Account of shoot day
When we arrived in the editing suite, the day immediately began not following our preparation. We were told that the set drawing and description hadn't been given to the set designer and we therefore had to build our set in the studio that day, meaning we must search around the school for the props and furniture we needed. Due to the lack of time to collect things, we had to alter our idea of a 'expensive looking hotel' to fit with things that we had. We decided to use a funky, neon lit setting with the idea that we could change our target audience to a younger generation. We finally adjusted to the idea, and the mysterious darkness linked to the thriller genre we wanted to create. Beforehand, we lacked certainty of day plan, however once the set was built we had confidence in what we were doing. Instead of the hotel room, we nicknamed our set 'the sex palace' as it finalised as was hugely seductive with the dimmed lighting and fur covers on be bed and settee.
The set completed
Using the studio gave us dominant decisions on the details of the thrillers setting and (would have) given us a variety of choices for the environment. The Mise En Scene was a little mixed up, but we concluded that the opening would be abstract helping the audience to wonder questions for the rest of the film. We originally made a list of props we wanted, but due again to time issues we didn't get all we desired. Instead, we grabbed as many things as possible that could be included into a possible story line- these included: old fashioned camera, ashtray, whiskey bottle and glasses, lighter, lipstick, 'rude' photograph slides. Tea coasters were used to portray the woman's changing emotions- moody, shocked, sexual.
The scene begins with a continuous tracking shot following over all the props on the table (dressed with purple material) leading onto half a dozen slides stuck to the light box, suggesting the raunchy setting with what's portrayed in them. The track then takes us to the settee with a blazer and tie swung over the arm, leading the camera down to the foot of women, tracking upwards to follow the stocking being pulled up the leg. This lead to the image of a hand roped to the bed, following onto the dead face of Bobby.
This whole tracking shot took a good 15 takes to get right, as the camera HAD to follow the path we'd decided without stopping. It took a long time to rehearse and we knew this, so instead of getting the actors in early morning we chose the time to set up lighting and so on and also as rehearsal period. Once the track had been perfectly rehearsed and memorised, the actors arrived after lunch at 2.00pm.
Tobi takes control of the camera for the tracking shot- Lynne awaits direction
For Ava and Barry we chose recommended actors. Lynne Whitehead was said to be actress, and she seemed hugely keen to be in the thriller. She was perfect of the part, as she could play a seductive murderess easily, with her mass of curls and the red lips we gave her she looked just the part we wanted. Although she played the evil character, she was hugely likeable to an audience as she added a type of humour to the character. Lynne was wonderful to work with, and hugely patient with our inexperience with filming so we thank her for that. Bobby Genower was picked at the 'dead man' who lays, murdered on the bed. We chose him, again, out of recommendation and he looked perfect for that old fashioned, wealthy yet gullible man. I cannot explain how fabulously patient he was being roped to a bed for nearly 2 hours. Both were fantastic and had a close friendship as colleagues so worked great together.
Break for tea and biscuits- Flora admires the set
We borrowed outfits from the college's costume cupboard for our actors. We decided in alteration from our original idea of not knowing Ava was female from the beginning by dressing her in full black. However we resulted in giving her a lace dress as it would then make sense pulling stockings up. The dress also gave her that younger, typical beautiful murderess character we wanted for the target audience. Bob wore a shirt and black trousers, demonstrating his wealth and superiority that has now been stolen by a dominant female.
Bobby awaits direction- patiently!
Lighting was dimmed, with the neon lights presenting different emotions in the scene. We had strip
lights underneath some of the furniture. Red light was placed under the desk to show a frustration of Ava looking for something through the objects (a particular slide). Purple was placed under the sofa and blue on the bed to symbolise the coldness of death in the atmosphere. Apart from the coloured lights, we used a natural looking light, suggesting a seedy room at night attempting a chiaroscuro setting of light and dark. On the third and last shot was a close up in which we were originally going to use a projector for light, to link to the theme of film and slides, however when the projector was off, the light on Lynne's face was perfect with a blue glow, making the mood hugely intimate and mysterious creating an anticipation for the audience.
We planned to have no sound in the sequence, to add to the tensity, and to make it a little different from other thrillers, as they'd usually use music. Instead however, we decided on having a film projector playing- for the light and the sound. The continuous ticking noise was like a stopwatch for time, forming suspense. All this, helps the audience to ask frequent questions of what'll happen. We decided to pre record with the mic, the natural sound of the room to add over during editing, so the sound on the film recording isn't empty and dull.
In the production we took turns in roles of direction, calling camera roll and camera control although we seemed to adapt a certain role although none were in control. We worked as a team. I enjoyed directing our actors, as I was able to put forward my own ideas, and have them accepted. I took the role of telling Lynne when to pull up her stocking for a shot, which was a pretty precise and accurate job. I had to watch the tv in which the film was shown, decide a moment for her to begin pulling them up in the tracking shot and indicate with a hand gesture. It doesn't sound a lot but each little thing counted. As a team, I think we finally, after the many months, began to merge in ways of
thinking to bring ideas together. Matt got the responsibility of continuity for the actors (assuring Lynne was in the right place, and Bobby was tied to the bed tight enough), Flora called' standby, rolling, action, cut!) Tobi controlled the cameras movement on the tracks and the rest of the shots and I just tried to assure our actors were happy (with tea, coffee, biscuits etc.)
Assistance in getting the focus with the tracking shot
As a group decided on 1 tracking shot, to create that slow anticipation of a thriller genre, and two quick shots, making the audience ask questions on who was in them and what was the purpose? It's
intriguing. It also meant the day was spent focussing on what shot, which was a lot less stressful than multiple shots. All the features we included: moody lighting, slow shots, ticking of the film, the seductive setting, the young women, all helped to form the thriller atmosphere that our target audience would hope to see.
Despite the stressful start, and continuous changing in ideas, as a whole we are thoroughly pleased with how the thriller turned out, with the main shot day actually going entirely smoothly and easily. Obviously, through assistance, we have created a great thriller that people would certainly enjoy at the cinema. The Mise En Scene wasn't what wanted, but due to understandable circumstances we made it work, although if I'd got the chance, I would have reverted back to the original setting. Overall we are very happy with the result and are looking forward to editing it. Thank you to everyone who assisted in our thriller filming: prop providers, actors, extra crew, we did it through your help, so thank you.
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