P2: Setup equipment and record production materials for use in a short film
Here I will include images of my production process in order to evidence my use of the equipment and display my process:
The above images display me recording and directing actors to get the shots and performances that I wanted to capture. In terms of directing, I had to record the audio for many of the shots in order to get ambience, room tone, sound effects and dialogue. As such I directed my actors and crew by telling them a brief overview of the scene that they would be performing, and then running them through what I needed them to do for the exact shot that I would be capturing. I would then have them perform a practise run of what they would be performing so that they could get a feel for exactly what they needed to do before finally starting to record takes of the shot. This meant that all actors and crew were confident in their performances and that minimal takes were required for most shots.
A few shots required actors to move at a certain time, such as when my female actor had to look up from her phone at a specific time. As I required the sound from the clip I could not give her a verbal or auditory cue to act. As such, I directed my crew member to give the actor a visual cue for when she needed to move in the form of a hand gesture. This allowed for the clips audio to be recorded while the actor was still on cue.
For the majority of the shots that I captured here I utilised a shoulder mounted rig along with a DSLR camera. This setup was great for capturing relatively steady shots. These shots were not as steady as they would have been had I utilised a tripod, but the shoulder mount comes with the advantage that I could capture motion shots in as steady a fashion as possible with the equipment I had available to me. This meant that shots could be more dynamic without sacrificing too much stability. I mainly utilised this for tracking shots such as capturing characters as they walked.
For a few short close up shots such as the one I was shooting in the bottom right photo, I left the shoulder mount in favour of a traditional handheld approach. While I lost some stability, this didn't matter much as the shots were intended to be quick and a small amount of instability in the camera will hopefully add to the "Amateur" atmosphere that many horror and thriller films try to achieve as a convention as it adds a sense of unease for the audience.
A few shots required actors to move at a certain time, such as when my female actor had to look up from her phone at a specific time. As I required the sound from the clip I could not give her a verbal or auditory cue to act. As such, I directed my crew member to give the actor a visual cue for when she needed to move in the form of a hand gesture. This allowed for the clips audio to be recorded while the actor was still on cue.
For the majority of the shots that I captured here I utilised a shoulder mounted rig along with a DSLR camera. This setup was great for capturing relatively steady shots. These shots were not as steady as they would have been had I utilised a tripod, but the shoulder mount comes with the advantage that I could capture motion shots in as steady a fashion as possible with the equipment I had available to me. This meant that shots could be more dynamic without sacrificing too much stability. I mainly utilised this for tracking shots such as capturing characters as they walked.
For a few short close up shots such as the one I was shooting in the bottom right photo, I left the shoulder mount in favour of a traditional handheld approach. While I lost some stability, this didn't matter much as the shots were intended to be quick and a small amount of instability in the camera will hopefully add to the "Amateur" atmosphere that many horror and thriller films try to achieve as a convention as it adds a sense of unease for the audience.
M1: Apply the codes and conventions for the chosen genre in the materials recorded
Here are a few of the rushes from the day of filming:
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This rush took a few attempts to film, as my actor fumbled with the keys, put them in the wrong way and failed to unlock the door. After a bit of directing them and a few takes, this is the shot that I ended up with.
I like this shot as it deviates from the intended storyboard shot a bit by adding a dynamic of movement to the simple act of opening the door. I cut the shot right before the actor put the keys in the door, as this proved easier and less clunky to film, and I plan on cutting this with another shot in the editing process. It is quite a dark shot, with the only lighting coming from small amounts of light through the door. This is conventional of the thriller genre as cold and dark lighting creates a sense of danger and mystery. It is also quite conventional to have the outside be dark while the inside location is warm and inviting, as this connotes that the inside location is safe while the outside is connoted as being dangerous. |
This is a very short shot that went exactly according to my storyboard and took only a few take to get down to a perfect standard.
This shot was a close up so I removed the shoulder mount and recorded handheld as the shoulder mount would have got in the way of getting a nice close up shot of the keys. This shot took some coordinating with the sound, as I wanted to capture the sound of the keys against the surface, as well as the sound of the television in the background. I wanted this background sound to be included as it made the setting feel more "Alive" and "Homely" along with the warm lighting. This is quite conventional of the genre as it sets up the location to be comfortable and putting the keys down connotes a sense of comfort within the character. This comfort juxtaposes the audiences realisation that there is a threat, which in turn causes tension for the audience. |
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This shot fits in with my initial planned shot from the storyboard of having an over the shoulder shot of the character picking up and looking at their phone.
This took a bit of preparation to film as I had to coordinate the messages appearing on her phone and ensure that there was no personal sensitive data being shared in accordance with legal and ethical guidelines. The high angle over the shoulder shot is a convention of the genre, especially in regards to character's who are in danger. This high angle shot shows that the character is small and being looked down on, connoting that not only are they weak but also that something is lingering above them. This could be physical, or in the case of this film it represents and connotes the lingering sense of danger that the audience feels as they know there is a threat coming. |
This is one of the continuous tracking shots that I mentioned earlier. The shot isn't as steady as I'd like it to be, but the shoulder rig added some stability and I am generally very happy with how the shot turned out.
I will likely cut this shot up to a music track and use this as a sort of opening sequence. I would also like to make the short darker and with cooler tones, so I will experiment with this in post-production. |
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