Thriller - The Day of the Shoot

We spent the days leading up to the shoot planning, getting props together confirming with our actors when they would need to be present to be filmed. Our final choice for actors (after a lot of changes and problems) is Simon Hudson and JB, who works in IT. JB doesn't have any experience in acting but seems confident that she can do what is required for the role.

We took advantage of the beautiful English countryside

The actors were not available for the morning, so we took the opportunity to take some establishing shots of countryside and woodland areas - this was quite easy as our school is literally in the middle of nowhere surrounded by woodland. We chose a house near to our filming location and shot some footage of it from a nearby hill (after asking the owners of the house permission).

Establishing shot of house

For the most of the shoot, I took on the role of the cameraman - which I was very happy with - and Liam directed. As a group we discussed what shots we needed and organized the events. We chose to shoot the stabbing sequence first, which was shot in Adam, the boarding master's kitchen at Peaslake.

Adam's kitchen

The filming process involved planning out the series of events, making sure the actors understood it and filming the whole thing from as many different angles and shots as possible. This gives us a lot to work with when it comes to the editing process. The order of events were:

1. JB is chopping vegetables by the sink.
2. Simon enters the room through the door behind JB.
3. He walks slowly up to JB.
4. He puts his hands on her shoulders.
5. She turns around and hugs him.
6. He suddenly reacts to being stabbed.
7. Simon falls back onto the floor, clutching his stomach.
8. It is revealed that JB had a knife in her hand (which is now covered in blood)

We filmed this whole process several times, using various angles and shot types to emphasize different points (Simon's reaction to being shot, A close up on the knife, Simon falling onto the floor). 

We took this stupid Red Head with us but didn't end up
using it as the lighting we had already was sufficient. 

This being our first shoot, admittedly some things did go wrong. We forgot to bring the actual vegetables with us and had to use some of Adams (although I still felt bad about it).

I was impressed with both the actors. I was at first hesitant about Simon's over-theatrical acting style but he eventually performed well. JB was concerned that her lack of acting experience would show but I told her to keep a blank, neutral expression (to show the fact that she is possessed) and she did very well. 

We filmed the woodcutting sequence second. Another mistake we made was not anticipating the possibility that Simon would be absolutely terrible at cutting logs. Hopefully we can try and make it look like he knows what he's doing in the editing process.

There is overwhelming evidence to suggest that Simon
has never cut logs before in his life.

 How we would do this was pretty simple, get as many shots of Simon cutting wood from as many different angles as possible. These included close ups on logs, wide shots and various interesting handheld shots.

A nice wide shot

Ignoring Simon's atrocious chopping skill (We have about twelve shots of him missing the actual log.) this section of the shoot ran pretty smoothly. We filmed in the woods directly outside Peaslake and then moved to a different location to shoot the car scene. It did start raining, which could have been disastrous, but thankfully it was only light and went away after a while.

Me setting up a shot with the
camera. Guy was chief umbrella
holder.

One of my favorite shots: filmed from inside the boot.

We filmed some shots of Simon driving back, then packed away our equipment and returned to the school.

In conclusion, I was impressed with the group's efforts. We filmed all the shots we set out to and didn't encounter too many problems. If I could change anything, I would got more shots of Simon cutting.

The media teacher who overlooked the process said he was impressed with our professional attitude and continuous focus. I like that guy. He's a nice guy.

Thriller - Actors (again...)

We've managed to find a few actors suited to the two roles: Simon Hudson - a theater studies teacher and retired professional television actor; and Claire Mutzenich, a psychology/sociology teacher. Both are free on the filming day (Monday). Our location is Peaslake, our boarding house (The interior of Adam's - my boarding master -  flat and the exterior woods).

Jiebin (JB)      and      Simon Hudson

Moving groups

I came back to school after the Christmas holidays to the irritating news that, due to a student leaving, the groups had been reorganized and I had been put into Liam, Felix and Guy's group. This means that I'll have to catch up with their thriller and become involved in it's development.

The Thriller

The new group's idea is a supernatural thriller called 'Anna'. The opening scene is of a man chopping wood outside a house. He finishes chopping the wood and goes back inside to find his wife cutting carrots in the kitchen. He greets her but she ignores him. Confused, he walks up behind her. She turns around and hugs him tight, he hugs back. As she backs away we see that she has stabbed him using the kitchen knife she was chopping the carrots with. He falls back and the title comes up.

I like the idea and feel like I can contribute to it. The parts I like especially are the ax and the knife. The ax which is used to chop the wood at the beginning has strong associations with murder and violence, as does the kitchen knife.

Kitchen Knife

Iconic murder scene from 'Psycho'