Olivia's media blog

  Aims In our short film we planned to have a short driving scene in order to get the characters to a different location. Originally we had planned to do an aerial tracking shot of the car, however I decided to experiment with some different camera angles that would add interest to the scene. Below are some behind the scenes pictures of me attaching my camera to a suction camera mount. In the footage the car reflected quite a lot of the surroundings making it difficult to see inside the car, however this will work out well in our film if we choose to use the footage, as we want to keep the characters anonymous (introducing an enigma code). I also practiced using the drone to get some tracking shots of the car from different angles.

  Costumes We wanted to incorporate the colour red into the costumes, to match the bloody imagery. We made the choice for the girl to have red fingernails, and we originally planned to have a bit of fake blood on her fingertips (however this wasn't picked up by the camera very well). We came up with three outfit options for the girl, however we ended up going for the long dress (the picture on the left). This was quite dressy, adding to the unnatural situation, and had rust coloured features without which also matched the theme of red.  To match the dress, we wanted to have a necklace that would appear quite dramatic from the back, as we had planned an over the shoulder shot of the girl putting on her necklace to showcase her red nails and fingertips. Clementine (my partner) and I found necklaces that would look like a pearl necklace, as we were aiming for something elegant that would contrast the uncomfortable and messy close ups of preparing food. The red lipstick also added to t

  Planning Prior to filming, Clementine and I worked out some potential risks that would have to be addressed while filming. This included, dehydration and using knives. On the day of filming we made sure we were prepared with water bottles, and when using props such as knives we were extremely careful and made sure the actor was holding it in a safe handhold. We used the sheet below to document some of the risks, and once we filmed we filled out the ways we had minimized these hazards. Additional risks We mostly relied on natural lighting, so we did not have to worry about set lights heating up, or cables causing a tripping hazard. We did have to transport equipment in a car to get to the outdoor location, however we made each passenger in the car responsible for holding a piece of equipment, especially the camera and the gimbal as they were the most expensive. We also a simple first aid kit on hand (in both locations - the house and the park), in the event of an injury. Another relev

  Scouting The week before filming I went out to look at some potential locations to film. I had a place in mind, but I also went to a second location to make sure we found the best place to shoot.  The first location had a large area of flat grass right next to the road, which was ideal for the last shot we had planned (a continuous tracking shot of the couple retrieving their stuff from the back of the car and setting up a picnic). However, in the background a green fence was visible. This put me off slightly, as we had been aiming to shoot somewhere that seemed remote and the fence was clear evidence of human activity. Location one and location two, there was a winding road up the side of hill that added to the remote feeling of the location. It seemed like a good spot for a tracking drone shot as it was surrounded by thick vegetation and would contribute to the idea the couple are taking the body to an isolated area. This can come across as quite sinister as secluded areas are conv

  Food Our main props were food, as we needed it for the cooking sequence. We used lettuce, pomegranate, tomatoes, and other basic salad ingredients. We also used some bread and strawberry jam to make jam sandwiches. We had researched the best way to open a pomegranate, and the internet suggested putting a pomegranate in the microwave, followed by crushing it, would make the fruit release more juice. When we created a slit for George (our actor) to use to open up the pomegranate with his hands, it released a splatter of red liquid (as seen in the photo below). The overall effect was a dramatic - blood like effect which we used to our advantage. In my film I used a unsettling shot of the juices dripping onto a butchers knife, which appeared very effecting.   Other For the first scene, we used some basic props to prepare the food - butchers knife (to suggest the couple are dangerous), a chopping board which we used to contain the mess of the food and protect the table from the knives, an