Filming - equipment, actors & pictures from the shoot

To ensure we had plenty of time for editing which we new took the most amount of time, our group decided to be organised and film relatively early. I picked up all the equipment on Friday 5th February from school, which included:

• 1 x dolly
• 1 x tripod
• 1 x XLS camera
• 2 x tape (already blanked)
  
• 1 x battery
• 1 x light

I took the equipment home with me from school, ready to go to Talia's the next day for last minute preparations. On Sunday 7th February 2010 we were ready to film in Hackney and arrived at the location for one o'clock in the afternoon. The weather was not great as it was very cold with dull grey skies and although unpleasant to be outside, it created the perfect setting for a thriller. One of the most important aspects of a thriller is the costume and props, which need to be realistic and easy to get hold of. The props we used and brought to the set included:

• a re-chargeable electric drill
• a saw
• selection of tools (spanners, screws, metal bars)
  
• hammer
• rope
• ladder
• ketchup (for fake blood)
• talcum-powder (for face make-up)
• axe
• 2 x plain T shirts (costume for victims, which we splattered ketchup across and rubbed dirt on to)
• half a lemon (in which we painted it skin colour and placed a screwed up red tissue inside. This is for the last extreme close-up shot of drill supposedly going into victims head).

The Actors:
Psycho: Ian Welka


When we cast the actors, we wanted the 'Psycho' to have the stereotypical appearance and characteristics that a 'madman' would have. We were originally going to cast someone our age who had a big build, until Talia's dad suggested he play the part. As a middle aged man with the perfect structure he played the character unbelievably well and really got into character which portrayed in his lunatic body language and scary limp.


The Victim: Matthew Perry Frener


I thought my friend Matt who took the lead role in our school Shakespeare play recently would be perfect to play the main victim in our thriller. His acting skills and enthusiasm made the sequence believable. With true emotion his screams created such tension which is crucial in any thriller film. His facial expressions, gestures and body movements could make an audience grip to the end of their seats with fright and horror.


Dead girl: Talia Welka


We thought having someone lying on the floor in the background would create a good setting. There was no script or even acting required for her part other than lying on the floor 'playing dead'. We placed a wooden frame that we found in the garage on the floor, and then staked small wooden boxes on top. We also added a hammer on the side of the wooden frame for effect and splattered a T shirt with ketchup. We tied her legs together with tape to make it look like she was the Psycho's previous victim adding panic to the audience.

The Filming:
We were able to start filming straight after we set up the equipment, which took no time at all as we had 6 people altogether on set. This included myself, Talia, Yaakov, Ian, Talia's mum (who watched the equipment for us), and Raheem (a friend who is studying film-making who came and gave us great advice). Everyone played an important role on the day which made everything run smoothly. We started filming:
Shot 1: A close-up shot of the drill in the Psycho's hand. Attempting to re-create the Marnie scene which inspired us, the camera would zoom-out as he walks down the cobbled road with a limp tracking his movement gradually. We did 2 practise takes of this shot and recorded it a further 3 times. We did this to ensure we had the best shot possible and could therefore select which one we preferred.

- After the first shot a complete blank black screen will appear where one of the titles will be added.
Shot 2: A medium close-up shot of the Psycho approaching the garage door as he pushes it open. The drill is placed and stuck in the letterbox whilst the Psycho aggressively pushed the door in and steps into the garage with digetic sound of the Victim screaming can be heard from outside.

- Another blank screen for a title
Shot 3: The camera focuses on the right side of the Psycho as he stumbles into the dark garage. The camera only focuses on the lower part of his body creating an unexpected atmosphere of tension for the audience. As the audience can hear the Victims scream, they wait nervously to finally reveal who and what is actually happening.
- Another blank screen for a title
Shot 4: a match on action shot of the Psycho's shoes walk into the garage as screaming becomes louder. Camera works its way up the Victims body and reveals a terrified young man pleading for his life, trapped by rope which he is tied to the wall by.

Shot 5: A medium close-up of a struggling boy tied up screaming with a noose hanging from the ceiling. A close-up shot of the victim with his head appearing to be in the noose, however just special camerwork effects. He screams 'Get me out of here', 'Help me' and weeps.

Shot 6: Close-up shot of Psycho as he approaches victim and puts duck tape with a heavy hand around his mouth and face. The Psycho grabs the drill and the screaming becomes more panicky as it gets close and closer to his head.

Shot 7: close-up shot taken from the side view. Drill going into the victims head.
shot 8: exreme close-up shot of the drill going into lemon (Victims head). Screaming lowers to a silence, meaning he's dead.