2. WEATHER
First of all, it was vital to check the weather as the first scene in the shoot involved filming
outside. Although we knew it would be cold, we needed to choose a dry day where rain was
not forecasted so the water would not ruin any of the camera equipment, but also the makeup and the overall look of the film. We looked at the weather forecast before finalising a date
to shoot through BBC weather.
3. HOW TO FIND THE RIGHT
ACTORS/ACTRESSES
When choosing the right actresses and actors, we first had to see who would fit the criteria we were looking
for. As a result of twisting the gender of the characters of what the audience may assume, we were looking for
a teenaged girl to act the part of being kidnapped. This is because the audience will have an instant emotional
connection with the main character as children now-a-days are seen as vulnerable and the family has now
become more child-centered. Preferably, they would have had some experience of playing an acting role in the
past and would be comfortable to be taken and then be in a confined space being ‘buried alive’. The actor we
chose to kidnap the girl, could have been any male who looked bigger than her and they would be in control
and dominant in the scene. They did not have to be a past actor as their face was covered by a balaclava and
they did not have any speech to perform. We chose Sophie Langsford to be the actress who has been
kidnapped as she had previously done some acting in the past and Alex Wall to be the kidnapper.
Furthermore, in the other scene in our thriller, we used Nicole Wall to play the role of the mother, who is soon
to find out that her daughter has gone missing. Francesca and Johnathon Wall also volunteered to perform
very small roles in the thriller.
4. COSTUMING
We first researched where we could purchase the balaclava
from, comparing prices, different qualities of fabric and how
fast the product can be delivered by. We looked at a variety of
websites- and as a joint input- we decided to purchase from
the fishing megastore. We dressed Sophie up in school
uniform to create authenticity as it is a normal situation walking
back from school. After she was taken, we ripped her clothes
to make it look as if she has been dealt with in the hard way.
For the family scene, we wanted them to dress in every-day
clothes in order to create realism.
5. MAKE UP
The opening title sequence to our thriller had to be authentic. The best way to do this was
using make up and costuming to create a visual affect. We decided the teenaged girl
would have a black eye and ripped clothes- so the audience can make their own
assumptions of what has happened to her from when she was taken, to being found
buried alive. Sophie brought her own make-up and applied it to herself before the buried
alive shoot.
6. LOCATION
After a number of weeks, it proved hard to create the visual affect of being buried alive. I did contact a funeral
parlour in Hertfordshire, Chas. A. Nethercott and Son LTD. They were willing to lend a coffin to us as we
explained how we are studying media AS level and would like to use it part of an opening title sequence to a
thriller. Furthermore, we looked at using a stedi-cam, however they are very expensive to rent out and we have
never used one before and are inexperienced so it would have been a risky decision to take. As a result of this
research, we decided we could not use a coffin. This is because there would be no room to film inside it, and it
would be too confined for any actress agreeing to being put in the situation. Next we looked at filming in a
wooden shed. Although it is not a coffin, if it were to create a similar image, it would create realism and hopefully
replicate the same feeling as if she was buried alive in a coffin. After further research, it was not practical enough
as we had to create another two sides of wood to create a 4 sided coffin. This then led to the successful idea of
using a Wendy house, as it had the floor, one side and a ‘roof’ directly above the character as they lie down, so
we would only have to create one side for it to be a 4 sided coffin. We filmed the scene in Ethan's garden and
house. We got to Ethan's house a couple of hours before the actor and actress so we had time to clean, hoover
and tidy the Wendy house in time for the shoot.
7. BUILDING THE FINAL SIDE TO THE
‘COFFIN’
As we found the ideal location- filming in a Wendy
house- we needed to build a final side to the coffin so the
actress could bang on all the sides to show there is no
way out and to create and maintain the feeling of being in
a tight space in a coffin being buried alive.
We went to the store ‘home base’ to find a plank of wood
that would be a suitable size of what we were looking for.
Previously, we had found at Ethan's house a base of
wood with holes in it but it was the perfect size. We went
into the shop and was able to get small planks of wood
that would fill in the gaps. We stuck the pieces together
with masking tape and blue tack and it was successful
after testing it.
