P2: Set up equipment and record production materials for use in an original TV programme or short film
Below is a clip of me directing my actors, I am standing just off-camera in the doorway to the lift with the camera and tripod.
On the whole, during production I stuck very closely to my storyboard. I used that document a lot since I filmed the shots out of order, so it was essential to ensure I didn't miss out any important scenes. I also used the storyboard to help me direct the actors properly, as a lot of the scenes were improvised, so I needed to instruct the actors on exactly how to carry out the scene - as you can see in the video above. Based on this filming, I was able to make some changes to my script to make sure it is more polished and accurate to the final production process. I wanted the actors to improvise from the loose script because I feel this creates a much more natural conversation and I had faith in my actors to be natural on camera.
I also made sure myself and the actors adhered to the risk assessment by not allowing any water bottles on set, they could only be used in a different room to avoid any spills. I also made sure to stand with the tripod at all times to make sure it didn't get knocked, and I kept it out of the way as much as possible since the corridor was still in use to the rest of the school. In the end, I didn't need to worry about the final point on my risk assessment because the lighting inside the lift was bright enough that I didn't need to use any portable lights for my production.
I filmed everything on a Canon DSLR camera, and I feel that this was a good choice of equipment as the quality of the rushes are very high, so the audience are able to see more detail in the actor's facial expressions.
M1: Apply the codes and conventions for the chosen genre in the materials recorded
Below are a selection of my rushes taken from the day of recording.
The first shot is a take I won't use in the final video, since I was trying to record the silent corridor but you can hear someone in heels walking along, so I had to re-do this take around three times.
The second shot is also an unsuccessful take, because the lift door started closing in the middle of the scene, and at the beginning of the shot the actors went a bit off script, but this scene went well after a few more takes.
The third shot I will use in the final piece because the actor very successfully got into character and delivered his lines well with plenty of good facial expressions. There is some background noise from nearby rooms, but I think with music added on top, this won't be noticeable.
The fourth shot was a very successful take, as in this one I told the actors exactly what they had to do in the scene since I wouldn't be in the lift with them to see how the scene went. I am very pleased with how this one-take shot came out, as the lift worked smoothly and the actors performed well.
The fifth shot won't be used in the short film because there is lots of background noise at the end of the clip before I cut the camera, and the actors walked up to the lift a bit awkwardly, when they should be confident and casual, so we shot this scene again.
D1: Explain how meaning was created within the materials produced
Overall, I think these rushes meet the codes and conventions of short thriller films I researched in P1. The high angle of the GoPro I used is unnatural and puts the audience on edge - it also creates the feeling that the characters are being watched. Security camera shots are often used in thriller films because they highlight how isolated the characters are by showing the entire room, rather than using a close-up on one particular object. The lower quality of this shot also connotes that this is in an old building, which is a convention setting of thriller films. Many thrillers take place in a familiar but isolated locations (e.g. the empty office in Black Hole and the desert in Roadside), so Stuck will meet this convention by taking place in a lift, which we use all the time, but many people feel claustrophobic being in, so being trapped in a lift would be some people's worst nightmare.
Another convention of thriller films is medium shots and close-ups of facial expressions. These are used because audiences will often base their reactions to what they are shown on screen on the character(s) they are meant to relate to - so if they are sad, then the audience will be sad. The audience is meant to relate to the characters in the lift because they are in the same age group as the target audience, and many young people know what it's like to mess around with your friends at work. So by showing the characters' facial expressions often, the audience knows that they should be worried/scared too, because the lift stopping is not normal for these characters. I feel that when I edit, switching between these two extremes of shot (high angle long shot and close-ups) will create a successful short thriller film.
The costumes used in my short film helps further immerse the audience in the short film, because the characters are all wearing casual clothes. The audience cannot tell much about the characters from their clothes, so this gives a blank slate for the audience to project themselves onto and relate even more to them. I think my target audience will have a male slant since all the characters are men, but I don't think my short film excludes a female audience because the character's experiences are universal regardless of gender. The mise-en-scene in the lift is very basic, so the target audience can imagine this lift being in a place that they know, and relating to the scene more makes the short film more scary as there is a personal touch. Also, the blank setting of the lift is very bleak and mimics a prison cell, which is appropriate since the characters are trapped in there. I took inspiration from Roadside to create this feeling, because the setting is so isolated and bleak that there is a sense of dread before the action has even started.