A Rough Cut

When the footage was taken off the SD cards (about 32GB in total) I placed the footage onto my personal editing suite and used Final Cut Pro 10 to do a rough cut of the production. I did this for multiple reasons a)  it would be easier to covert files from MOV to AVI (so the footage could be edited on Pinnacle, and would convert and compress these files on its own) b) to some some colour correction work on powerful, industry standard editing software which I was used to. Once this rough cut was done, the movie would be exported as a movie onto a DVD so it could be edited on the school software  so the other members of 'Songbird Productions' could have a crucial part in deciding key aspects of editing such as transitions, titles, sound and chroma key which all need to be done in the second edit. As it is very difficult to edit with more than one person due to it being extremely stylised, I did the rough cut, to whittle down most of the footage to 2 minutes, as we were filming for 8 hours, this was a long and hard process, and I had to be disciplined in the shots I chose and which ones would best connote meaning.

Here is the rough cut for 'Sweet Revenge'.

Sweet Revenge - Rough edit from Emma Taylor on Vimeo.

The Film Shoot

We started filming early on Sunday morning at an indoor location: the apartment we had decided to film Kym's end scene in. After much debate whether or not to call off the shoot due to weather conditions (snow) we decided to put our faith into the weather forecast, film some footage inside and see what the weather turned out to be like later on in the day. We had all the equipment ready, including three cameras (two JVC camcorders and 1 Canon EOS 550D), a carne, a dolly, green screen, should rig, tripods, boom and clapper board.

It took some time to set up the equipment for the first scene, especially setting up cameras and formatting SD cards. Whilst the technical elements were being taken care of including members being trained on the boom mic and a voiceover being taken, Lucy and Abi were busy setting the mise-en-scene for our first shoot. This included making the room look like a stereotypical teenager's room with clothes strung around the floor, but also, as Kym is meant to be deeply distressed, placing key props around the room such as 'with sympathy cards', alcohol bottles (to connote reckless behaviour since the death of Joe) and a photo frame with a monochrome photograph of the actors of Joe and Kym. The curtains were drawn and drawings around the room were taken down to connote her lack of caring and her being shut out from society. An evident theme running through this scene is 'black and white' purposefully placed with curtains, bedding and photo frame for binary oppositions, previously seen in thrillers which the group has analysed such as 'Seven' and the french film 'Them'.

The weather seemed to be over-cast and fairly dry for the next scene, which was the perfect weather conditions which we had hoped for. We went to Healey Dell, where we set up the crane to do establishing shots and filmed Joe's suicide scene. We didn't experience many problems here, only with the public who infrequently walked past on the viaduct on which we were filming. Wild tracks on the boom for sound purposes were taken for the final edit here. We recorded diegetic sounds of the phonecall which we could later edit onto the tack and forward it into the mix to have more impact on the viewer, and divert their attention onto the phone.

Our third location was Cloughbridge Resouivour where we were going to film our opening scene. There were hardly any problems here apart from the unfortunate incident regarding Abi, who when we were using the green screen, cut her leg on barbed wire on the other side of the fence, but this was quickly resovlved as we had taken procautions and had a first aid kit in the car which we could use to 'patch up the injured'. We are all getting reasonably tired by this point, having been on the shoot for 8 hours already, so we were keen to get the filming completed as quickly as possible, as we were also losing light and wouldn't be able to film the scene in the dark. However, the sun which was lwer down in the sky - ready to disappear behind the hills was perfect for us as it connotes a romantic setting.

We used a hand made dolly as seen in the pictures above, where I had baught some piping and made to wheels invert and built the frame so nice tracking shots could be filmed.

Storyboard and Animatics

Sweet revenge storyboard animatics from Tom Bailey on Vimeo.

This is the story board and animatics for 'Sweet Revenge' created by Tom Bailey. As he is an A Level art student and wishes to persue a career in animation, we felt that the story board and animatics would be a good subtopic for Tom to work on. This was useful within planning so we could see what shots worked and which ones didn't, and if many had to be changed.

Shot list

Usally in the opening two minuetes of a thriller, there are on averge 50 shots, but as ours is a psychological drama only 31 different shots will be used as resting on longer shots allows the audience to understand the plot extensively.

1. Mid shot - Focus pull - of some grass to Joe and Kym

2. Long shot - Crane - of the bridge/viaduct

3. Mid Close up - of Joe looking depressed

4. Mid Shot - Tracking shot on dolly - of Joe and Kym looking happy

5. Long Shot - Panning - of the lake, this could also be percieved as a point of view shot

6. Mid Close up - of Joe looking depressed again

7. Close up - his pocket as he takes out his suicide note
--- Match on action ---

8. Low angled mid close up - reading the suicide note

9. Close up - of both Joe and Kym

10. Over the shoulder shot - rading the suicide note

11. Tracking mid dolly shot - of kym and joe walking

12. Over the shoulder shot - still reading the suicide note

13. Close up tracking shot - dolly - Kym and Joe holding hands

14. Over the shoulder shot - Joe reading the suicide note

15. Mid - close up - Joe and Kym

16. Over the shoulder shot - reading the suicide note

17. Close up - of the phone as it rings

18. Close up / extreme close up - of joe declind the call

19. Close up - Joe's expression when he has declined the call

20. Close up - his foot going onto the fence ready to jump

21. Mid shot - of him jumping up onto the fence

22. Close up - one last memory of Joe and Kym 

--- Green screen ---

23. Tracking shot - from close up to mid shot

24. Close up - of him jumping off the wall

25. Mid close up - of seeing Kym depressed on her bed

26. Mid close up - seeing the photoframe

27. Mid close up - tearing up over the photograph

28. Close up - of Kym breaking down

29. Close up - Of Kym still depressed

30. Tracking shot - close up - putting knife into the bag

--- match on action ---

31. Mid shot - walking out of the room

Weather - Planning for 'Sweet Revenge''

Our biggest enemy when filming 'Sweet Revenge' will be bad weather. We hope for an overcast/sunny dry day for shooting so there are no complications with filming in the rain or snow. The weather forecast for Sunday 17th looks ideal as it's partly cloudy and sunny and not overly hot. We plan to shoot all of these scenes on this day. Another weather hurdle we hope to avoid is wind, although we will use a boom mic, if it is too windy, not only will the images look odd with hair flying everywhere, but there will also be some sound distortion.

'The Jump'

tom falling from Emma Taylor on Vimeo.

Here is a short movie clip of Tom Bailey when out location shooting to see how we were going to film the character of Joe committing suicide. We are planning to plant a green screen behind the wall and use chroma key to place footage of the real surroundings of the viaduct to make the location more realistic so the audience don't know that Joe is at a different location. I think this shot is effective because we see a close up of his feet leaving the surface and then see his body fall - in reality, he is just jumping off a wall only a meter off the ground onto grass - a soft landing. This means there are no serious health and safety issues which arise from this, and means that we can connote a serious and effective death without the need to put ourselves and the actors in danger.

Name Change - 'Reciprocity' to 'Sweet Revenge'

We had originally decided to name our production ' Reciprocity'.

rec·i·proc·i·ty  

/ˌresəˈpräsətē/

Noun The practice of exchanging things with others for mutual benefit, esp. privileges granted by one country or organization to another.

Synonyms mutuality - reciprocation

We had decided that this name was approciate due to the fact that Joe and Kym were exchanging love together for mutual benefit, but this turns sour as gangs start taking over their lives. We liked the short, snappy, unusual name that it had which would stick in people's minds when going to see the film. However, when taking to peers about the production task and informing them of its name, we found that many people couldn't actually say the word; not a good sign for the film. So we changed the title so it was more appropiate for the film and a word which the audience could say easily - 'Sweet Revenge'.

'Sweet Revenge' not only ovbviously connotes the main theme of our film, revenge, but also adds the sweet element of love which is evident from the very beginning. The juxtaposition in the name 'Sweet Revenge' has a dramatic impact as they are opposites which clash and we would not expect them to be together.

'Songbird Productions' Production Logo

Songbird Productions from Emma Taylor on Vimeo.

Design and Photograph by Abigail Ford

Design and Image by Abigail Ford

As seen in both the design and the finished logo created on Adobe Photoshop by Abigail Ford, our logo is a basic design as seen in many other production logos such as Dreamworks and Warner Brothers.

The production logo is in monochrome as it's a binary opposition and connotes depression, which is an underlying theme of horror and thriller feature films. Another symbolism of depression is the blue birds as this the colour blue is often associated with depression; if you're feeling 'down' you are often said to be filling 'blue'. There are four birds, as there are four members of the production company and each one is animated on the film so they fly in individually as the 'SONGBIRD PRODUCTIONS' tracks outwards to the audience. Within the animation, there is also an overlay of sound as SFX of birds, this is so a soundbrigdge can be created from the production company to the opening scenes. As at the begining of the film, both Joe and Kym are outside, this makes sense and connotes a happy surrounding of nature in a dark and depressed world as seen in 'Jane Eyre' where there are SFX of birds in the background. There is also an eerie glow attached to the tracking of the text assoicated with horror and thriller films as it's associated with ghosts and shaddows as within these films, we neve know what twists and turns are lerking in the dark.

Location Scouting

'Songbird Productions' - Photograph by Emma Taylor

On Friday 8th March the 'Songbird Productions' crew went location scouting around various sites in the Rossendale and Rochdale area. We needed three locations for our thriller opening (a happy romantic setting, a suicide spot, and Kym's bedroom).

The two shots below are for the opening 'romance' scene between Kym and Joe at Cloughbridge Reservoir, Rossendale. We chose this location due to the fact that it is mostly always quiet and desolate so there would be little problems with crowds of people when shooting. A reservoir is also considered romantic connoting the close and intimate relationship that Kym and Joe have. As there are many reservoirs which look similar to the one chosen, the teen target audience can relate and understand the surroundings which the characters are in. When shooting I plan to under expose the footage to create a dark underlying feel, and this is represented within the post production editing of these images. I thought the reservoir looked very cinematic and some interesting, innovative shots could be created, with enough room to use equipment such as a dolly to create tracking shots. In the second image, there are two birds not only emulating our production company's name (Songbird Productions) but also creating a happy atmosphere within the opening scene. As wild life is usually surrounding this location, we hope to capture some birds when shooting and add a non diegetic soundtrack of birds singing, perhaps entering as a sound bridge from our previous production logo. The distinct appearance of water in this scene will be a hint as to what is to come next in the film (hints are common within thriller feature films) as Joe will attempt to take his own life, jump off a bridge and drown during the next scene.

Figure 1 - Photograph by Emma Taylor

Figure 2 - Photograph by Emma Taylor

We arrived at our second location (Healey Dell, Rochdale) where we planned to shoot our suicide scene on the viaduct (previously used for trains but now a walkway). The four photographs below show the scenery of the viaduct. In figure 3 it shows Lucy Pilling being a model for one of the shots being proposed to be used. This mid-shot shows us adequate scenery and the angle is level with the viewer to display the relationship between the character and the teenage audience. We took this photograph when on location shooting to see in detail what type of angles to expect so we could plan shot lists accurately and efficiently. This is also true for figure 6 where Tom Bailey is modelling in a slight over the shoulder shot looking reflectively, showing what we can expect to see from our finished product. In figure 4 there is a low angle image of the viaduct. As the cinematographer and director, I plan to use a crane shot to display the sheer height of the viaduct to create rising tension and fear within the audience as to what action Joe is about to perform. This scary and over whelming setting seemed perfect for the placement of a suicide attempt. There are also barriers up on the viaduct so both the actors and the crew are safe when filming. Figure 5 was used to see how we were going to mimic Joe jumping off the viaduct and killing himself - one of my thoughts was to use a series of close up shots of his feet to connote his death and not actually show it. Another idea was to use a green screen and chroma key, connote Joe's death in post production. This is one aspect of the film which will be a challenge and as a team, we are determined to make his suicide as realistic as possible.

Figure 3 - Photograph by Emma Taylor

Figure 4 - Photograph by Emma Taylor

Figure 5 - Photograph by Emma Taylor

Figure 6 - Photograph by Emma Taylor

For our last location (Kym's bedroom) we wanted a confined space with bare walls to represent Kym's simplistic character. Abi Ford kindly proposed to use her bedroom as a location as it was the ideal mise-en-scene with black curtains and white walls - binary oppositions as seen in thrillers such as 'Face/Off' and 'Seven'. This teenage bedroom is easily relatable to the viewer which makes the thriller appear more realistic.

Figure 7 - Photograph by Abigail Ford

Choice of Actors

Jessica Callan and Samuel Newsham - Photograph by Emma Taylor

The 'Songbird Productions' team decided on Jessica Callan and Samuel Newsham to be our lead actors in our thriller opening. Even though they are not conventionally what is expected in thrillers (middle aged, high up within their profession), they are suitable for our teenage target audience. As this is a coming of age psychological thriller, we wanted actors which our target audience could relate to and actors which we had access to. As both Jessica and Samuel were friends prior to shooting our opening thriller, and would inevitably make the relationship apparent on screen to create a 'true to life' connection, which will make our film more realistic, an aim which we hope to achieve.

Sam Newsham in 'Fame' - Photograph by Nigel Taylor

Tom Bailey, another 'Songbird Productions' member and I found these actors through a Musical Theatre company named 'Valley Academy', where both Jess and Sam have gained vast amounts of relevant acting experience (appearing in key principle roles in musicals such as 'Fame!', 'High School Musical' and 'Joseph and his Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat'), which will undoubtedly help our coursework have a professional standard of acting due to their previous work experience.

Jess Callan in 'Fame' - Photograph by Emma Taylor

Both these talented, aspiring young actors are very reliable, having both appeared in one of my short films previously, meaning that we could count on them to show up to film shoots which was definitely a key factor in choosing them to appear in our work. As they had both had experience in acting on films with Tom Bailey and I, they were undoubtedly the ultimate choices for the roles of 'Joe' and 'Kym' in our production.

Sourcing our actors outside our media production team also meant that each member of 'Songbird Productions' could work on set doing practical, technical activities such as camera, clapper board sound and lighting.