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Changes During Filming and Editing

Recently we have been working on our production, of which entails editing and filming the first part of our film. Some of the challenges that we faced were putting our initial ideas into practice and doing what the screenplay suggested to a level that we were happy with. Throughout the filming process we decided that some minor changes would need to be taken into effect such as multiple different shots all edited in to one scene such as when the protagonist gets a call on Skype as opposed to one shot with little movement. We decided that it would be more effective to have around three different angles ranging from a mid-shot, to a high angle shot in the corner of the room to a low angle shot of the protagonist. As a way to document these potential changes after the fact we will create a third screenplay which will follow the final product to the letter, the changes we have made will be evident in the comparison between the second and the third screenplay, a document will accompany the third which clearly lists the changes made.

Production Decision

During the editing process of our film it became clear that it would be necessary to include static to represent the fact that the video camera is turning on initially. We decided to do this by including a royalty free stock footage of static to place in front of the first section that is filmed off of the supposed antagonist’s video camera. It may be possible to incorporate this in other sections of the film such as having the camera stutter to give off more of an impression that the killer has taped over the original film, this both shows the antagonist as more of a villain and establishes the fact that this kill is not isolated. This reinstates what it is we would like the scrapbook to present to the audience.


 

We presented our focus group with two different pieces of video static and from this they decided that this static is the most effective and fits the film the best:

 

 

This static was also considered but rejected by the focus group as they felt it was less effective than the aforementioned video static.

 

REC Symbol for film

After having consulted out focus group to see which REC symbol would look best for the handheld camera scenes, the images abvove were chosen to be the best, as opposed to these two images below;

Screenplay Changes

Our screen play has gone through a few changes in the 2 drafts we have presented. The first being the method of communication between Veronica and her friend, in the first draft you will notice that we use a phone as a form of communication. However, we found that this could become difficult whilst filming due to limitations with space and time, we also wanted to reduce dialogue throughout the film. This is because a code and convention that we have noticed in horror films is little dialogue, this creates more of an eerie tension for the audience which is something we want to portray in our production.

Another change we made was the murder weapon, originally we had thought of using a knife. However, we began brainstorming and realized that a knife may seem to much of a cliche weapon, so we opted for a shovel. Not only did this prop link in well with the film it also enables us to add a new element to the production. A majority of the murders 'screentime' is outside therefore it makes sense for him to have a shovel due to his surroundings. Not only is a shovel a unique option for a weapon it is also easier to use for filming and aids us in having a good ending to our film.