5th March
Today, we decided that we would film the all the outside shots because, in order to create continuity, the outside scenes had to look similar otherwise the audience would be able to pick up on the fact that there is a difference in lighting, location layout and possibly weather. Therefore, it was important that we completed the outside shots today to make the scenes look realistic and believable.
The first part of the outside scenes we decided to film was that of the car scenes. There were a couple of reasons why we decided to do this. One reason was that we thought that the car scenes would be the most problematic scenes to film as the coordination of the two drivers would be difficult with all the other traffic in the road. Therefore as this scene would have most likely taken the longest to film, we decided to do it first. Another factor we had to bear in mind was that today was the only day that one of the actors could film at the location - one of the drivers! This meant that it was important that we completed all the filming of the scenes with him so that there would be no complications later. Also, to keep the scenes consistent, we had to make sure that the car scenes were in a similar time frame so that the audience wouldn't notice a difference in lighting which could ruin the continuity of the sequence.
One of the shots that was difficult to execute was the tracking shot of 'girl 1' driving past the camera at a medium level and then panning the camera down as the character of the killer drives past. This was a scene that had to be filmed many times to get right due to other traffic on the road, faulty camerawork and a misunderstanding of the sequence. However, after perseverance with the shot, we were able to get it looking right. It was important near the end of the shot that the camera panned downwards so that the audience couldn't see the driver's face. This is vital because if the audience saw the killer's face, it would ruin the continuity for the rest of the sequence as the other shots of the killer mostly involve the face not being seen.
After this shot, we decided to film a point of view shot from the perspective of the killer watching 'Girl 1' getting out of the car and entering the party. We thought that this would be a good shot because in the genre of a crime/thriller, there is sometimes a point of view shot from the perspective of the antagonist which almost acts as an establishing shot so that the audience realise that there is a villainous character. Therefore, this is the sort of shot we were aiming to get to help the audience realise that there is a 'bad guy' who is out to get the innocent victims. This also helps to reinforce the genre of the opening sequence as a crime thriller as the sequence filmed yesterday - Ellie making drinks in the kitchen - might not initially guide the audience into thinking of a crime/thriller genre.
The scene we next decided to shoot was were the killer steps out of the car, closing the door, locking the car and walking towards the house party. This was a shot that had to be filmed at floor level so that the killer was not seen from the waist upwards yet. Throughout filming, we thought that it would be a good idea, in order to keep the tension up, to reveal the killer in different shots slowly, revealing more of the character as the opening progressed. Therefore in this shot, we decided that only the killer's feet should be shown to create mystery and build tension. Also, showing the footsteps alone acted as a connotation that he is following the girl without having a shot that shows the killer walking behind. In order to create more tension for this scene, we decided that when it came to the editing stage, we would add some mood music for the killer so that even more tension is built.
For the costume of 'girl 1,' we decided that she should be wearing something different to the character of Ellie to portray the character in a different way. For example, in the scene when 'girl 1' steps out of the car, you can see that she is wearing shorts and a top. We chose this costume for 'girl 1' as we wanted to portray her as being a more self conscious character as opposed to the more confident character types of Ellie and the other girls at the party. For this reason, there is a link from the scene of Ellie in the kitchen to 'girl 1' through the text message when 'girl 1' says 'I think someone is following me' because she isn't as confident as others. Another feature of the costume we chose for the character was for her to be wearing pale clothing as this would have connotations of innocence and purity. This would further help the audience to decipher between the good character of 'girl 1' and the killer due to the contrast in the clothing. Therefore, in juxtaposition to 'girl 1,' the killer is seen wearing a long dark coat with dark jeans and boots to give him a rugged, threatening and imposing character profile.
The location for filming outside scenes was just the street outside the house where the party was being held. However, this pose some problems as there were some cars that came and went. Therefore, we needed to make sure that if in some scenes there were cars in the background that were moved in other scenes that we cropped around the outside of the shot in the post production editing so that there is enough continuity. Nevertheless, after some thought, we decided that the cars in the background made the scene look more realistic as the audience could come to the conclusion that the cars are owned by those at the party which could suggest the party is buzzing.
The final part of filming for the day was that of the killer scene were he was outside the window looking in on the party scene. However, this proved to be one of the most problematic parts of filming for the day as some of the shots we had planned to do could not be executed properly. For example, one of the shots we had planned was an over the shoulder shot of the killer looking in on the party to show the audience that the killer is watching the victims. However, due to the light conditions of filming, we realised that there was too much glare on the window, reflecting not only the killer but the camera and camera man. We couldn't resolve this by filming later in the day as although the change in lighting would make this scene possible, the whole opening would lose the flow and continuity. Therefore, we came up with the decision to film a point of view shot from the killer by pressing the lens of the camera right up against the glass window so that there was no glare but the audience would still recognise this is a perspective from the killer. Consequently, due to filming in this way, we found out that after watching the scene over on the camera, the audience might not draw the connection that it is the killer who is looking in at the party. Therefore, we thought that when it comes to the editing process, we would add some heavy breathing and music over the top to ensure that the scene is clear.
The first part of the outside scenes we decided to film was that of the car scenes. There were a couple of reasons why we decided to do this. One reason was that we thought that the car scenes would be the most problematic scenes to film as the coordination of the two drivers would be difficult with all the other traffic in the road. Therefore as this scene would have most likely taken the longest to film, we decided to do it first. Another factor we had to bear in mind was that today was the only day that one of the actors could film at the location - one of the drivers! This meant that it was important that we completed all the filming of the scenes with him so that there would be no complications later. Also, to keep the scenes consistent, we had to make sure that the car scenes were in a similar time frame so that the audience wouldn't notice a difference in lighting which could ruin the continuity of the sequence. One of the shots that was difficult to execute was the tracking shot of 'girl 1' driving past the camera at a medium level and then panning the camera down as the character of the killer drives past. This was a scene that had to be filmed many times to get right due to other traffic on the road, faulty camerawork and a misunderstanding of the sequence. However, after perseverance with the shot, we were able to get it looking right. It was important near the end of the shot that the camera panned downwards so that the audience couldn't see the driver's face. This is vital because if the audience saw the killer's face, it would ruin the continuity for the rest of the sequence as the other shots of the killer mostly involve the face not being seen.
After this shot, we decided to film a point of view shot from the perspective of the killer watching 'Girl 1' getting out of the car and entering the party. We thought that this would be a good shot because in the genre of a crime/thriller, there is sometimes a point of view shot from the perspective of the antagonist which almost acts as an establishing shot so that the audience realise that there is a villainous character. Therefore, this is the sort of shot we were aiming to get to help the audience realise that there is a 'bad guy' who is out to get the innocent victims. This also helps to reinforce the genre of the opening sequence as a crime thriller as the sequence filmed yesterday - Ellie making drinks in the kitchen - might not initially guide the audience into thinking of a crime/thriller genre.
For the costume of 'girl 1,' we decided that she should be wearing something different to the character of Ellie to portray the character in a different way. For example, in the scene when 'girl 1' steps out of the car, you can see that she is wearing shorts and a top. We chose this costume for 'girl 1' as we wanted to portray her as being a more self conscious character as opposed to the more confident character types of Ellie and the other girls at the party. For this reason, there is a link from the scene of Ellie in the kitchen to 'girl 1' through the text message when 'girl 1' says 'I think someone is following me' because she isn't as confident as others. Another feature of the costume we chose for the character was for her to be wearing pale clothing as this would have connotations of innocence and purity. This would further help the audience to decipher between the good character of 'girl 1' and the killer due to the contrast in the clothing. Therefore, in juxtaposition to 'girl 1,' the killer is seen wearing a long dark coat with dark jeans and boots to give him a rugged, threatening and imposing character profile.
The location for filming outside scenes was just the street outside the house where the party was being held. However, this pose some problems as there were some cars that came and went. Therefore, we needed to make sure that if in some scenes there were cars in the background that were moved in other scenes that we cropped around the outside of the shot in the post production editing so that there is enough continuity. Nevertheless, after some thought, we decided that the cars in the background made the scene look more realistic as the audience could come to the conclusion that the cars are owned by those at the party which could suggest the party is buzzing.
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