The preliminary task we had to shoot twice. Like our film, we had no sound on the first shoot because the microphone was not operational. The second shoot however, was also not free of error. The 180 degree rule is broken in the second shot but fortunately was unnoticed by many people who viewed the video. The preliminary task would have been very good training for the actual production, but unlike other people in the class, we had shot our film before we had started this task.
Opening Sequence
Just as I feared while shooting, the following problems were revealed during the editing:
- No Audio
- No reaction shot from 'Lucy' when 'Jason' is murdered.
It was impossible to re-shoot again on such short notice, and going against advice, used the footage we had. To solve the problem of the lack of sound, we had to go back to the park and record ambient sounds - birds, wind etc. This gave us the advantage of being able to cut unwanted sounds out e.g. other park visitors, planes. If the microphone had been on during the shoot, these sounds would have seriously disrupted the narrative. We had never intended to use dialogue so this was not an issue, but more sounds had to be recorded. Cornflower was used to substitute the footsteps in the snow which I thought was a very interesting idea and that folly sounds were a great way to get us out of this problem.
Another great mistake on my part was that there was no reaction shot of of Lucy when the murder takes place. This looked very odd as usually in horror films there is always a quick reaction shot of someone else after they have witnessed a murder. This shot was filmed at a later date, but was not done in the same location and broke continuity. So instead, the ending of the sequence was changed completely. As the killer strikes, the screen suddenly cuts to black as opposed to us seeing the character drop to the floor bleeding to death.
Here is the original draft of the film containing these mistakes:
Originally after the title credit, the screen faded back and showed the killer standing over the dying body. I was particularly proud of this shot but unfortunately, feedback was not positive as many people thought it strange to go back to the scene for only a few seconds after it had supposedly finished.
As director, I had to get comfortable working with the actors. I assumed they all knew what they were doing so I let them get on with it while I devoted much of my time setting up shots and working with the camera. I think in future I should work with the actors more, so I can establish a better working relationship with them and make production run more smoothly. I think everyone will work better and harder if they are completely sure about what my intentions are.
The editor informed me that the 180 degree rule was broken in the sequence. As I was away for a few weeks, I missed the start of post-production so only saw the finishing touches. I was disappointed to learn this rule had been broken in both the sequence and preliminary task, but have now seen my errors now definitely will not repeat them in future.
