We began the day around 4 o'clock to set up the equipment before it got dark. We waited to film until dark as this is the theme we wanted for our thriller. We established what we were doing and how to use the camera and other equipment properly before filming to familiarise ourselves with it again after only using it once briefly and to ensure we wouldn't have to stop as much when filming because of difficulties with equipment. We filmed in a different order to our storyboard, getting the harder scenes in the car done first so we could spend more time on them. We changed our storyboard slightly by deciding to film shots from a few different angles to see which ones looked better and fitted in well with the suspense, tension and mystery of the thriller genre we were trying to create. One thing which we were going to change from our storyboard but decided not to is the scene with the woman answering the door. We planned to have the man knocking on the door in the original storyboard and we did stick to this however we were going to change this to the man ringing the doorbell and the woman looking into the ID screen to see who it was. however, we decided to keep the knocking as it kept with the general theme we were trying to create of mystery and tension as it is more dramatic hearing the loud diegetic sound of the knocking at the door late at night. Our target audience is late teens to young adults which we think we targeted well through the use of an opening sequence with a lot of suspense and tension.
We used mise-en-scene to try and create a dark and mysterious thriller so the film was set in normal, suburban street and actors were normal middle-aged actors who were wearing simple everyday costumes. We didn't use make-up, blood or prosthetics as that relates more to the horror genre rather than thrillers and we only used some main props such as a car and fake FBI badges to fit with the storyline. We didn't have a very high concept mise-en-scene as we producing a low budget film.
We used many different shots to film our thriller but mainly close up and medium shots to capture our characters emotions and movements and to create suspense and mystery which is a main aspect of the thriller genre. This was mainly in the car to show the detail of what the male character was doing such as taking the badges out of the bags and emphasising he was wearing black gloves to indicate to the audience that he is mysterious and dodgy. We found it quite difficult to film these shots in the car because it was quite small and tight so we used the zoom on the camera to make the shot closer. We wanted to incorporate a wide range of shots so we also used a tracking shot which we did handheld to follow the character and show the scene from his point of view so the audience could engage more with him. By doing this shot handheld it made the scene look smoother and more dramatic as when trying it first with the camera on the tripod and dolly it was quite bumping and shaky making the image look slightly distorted because of the surface we were moving the camera along. Other shots we used were high and low angle shots during the strangling scene to show which character was in the more powerful position and which was weaker and also an establishing shot with panning of the car driving into the street to indicate the main concept of the film. We also did this shot handheld because it was easier to pan but just moving our body round than the whole tripod with the camera on top however we had to practice a few times before pressing the record button to ensure the camera wasn't shaky.
The costume for our male character was a black suit with a tie and trench coat as he was an FBI agent and we wanted to give him an authoritarian look. He also wore black gloves to fit with the general look killer characters are given in the thriller genre. He also had fake FBI badges, as he was a fake agent but wanted to be a clever killer, and drove a silver car to put on the façade that he is an important, top agent as he wants to manipulate people. we were inspired by a TV series called 'Intruders' and a film called 'Drive' for these props and costumes as these are of the thriller genre and presented themes we were looking at using for our own thriller. The female character wore normal, casual gym clothes to make her look more vulnerable and more realistic to everyday life to show the build up of her unexpected killing for her and the audience. This helped to create the overall suspense and tension of the thriller genre. We were inspired for her costume again from 'Intruders' that featured an innocent woman in her home in casual clothing.
The actors we used were very enthusiastic to be in our thriller. The male character is American so this fitted the description of the character being a fake FBI agent. He would also appeal to a secondary audience of women. He suggested some ideas for different camera shots we could use to display his dark and manipulative personality and show he is in power. We picked our actress to fit our description of an innocent, vulnerable woman as she is a normal, middle aged women who is unsuspecting of her lurking killer. She was very willing and happy to participate and do the strangling scenes and falling which made it easy to work with her and do the shots well.
We filmed in the dark to show it was the night and give a mysterious, dramatic effect and create tension. We used a small outdoor light as well on top of the camera to still give some brightness so the shots and characters would be clear to the audience. Many thriller we researched were also filmed in dark lighting to create these effects as well. I think the natural lighting we used as well as the lighting equipment and light from the house worked well to create the effect and theme we wanted.
We had a lot of diegetic sound in our thriller - knocking, dialogue and general outdoor sounds such as the wind. The loud knocking help to build the tension and suspense leading up to what was going to happen in the house. The dialogue was mainly to help tell the narrative but also created some mystery. This is common in a lot of thrillers with minimal dialogue to create suspense. We also thought about sound whilst filming to then incorporate non-diegetic sound when it came to editing.
I played quite an important role in the production of our thriller. I helped to position the shots and made sure they looked good and worked well when being filmed. I also put myself forward and volunteered to do which I did quite often, helping to do most of the handheld shots as I could hold and steady the camera well. I also voiced my opinion that I thought would work well towards certain aspects of filming, costume, lighting etc. to ensure that all the shoots we had were perfect so when it came to it, the editing process would be a lot easier. Therefore, I think I played a key role towards producing our thriller.
We worked as a good really well, diving up roles between us and all putting in our opinions and ideas about how to improve our thriller. We contributed in our own to create the right mise-en-scene, shots, lightning and other more to create the right drama and suspense for our thriller. We all worked together to adjusting the lighting to make it look how we wanted and all looked at through the view finder and at the position of the camera when filming particular shots to make sure we all all agreed it worked well or that if someone thought we should change something we worked together to change it. We also did small things to help each other as well such as if someone was holding the camera to do a handheld shot and had it positioned right, another person would press the record button for them so we wouldn't ruin the shot. Also, if someone was struggling another person would help them out. This is why think we had very good teamwork and if we didn't all work together on the small and large aspects of our thriller or contribute our ideas and opinions our thriller would have not come together and well and as smoothly as it did.
I was definitely happy with our overall result as it fit my expectations and more about what the final thriller would look like. By doing all the shots several times and repeating them if they weren't done well we made sure that our end result came together well. Our shoot day was a lot more difficult then I expected as the camera equipment was a lot more difficult to use and it was hard to determine if what we were filming would actually look good when put on a proper screen. However, I think all the aspects of our thriller when filming worked really well to produce a final result that all our group was really happy and proud of.
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