Behind The Scenes

Credit to: Will Shehadeh

Shoot Day

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The day before the shoot we got the costume, props and makeup (fake blood that we didn’t use in the end) all together and we prepped our actors on their costume. The morning of the shoot, I was pretty nervous. I was scared that it wasn’t going to go right or we would run out of time. I felt that we were well prepared we knew what we wanted to do before we got there. However, we had never been to the office before so we had to go around the office and decide where we wanted to shoot. The section we chose was different to what we had drawn into our storyboard.

 We also had to dress the set with props that linked to the characters (trashy magazines on the girls desk, for example). We also obviously had to set up the tripod and camera too. The office was pretty plain and had very bright stark lights. To create a more atmospheric vibe we lit the office with desk lamps, this gave the studio that ‘after hours’ feel which we really wanted. We also added specific props to the desks, a box of kleenex and hand sanitizer on the man’s desk. 

We all did a bit of everything on the shoot day. I did most of the calling orders (“Stand by”, “Roll Camera”, “Action” and “Cut”) but I also had a play around using the camera and holding the boom mic. Personally I think I did the calling of orders well, I think it’s probably because I’m naturally quite a bossy, controlling person. I think the main problem that we had on shoot day is we weren't getting through the shots very quickly and so towards the end we were slightly rushed. To solve this we just tried to pick up the speed closer to the end.I think the most successful part of the shoot was one of the shots that we spontaneously decided to shoot. It’s a freehand shot of the man stabbing the girl with a pencil. This is the shot that I am most looking forward to seeing during the edit. I think we worked well; there were no misunderstandings or disagreements throughout the whole shoot, which was great because during the brainstorming we did have a lot of disagreement. 

I think I learned how long it takes to shoot only a couple minutes of footage. Next time I would try and work quicker when deciding what shots to do next. I would also make sure that I talk to my actors with more control so they understand what they have to do. Due to the time restraint we were under we were unable to scout the location, had we done this we would have been more prepared and would have know what we were going to get before heading into the office.

Minor changes

The day before the shoot we realised that we were not going to get the establishing shot that we wanted of Dorking it was due to be very cloudy and we also had some heavy snow meaning we were unable to get up Box Hill to do the shoot. We decided that we would shoot an establishing shot from inside the office. This meant that we could decide during the edit if we still needed that establishing shot of Dorking, and if we did we could just shoot it at a later date.

Practising with Makeup

We had a lesson with Loz on how to use stage makeup and which products to use for certain injuries. The injuries include a black eye, 'cat scratches' on the cheek and blood coming the ear.

We had a practice using the makeup, applying it to a hand.

 This is a faint bruise created following the lines that are naturally on the hand. This will help us when making a black eye as we can follow the natural bone structure of our actor.

 This is making 'cat scratches' using a straw that has been cut at an angle. The blood being used here is called "scratch blood", this never dries out therefore is better for very thin, light scratches.

 More "cat scratches"

This is an example of what "liquid blood" looks like. Unlike 'scratch blood' it dries eventually because it is a liquid rather than a gel. We will use this blood to run from our actors ear.

When it comes to using fake blood we have to be careful of contamination, because it can get everywhere. It won't look realistic if there are specks of blood on the actors shirt before she has been "beaten up". This is why we are filming this shot (when Lottie is covered in blood) last so that there is no chance of contamination.

Left and below are some examples of what we would like to try and achieve. As we are only beginners when it comes to stage makeup we can't guarantee that the injuries will look as realistic as these.

Below is a photo of real cat scratches. If we could mimic these on the cheek of our actor I think that it would look really great. They are so simple so we aren't overwhelming the audience with blood and gore.

Test Shoot

We did a test shoot in the media classroom just to see if certain shots worked. This has no sound as we were just focusing on camera shots.

First Day Back

It is the first day back from Christmas holidays and we have come together as a group to see how much more we need to do before our shoot (which is in three weeks).

We have got together a few of our props and only have a few extras to get. which won't be too hard. The next major thing is making sure that our actors have an idea of what costume they will need. We will send both actors some photos of what we would like them in, then they can check their own wardrobes. If they don't have anything that fits we can have a look in the costume dep.

Some of the props we are hoping are going to come from the school stationary shop as we think it would be a waste of our money to buy loads of new folders and binders just for the shoot if we then aren't going to use them again. Hopefully we can be loaned some folders and then will give them back after the shoot.