Behind the Scene Post

 On Friday we shot our thriller. I think it was a new experience for everyone in our team and we really enjoyed being on a set filming and directing our actors.  To begin with we had to set up all the lighting and this took a bit longer then expected as we had to find the perfect amount so that the camera could get a really clear view of the set from all angles.

I think the way we directed the actors went smoothly this was important as it meant everyone on set both behind and in front of the camera was aware of what needed doing and what had already been done. We tried to focus on being clear as to what we wanted to achieve so the actors understood their jobs.  I also think we did well working together as a group, we all took turns directing and being in charge of the camera and this meant we all got a real insight into what different roles filming day can consist of.

The thing that we did struggle with was getting all our shots that we needed, by the end of the day we had everything but there were times that we weren’t 100 per cent sure with what we still had to do. I think we had our shot list out and ready but we got a bit caught up in all the chaos that filming brings that we didn’t tick off and continue to check our shots. We did solve this by talking as a group and working out what still needed to be done so that by the end we did have everything we wanted to get but we probably wasted a bit of time discussing when we could have made it easier on ourselves from the get go. 

We actually ended up changing our characters slightly on the day. Initially we had two special forces men storming in to the room, however having dressed our characters we realised that one of the male actors looked a lot more suspicious and intimidating then we were initially expecting therefore as a group we actually thought instead of changing the costume why don’t we change the character’s job. So we decided because our whole scene is based on grenades and top-secret missions that we would change him from a special- forces man to a terrorist. We then had one special -forces man storming in like we had planned and instead the other character playing the terrorist who was guarding the victim who was attached to the grenade.  This was a last minute decision but we all agreed that this change in characters meant our thriller became even stronger as we had three men who were playing such different roles. Giving us more diversity and making our thriller that much more gripping and nail biting.

Lastly we decided not to have our victim spit out the grenade pin instead we had the duct tape ripped of his mouth as we planned by the special forces man but then he says “you have killed us” and the scene cuts out. We decided in a way this makes our ending more tense and it acts as the ultimate climax of our opening scene.

The afternoon before our shoot I went out and brought a white shirt from the clothes section of the co-op as we had a last minute panic as the white shirt we ordered didn’t arrive. The morning of our shoot we arrived early to go and collect a few of our costumes from the costume department at school, this was easy to do as we had already organised and discussed what we needed so all we had to do was collect them.

Before our shoot we got all our props together and brought them to the studio where we were filming. We took some time deciding where we wanted all the props to be placed so that our thriller looked as good as we could make it. Once on set we had to focus on the lighting this is probably what took the most time to do as we kept having to adjust it to make the set look good.  Having set up our props and design we then rearranged a few bits for instance the barbed wire we had, we ended up moving that around a bit. We found once you are looking through the lens of the camera you become more aware of what looks good where.

To begin with as well as the lighting it took time talking to the actors and letting them know what the day would involve. The most difficult element in our shoot for our group was probably releasing our main characters did not all fit the role we initially intended them to. This meant the morning of the shoot once we saw them all dressed we had to change the characters one of actors played. But we were happy with the outcome as it fitted our thriller better than before. The most difficult element for me was probably trying to get everyone on set on the same page it was hard making sure our actors knew what they needed to do and when.

For me the most enjoyable part was when we had all three actors on set in costume and makeup and I just liked the feel of the studio. It was really fun as we all took turns directing and filming our thriller so we got to experience a taster of what you do in the real film industry.

As a group I believe we did do well especially when it came to filming day. We all worked together and helped each other to film our opening scene and overall I am really pleased with what we managed to achieve.