of the set and had the final say on what I thought worked and what I thought did not. I also was watching the monitor to have an idea how everything would translate onto camera and then onto screen. Every helped out in different ways; every one helped in the setting up of the set, Ross was in control of the fan which turned the pages of the diary, Alex was operating the camera and TK was making sure the cables didn’t get tangled. We all worked well as a team because everyone knew what they were meant to be doing and did not get in each others way. Every one also was willing to help out when needed.
I was very pleased with the shot that we ended up getting at the end of the day. It was exactly as we had pictured it if not better. It was a slight veneration to the storyboard as I mentioned earlier but this made for a more dynamic sequence. The day went without a hitch due to good planning and excellent team work.