Shoot Day

Today, we shot our thriller and at the start of the day discussed how we could make it more interesting and include something that made it bite; we came up with the idea of her going crazy and stabbing the boyfriend to death. Other than the addition of the murder sequence, our thriller was very similar to our initial idea and story board, making it much easier to film as we knew exactly what we wanted.

My role in the thriller was camera-person and had to yell out "standby, rolling and action" to give the actors an understanding of when to start talking. Additionally, during the shots that were taken outside I had to make sure that the filter level was at its highest, so that the audience were able to see the person even with the sun. Additionally, before each shot, I had to close up on the person or wall that I was filming and adjust the focus to make sure the image looked perfect, as well as white balancing before filming by having someone stand in front with a white piece of paper and zoom in on it and focus and pressing the white balance button. Sabrina held the role of STAC1E as well as coming up with the concept of the thriller which was based around STEPFORD WIVES meets IROBOT and working with me to determine which props would be used. Dani had the role of the sound person as well as casting director and so had to hold the microphone in an appropriate position so that the sound could be heard well and travelled directly to the camera.

Originally we were going to use an A2 girl to play the role of STAC1E but because of exams and various other commitments, we changed it to Sabrina because she had the look that we were going for. We chose James H as the presentor because we knew that he could portray the cheesy, outlandish act that we were going for, likewise with Jason who was playing the lazy boyfriend, we chose him because we knew that he not only had the image but knew that he would be very interested in being apart of our thriller; he wore a pink T-shirt with tracksuit bottoms, trainers and a grey hoodie, giving off the impression of a lazy man that looks very "schlobby."

We began by taking various shots that we will be able to easily edit and create into a fluid sequence. Firstly, we went round the school gathering mid shots of male teachers saying "SHE'S AMAZING" and the different men, with the different accents emphasised the idea that SCAC1E is an international product that is sold all across the world. The ad was shot in front of the green screen because it meant that we can later on use AFTER EFFECTS to produce a realistic advertisement. We used James Hartman as the presenter, in order to indicate his cheesy characteristic, he wore a musturd-yellow suit and spoke with a stereotypical cheesy American accent. The shots that we took of the ad were hilarious and the way he played the presentor was brilliant and exactly what we wanted; he called himself Tommy Tighttush, giving an extra emphasis on the cheesiness of his character and what he is selling and to who. His final words were: she will give you exactly what you need and when we begin editing it, we will have it as a voiceover on the TV while STAC1E is stabbing the boyfriend to death to signify that he deserved it.

Here is footage from the shots of the advertisement in front of the green screen:



The shots that we shot in the Hurtwood House common room included the shot of Jason, who was playing the boyfriend of STACIE getting stabbed to death. The lighting was not very good in the common room and it lacked the futuristic look that we were hoping for and so we covered the lights with a blue plastic cover so that it gave the room a creepy edge about it. Additionally, we also made sure that there was light reflecting against the kitchen knife so that the audience can see it shine in the light-making it look sharper and bringing it the main focus of the shot. For the shots of her stabbing him, we shot his stomach covered in fake blood and then shot Sabrina pulling the knife up quickly and took 4 or 5 continuous shots like this. Then we had Sabrina stand in front of Jason and we just shot it from what would appear to be his point of view shot, her stabbing him intensely and deathly.

Here is the murder Point-Of-view shot:



Here is a wide shot of the murdering sequence:



We made sure that the blood on the knife looked realistic and once we had finished the stabbing we took a shot of her walking towards the kitchen (there was a spotlight in there) with blood splattered on her face, holding the bloody knife by her side; this shot looked very cool as it symbolised how she has returned to normality and we will then have the title come up afterwards. We had a shot of her cutting carrots and whilst taking this shot, used a light string to intensify the lighting and to emphasise the streaks against the silver of the knife. Having her cut a carrot gave under-current sexual connotations as well as showing her plan to hurt him in a certain way. Moreover, she was in the kitchen in order to show the stereotype of women and how they are "SUPPOSED" to be in the kitchen; we felt that it was a way of subtly getting the message across to those who mistreat women and treat them like robots that one day they will fight back. During this shot, we had Sabrina cut regularly but then cut very slowly and pull the knife and her hand away equally as slow; this will then be connected with the shot of her walking towards him with his drink and dropping it and resulting in the stabbing. For costume, we had STAC1E dressed in a light pink 50s style dress with blue bows on it and pearl necklaces and bracelets, giving her the perfect-housewife image that was inspired by Stepford Wives. Whilst shooting her various roles (cleaner, cook or aider to "men's needs") we had her in different aprons to signify how once she puts on that particular type of apron she transforms into that specific role; the kitchen apron was bright yellow with flowers on it giving a sense of happiness and how 'wherever she is, the light is brighter,' the cleaning apron was a small, white pinafore-looking apron that tied at the back and was perfect with the overall effect of the 50s housewife and finally we had STAC1E wear a nurse's hat and bib to indicate that her role is to take care of the owner and thus, whilst wearing this particular outfit she massaged the shoulders of Jason (audience will not be able to see his face) giving yet another sexual connotation. Overall, I feel that it was a very successful day of shooting and was much easier than was expecting.