Diary of Second Day Shooting at Shenfield Cricket Club

We arrived at Shenfield Cricket Club, Chelmsford Road in Shenfield on 30th March 2010.
Our aim for this day was to shoot the outside shots which we had been unable to do on our first visit as we had no access to the car and limited time available.

9:00AM: We decided to shoot the shots which included the car first so that it could be taken home as quickly as possible for convenience.

The weather had panned out in our favour as we wanted a dull, miserable setting to set the tone for the thriller through pathetic fallacy.

We set up the tripod and, to protect the camera from rain, held an umbrella over it.

We then shot the car pulling up into a parking space, which only required one take, we then shot Laurence as a detective stepping out of the car and looking out at the setting. This was a low angle shot which we decided to use to depict this characters power in the real world. However this required two takes because we found difficulty in tilting the camera to his head level in time for him to shut the door and get a short shot which we wanted.

9:10AM: When this shot was completed Elliott's sister was able to take the car home so we moved on to the other outside shots. We had storyboarded an establishing shot of the building as a wide shot so we could show the whole of it, and when we arrived at the location we decided to shoot it from the back of the building so that we could shoot from across the field because there were some cars parked at the front. We felt that this would take away the mystery of the establishing shot and add reality, whereas we could achieve an isolated effect from the back because it looked alone and away from civilization (considering our title which translates as Abandoned.) We shot this for about 10 seconds so that we would have lenience in how long this shot would be shown and also considered that the inevitable sound of wind could effect some parts, so in doing this we could avoid this as much as possible.

When this shot was completed, we decided to shoot the detectives leading up to entering the house. This consisted of a long shot of the two walking towards the camera and the building, and then for continuity reasons, we shot them walking further from the back so the audience could see the door. We shot each of these for roughly 5 seconds as we were aware that they would only need to be shown for a few, as they would work together as a short sequence after editing. We had previously shot the detectives actually walking through the door on our first visit as we were aware that we would not have access to keys the second time. However, we still needed to shoot a high angle shot as the detectives got close to the door. We decided to use this to show, in connection with the low angle shot, how they had now become vulnerable because this location is abandoned as they were about to inspect the horrors of a torture scene. In order to achieve this, Matthew stood on the top step of the doorway and held the camera high above his head. We had planned to stand on top of the wheelie bin which was situated outside, but due to the weather we felt that this would risk our safety so rethought our actions. Although we were unable to use the tripod so risked a shaky shot, we were aware that we only needed to hold it still for a maximum of 2 seconds as it wouldn't be shown for long in the thriller. But to overcome this, we replayed the shot at the location to ensure that we had suitable footage.

9:20AM: The last shot of the day was a point of view shot to give the effect that the detectives were being watched when entering the house, to add to the thrilling and tense effect on the audience. To achieve this shot, Jade stood behind a bush and handheld the camera to give the effect of realistic movement, whilst panning the detectives' movements. We also ensured that, after a few seconds of filming, we would quickly move the camera towards the bush to give the effect of the person wanting to hide and not be seen by them for some reason, to create an enigma.

Jade Smith

Diary of Shooting at Shenfield Cricket Club

We arrived at Shenfield Cricket Club, Chelmsford Road in Shenfield on 18th March 2010 at 11:30AM.

11:30: We decided to use our story boards to film in chronological order, so as not to confuse or end up forgetting vital shots. However, we did shoot all flashbacks first as Charli, the victim character, had to leave sooner than the rest of us. So Charli got into costume and we smudged her lipstick and mascara to give the impression that she has been crying from distress and may have already been through a lot. We also used make up to give Matt dark eyes to give him a more rough and unpleasant appearance.

11:45: The the first shot we filmed was the flashback of the victim and kidnapper walking up the steps as she is forced through the door. We had to do a few takes to get good results, and aimed to get more footage that neccessary so we had more to work with in editing. To achieve this shot, we used a panning movement using the tripod.

We then filmed the shot of the kidnapper forcing the victim down the corridor. To achieve this we had the camera on the tripod, situated behind the characters so that we saw the action from behind, and this would allow us to view the corridor as well. We shot their entire journey to the end of the corridor, so that we could then take the best 3/4 seconds in editing.

The next flashback we shot was of the victim tied to the chair, with the kidnapper circling her. We set up this shot by placing the chair in the middle of the shower room. We also put some fake blood on her dress, and a knife that Matt would hold in his hand in a threatening nature. We used the tripod, and only needed to move the camera slightly to include all of the action of the shot.

12:10: For the next shot, we only needed Matt. We set up the shot by putting fake blood all over a sink after ensuring that it could easily be washed off without leaving a stain, and we put the bloody knife in aswell, we then put the blood on Matt's hands and placed a towel on the side for him to use in action. It was key for us to get this shot right as the towel was white so would already be blood stained if we had to reshoot it. Although we realised that we could possibly move the towel into a different position if it was completely neccessary. Luckily, it went well and we filmed Matt wiping his hands on the towel for about 10 seconds to have more footage than needed.

We then directed Matt to hold the bloody knife in his hand and we filmed this as a close up, and slowly tilted the camera. We also used a tripod here to keep the camera steady.

12:20 We then directed Charli to sit in the chair again and we set up the camera as a long shot to include all of the action. We then filled up a petrol can with water to give the illusion of petrol, considering health and safety issues. As we recorded, Matt circled Charli whilst throwing the water over the floor as she made a struggling action to move away.

We then placed the petrol can next to a drain and allowed so that the water was left dripping down it. We filmed this as a close up for about 7 seconds, knowing that we would only need to use about 3.

We had also previously written a small note and brought a lighter to set it alight, whilst baring in mind the health and safety issues surrounding this. We zoomed in to this shot with the camera, to keep it away from the fire, to achieve a close up and as we recorded Matt set the edge alight.

12:35: After the flashbacks were finished, we were able to film the detective scenes. The first shot we filmed was of the two walking through the door to complete a match cut, We shot this from inside the house and used a panning motion on the tripod.

To follow on from this, we stood in a doorway opposite the corridor so that we could postion the camera far enough away for the detectives to move through at a suitable distance. We filmed for about 10 seconds here.

We then moved the camera to the shower room to film the detectives entering it. We filmed this as a mid shot and, when recording, Elliott moved to the door and Laurence joined him.

This shot would lead to the next in the sequence, with the next shot being from the detectives point of view. To achieve this we stood in the doorway where the detectives had been seen, and shot a close up of the chair which we had previously positioned in the centre of the room.

We then filmed the detectives looking at eachother, stepping through the door and looking to the sink. For continuity, we then filmed them from behind walking over to this sink as a mid shot using the tripod. This was the last shot that we filmed of the day, and like the others we filmed more footage than we needed to give us more to work with in editing.

Jade Smith

Shooting Schedule

Date - 18/03/10
Location - Shenfield Cricket Club
Time - 11.30am - 2.30pm
Scenes - All scenes
Actors - Laurence, Elliott, Matt and Charli
Production - Jade Smith
Props-
Jade - Camera, Storyboard,
Laurence - Blood, Tripod, Knife, Notepad, Tape,
Elliott - Petrol Can, Chair

Thriller Script

Script

Detective's Scenes

Detectives turn up at Shenfield cricket club in black fiesta.

They walk slowly towards the main entrance, where lawrence turns and scouts the surrounding area before entering.

Once the detectives are in the club, they walk slowly towards the corridor.

They then walk down the corridor single file.

Elliott: Boss

Elliott calls to Lawrence to show a chair with blood and petrol stains.

Lawrence then moves towards the blood stained sink where the antagonist's knife is laid upright soaked in blood.

Victims scenes

Flashback of Matthew pushing Charlotte through main entrance.

Matthew then leads Charlotte down the corridor very hastily and pushes her on to a chair.

Matthew then circles the victim with the knife intimidating her and showing his presence.

Matthew then pours petrol around Charlottes chair.

The thriller then ends with a close up on a secret note being burnt and dropped to the ground.

Elliott Joyner

Research into Shenfield Cricket Club

Due to the problems we had finding a venue for our thriller, We decided to carry out some extra research to make sure Shenfield cricket Club was the right place for our thriller. We carried out our research in the form of taking pictures, we took pictures of the inside of the club and the outside so we had a good variety settings that we could use.

This picture shows in great detail the scenery that surrounds the club and also creates a sense of isolation because of how the field is empty and bare.

This picture shows the flagless, flag pole. The group showed considerable intersest in this picture because it leads the viewer to believe that the building is abandoned and not looked after because of how the flag pole is bear.

This picture shows the front of the club house. The picture is effective because of how we can see right through the windows into the lonely club house.

This picture shows in detail the width of the club house and also the equipment shed at the end. It is effective because it shows the viewer the dimensions of the club house.

This picture was taken in the showers. It shows an isolated drown surrounded by dirty, forgotten tiles. It is effective because it creates a sense of mystery and also leads the viewer to believe that the house is poorly looked after.

This picture shows a clean white sink. This is ironic because of how the rest of the clubhouse is old and dirty. It makes the viewer believe that the sink has been washed for a reason.

This picture shows in detail the showers. It is effective because of how it gives the viewer a good idea of what the conditions are like.

This picture shows in detail the long, mysterious corridor. It is effective because of how it thrills the viewer and creates a sense of danger.

This picture shows on of the changing rooms in the club. It is effective because of how it is in poor condition and looks nothing like a changing room.

This picture shows the view from the front door. It is effective because of how it shows the begginning of the long corridor and a slight look into one of the lonely, mysterious changing rooms.

By Elliott Joyner

Storyboards

Due to having to change the setting location, our storyboards needed to be edited aswell. As a result the storyboards above had to be remade, (for example, we added in shots using a white door and a drain that were available at the Shenfield Cricket Club location) and the storyboard below wasn't used at all because of the difficulty we would have had without certain props that were already in the Hutton Mount house, (for example the suitcase.)

Jade Smith, Laurence Ruthven, Eliott Joyner, Matthew Simmons

Diary of Shooting at Hutton Mount

On Saturday 13th March at 10am we arrived at the abandonned house in Hutton Mount which we had hoped to be the setting of our thriller.
In preparation of this day, we had previously gone to research this location by looking at and photographing each of the rooms and and any qualities of the house (eg. burnt ceilings, broken windows etc) which we felt would act as effective iconography for our thriller.

In an attempt to gain permission to use the house we asked some neighbours if they knew who the owner was but noone was able to give us the information we needed, so we decided to carry out our filming with the hope that permission wouldn't be necessary

However, on the day of filming we managed to shoot two seperate shots and set up a third before the police arrived and told us that the house was unstable for us to be there and that we would have to shoot our thriller elsewhere. It became apparent that a week before, some young people had gone into the house and were involved with drug use, arson and an attack on some officers.

After discussing and brainstorming other possible locations that we could use instead, we felt that Shenfield Cricket Club could be the most effective option we had and arranged to go and take pictures to see if it would be suitable for our existing storyline on Thursday 18th March.

Jade Smith

Revised Location

Our original location was an abandoned house, yet due to us being denied permission to film, we had to change location. After much research, we decided to film at Shenfield Cricket Club. We chose this location for several reasons. The club was located within easy reach of the school, and we also had permission to film there. The location also included suitable rooms for us to base our opening scene, and a long corridor provided a good way of using a mid shot. We were disappointed that we couldn’t use our intended location, yet were pleased with the cricket club as a secondary location as we could still create a good mise-en-scene for our particular opening.

Laurence Ruthven

Shooting Schedule

Saturday 13th March
Location: House in Hutton Mount
Cast: Charli, Matt, Elliott, Laurence
Crew: Jade and Elliott
Time: 10am - 1pm
Scenes Shot: All bar car scene
Who's bringing equipment:
Jade - Storyboard
Jade - Camera and charger
Jade - Tissue
Jade - Rope
Charli - Dress and make up
Laurence - Tripod
Laurence - Blood
Laurence - Knife
Laurence - Note pad
Laurence - Towel
Elliott - Chair

Iconography of our Thriller

During our opening for our thriller, we decided to include as many elements of iconography to create many enigmas for our audience. In our opening we decided to include the following props which create strong enigmas of a thriller –

Blood in sink - This has connatations of a someone washing blood off their hands because they dont want any evidence/trail of their crime they either committed or witnessed.

Blood on Knife - Strong connotations of someone being murdered/injured.

Rope - Connotations of someone being tied up/unable to move

Chair - This creates images of an old house/abandoned area

Drops of Blood - Connotations of blood dripping off a wound/hand

Bottle of Petrol - Strong enigmas of fire/destruction and arson















Laurence Ruthven

Actors, Setting, Props and Iconograpy

Actors, Setting, Props and Iconograpy

When it came to choosing actors for our film we were, although fussy, spoilt for choice. Our group is made up of three top drama students which made it alot easier for us to gather most of our crew. We used one other actor who although isnt in our group, is also very talented.

We will be using a series of props and iconigraphy throughout our thriller. One of our main props is a sink covered in fake blood. This is very important to the film because it sets the scene and tells the viewer what sought of film this is going to be. We will also be using icongraphy throughout our film to make it seem more realistic and believable. The iconography will be in the form of framed pictures to make the house seem more normal.

The Location where we are filming our thriller is very suitable for the type of thriller we are creating. It is an abandoned house that has taken alot of damage from fire and vandilism. It is the perfect setting for our crime thriller because it is just the sought of house that a murder could be committed.

By Elliott Joyner

Practice Shot - Point of View

One of the shots in our final thriller is a point of view shot. We decided that in our thriller the camera will be behind bushes and leaves, to create the effect that someone is hiding themselves from sight but viewing the action. We decided that we would practice this shot in and around our school before filming to help us create the perfect point of view shot. After inital trials, we decided to make the camera more shakier, creating the effect that someone is moving/breathing behind the bushes. Here is the video if our preffered point of view shot.



Laurence Ruthven

Costume Ideas

The Detectives...
We drew inspiration from other thrillers for ideas about characters and the costumes they should wear। After watching the film 'Se7en' 1995, directed by David Fincher in which Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman play detectives, we felt that the incorporating detectives into our storyline could prove to be effective by adding a sense of mystery and crime to our thriller and ultimately creating inigmas for the audience। Therefore it was necessary for us to research the stereotypical costume of a detective because, due to the fact that we are avoiding the use of dialogue for our film opening, we needed to make it instantly visibly clear for the audience to establish the occupation of the two men.
In order to gain this information we used the search engine Google Images and found the pictures below:

However we felt that these images were stereotypical, but weren't realistic and were more of a old fashioned representation. Therefore we drew our detectives' costume inspiration from 'Se7en' as we felt that they were far more representitive and suited to the modern day, which is what we want to come across in our thriller.

As can be seen in the image above, these costumes are more smart and sophisticated with ties, shirts and waistcoats and this is the type of modern take on the traditional detective outfit that we want to achieve ourselves. We have also gained an idea of the colours our characters should wear which are neutral: beige, black, grey, brown, white and we hope to successfully incorporate all of this in putting the costumes together. The fact that these costumes are so professional in appearance shows that the characters pay attention to detail.

Jade Smith

Possible Filming Locations

As a group, we have been the most inspired by the setting used for the opening sequence of 'The Strangers' as we felt it was very effective, mainly by provoking interest from the audience but also by creating a fearful atmosphere. As a result, we have considered a damaged/broken house as one of our possible locations. We also thought that this would work for our thriller as we have decided, in terms of narrative, to shoot our opening in the new equalibrium therefore the damage would have already been caused.
We have also decided to use a sub-genre of horror-thriller to provoke fear/suspense in the audience and therefore require an eerie setting which would create enigmas successfully.
With this in mind we all agreed that this house in Shenfield which had previously suffered a fire and is now abandonned would be ideal, so we visited the location in the hope that it would offer a suitably effective setting and iconography for our shot ideas.
Jade Smith



This photograph shows a detailed look at the outside of the house, making it a contender for our films establishing shot.





This photograph focuses on the back of the house showing the back door and upper window.











The overgrown trees beyond the window immediately tell us that this house has been abandoned for some time.
















This picture was a favourite amongst the group. The lampshade that is still intact tells the viewer that this house was once rich and full of prosperity. This leads the viewer to believe that there is a storyline behind it.



















The broken glass and metal frames of the door make this picture a great point of view shot.













The chandelier hanging from the ceiling insinuates that there were once people living in this house.



















The holes in the door lead the viewer to make assumptions about the previous owners of the house and there may have been a history of violence in this room.



















This photograph shows the back garden to the house. From the picture we learn that the garden has been left to grow over which insinuates that something is hidden beneath the soil.
































Elliott Joyner