Production Post (27/11/2013)

Production Post (27/11/2013)

Today, straight after the end of last lesson me and my group went to the Media Studies room where we collected a video camera and tripod so we could begin the filming of scenes 2 and the beginning of scene 4.  As school finishes at around 3:05 we had to make sure we arrived at our location as quickly as possible as it begins to get dark around 4:00pm. On arrival to Banstead we had a short walk to group member (Alex’s) house which is the home of “Vincent” the stalker within our sequence.  In order to get the necessary shots we used a front bedroom window, on the second floor, in Alex’s house. For the shot, Vincent, played by Matthew Clark, had to reach up and place his hand gently on the window when he saw second main character Sarah, played by Lucy Parsons, walk past on the pavement below. This ended up taking longer than first anticipated as we tested a range of camera shots to ensure that the scene was of the best quality and clear for the audience to understand.  We recorded the scene from two perspectives, one being a point of view shot from the stalker, Vincent, which involved close ups of his hand as he rested it on the glass window. The other however was an over the shoulder shot of Vincent as his hand stroked the glass as Sarah walked below.  In the end we decided on using the point of view shot.  We believed that this made the scene more effective and suspenseful for the audience as the perspective will be looking through the eyes of the stalker as if it was themselves. In addition to this, the previous scene within our sequence is also a POV shot, therefore we wanted to keep continuity within some of the different scenes.

After the filming of scene 2 we went straight on to recording main character Vincent making a cup of tea for the start of scene 4.  In order to increase the pace of the film we used simple close ups of each item used with the tea making process so when it comes to editing it will almost act as a fast paced montage, rather like the shots used in 'Shaun of the Dead' or 'Hot Fuzz'. The purpose of these shots was to show Vincent carrying out an activity that is seen as a normal day to day task, this tricks the audience into believing Vincent has a fairly ordinary lifestyle, however they are soon to learn the truth behind this mysterious identity. 


Finally, we headed down to the bottom of Alex’s garden towards the shed, a key location essential for the end of our opening sequence.  As a group we discussed how we were going to set up the props regarding positioning of props and camera work, and if any items needed to be removed from the shed to create a more effective setting. We also spoke about various ways we could possibly adjust the lighting so it doesn’t appear as too dark and unclear on the camera so test shots could shortly take place.  

(Scene 2)

This first image is an over the shoulder shot used within scene 2 of our opening sequence. At first it was rather challenging to get the correct positioning of the stalker's hand on the glass when the girl walks passed. However, after various test shots and experimentation, we decided to use a point of view shot in the eyes of the stalker, giving the audience the impression that they are looking out the window themselves. 

(Tea Scene)

This next shot is from scene 3 where a montage of clips are used to create a stylistic editing technique rather like from 'Hot Fuzz'. This involved various fast cut shots placed within a sequence. Upon doing further research, we discovered that within the film, the shot involved zooming in as well as creating fast shots. After this first experiment was done, we tried doing this new technique for different objects such as a water bottle. We then tried experimenting with the tea scene again using this newer technique, following the style used within 'Shaun of the Dead'. 

(Tea Scene)

This is nearer the end of scene 3, the last section of the tea scene, where the stalker then goes to stir the tea. We found this rather challanging to time correctly as we needed Foley of the spoon crashing against the mug as well as using the correct camera placement and movement. We re-created this scene one again using a slightly different technique which had overall given a more effective outcome. 

- Written by Manisha Dhokia, Lucy Parsons, Alexandra James and Matthew Clark