Filming Day Three

Today, Sarah and I got a lot of filming done. We were able to film the entire opening school sequence in the trailer. We started the day by filming the first scene, which shows all the main characters arriving at school and walking to lesson and also showing the character Chris watching them. For this scene, we originally planned to have another group of people surrounding the characters as they got out the car. However, I thought this would lose the sense of isolation and also decrease the feeling of the characters being alone and not able to get help. In the planning stage we had hoped to film this scene on a sunny morning, however, when it came to filming this scene the sky was a misty grey. Which I actually believe works a lot better than what we originally had planned. This is because the sunshine would have made the audience connect this film with different genre other than horror. Also, by having the grey sky, it creates the impression that something bad was bound to happen at this school and also highlights the fact that maybe this person has been watching these girls for awhile.
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After we had completed that, we went and filmed scene three (this is where Chris is humiliated in front of Mary-Alice and her friends.) We only made one small change to this scene. We decided against having a group of students outside the classroom to laugh at Chris whilst he was on the ground. I thought it would have a bigger impact, if it was only the four characters that walked away from him. This will allow the audience to feel sympathy towards Chris and make them more shocked when they see the entire film and realise that he is in fact the killer. In the planning stages, I had decided that we should have close up shots and follow the 180 degree rule when Mary-Alice and Chris talk. However, due to the time restriction that the trailer has, the scene had to film from a wide angle shot, to allow the action on screen to flow smoothly and to clearly distinguish this scene as calm and not as intense as the scenes will be towards the end of the trailer. Following this scene, we went onto shoot a brand new scene. It consisted of the character Corie, running up some stairs shouting help. We filmed this scene, because we thought it could be useful as part of our build up to get us to the end of the trailer. The scene was shot, on a static long shot.

Filming Day 2

Today Sarah and I filmed the new scene, which involved the character's Charlie and Rose dying. From our original plan to the developments we made two days ago, this scene has changed radically and it changed even more due to the fact that we were not allowed to film in the male bathroom. We once again, had to make some more changes to scene. We came to the conclusion, that we would shot this scene in an empty classroom to avoid anymore complications. However, once we got to the location, we had an issue with the fact that we were not allowed to get any of the fake blood onto the walls. So to overcome this, as soon as Charlie (played by Nick) collapsed, we would stop filming and quickly wipe the wall down. The problem with this was, that we had to shoot the rest of the scene and try not to get, the wall which should be covered in blood into the shot. Otherwise the continuity of the scene would have been ruined. And it was, because when we shot Rose’s part we had to place her in the same spot she was in when Charlie collapsed. As we watched the footage back, it became very clear that the blood that was there was suddenly, not.
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After that, we went on to film the library scene. Although, this scene was very calm and straight forward compared to the pervious scene, we did have an issue with the noise level within the library, which was much unexpected. This was very inconvenient for us when we shot the scene, and as we watched it back, it became clear the voices were weak. So we came to the conclusion, that we would re-record Sarah’s dialogue using a microphone and then turn the scene from a static mid-shot to be edited under a couple of match on action scenes. This would also turn this into a voice-over. This would be used when the voice-over says “massacre in the classroom,” we would cut to a still from that scene. Also, when she said “killing on the stairs,” again we would cut to still of this. After we had completed the voice-over, we uploaded all of the footage from the cameras onto the editing software: Abode Premiere Elements.

Filming Day 1/ Developments

Today, we started to film the trailer for our film Revenge. We started with shooting scene five, which is where Gene Tyler smashes his radio, as he realises that the book he wrote is coming to life and getting more press then what his book did.

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After we had done that, Sarah and I shot scene nine. This is where the character Mia (played by Teri) is murdered by the killer. We decided to change this scene considerably from what we had originally planned to do. Once we arrived at the set, we realised that it would look better if Teri was walking up the stairs, and we see the killer running after her and almost kill her as she falls over. We continued, we our idea of filming the scene with a handheld camera, this was used to make it appear as if the scene was shot from the perspective of the killer. Once we had completed the first take, Sarah and I watched the footage back and we saw that by using a handle held camera and also using a tracking shot, it gave the audience more of a chance to feel sympathy towards Teri’s character as we were able to capture her last emotion in a close up shot.

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After we had filmed Mia’s death scene, we asked Teri if she could become a camera woman whilst, Sarah and I ran down an empty corridor for the filming of the scene where the main characters Mary-Alice and Robin are killed. (Appear to be in the trailer, but this scene would not be included in the actual film.) We thought that by having this scene it would trick audiences into thinking everyone dies simply and quickly; whereas, in the feature film their deaths are very slow and disturbing.

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For this scene, we make it appear (will when the shot is edited) that Robin will die. It involves the two main characters Mary-Alice and Robin, running down an empty corridor, whilst we use a tracking shot to make it again appear to be taken from the perspective of killer. I thought an easy way to make appear, as if Robin had been killed, would be if she fell whilst running away. This would then be followed by having the camera (still tracking) move in towards her face. This is the same technique we used for Mia's death; Sarah and I, thought that this would create a sense sympathy from the audience, as we thought that in the edit we could freeze on their faces, in order to make these killings more dramatic. This is almost the same for Mary-Alice's death, (which we shot after Robin’s death,) we see her running into a dark corner, screaming "NO!” just before she goes dark we can see her face which will allow us create the same effect.

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Once we had killed the two main characters, we decided that due to the fact that the rest of trailer will be heavily female based that further into our shot we should allow some time to kill some male students. This will show that the killer does not care about whom he kills, but rather that he wants everyone to be killed. So whilst we still had some time left with the cameras, we decided to kill four male students, in a classroom. I came up with the idea that they could be in detention. In edit, we thought that it would achieve maximum impact and shock on the audience if we were able to see these students just before they were murdered. Then cut to seeing lifeless bodies lied across the now destroyed room. What was different for this scene; was that we got to use some fake blood, this made the scene appear to be much more lifelike and more a part of the horror genre. It also highlights how brutally they have been murdered.

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After all the killing we asked Nick Mahy, if he could play the part of the radio reporter, which only consisted of voice-over, which will be played over the radio shot just before Gene smashes it. The script for the scene is as follows:

“It has been reported over the past couple of days a number of murders, targeting students at the local College. The police are currently investigating and no suspects have been discovered. The Head teacher of Curtaintop High had this to say- BANG!”

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Developments

For scene four, this is where the character Charlie is killed in the male bathroom. Sarah and I, decided to give the character Charlie a reason, for why he would be in there and allow the audience to see a bit more of this character before he is murdered. For this we added a new character; (Charlie's girlfriend) called Rose. The scene goes as follows:

Its break time and we can see Mary-Alice, Robin, Charlie and Rose sat around a table talking; we cut to Charlie who turns to Rose and tells her to meet him in the bathroom. We then cut to see Rose walking into the bathroom and who finds Charlie's body propped up against the wall. She taps him on the shoulder, and he then falls to the floor leaving a trail of blood on the wall. She screams and turns to run away at that moment the killer jumps out of a bathroom cubical and kills her.

Shooting Schedule Part 2

Day/Date	Scene	Int/Ext Day/Night		Shot Descriptions/Summary	Location		Characters	Art Department / Equip / Special Requirements
SHOOT DAY 4 Tuesday 3rd November 2009
1340 – 1430	3	Int/ Day	After the lesson Chris tells Mary-Alice how he feels about her, Ben sees this and pushes Chris saying “leave my girlfriend alone!” The group start laughing, make fun of him and walk away.		Corridor outside the classroom from scene 2	Mary- Alice, Ben, Charlie, Robin, Rose, Chris		School bags
1430 – 1500	2	Int/Day		Inside the classroom, Gene introduces the book and we see how divided Chris is from the rest of the class.	Classroom		Mary- Alice, Ben, Charlie, Robin, Rose, Chris, Gene	Book, school bags, pens and pencils
SHOOT DAY 5 Wednesday 4th November 2009
0850- 0920	2	Int/ Day		Inside the classroom, Gene introduces the book and we see how divided Chris is from the rest of the class. (any mistakes re-do)	Classroom	Mary- Alice, Ben, Charlie, Robin, Rose, Chris, Gene		Book, school bags, pens and pencils
SHOOT DAY 6 Thursday 5th November 2009
1040-1130	12	Int/Day		Mary-Alice finds out that the killer is Chris, he threatens to kill her but Gene saves her at the last minute	Dark place	Mary-Alice, Gene and Chris		Knife and gun

Shooting Schedule Part 1

Day/Date	Scene	Int/Ext Day/Night	Shot Descriptions/Summary	Location		Characters	Art Department / Equip / Special Requirements
SHOOT DAY 1 Tuesday 20th October 2009
1340 – 1400	1	Ext/Day	See Mary-Alice and Robin arrive at school and get out of their car and be greeted by a group of their friends.	Car park		Mary-Alice, Robin, group of girls and Chris	Keys, Car, School bag, pink things for the car and girls
1405-1430	1	Ext/Day	We are behind Chris who is watching the girls get put of their car and walk into school	School drive		Mary-Alice, Robin, group of girls and Chris	School bag
SHOOT DAY 2 Wednesday 21st October 2009
0845-0905	7	Int/ Day	Mary-Alice and Robin are running down a corridor to try and get away from the killer	School corridor		Mary-Alice and Robin	N/A
0910-0925	6	Int/Day	A radio report about the murders angers Gene who slams it in anger	Classroom/ Office	Gene Tyler		Radio
0930-1000	11	Int/ Day	Mary-Alice and Robin are reading ‘Revenge of a Nobody’ and suddenly realise what will happen to them and the rest of the school	Library	Mary-Alice and Robin		Book (Revenge of a Nobody), pens, pencils, school bags and paper
Shoot Day 3 Thursday 22nd October 2009
1040-1100	4	Int/ Day	The group are all sat down in the school Octagon; they are talking and having fun. Charlie then says to Rose ‘ill see you in the bathroom *wink, wink*’	Octagon	Mary-Alice, Robin, Charlie, Mia, Rose		School bags, books, brush/ make-up, Ipods, table, chairs
1100-1200	5	Int/ Day	Rose has gone to meet Charlie in the girl’s bathroom; she goes in and finds him dead. As she screams, Chris jumps out of one of the toilet cubical and kills her.	Girls Bathroom		Chris, Charlie and Rose	Knife, blood
1200-1220	8	Int/ Day	See Mia lied on a table dripping blood, she is dead.	Classroom		Mia	Blood
This is the first page of our shooting schedule; these are used as a way of time management whilst shooting motion pictures. They are also a way to ensure that all scenes are completed within the allocated shooting time. They also include all props, actors and locations that will be needed in this scene.