Reflection of test shoot

Reflection on test shoot:

During our shoot and after editing, we discovered some changes we would like to make to the opening sequence.  Overall, I felt that our test shoot was a really gave the sense of a thriller, the shots we took conveyed a very tense and eerie vibe. The shots we filmed (e.g. lipstick being applied on lips) kept the audience on edge. Additionally, the ambiguous situation placed the audience in a threatened situation, thus amplifying the tension.

The pace of the opening sequence could be faster, we could cut between shots faster, and slightly extend some shot s in order to create a contrast and variety between shot lengths. The length of the test shoot was 1:45 minutes, therefore we could add more shots of make-up being applied and shots of the room to increase the length up to 2 minutes.

The idea we are trying to convey is clear to the audience to a certain extent. I feel that we should add more clues that she has been kidnapped. However the challenge, would be to give more information of her being kidnapped, however maintain the mystery and tension of ‘who is applying the make-up’. We could re-organise the shots in order to start giving very small clues mid-way through the clip, so by the end it the audience would understand that she is not applying her make-up.

I believe that tension was successfully created in our test-shoot. This was especially seen with the diegetic sound of the hair-brush pulling her hair and the toothbrush brushing her teeth. Small elements and details within the clip created a tense environment.

We would prefer to have more variety of camera angles to create a more interesting aspect to the footage. When filming our real thriller we would like to use a Macro-lens in order to get closer to the subject (girl) especially when filming details such as the eye-liner being applied and blush powder floating in the air. We need to include different camera angles and movement to give another dynamic to the clip rather than use many close-up shots focusing on the girl. This would also affect the pace e.g. close-ups tend to make the pace faster whilst long-shots generally slow down the pace.

We need to add more hints that she is not getting ready herself in order to create a more uncertain and mysterious element to the clip. It would also confuse the audience more which will keep them intrigued until they discover that she is being dressed up by the grown man.

I think generally there weren’t any major problems that we encountered whilst filming however there are many features that we could develop, for example: The sound of the brush pulling her hair. We could extract this sound and amplify and stretch the sound to make it more dramatic and emphasis the moment.

Overall, I feel that the test shoot has efficiently used the thriller conventions to create a suspenseful tone to the piece. We have all the elements to create the opening sequence; however we just need to develop some of the ideas and increase the length of the clip, in order to get an impactful, opening sequence.

These are photos of the filming process

 (photos provided by Natasha Hall):