Just after we had finalised our idea for 'Aftermath', this news story came up. I read through this and found that it was greatly relevent to the issues that we intended to tackle within our film had it been developed further than the opening sequence. To read the article please CLICK HERE
The article was not only usefull in terms of research but also shows that there is i wider social context regarding the main concept of 'Aftermath'.
Wednesday 2 February 2011
Thriller opening sequence- Pre production planning (script)
Below can be found the original script from which the opening sequence was based upon. The script includes stage directions and proposed camera angles that may work for a particular part of the script. Having already shot the sequence, i now know that the running time for this script ran over the intended two minutes for the sequence. As a result of this i sat down with the rest of my group and the actors in order to cut out parts that seemed irrelevant and to adapt the script to make it as concise and as effective as possible. I feel that this was done effectively, however we could not have ended up with a script of such a standard that we were all happy with without this initial draft which i personally composed entirely.
Script- Dialogue
INT: On Camera (youtube) Confession greenlit / computer screen /webcam look. Actor looks into camera and talks to his ‘audience’:
ALEX:
I don’t expect you to understand now, you’ll see though. I can’t show you until it’s done. Every single day, I watch humanity go about their business, so pointless, so apathetic, shit. That’s what we are. And now it’s time to show every single one of you what you could never see, you’re not so indestructible, you won’t feel so hard tomorrow when your teachers and friends are lain out, lifeless, in front of you, if you’re lucky.
By the time you see this, I’ll be gone and it’ll be done. And you’ll wonder, how could anyone do this, why, what was going through the head of that fucking psycho?!
My answer to you, there is no kindness in mankind, we’re selfish, every single one of us, I’m gonna show you how one insignificant psycho can change everything, not so fucking useless now am I?! By now, I’m dead, literally got away with murder.
Kate, you know you are my world, any time I’ve ever been happy’s been with you. I’m so sorry, but you need to understand that I had to do this. I love you, forever. I love you now, and I’ll love you still when you see this and I’m gone. Don’t go in to school, you don’t need to see this, you’re the only person in this entire fucking world I’m willing to spare.
In years to come, you’ll all be forgotten. Just another kid, tragically killed in that school. But everyone remembers the killer, the psycho that flipped out, killed himself afterwards and claimed it was all justified and in the name of something meaningful. Well let me tell you right now that this is all for the sake of beauty, Kate. The only understanding of real beauty that I ever had. Babe, I won’t let you grow up in a world that doesn’t understand the individual, just like me and you. I won’t let you live in that kind of place, nobody else is gonna change it for you, and you can’t change yourself for the world, so I’ll change the world for you.
INT: CUT TO Interview Room
INTERVIEWER initial insensitive approach, perhaps an element of personal anger over what has happened- shot focused on hand/evidence pictures, Kate out of focus:
So another senior school boy shoots up his school, posting a confession video beforehand, pretty much claiming it’s all for you and you’re trying to tell me that you had no idea about this? Come on, don’t mess me around here. You know it’s all gonna come out regardless of weather you try and lie to me or not.
KATE focus pulls back to Kate as she replies. She is quiet and emotional, signs of grief and shame strongly apparent:
(silent tears) are you fucking kidding me? He killed my friends….
Interviewer Same shot pulls back to OTS of interviewer, left shoulder and head in view, focus on Kate:
Just take your time, tell me everything that you know.
Kate Focus changes to Kate’s image in the evidence camera, she is blurred in the background.- Non- diegetic voice over of youtube confession plays over her tears
(Bursts into uncontrollable tears)
Interviewer Shot cuts to through one way glass, medium wide of the entire interview room, and focus on interviewer here:
(sighs)
Kate ‘I remember’ said in previous through glass shot, cut to close evidence camera picture.
I remember…. He said don’t go into school (dubbed with au voiceover from video- non- diegetic) – but I didn’t see the video in time, I went to school…..
Interviewer :
What did you see at school?
Girl:
I was in maths, at the very end of the main building……… I heard shots… and screaming…. The shots stopped, I went out…………. (crying)
Interviewer:
Go on….
Girl:
My best friend…. Was on the floor, I didn’t believe it, I tried to help…….. she was so pale (uncontrollable crying)
Interviewer:
I know it’s hard, is there anything else?
Girl:
There were so many more….. blood everywhere (crying) ………….then I saw him lying there, he was covered in blood….. (breaks down properly) with a gun in his hand (uncontrollable tears)
Interviewer:
Okay, I think we need to take a break.
Thriller- Mood Board
Below can be found a power point format mood board containing the basic and original ideas on which an opening sequence for my horror/ thriller genre film could be based. The concepts in the mood board all relate to a sense of fear, threat and danger. One idea which i particularly like is the concept of a person posing a threat to oneself (or the results of such a threat, either to that person in particular or to others around them)and i would perhaps like to incorporate this into my opening sequence.
Tuesday 1 February 2011
Account of Shoot Day- Thriller
The shoot day did not turn out as was initially planed. Our group, which had initially consisted of four members, ended up becoming just James Troughton and I due to the fact that the other two members were absent from the school at that time for various reasons. As a result of this, both James and I had to multitask and adapt our previous planning strategies for the day in order to gain the most out of the short time that we were allotted. We spent longer than expected finalising the finer details of our set design because of the lack of extra hands to help on the actual morning of the shoot.
However, the set was finalised regardless of the extra time that this took and did not set us back too badly due to the fact that we had prepared the majority of both the physical set and aspects of the design to be added last minute prior to the actual day on which the shoot took place. Good organisation prevailed and the day moved relatively fluidly once we actually began filming as we had a rigid storyboard planned out, clearly showing us what shots we needed to do and exactly how we could best conduct doing them.
On entering the studio, we noticed the genie lift which we were eager to make use of, in spite of our small group; we established that as a result of our planning, we could afford to take the extra time out of the initial storyboard and experiment with a number of other shots which may add to the desired effect of our opening sequence. Firstly, we focussed in on the table of the interview room and, using the genie lift, conducted a crane shot, ending in an overhead view of the interview room and both occupants, intended to be the opening shot of the sequence as it establishes the setting from the finer details to the overall establishing shot of the setting as a whole. We also tried this shot in reverse as it seems more conventional to start off with an establishing shot and then later focussing in on finer details such as the evidence photos which are laid out on the desk early on in the scene.
In order not to complicate things for ourselves during post production, with foresight we ensured that we maintained a detailed shot list, consisting of all the relevant information from the shot, for example whether or not the shot may be useful for the final cut and which take was most effective.
We decided to shoot the thriller, for the most part in the studio. This enabled us to control for elements of the shoot such as lighting and the overall structure of the interview room. On the film, the room appears to be reasonably dull and dimly lit, however the set was actually rather brightly lit so that the shots were clear, however in order to achieve a sense of horror, entrapment and darkness, we used a light filter on the camera so that the set did not look so bright.
In terms of shot choices, we made sure to take as many as possible in order to give ourselves the best choice possible when the time came to edit the sequence in post production. Particular focus was placed on close ups, extreme close ups and tight over the shoulder shots, again in order to achieve the effect of entrapment and negative intensity. Tracking shots were also taken so as to give a smooth transition between points of view within the scene as well as to build suspense with the pan within the track, leading us around the room, to the diarised version of our victimised girl within the onset camera in the foreground and her actual image in the background. The idea on which this was based is the fact that had we made the rest of the film, it would keep referring back to her (‘Kate’) diarised version of events in order to signify that this story is about Kate and not Alex (the killer). This can be seen as our unique selling point (USP) for this thriller.
On the day, we ‘cheated’ the spatial relationships between characters and objects in order to make certain shots work. In order to do this we had to collapse part of our set and relocate a wall in order to fit particularly our tracking shot into the scene effectively. As a result of carefully planned camera work; ensuring that all of the elements within the shots held their original place within the frame, we were able to make it look as if none of the set had been moved at all.
The part of the shoot in which controlled lighting played perhaps the greatest role was when we had ‘Alex’ (the killer) talking to what appears to be a webcam. We created this illusion by placing a light string underneath the camera to recreate the look of the glare from a computer screen. We were aware however that this is massively bright in comparison to that of any regular computer; however we felt that in order to create the desired effect, the overdramatic lighting created the feeling of intensity that is mirrored through the dialogue and tight setting of the interview room. These choices were made specifically with regards to the genre of the film.
In one instance, (our tracking shot), we deliberately broke the 180 degree line of action, however this was done in one continuous motion so as not to confuse the audience as to the whereabouts of characters in relation to each other within the room. Other than this, we took great care towards ensuring that this line of action was not broken as a general rule towards continuity in a shot. This proved specifically important with OTS shots and reverse shots.
Throughout the day, I took on the role of operating the camera and directing the actors. Prior to the shoot I had spent time with the actors, ensuring that they were all aware of what was expected of them on set with regards to performance and therefore on the actual shoot day guidance was easy because everyone knew exactly what they were doing. Besides actually shooting the sequence, being the camera-man meant that I had to ensure that certain things were done before we could begin filming, such as light balance, bubbling the tripod and filters etcetera. I also wrote and redrafted the entire script for the sequence and ensured that all of the actors were satisfied with their lines and that they worked well together.
The entire group worked well together in ensuring that all elements of the shoot fitted together well, even if two of the members were not present for the majority of the shoot day. The props list worked well in relation to our set and this was bettered by the fact that we were all highly pleased with the performance of all our actors. I was personally pleased with the costume design that James had finalised for the characters that I had written into the script and I feel that these were exactly what I was aiming for. Overall, I think that everybody within the group is pleased with the way in which our final shoot went and that we are all excited to see how this will come out in post- production editing.
Photos from shoot day:
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