First Time Filming

It was our first time filming today, the first scenes we began filming were: the bedroom scene and the scene in which I am drawing on the easel. We started off filming quick footage of Ana sleeping in bed and which she then wakes up staring at the ceiling which provides a sense of ambiguity  as the audience doesn't know what is going on. We had took the same shot several times due to us wanting to have the best shot possible, therefore having more than one would mean that we have more to choose from. A key part in our filming was the lighting, the concept in this particular shot as well as we wanted to reflect that it was night time but that was problematic in itself as if the lighting was too dark then we wouldn't be able to see our filmed footage. In the end we used a dimming switch to provide a natural lighting which interestingly gave the camera a fuzzy blurry quality- almost static. It worked quite well as it looked quite naturalistic which is the effect we were going for as it contrasts against the surrealistic narrative which we have composed. Our group also experimented with a tripod camera to see what effect this would have on the shots but unfortunately we werent entirely sure as to how to use it in the best manner. This shows us that we need to practice how to use this camera as we don't want all of our shots to be filmed hand held. Our next shot was of a teddy bear which was to reflect the childhood innocence of my character and again we played around with lighting: this time as well as a dimming switch we also used a bedside lamp. This was very effective as it showed the bear in an orange glow and was again quite blurry. This followed into a transition of an eye line match between ana and the bear where the conceptualisation of Mise-en-scene took place as she used facial expressions. The shot showed her looking frightened as though she know's something bad is going to happen which makes the audience sympathize with my role and also leaves them feeling tense.We then went into Charley's living room where we did my scenes. Our first shot was of me drawing a picture which comes to life later on in the film. This consisted of a hooded figure [Zoe] immersed in mist and clouds with  'It's coming' in a scratchy messy style of writing . This is to represent how I am the controller of both Ana and Zoe and how Ana becomes possessed due to the control  I am inflicting upon her. This also links in with the title of our film 'Puppet Strings'. To give an eerie effect to the film I had to write very heavily to create a scratchy, rasping noise. Charley then used zoom reverse zoom to enhance the picture which transcended into a similar shot of me drawing again but minus the writing and Ana shown in the background looking at Zoe. To represent the artistic feel of the scene I wore a checkered black and white shirt and waistcoat which almost gave her a sense of normality despite the evilness of her character. Her face was also in side profile to give her a sense of mystery. We finished off our filming session by taking a prop shot list.