Rachel and the author went through several stages in producing the opening title sequence for their thriller film. This included figuring out the technical side of lighting, camera shots, angles, and editing. For lighting, they struggled on the first filming date in the dark woods but improved on the second date. Many shots were handheld due to difficulty maneuvering equipment in the muddy terrain. They utilized various camera shots and angles throughout, like low angles to make characters seem vulnerable and high angles to depict authority. Editing in Adobe Premiere Pro involved different transitions like dissolves, dips to black, and predominantly straight cuts.

1. THE TECHNICAL SIDE

2. THE PROCESS
In the process of producing the opening
title sequence to our thriller film, Rachel
and I have had to go through a lot of
different stages.
One of these stages was figuring out
how the technical side to things. This
included the lighting, editing and camera
shots and angles.

3. LIGHTING
 We filmed our thriller on two separate dates.
 On the first date, since it was our first time using the equipment
properly, we struggled to find the correct lighting. We filmed our
thriller in the middle of the night in the woods, making it hard to do
much with the lighting.
 We used a fifty-metre extension cable in which we ran all over the
forest, wherever we needed there to be light. However, for one
scene, when we were relying on the natural light of the campfire, the
wind dimmed the fire down a bit and therefore we had to adjust the
exposure a little whilst filming.
 We were given a red head light to film with and this was difficult to
light up the entire scene as we were using a large space. In addition
to this, the light gave of a slightly artificial, white look in the dark of
the forest rather than the warm fiery glow we were trying to capture.
However, this could be passed off as moonlight in the shot.

4. MANEUVERING
 Since the dolly was difficult to manoeuvre on the muddy
ground of the woods, we took the camera off the tripod and
most of the filming was actually handheld.
 It was rather difficult to shoot this way, but in the end it worked
out well. Some of our shots however were point of view shots
and therefore we had to hold the camera ourselves anyway.
 An example of this is in the opening shot of our thriller, when a
girl is running into the campsite and the camera is tracking her as
she runs along.
 The SuperRange Optical Stabliser on the camera (Canon XL
H1A) worked well in this shot as it helps to stabilise the image
through a wide range of motions. This came particularly handy
whilst running with the camera on my shoulder.

5. SECOND TRY
 However, since we hadn’t finished all the filming on
the day, we filmed for another evening the next week.
 This was our second time filming and since we had
already had the experience of using the equipment,
it was much easier to film and took us a lot quicker.
 It gave us the chance to really come to grips with
using the camera, and we were done within two hours.
 We even managed to get the lighting exactly how we
wanted it with barely any trouble, unlike the first time.

6. ZOOM
There are three different types of zoom on
the camera we used - the lens zoom ring, the
grip zoom lever and the handle zoom lever
(for low-angle shots).
Whilst filming our thriller, we only used the
lens zoom ring.
This gave us easy control over the zoom and
enabled us to adjust it just the way we wanted
it.

7. SHOTS AND ANGLES
 Additionally, we used various camera shots throughout our thriller.
 We used low angles when the Brownie leader places the rag with
the Chloroform over the children’s’ faces. This angle made them
look vulnerable and weak.
 However, a high angle was used when focusing on the Brownie
leader creating a sense of authority and empowerment.
 We also employed shots such as multiple tracking shots and even
a panning shot.
 The use of a tracking shot (in this case, a dolly shot) is to follow
the character, this puts the audience into the character’s shoes
as they are seeing exactly what the he/she is.
 The panning shot is used to show the audience what the director
wants them to see in the frame. It shows the full shot of what is
happening by moving the camera horizontally on a vertical axis.

8. EDITING
 In terms of editing, this is my favorite part of the production process.
 The editing program our school uses is Adobe Premiere Pro (for details,





refer to previous post).
Transition wise, there were a variety of transitions Rachel and I used in
our film.
We mainly used dissolves, dips to blacks and straight cuts.
Dissolves are the gradual transition between one film and another,
overlapping the two shots for the duration of the effect. However, we kept
these to a minimum, as they are quite time-consuming.
Dips to black are also time-consuming; therefore we also used them
minimally. However, they were perfect for the situation when the children
were falling unconscious.
The majority of our shots were straight cuts. These are generally used
for the majority of films as they are quick and just show the immediate
change from one shot to the next.