Plan for test shoot

This is a basic plan my production group made of the test shoot as I was unwell.

Planning test shoot for opening sequence 

 

Idea: shipping container 

 

Location: Hurtwood basement hallway 

 

Characters: 2 males Preferably male (for this test shoot Elias and raffie) 

 

Camera: Raffie’s Phone 

 

Props: 

. Knuckle dusters - we can’t use for test shoot so instead use rings. 

 

. Rope – instead of rope for the test shoot we will use a jumper to a chair  

 

. Chair  

 

. Purge mask 

 

. Security camera 

 

. torture tools – wooden cutlery 

 

. blood – icing mixed with water (or ketchup) 

 

Is there a way around a difficult shoot? 

 

As we are using a shipping container for our main shoot of the opening of the film. For the test shoot we are going to use a dark hallway with a chair in the middle. 

 

Roles for shoot 

 

Raffie: Editor and actor BTS 

 

Sophie: camera operator and BTS 

 

Elias: actor BTS 

 

Alice: ill 

Developing our main idea for the opening sequence from our feedback

After receiving feedback from our pitch to Matt and Mike about our main idea for an opening sequence,

we used their advice to develop our idea as a group together. The scene opens showing a man strapped up to a chair, with tattered clothes, looks dirty, blood dripping, bruised on the face. The man slowly raises his head becomes conscious and looks around at his surroundings, where he can see a blinking light of a security camera watching him. We see him tied up by the hands where on his left hand you can see a circle symbol embedded in his hand (not a tattoo like
below but a scar).

After coming aware of his surroundings, he struggles to escape his restraints with high intense breathing, failing to do so he tries to scream through the gag in his mouth. He starts to hear the front of the container start to hear ratting of a chain to unlock and open making the man scream again for the help. 

The screaming dies out when this mysterious man enters in a full black suit with a neon purge looking mask on his face, without saying anything he walks u to the man in the chair and proceeds to put on a pair

of gold knuckle dusters, while you see the man in the chair frantically shaking his head and almost crying. 

The mysterious man proceeds to beat the man in the chair up with splatters of blood coming off at all angles, after beating him up he walks away from where you can see the man is knocked out cold again, taking a handkerchief you can also see the same symbol on this hand as you did on the man in the chair, where it can cut to black. Another potential ending is after he shows his hand there could be a shot by his feet with the mask falling and hitting the floor then it cuts to black. 

Moodboard for our opening sequence

This is a moodboard I have created to convey the theme, genre, location, character and narrative elements of our opening sequence.

Step by Step outline

This is a step by step outline of our opening sequence which we created to use as a guide of what to film and the events going on. 

Cassette tape player throughout the scene (Maybe Jazz music whether we can get hold of free jazz music) – the camera has an ECU, of the play button being pressed by an anonymous hand. 

Vinyl continues – Fades from black to show a CU a bucket full of water with droplets slowly falling into it. With a bloody wet towel falling over the side. 

A depth of field shot showing some rusted and bloody torture tools on the wall 

Shot of hand with blood dripping down with bruised knuckles with tied up hands (with the non-diegetic sound of the punches being thrown). 

 Dolly shot from behind the villain mentally beating up the victim in the chair pulling away to reveal the container in its full and seeing blood splatters appear from the left and right. 

 One powerful brut punch sends the chair on its side with a loud thump and scream. (Preferably a CU) shot of the face of the victim hitting the floor in slow motion with the non-diegetic sound of ringing in the ears. 

 The villain walks over to a table, where he drops a bloody pair of knuckle dusters on a table, where he goes to pick up a white handkerchief to wipe down his hands from a low angle shot.  

The villain proceeds to look up into a completely cracked mirror (around the mirror there are lots

of pictures of different people with pins all leading towards the to the mirror where he sees his reflection and slowly starts to reveal a subtle but demonic smile (for example using the victim’s blood to create an over exaggerated smile, accompanied with a laugh. 

 We see that one of the victim’s hands has. Slipped free from his restraint he desperately tries to undo his other hand while the villain doesn’t notice. The camera will have the hands in the bottom right of the screen in the foreground and the top left but blurry you can see the villain looking into the mirror.  

 The villain grabs a mouldy glass on the side of his table and proceeds to pour straight vodka into the glass.  

He then proceeds to pick it up and shot it back while squinting into the mirror, with a sort of disgust face. 

Using an ECU, you can see a droplet fall down his face, and once it falls off his chin the camera will cut to show another drop of water falling into the bucket.  

The victim grabs the villain’s foot to pull him down to the floor. 

The villain Smashes his head on the floor of the container with the hood falling and revealing his face to the audience.  

There is a moment where the victim and the villain make eye contact and the victim looks so shocked as if he knows the villain. 

Through the top of the villains head we see blood start to fall from his head with a massive gouge, when it trickles down his face, he goes to touch it when it stings from them vodka that fell on his hands and sees the blood on his hands. 

He sees this and looks up back at the victim and kicks him in the face sending him back down. 

The victim tries to stand up but struggles from how weak he is but proceeds to get onto his feet. 

The Villain is already standing up again with his knuckle dusters at his aid, he swings at the victim.  

The victim doges and uses the rope from before to take him out from his legs which results in a success for him.  

 He drops the rope and runs for the front of the container banging on it and screaming for help.  

The camera cuts back to the bucket full of water where we see a hand reach into the shot and picks up the bloody towel and dunks it in the water.  

The shot will be front on from the victim when we quickly see the villain whip the towel around his mouth and gag him with it and tries to also grab him from the neck to restrain him again. 

 The Victim pushes back against the wall of the container and the villain trips up and falls. 

 Both start groaning on the floor in agony holding parts of their body that are in true pain, the victim turns over and notices an oddly shaped black bag shoved beneath the table 

 The victim squirms over and starts to unzip the bag. Until he notices a hoard of money stashed within,

again while looking at this He has a shocked look on his face as if he knows why the money is there. 

 This is interrupted by the villain’s hand pulling the victim back over where from a low angle shot, with a bloody face with his fist up with a torture tool now in his hand the demonic blood smile he had is now all smudged. 

 He takes a strike at the victim, but he rolls out of the way by the time it reaches the floor. 

 The victim pushes himself off the floor again whilst holding his hip and uses the table as support.   

  He spots the Knuckle dusters that have been left on the side and decides to use it to his own advantage. 

 The Victim grabs the villain by the arm and turns him around to deliver one big striking blow to the face, which sends blood splattering at the mirror and knocks the villain out cold. 

 He turns to look at the mirror where he stares at himself for a moment like he can’t believe what he has just done. 

 The camera will go into a high angle shot where the camera will move upward to show the villain knocked out on the floor. 

 Th victim looks back towards the money and limps over to it.  

 He goes to pick it up while still groaning in pain, he zips it up and throws it over his shoulder. 

The victim then goes over to the knocked-out villain and takes off his hoodie, to wear it for himself. 

The victim puts it on and takes one last look at the villain and smiles with a little chuckle to go with it. 

He turns back and walks to the front of the container and takes one big breath. 

He slowly but with all his strength pushes the door open.  

An over the shoulder shot from the villain when he is on the floor unconscious as the door opens and the light exposure takes over the shot to then reveal the title of the film. 

 

Camera Workshop 2

In our second practical workshop, we continued to look at using cameras, specifically using the Black Magic 4K Mini URSA Camera. We learnt about the 180-degree rule which is used when shooting where the camera should only stay on one side of an 

imaginary line to create a sense of continuity. This is used so that the characters always are facing the same direction to show the left/right relationship of the characters when the camera is at any point of the semi-circle of the imaginary line. For example, this can be shown in a dialogue scene between two characters. One character should be on the left side and face camera-right and the other character should be on the right side facing camera left which creates an eye-line match conveying a sense of visual consistency. 

Another part of the camera workshop we did, was looking at camera composition/rule of thirds. This is when you divide the frame into thirds horizontally and vertically which divides the image equally into 

nine equal sections. Using the rule of thirds makes images more visually captivating as it frames specific elements of the images which are often the focus. When the composition of the image is off-centre it makes it more visually pleasing to the eye as our eyes are programmed to read from left to right. 

When filming, the best order to shoot in is starting with a wide shot first..... Another element of filmmaking we looked at is continuity and why it is so important. It creates a sense of consistency and makes sure the sequence flows seamlessly. Elements of a film that always need to be exact are things such as props, costume, hair, makeup and time so the continuity is exact. 

Callouts are used in filmmaking such as standby, standing by, roll camera, camera rolling, action and cut. These are used to make sure everyone is ready before the scene begins. Stand by basically means is 

everyone ready to shoot, standing by is what is said by the crew when everyone is ready to start filming. Roll camera is the cue for the camera operator to start rolling the film and camera rolling is said when this has been done. Action is said to the actors as their cue to began and cut is said as their cue to stop. We also learnt about how you shouldn't watch the footage back on set as actors can subconsciously alter their performance after watching the footage if there is something they are critiquing themselves about which can be as simple as a walk however this affects the continuity of the sequence. It also wastes time which is crucial when filming. 

Camera Workshop 1

In our first camera workshop, we learnt how to set up a camera with all the different components for shooting. We used the camera Black Magic 4k Mini URSA Camera in this workshop.

We first learnt how to set up the tripod and adjust the different levels (height). It is important to always begin with the bottom of it the tripod to adjust the height. 

We were then taught how put all the different parts together such as the pan handle and the breaks. The pan handle allows you to adjust the angle of the camera (up, down and side to side) and the the breaks allow the camera to stay steady. The breaks are called the pan lock and tilt lock.

The pan handle is on the right side of the centre of the tripod which can be identified by a small yellow circle. We learnt how to bubble the tripod so our shots won't be unintentionally tilted. This is done by moving the air bubble into the middle of the yellow centre circle which is done by adjusting the bolt underneath the tripod to the right. 

We placed the camera onto the tripod by putting the tripod shoe on top in line with the top of the tripod. The button on the side of the tripod shoe needs to pressed to ensure the tripod shoe can slide in line with the top of the tripod which then needs to be locked using the bolt. The camera can be removed by undoing the bolt, pressing the button and sliding the camera backwards towards yourself. 

We then were taught how to adjust the white balance, focus and exposure of the camera which allows us to shoot in different environments. Focusing the camera is done by adjusting the focus wheel to zoom into a focal point. The focus wheel is the smaller wheel of the two wheels (focus and zoom wheel). By using the zoom wheel, it will make sure that everything is in focus which can be done by zooming out of the shot. The exposure and aperture relates to the lighting which can be changed by adjusting the blue latch underneath the camera lens. This is helpful as for example, shooting outside in daylight will require a different white balance, exposure and focus to shooting inside with dark lighting. The white balance relates to all the colours used in a shot involving lights. For example, the sun has a blue tint to it in a shot therefore changing the white balance on the camera at the top of the screen where is says WB with a number allows you to adjust the different pre sets.

Independent research for opening sequence

I focused on an element of our concept of the opening sequence and therefore researched into using neon lighting when shooting and how to make it effective. I have chosen to do this as our setting we are using is a shipping container which will be lit using neon green lighting, most likely these titan tubes which we have access to at school. 

I learnt that when filming, we should use contrasting colours therefore the neon green and black darkness will be effective. The ... we will be using our useful for our opening sequence as they are easy to set up, wireless and give off a soft glowing ambience which will be helpful when shooting in a shipping container with no natural lighting. 

Feedback from group pitch

Today in my production group we continued to develop our idea about a man being held captive in a shipping container. We briefed this opening idea to Mike and Matt who gave us some choices that might work better in our scene.

Overall they like the sound of our idea especially the location choice and the set design, they are intrigued by the fact the man being beaten up is himself as well as when you watch the scene again the audience will realise more and more.

They suggested that the reveal of the villain should be more subtle that it is himself. For example, if they both wear the same watch which the audience may not realise till they watch it a second time through. Also, it was an idea that both characters react the same as each other like telepathy to show they are the same person.

It was also suggested to add to the set to add meaning behind it with how to decorate the container.

Our full group pitch for our opening sequence

This is our full group pitch for our main idea of out opening sequence that we worked on together as a group to present to Mike and Matt.

My Production Group - Preparing for working together for the opening sequence

Today we got put into our groups to create and film an opening sequence. In preparation of working together, we made a WhatsApp group chat with all our contacts on it so we can communicate with each other outside of lesson times. We looked at when we have free periods that we could potentially work together in and discussed a main idea that we would like to develop as well as a backup. This WhatsApp group chat has been particularly beneficial for our group as one of us has Covid therefore not in class. Having this group chat means she can still stay connected and share her input in the group even if not physically seeing each other.   

Feedback from opening sequence ideas

When I presented one of my ideas for my third opening sequence, the feedback I got was that it is original but also open for interesting interpretation and the concept works very well. It is also interesting how you wouldn't expect the killer to be himself which is a good cliffhanger to leave the audience on edge to continue the narrative. However, even though the reveal is clever it is not something you would see in an opening so I need to think about what the whole film will be about as I can't put a twist in the opening unless there's something for it. I need to also change my location ie the woods as it is very generic. I am going to set it in a different location with the same concept that would add more to it. For example, I could use the location of the same corridor over and over again which links to the idea that it is all in his head. Another location choice I could use is a lab where there’s the idea that there is a clone and someone tied up in a basement being tortured and then when he dies the mask comes off and he’s been torturing himself. Then the camera pans back and we see he’s behind a shard of glass and people are watching making notes portraying how it’s an experiment. 

My opening sequence idea 1 also had some positive feedback such as the simplicity of the concept is good however I need to think about different ways of 'disposing of the body' as we are filming in February and throwing someone into water will not work. However, anything which isn’t throwing someone into the water will look unrealistic which means I wouldn’t be able to do the idea of throwing them into the water so would need to make some adjustments. For example, I could use the idea of someone who’s been buried and then the killer looks up and there’s just someone eating a bag of crisps combined with the tone of the music and other elements of the opening sequence that could create a romantic comedy. However, comedy has to be put in early on in the opening sequence if I were to make it a romantic comedy rather than an unintentional funny thriller. 

Concept Idea for an Opening Sequence 3

My third idea is a thriller opening sequence where there is a man who stalks someone, captures them and locks them into a basement. He suffers from many mental illnesses mainly personality disorders. The audience are watching from the point of view of the man. This man finally gets the victim, but the audience never see the persons face. The last shot would be the murderer revealing the mask of the victim that he is about to kill but it is himself showing that he is about to kill himself because of his mental illnesses and then a gun shot. 

A potential filming location could be Leith Hill Woods when it is dark which is 20 minutes away in a car.  The cast would only consist of two people to play this man who would have similar body types and height to convey that this is the same person. They would wear the same costume but the victim would have his face covered the whole time. 

Leith Hill Woods

Concept Idea for an Opening Sequence 2

My second idea is a drama opening sequence where there is a professional assassin for the CIA as well as a double agent. It would be set in a room portraying the MI6 building with a predominantly female cast. I believe we could recreate a room in Hurtwood School portraying a room in the MI6 building with simple objects such as smart desks, chairs, paper, files etc. In this opening sequence we could use one room portraying an office like environment and another room with lots of computers portraying coding and data. The cast would most likely consist of about 4 people who would all play people who work in MI6 and the professional assassin. 

The professional assassin is assigned to kill a foreign agent. The foreign agent happens to be the professional assassin’s sister. The rest of the film narrative is going to be how the professional assassin discovers that her sister is still around and living a double life and how she is torn between work and love and the mental struggles she has with the task she has been given. However, she does eventually assassinate her sister regardless of their relationship. 

Concept Idea for an Opening Sequence 1

My first idea is a thriller opening sequence where there’s a killer dumping their victim into a river. They see another person just as they are about to finish. The person is also dumping their victim into the river. They both spot each other. The rest of the film narrative is going to be how they spend the rest of the film trying to kill each other which makes them fall into a toxic sense of ‘love’. Only they don’t love each other, they love the game. 

Potential filming location - Cobblers Brook in Cranleigh

Cobblers Brook is a potential filming location that I could use as it is 20 minutes away from Hurtwood School. It would be a good location to film at on a bleak, grey day to convey that this isn't going to be a cheerful opening sequence but a thriller instead. My cast would be small, probably only two people, as we could use other objects to portray someone in a bodybag. I think that this would be the only filming location I would use to limit complications however another possible filming location could be the rest of the woods.