Filming

Rough edit of Sweet Revenge

Sweet Revenge - Rough edit from Emma Taylor on Vimeo.

The Shoot

The shoot ran very smoothly; we organised to meet at 9:15 at Emma's house and depending on the weather we would drive to one of the locations in Abi's dad's van and Emma's dad's car. We decided to go to the location for scene 3 first because it had been snowing and we did not want snow in our footage because if it melted there would be continuity errors. However when we arrived at 10:00am Abi realised she had forgotten her key for the flat so we had to drive back to her house to pick up her key. This was the only problem that happened all day and it only added half an hour to the day therefore the day ran quite smoothly. We then set up the scene in Abi's bedroom by spreading lots of Abi's clothes on the floor and putting the empty alcohol bottles and sympathy cards on the cupboard and some on the bed and started filming at 11:00am We then filmed and did extra shots to make sure we would have enough footage, plus we did a wild track of the sound in the apartment when no-one was speaking in case we needed more sound as sound is different at the different locations.
We then left for Rochdale to do scene 2, when we arrived all the snow had melted and the weather was perfect as it was not raining and it was overcast, we arrived at 1:00pm which was perfect for the lighting. As there were no props in this scene we carried our filming equipment up to the bridge and filmed. The only slight problem we had was waiting for walkers to pass by before we filmed shots. We did another wild track here too. We then walked down to a low wall to film a shot of Joe jumping off it, we held a green screen up which we would edit into a shot from the bridge that we did of the scenery so it appears Joe is committing suicide.
We then left to go to Cloughbridge Reservoir, the light was beginning to fade slightly by the end of this filming so we had to be quicker. We then did another shot of Joe jumping off another wall as the other one was not very good. The weather became quite sunny at this location which was great because this is a happy scene. The only problem we had here was when Abi climbed over a wall so she could hold up the green screen, she caught her leg on some barbed wire and started heavily bleeding, luckily it was at the end of the shoot and someone had a first aid kit so we cleaned the wound and then went to Emma's house were we bandaged her and then went home.
Throughout the shoot we did behind the scenes footage on another camera so that we could show that everyone had a go at filming and sound etc.

Green Screen Test

Here is a video of Tom jumping of a low wall as a test for when we green screen the scene when Joe commits suicide. We will hold a green screen infront of where he jumps so that all that is visible in the shot is the wall and Joe's legs, we will then fill the green screen in with a view filmed from the bridge so it appears Joe is jumping off the bridge.

tom falling from Emma Taylor on Vimeo.

Risk Assessment

As we are going to film a suicide jump this would be an obvious risk therefore we are going to use a green screen in front of our actor jumping off a low wall. We will then put the background of what you can see off the bridge on the green screen. When filming shots suggesting Joe is jumping off the bridge we will have to be careful as it would be too dangerous for our actor to climb onto the wall. We will have shots of Joe looking over the bridge and him putting his foot on the railing, this will be safe as it is a safety railing and there is a wall behind it, there will be shots of his hand pushing up on the railing also.

Choosing Locations

 We went location scouting on the 8th March to pick locations for the 3 scenes. This is where we have decided to have the first scene where Kym and Joe are happy, as the resovoir is quite a romantic place to go for walks.

 Our second location is this bridge in Rochdale, the scene where Joe comits suicide.

 This is the bridge from the bottom, it is very high and dangerous looking which is appropraite for a suicide.
There are no health risks envolved for us or the actors as there is a fence.

 We will do shots like the above as they suggest Joe is thinking about jumping off the bridge.

The final location is Kym's bedroom, one of our bedrooms in Haslingdon. The black curtains on white walls are binary oppositions, a common convention of thrillers. The doublle bed also suggests the couple lived here together. (All personal items will be removed and replaced with Kym's personal items from the prop list).

Animatics

Sweet revenge storyboard animatics from Tom Bailey on Vimeo.

Shot List

1. Mid shot - Focus pull - of some grass to Joe and Kym

2. Long shot - Crane - of the bridge/viaduct

3. Mid Close up - of Joe looking depressed

4. Mid Shot - Tracking shot on dolly - of Joe and Kym looking happy

5. Long Shot - Panning - of the lake, this could also be percieved as a point of view shot

6. Mid Close up - of Joe looking depressed again

7. Close up - his pocket as he takes out his suicide note
--- Match on action ---

8. Low angled mid close up - reading the suicide note

9. Close up - of both Joe and Kym

10. Over the shoulder shot - rading the suicide note

11. Tracking mid dolly shot - of kym and joe walking

12. Over the shoulder shot - still reading the suicide note

13. Close up tracking shot - dolly - Kym and Joe holding hands

14. Over the shoulder shot - Joe reading the suicide note

15. Mid - close up - Joe and Kym

16. Over the shoulder shot - reading the suicide note

17. Close up - of the phone as it rings

18. Close up / extreme close up - of joe declind the call

19. Close up - Joe's expression when he has declined the call

20. Close up - his foot going onto the fence ready to jump

21. Mid shot - of him jumping up onto the fence

22. Close up - one last memory of Joe and Kym 

--- Green screen ---

23. Tracking shot - from close up to mid shot

24. Close up - of him jumping off the wall

25. Mid close up - of seeing Kym depressed on her bed

26. Mid close up - seeing the photoframe

27. Mid close up - tearing up over the photograph

28. Close up - of Kym breaking down

29. Close up - Of Kym still depressed

30. Tracking shot - close up - putting knife into the bag

--- match on action ---

31. Mid shot - walking out of the room

Prop list

Scene 1 -

No props
There are no props in this scene as we want the attention to be focused on them and their love for each other, there are no props needed in this scene as they are simply going out for a walk together.

Scene 2 - 

Hand written suicide note
This shows that the character Joe has thought and planned his suicide and it is not just reckless or random, this suggests to the audience something has been bothering him for a while and has eventually caused him to commit suicide.

 IPhone
This will work better than a normal phone as when Kym's character rings Joe before he jumps off the bridge we will clearly be able to see it is her as we can set a photo on the caller ID, it may also be a sentimental photo connoting their love for each other.

Scene 3 - 

Laptop open and turned on with Facebook profiles of gang members on screen
This shows that Kym is thinking about them all and not letting go of the idea that these people may have driven her boyfriend to commit suicide, it is also suggesting that she wants to get revenge on them as she stares at their profiles finding out as much as she can.


Picture of Kym and Joe in a photo frame (black and white)
This will suggest that the two have been going out for a long time and their relationship was very serious and intimate.The black and white will also connote the past and these two colours are binary oppositions which is a common convention in thrillers.

Kitchen knife
This will carry on the idea that Kym is trying to get revenge on these people that drove her boyfriend to suicide, it will show that this film may be violent, but we do not want violence to be shown in our film as it is not the genre of horror, it is a thriller which often do not show violence.

Backpacks - stuffed with clothes
This will suggest that Kym is going on a journey to find the gang members, she is going to leave her home and go out of her way to purposely see that the gang members will pay for what they have done.

Characteristic things in Kym’s room- 

Empty bottles of alcohol
This will show how upset Kym has been about her boyfriends death, that it has driven her to become slightly alcoholic, it could also show that she is not usually a violent person or one who seeks revenge, but she loved her boyfriend so much that she is having to do something she wouldn't usually and needs alcohol to give her the confidence to do it.

Sympathy cards
This will show that Kym and Joe had many friends and were well liked people, many were upset to here about Joe's death.

Joe’s hoodie
 This will show how much Kym misses him and she has something to hold onto remembering him.

Clothes on the floor
This will show she has become quite messy and uncaring since Joe has died, the only thing she cares about now is getting her revenge. 

Kym's Characterisation and Dress Codes

The main character in our film is going to be Kym Ultio, as ultionem is the latin word for revenge, she will play the role of the hero; this contradicts the common convention of thrillers having a male role for the hero however there are many thrillers with women heroes that worked very well. Such as:

Keira Knightley in Domino(2005) Jodie Foster in Flight plan (2005) Angelina Jolie in Tomb Raider (2001)

   

Baring these in mind we will create a character who is very strong and who is forced to be independent. A common convention of the dress codes in the above films and other women in thrillers is black and dark colours rather than light girly colours. As our film is set in modern day and the characters are quite young, aged 17, we also want their dress code to be quite casual. They all also seem to have short hair or their hair tied back making them look strong and slightly masculine. None look very avertedly sexual as they have high necked tops that don’t flatter their figures. We are not aiming for a fém fatal character type in which the character may wear much more flattering clothes.

It was in the mid ’80s, when Sigourney Weaver took on the acid-blooded alien in James Cameron’s Alien that women stopped being the objects of desire, the manipulative seductresses or the helpless victims, and began to take leading roles in action pictures, working just as well as the greatest male action heroes.

To conclude, our female character Kym will wear dark black jeans to suggest casualness and a typical modern teenager. In the scenes when she is outside she may wear a black or dark jacket, maybe leather to suggest a tougher type of woman that we see in thrillers. She will wear a pink jumper underneath to suggest love and happiness and in her second scene where she is alone in her bedroom after her boyfriend has commit suicide she will wear a grey tshirt which suggests she is tough, the black jeans being the same as last time will show that she does not bother too much about fashion and has her mind on other things.

Joe's Characterisation and Dress Codes

The character that will feature a lot in our opening but not as much in the actual film is the character Joe Young, he will play a victimised role who we at first think is the hero but then commits suicide leaving the hero role to his revenge- seeking girlfriend. As this character is an ex-gang member we want this to be shown in his dress code.

In the film Seven Pounds, Will Smith plays a depressed man who commits suicide and donates many of his organs to people who need them, including the woman he is in love with. He often wears a suit or a grey t-shirt and dark casual pants like in the photo below. In Leaving Las Vegas, Nicholas Cage plays an alcoholic Hollywood screenwriter who lost everything because of his drinking; he arrives in Las Vegas to drink himself to death. He often wears a black blazer and white shirt or coloured shirt like the sickly- purple one below. In Harold and Maude the young character Harold finds himself obsessed with death until he meets Maude. Before he meets her he wears quite unusual quirky shirts and jackets, in the photo he is wearing an unusual coat, these however may be because of the time period this film was made and set in.

Will Smith in Seven Pounds (2008)   Nicholas Cage in Leaving Las Vegas (1995) Bud Cort in Harold and Maude (1971)

Baring these characters in mind we will try to create a character who is trying to hide his gangster past and also having lots of suicidal thoughts. We shall therefore dress our character in the first scene, where he and Kym appear to be a happy couple, in a black t-shirt with dark blue jeans and black trainers, which could suggest there is something dark and secretive about this character.  He will also wear a plain hoodie. In the scene when he throws himself off the bridge he will wear a dark blue t-shirt to show depression with no jacket to show the cold doesn’t affect him as his main thoughts are on his death.