Monday, 18 March 2024
LO5: Postproduction and analysis of postproduction techniques
Digitally editing my visuals
The cinematography of my short film isn't just enhanced by the camerawork and set design I used in production, but also the digital editing. This is useful as some of my shots didn't turn out how initially planned, so the digital editing allowed me to go back and fix some of my previous mistakes.
An example of digital editing allowing me to fix/enhance my cinematography is this shot, which appeared much darker than initially intended. This was an issue as only a slight bit of the foreground could be seen in the shot; seeing the background here is important for the audiences understanding of how the scene plays out, as it lets us know that there's something in the room with my protagonist.
I fixed this issue by accessing the properties of the clip and balancing the whites, highlights, shadows and exposure of the clip to make an overall better looking shot. This allowed the audience to be able to see the fact that the door was opening by itself in the darkness. It also made the scene much more satisfying to watch as a movie being too dark is a highly regarded criticism in modern horror movies that I wanted to combat in my production, whilst still creating a fear of the unknown with my monster hiding in the shadows. Increasing the brightness also helps to enhance how blue the scene is, which is what I was originally trying to create when filming.
Using pale/cold colours such as blue to reflect the atmosphere of a scene is a common convention of horror used to unnerve audiences. This was why it was very beneficial to create lighting sources such as the TV (and later the fridge) that reflect the terrifying and cold scenario my character finds themselves facing, and then intensifying it with the visual editing. Effectively conforming to these conventions allows my audience to feel comfortable reassurance in the horror conventions I am using in the visuals. Furthermore, the blue colour is often synonymous with a feeling of bone-chilling terror, fear and sadness that I want to communicate to the audience.
Another way I fixed an issue with my recorded shots with digital editing was improving the continuity of the scenes, as well as just giving the movie more of a visual style that helps make it stand out. An example of a continuity issue with how some scenes were filmed is that the lighting drastically changes in between the shots that are supposed to be taking place one after the other. Here is an example below:
In the first shot we can clearly see that our antagonist is being hit with a dim orange light in the room where they are stood, but when the shot changes that allows s to see in to the room, the lighting is not only much more high-key, but also much whiter/yellow. This makes the room appear much brighter, which is an issue as it completely pulls the audience out of the immersion of the film for what is supposed to be an otherwise shocking and important scene.
And here is the updated scene after adjusting the properties: increasing the exposure in the first clip and increasing the temperature and shadows in the second. These changes make the scenes look as if they're are taking place immediately after one another and help to give more depth and meaning to the film. The orange was initially intended to be used in the scene to make it feel hot with tension as we reach the 'boiling point' of the film, so being able to accomplish my initial vision through editing helps to exentuate the movie with more meaning that audiences will be able to pick up on and recognise. This gives the audience a strong impression of the atmosphere of the scene so that they know how to feel before even realise what's happening. As well as this it helps to improve the cinematography by making the shots feel more stylistically distinct from the standard white/pale lighting.
This was a change I made to most of my scenes also, correcting the lighting and giving the film more visual flare so that the audience stay invested in my film.
I also enhanced my cinematography with digital editing to conform to the conventions of my horror genre. In this example of my protagonist Quinn's phone light scanning over the environment, I edited the temperature, exposure and blacks/whites. This caused the light to be much more concentrated and made the surroundings darker. This made it so that I could directly control what the audience were allowed to see within the light, putting them in my protagonists shoes and allowing me to appeal to genre conventions of horror by creating a creepy atmosphere to keep the audience engaged and on edge. This genre convention not only enforces the audiences comfortable reassurance
Another way I applied my cinematography knowledge to the short film editing was by cropping the shots. Cropping allowed me to make the shots look exactly how I wanted, as when recording I would often film the scene very closely to the storyboard, but accidentally have my subject off centre. Cropping made it so that I could adhere to the rule of thirds so that the visuals are perfectly balanced and multiple subjects can be in the audiences focus. This results in my short film feeling much more satisfying to watch for audiences, and allowing me to conform to the conventions of cinematography to create stunning visuals.
Special Effects to Improve Visuals
As part of my project it's important to apply visual effects in post production so that I can make the short film as closely accurate to my vision of what I want the film to look like as possible. In the production of short films, especially horror, special effects are the way to do this.
As I have not only a budgeting constraint but also a talent constraint for the application of practical effects, it resulted in an issue of me not being able to find a way to create an effective dead body to communicate to the audience the twist of the movie. I came up with the idea of a close up shot of the hand, that way I can also solve the enigma of where the car keys were by having them be in the dead body of the mothers hand. I added a minor practical effect of fake blood (as seen below) but it still didn't feel worthy enough of a shot to reveal that the mother is dead, especially with the extreme lack of blood on the hand. This causes the audience not to be satisfied with the reveal as their audience expectations of what they expect to see in a modern day horror film is a lot of blood and gore.
(the shot before any application of Digital Effects)
This is why I decided I wanted to apply a digital effect to the shot to make the scene feel more 'gore-y'. Although I still had a digital effect talent constraint being that I couldn't create fake blood/gashes on the hand, it didn't mean I couldn't make the scene feel more gorey. I decided it would narratively make sense if I made it seem as if blood was dripping down the camera lens instead, implying to the audience that the death was so brutal that blood splatted everywhere, even on to the camera itself.
The first thing I did to create this effect was duplicate my clip and layer them on top of each other. I did this by holding down the option key and then dragging he clip a layer higher, duplicating it on top of the other.
I then searched for the 'tint' and 'gaussian blur' effects in the project window and added them to the duplicated clip.
I opened the added effects settings and mapped the black to a dark red and white to a lighter red on the tint effect. For the Gaussian Blur effect I just increased the blurriness to make the screen look like we (the camera) were looking through blood, causing the screen to be blurry.
I did this by adding the effect 'track matte key' to my previous duplicate clip, accessing its settings and then changing the 'matte' to 'video 3' and changing the composite to 'matte luma'.
This made it so that the blood red overlay replaced the white and black of the fog-looking matte. I then further started playing around with the settings of each effect (mainly the contrast, brightness and opacity of the clips) as well as increasing the size of the matte overlay so that there wasn't excess blood on the screen and making the blood larger.
How My Created Special Effect Conforms to Conventions
(Merge) LO4: Rushes and how they met conventions, LO4: Rushes and notes on camera settings used
Here is an example of 5 key rushes from my recording session and how they conform to conventions, compared to the storyboard plan.
Rush 1:
For achieving this shot it was important that the camera settings were regulated in order to give the shot its intended meaning.
- I used an ISO of 300. This is because it was vital to the shot that it was dark enough so that only the outline of the figure can be seen. I didn't reduce it any lower however because, although the shot was meant to be dark to obscure the figure, the light still needed to be bright enough so that the figure would be much more emphasised. This emphasis is what gives the shot more weight as it creates a much more vivid impression on the audience as the figure feels overwhelming. If I had reduced the ISO to make the background much darker like in my original plan, the reveal wouldn't have the same payoff as the bright background. Having the light still be fairly bright because of my ISO setting also allowed me to increase the contrast between the figure and backlight to further enforce the overwhelming fear of dread on the audience. An ISO of 300 was the perfect choice as it was a perfect balance between keeping my antagonist an enigma whilst also highlighting its presence.
- I used an Aperture of f/16. This was because I wanted to make sure that my silhouette had a perfectly crisp outline as the scene is supposed to denote in its visuals that this is the antagonist revealing itself to the audience in its full power. If I had accidentally made the figure blurry, it could potentially give the audience the wrong impression that our antagonist is still obscuring itself from the camera, when in actuality I was trying to communicate that it wants us (the viewer and the protagonist) to be scared of it before it makes a mockery of, and kills, the character that the audience have been routing for the whole time. Although this achieves the intended meaning, next time I will instead increase the aperture to a higher f-stop value of 5.6. That way I would still make the silhouette perfectly clear whilst also blurring the background behind it slightly, this would be more effective as it means that all the audiences attention is forcefully dragged onto the antagonist as it stares us down. It would also create more meaning as any way out would be obscured to the audience, connoting the impending doom our protagonist is about to face. I was able to remedy my mistake in post-production editing my obscuring the background more by intensifying the backlight to have the same meaning, however it would've been more more effective to achieve this with the camera settings instead.
Rush 2
For achieving this shot it was important that the camera settings were specifically regulated in order to give the shot its intended meaning.
- I used an ISO of 400 and an Aperture of f/22. As I'm trying to create a horror short, even the scenes I had planned to be the brightest still had to be fairly dark, with this extended tracking shot being a perfect example of this. Using an ISO of 400 an aperture of f/22 was important for the scene as it requires the audience to be able to see, and therefore pay attention to, many little details that help to set up the scare. For example this ISO paired with the camera mounted light meant that our audience could notice the closed door at the start of the tracking shot easily and in detail due to the aperture, meaning later seeing it open would be more scary as they knew for a fact it was once closed. For the climax of the scene, it tries to bait audiences into thinking the scare was going to be behind the fridge. This is so when it closes they need to be able to see deep into the dark room so they know it was a fake out and lower their guard before I shock them with the real thing. The low aperture here means that they can see that there's nothing hiding in the background, making them feel much more comfortable so the scare catches them more off guard. The ISO also couldn't be any higher however as not breaking the immersion is just as important for the scene. If the audience were too distracted by the fact that the scene is much brighter than in the previous shots even though my story is taking place in the middle of the night they would be taken out of the moment, causing them to not take the scene seriously and ruin its intended purpose entirely.
Rush 3:
At the beginning of the final scene the camera tracks the protagonist as she runs upstairs and bursts into the parent's bedroom and reacts to something horrifying. The camera movement tracking the character and it keeping its distance for the duration of the scene creates meaning by implying that something is watching our character, creating tension for the audience as our character is completely unaware of the lurking danger. The increasing distance of the audience from Quinn also connotes how this is the most alone she's ever felt, which contrasts the tight claustrophobic tension when she was previously talking to her mother on the phone, as she realises her mother is dead in this scene and no help can be found. She has been alone the whole time. The camera being positioned in a way that the audience cannot see what our protagonist has broken down witnessing heightens the tension as we wait for the reveal. When Quinn (our protagonist) enters the bedroom she is met with a hot orange light on her face as she witnesses the off-screen horror. The orange light connotes the tension and danger our character has found themselves in as she has discovered the body of her mother. The light implying that she was never safe in the first place. However this rush is much darker than intended, making the foreground too difficult to see. In post production I will increase the brightness slightly so that more of the landing and door frame can be seen to increase visuals.
For achieving this shot it was important that the camera settings were regulated in order to give the shot its intended meaning.
- I used a very low ISO of 100. This was because the shot was taking place in an area of the house where no natural light would be able to reach the area and justify why the scene would be bright. To ensure that the scene wouldn't be too dark in my production plan I was initially going to have the in-universe landing light be on before its switched off slightly out of sight by an unknown force, that way I could not only create tension but also come up with a way for the scene to be lit. Using a higher ISO if this had worked out would've made the light way too bright and strained viewers eyes. This however didn't work as I wasn't able to find a correct enough angle that I could still achieve the shot I specifically wanted whilst still having the light switch off screen for it to be turned off. This meant I had to film it in the dark with no planned light source for the foreground making the rush much darker than its intended purpose. Next time I would instead film it in a higher ISO of around 400 similarly to my previous scenes.
- I used an aperture of f/11. Although at the end of the scene my character is stood in the far background and would've benefitted from a low aperture so that they are fully in focus, I instead went for a slightly different approach. I used a higher aperture than the lowest as I wanted to make my protagonist blurred and seem out of reach from the audience. This is as the moment signifies a turning point where there's no going back for our character and I wanted to make the audience feel as helpless as possible when watching them struggle. The fact they are blurred slightly means that they are no longer the audiences 'main character' that is protected by the plot of Quinn needing to survive so we, the audience, can experience the story. They are now becoming out of focus for us as we lose grasp of Quinn and can no longer protect her from the horror with our presence. She's too far gone metaphorically and physically.
Rush 4
This scene is also an effective use of both camerawork and lighting to allow me to conform to conventions of a film. The lighting is a key part of this scene as I need to be able to light both the foreground and background so that the audience can divide their attention and so that the scene displays accurately what I'm trying to show. I used a camera mounted light to highlight my actor and wardrobe, so that it's visible on camera. The second piece of lighting I used was out of shot in the hallway. I used a soft box to make the door visible to the viewers as that's where I wanted them to focus their attention. This allowed me to position the camera in-between the actor and wardrobe so that both the actor and background can be seen to create the tense scene. This secondary light being orange allowed me to create more meaning in the shot additionally, as it implies something sinister is lurking just out of sight.
For achieving this shot it was important that the camera settings were regulated in order to give the shot its intended meaning.
- I used an ISO of 400. Despite using multiple sources of light in the scene (created by camera mounted light and a spotlight in the back) to create a vibrant shot, I still needed the it to be dark enough that the foreground still feels as if its in the same scene as before the shot with a layer of darkness still present and noticeable. This is important for the same suspension of disbelief I noted in my ISO explanations of previous shots. The darkness created by the ISO also helps the scene feel more cinematic as it means that the ajar door in the background is still very dark and mysterious despite the spotlight placed on it. This creates imagery of the darkness looking like it's creeping out of the door, as if the omnipresent antagonist is still watching us from afar like in the precious scene.
- I used a standard Aperture of f/16. Even though the scene had both a foreground and a background, the shot still didn't have as much depth as most others later. This meant that a not necessarily low aperture was needed for the scene to work and for the audience to see the door. I didn't use a higher aperture because I wasn't trying to hide the door from the audience. Blurring it here, although would make it feel more natural, would be counter intuitive and work against the lighting equipment I used, especially since the spot light is supposed to keep the audiences attention on the door. The purpose of the scene wasn't that it is scary because the audience don't expect it, but instead that its scary because we are aware our character is completely oblivious to a potential threat that could be nearby. This makes the audience more focused in the scene as they feel a sense of duty to protect our character and look out for her. This makes us more attached to her so that actual scares later have a lot more emotional weight.
Rush 5
These two rushes are very effective at allowing my film to conform to the typical camera work used in film, whilst also implying meaning in foreshadowing the ending of the film. In this dialogue scene Quinn is talking to her mother on the phone, which is later revealed to be the entity taunting her the entire time. I used a shot-reverse-shot structure during dialogue, switching between Quinn on the phone and the dark space beyond her doorway where we previously saw the entity. This foreshadows the plot twist of the film that happens during the final scene. The foreshadowing allows my movie to have a much more structured layout overall, whilst making the film more interesting to watch and engaging for the viewer.
For achieving this shot it was important that the camera settings were regulated in order to give the shot its intended meaning.
- I used an ISO of 100 and an aperture of f/1.8. When creating the small tracking shot into the darkness I had to ensure that I was using an extremely low ISO and high aperture for the shot reverse shot idea to work. As I was switching to the shot of the void I needed to make sure the audience couldn't see into it at all as it would ruin the point of shot, which is creating tension by the audience not knowing what's in the void which then turns into an enigma as we wonder if the reason we are looking into the darkness so often is if there's actually something looking back. If the audience could see that there wasn't anything there, the shot wouldn't achieve its intended purpose at all. The negative side effect of these settings however is that the door frame isnt visible either, causing the audience to question what they are even looking at. Next time I will instead fix this by using lighting equipment such as soft boxes to light the small areas around the doorway so that the shot looks more professional and immersive.
Friday, 15 March 2024
LO3: Features and settings of camera equipment
Specific Lighting settings
My ISO varies throughout the cinematography of my product as it takes place in multiple different rooms around the house: some have no natural lighting, whilst others have slight natural light from windows.
In scene 1 (the bedroom scene) I am using an aperture of f11-f22. This allows me to create a wide depth of field which is important for the scene as the audience need to be able to see far into the room and the dark landing. This allows me to fulfil the purpose of the cinematography in creating my horror as the audience waits for the character to see what the audience can. This creates suspense as the audience hope that it doesn't jump out at the camera/attack the protagonist before our character can figure out the threat is there. In this part of the scene the ISO is at 800 as I want the space outside of the door frame to be completely dark. I also want to eccentricate the shadows in the room.
This aperture will stay consistent as it's also needed later in the scene. This is because the audience need to see further into the dark as the protagonist gets closer to the door frame. This is effective in putting the audience in the characters shoes as we can see exactly what she can: this helps to create more tension and makes us empathise with the protagonist.
Monday, 19 February 2024
LO3: Storyboard and Set Design
In scene 7 I will be creating a chiaroscuro lighting style to emphisise strong contrast between the light that's within the room and the dark abyss beyond the doorway. This is to create the impression that something could be lurking beyond the darkness, staring right back at us. I will be using this effect again in scene 12, 24 and scene 29 to hide the antagonist just enough to keep them mysterious.
Here is my set design for scene 1. As the room is small and tight, there aren't a lot of places to place lighting equipment that would be out of shot in the actual scene itself. This means that I will use a camera mounted light to light the scene. This is also effective as there aren't any external light sources in the scene, so it wouldn't make sense continuity wise to use a three point lighting technique.
Scene 2: The issue I had with the previous scene also applies here, however the door located behind the actor will help to naturally light the scene, and it creates an additional light source to use if I decide to use any alternative shots in the scene.
Scene 3 is the primary scene in my horror short film that'll be used to create tension, this means that I am using a wide variety of shot types and angles within the scene, so to display this I created multiple different set designs.
In 'scene 3 set design 1' I use a variety of different angles as well as the environment to tell the story. This is to create the impression that there is something going on right behind the character (and audience). As the room that I am shooting in is much larger, I can effectively use multiple different light sources hidden out of shot to better light the character and scene, which plays an important role in creating my tension.
In 'scene 3 set design 2' I will need to alter my lighting as I am using a long, drawn out tracking shot as the camera follows the actress through the scene, eventually ending in a quick panning shot. As, stylistically, the scene is lit by the blue light from the fridge, this will be my main source of lighting. This is because the tracking shot is also used to show us around the environment, meaning it's difficult to place any lighting equipment without it being caught on camera. This means that I will use a camera mounted light as my secondary source of lighting.
In the final scene of my film, a silhouette is seen in the darkness outside the door frame. To create this effect in the final film, I will be using the lighting and editing together in order to create the silhouette figure and then darken the scene in editing to make it appear pitch black.
LO3: Short Film Pre-production (treatment, annotated script, risk assessment, recce sheet)
TREATMENT:
1) Working Title: 'Rancour'
2) The genre i will work in is horror, this will allow me to follow simple genre conventions to appeal to my audience. These include; low-key lighting, tense moments, isolating environments etc.
3) Synopsis: A teen girl (Quinn) wakes in the middle of the night to find someone... or something... in her house. Panicked and alone, her mum tries to calm her over the phone, but not all is what it seems.
4) The only roles I will need cast to be on screen is my main teen character Quinn and my shadowy figure. I will need to cast a voice acting role for the mother as she will not be seen on screen.
5) Crew Required: Actors (2), one voice actor, camera man (me).
6) The location of filming will be in a house.
7) Props: I will need are; a phone, fake knife, fake blood, Halloween cut/gash prosthetic. The the phone will be important as its a symbol of our protagonists lifeline and light in the dark. Its also used as an important plot device. The knife will not be used for stabbing or in any action scenes but mainly used for creating interesting shots, giving the protagonist a reason to move downstairs and create another false sense of security. It also helps to fulfill genre conventions. The fake blood/ prosthetic may or may not be used (its undecided if the body Quinn finds of her mother in the climactic scene of the film will be mostly off screen or not) and is used to create a visceral image but doesn't have to be too good/realistic as it will only be on screen for a short period of time and i don't have a large enough budget to afford anything too technical.
7.5) Costume: For my protagonist, Quinn, the costume i will use is a teen girls pajamas, pajama shorts and shirt, this will work well to contrast the comfort of being in your own home with the horror of your personal space being invaded and will make the viewer feel unsafe. My antagonist will be mostly unseen and lurking in shadows but will still be seen in some scenes. I will need a full black mostly featureless outfit, i plan to have my antagonists arm appear in a scene as if it belongs to a woman, so i will have to keep this in mind when designing the antagonists appearance. These are important for my short film as they help to immerse the viewer in the world i am creating, allowing me to better improve my visuals to create a more impactful and effective short film.
8) Technical Equipment: Camera, Tripod, Lighting equipment, microphone.
SCRIPT (camerawork annotated):
Scene opens:
INT. QUINNS BEDROOM -- NIGHT
QUINN wakes in the middle of night, TV still on from when she fell asleep. The TV is just out of frame, but we see the light from the TV sprawl across the room. We switch to an extreme close up of her eye, a different light from the hallway appearing from a slowly opening door hits her face.
NEWS PRESENTER
-with over 6 missing persons reports in the Sheffield area in the last month, victims all young adults disappearing at the dead of night without a trace. Residents have been warned to keep doors locked at night and to-
QUINN is a young woman, aged 17-19 in appearance and wearing white/pastel clothing. Her long hair is slightly messy and pushed behind her shoulders
(to light QUINN I will use a camera mounted light as room is too small for large lighting equipment)
QUINN rubs her eyes and slowly starts to wake properly as the light slowly blinks off before she notices. Quinn turns off the bright light from the TV, a pair of white dots can now be seen in the darkness. They linger high up in the door frame, suggesting the scale of the thing just out of sight in the darkness.
ISO of 800 used as I want the space outside the door frame to be completely dark at a distance. There is no natural light in this scene affecting the lighting.
Aperture of f11-f22 used to create wide depth of field as the audience need to be able to see far into the room
QUINN notices and gasps, she reaches for her phone and shines a light at the dark figure, the shadow disappearing as the light hits it. The dots now being gone causes the panic to reappear. She hurriedly makes a call on her phone.
THE MOTHER
(tired) Quinn why are you-
THE MOTHERS voice is the first, and last, we hear.
QUINN
Mum I think I saw something in my room but i don't know if it was real or not (trailing off) and-and I'm really scared-
THE MOTHER
(Worried) Wait... what do you mean 'saw something'?
QUINN
Like a shadow in the door-
THE MOTHER
(Cynical) A shadow... at night? c'mon sweetie, go back to sleep it was probably nothing.
QUINN
Mum I'm being serious, I'm really scared and I think there's someone in the house with us.
THE MOTHER
(sighs) Quinn I already told you me and Katy aren't home tonight we're out of-
QUINN
WAIT- (starts hyperventilating) you mean I'm alone? I'm calling the police.
THE MOTHER
(changes to a more serious tone as she realises the severity of the situation) Quinn calm down. Arm yourself with something and look for the front door keys. I will call the police.
QUINN
Wait-
THE MOTHER
The police will take the shadow story more seriously if they hear it from an adult, ok?
QUINN
(building up courage) Okay-okay
THE MOTHER
I'm gonna make the call. I'll call back in just a second to make sure you're okay.
THE MOTHER hangs up as only a deafening silence is left in the house as QUINN slowly approaches her desk next to her door with her phone torch. QUINN frantically searches her desk draws.
QUINN
(frustratingly) Come on, where are you?
As QUINN is searching for the keys, we see a door in the background of the hallway creek shut. The noise startles QUINN.
Aperture of f11-f22 used to create wide depth of field as the audience need to be able to see the door in the background being closed.
ISO increased 1400 as the dark space in the doorway needs to be more visible so that the audience pays a significant amount of attention to it.
QUINN
(Approaching the door) Deep breaths- In... Out... (she grabs hold of the door handle) In...
She hurriedly forces the door open, a sigh of relief washing over her as we see an open window whooshing in air. She takes a step back and it's revealed the shadow is in her room now. (As her room now needs to be darker behind her, ISO is reduced to 900) The scene is broken up by her phone ringing and piercing the silence. QUINN jumps back in front of her door frame, covering of the white dots, we don't see them again in the shot when she moves.
THE MOTHER
Sweetie, the police are on their way but are you sure you even saw something? -
QUINN
(Still hurried/hyperventilating) Mum the keys are gone.
THE MOTHER
(small pause) They must be in the lock box in the kitchen.
QUINN
Shouldn't I check your room first?
THE MOTHER
(Authoritative) No. They aren't there.
QUINN
But shouldn't I at least che-
THE MOTHER
(Insistent) We don't have time to waste. You need to grab a knife from the kitchen, get the keys and leave.
QUINN
O-okay.
She glances at the door to her mum's room and starts to walk down the stairs. The shot lingers on the door.
CUT TO: INT. DOWNSTAIRS CORRIDOR
A long shot stalks Quinn as she reaches the downstairs corridor and flicks a light switch.
ISO of 400 will be used as the lighting from the window will naturally light the scene however I still want it to be relatively dark in the scene to set the tone and keep consistency.
THE MOTHER
Don't turn on the lights. You know your way around our house in the dark better than an intruder does.
QUINN SILENTLY OBEYS.
ENT KITCHEN.
A panning shot shows us the kitchen as QUINN enters the doorway.
THE MOTHER
Remember to stay calm sweetie, the keys should be in the change box on the counter.
QUINN
Yeah okay.
QUINN hurries over to the kitchen counter, sliding her phone in her pocket. Whilst rummaging around for the keys, we see something moving toward the fridge behind her in the reflection of the glass in front of her. The shot changes to one of her back.
HD setting used as its important to capture the movement in the glass without it being lost due to low quality.
This scene uses 3 point lighting to highlight QUINN properly in the room, as well as her surroundings as they play an important part in the events of the scene.
A blue light slowly spreads across the room. QUINN suddenly stops rummaging for the keys when the light hits her, she is frozen in fear. Quinn takes the phone out her pocket as she agonisingly slowly turns.
QUINN
Mum...?
The shot changes again and shows us that the light is coming from the now opened fridge.
QUINN
(raising the phone to her ear) M-mum...?
Shes met with the isolating sound of noise glitches/static echoing out her phone.
The shot changes: She hurriedly grabs a knife out of the kitchen droor. The camera pans up to a tracking shot (camera mounted light to properly light the tracking shot) as we follow her hesitantly past the garage door to the fridge. The shot rotates to her side as she grabs the fridge door, blocking the view of the rest of the kitchen. The music rises. She closes the door and the audience sees there's nothing there. The shot continues as she turns around with the camera: (this is a fast panning shot: 24 FPS used to capture the movement smoothly) we see the garage door now open, a hand that was reaching out now retracting into the darkness. The shot changes to a low angle as she reaches for the door handle, the door opening more before she even touches it.
The static from her phone rises, SEEMINGLY TAKING OVER/POSSESSING THE PHONE ITSELF.
This scene uses an aperture of f1.8-f4. The close ups and low angles are meant to feel as if the audience themselves are being feeling as distorted as QUINN. These aperture settings create a shallow depth of field to replicate this.
We see something in the dark... the hand now reaching out to her again? Her fingers flex out as cracking of bones can be heard. The hand would be the mother's, made apparent with jewelry. The hand is grey in appearance with deep red nail polish.
The static is now unbearable. The kitchen becomes distorted: the natural moonlight somehow flickers out, causing short periods of total darkness. A man's voice (young) can be heard embedded in the white noise:
THE VOICES
(Lifelessly, obviously trying to draw her in) Help me. I can't see in Here. Help.
QUINN stumbles back as the arm slowly retracts into the darkness yet again, before the door suddenly slams open by itself, she turns and dashes through the corridor and up the stairs. The white eyes can be seen in the darkness as she begins to run away.
THE MOTHERS voice can be heard panicked and calling out for her daughter, sobbing and asking if she's okay. Her voice begins to return to a normal state as the static lowers. We return to the shot of the landing again as QUINN approaches the door. She barges through in a rush. We see her pause, staring at something off screen, frozen in fear and panic as she realises something horrific. We see the same hand as before switching off the landing light, just out of the shot.
The aperture used here is f11-f22. This is because I am using a wide shot where multiple things are in frame and need to be noticed by the viewer. These settings allow for a wide depth of field. This is effective in allowing me to adhere to the audience expectations of what a horror film should look like.
THE MOTHER
Sweetie?
...
Are you alright?
Static from QUINNS phone begins again, THE MOTHERS voice takes a more sinister tone as a close-up shot reveals the same hand laying limp on the bed, covered in blood and black ink, clutching the keys. QUINN falls to the floor, overcome with grief and despair as the shot changes to a low angle of her phone on the floor and the doorway. The same two white dots are seen staring her down, but this time a silhouette of the mother can be seen, slightly blacker than the darkness.
THE MOTHER
(Her voice flicking between a deeper, masculine voice and the mothers) Sweeeeeetie?
The static rises again (still from her phone) as the moonlight gets sucked out of the room, in the static we hear many stolen voices speaking in unison.
THE VOICES
Behind you.
The shot switches to QUINN as she notices something out of shot. The shot switches to a low angle of a silhouette of her mother in the doorway, her eyes glowing with the same white dots. (The low angle uses a shallow depth of field of f1.8-f4 to blur the silhouette so the audience aren't able to see her fully, it also implies how the creature distorts the world around them) She begins to plead for her life and sob, THE MOTHER mimicking her from her phone. We follow a tracking shot (camera mounted light used) inching towards QUINN as she frantically holds out her knife infant of her, still pleading.
The screen goes black as credits begin to roll; we hear QUINNS pleading sobs turn to horror as she inhumanely gasps in. THE MOTHER still lifelessly mimicking her pleading sounds, as her voice and QUINNS, which becomes calm and dead, begin to speak in unison. QUINNS' voice is no longer her own.
The outside lamp now blinks back in, the title flashing in the light as the diegetic sounds return and all is back to normal.
END OF SHORT
RISK ASSESSMENT:
LOCATION RECCE SHEET:
Location Recce
Location: Residential Home
Date: 14/01/24
Survey time: 09:08
Address: S8 Westwick Road, Greenhill
Interior
Available power: Correct
Natural light: Medium-High
Doors & windows: One in every room, natural light not required
Logistics
Transport: Not Needed/ Self transport
Permits: Gained
Facilities: Available (food, drink and restrooms)
Exterior
Weather: Clear skies
Light: High-key
Sound: Little to no outside sound that will effect my filming.
Notes: Cramped house environment may difficult for filming, ensure to keep this in mind when planning pre-production. The filming must take place at night to achieve the low-key lighting atmosphere. Take the actors into consideration as they may be tired, make sure to provide food and drink.
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