Production Blog: Feeling the Heat, and Not Just Because I Live in Florida

Hey there! Well, I'm back early than expected! You may be wondering why I've chosen to break my rather rhythmic Monday and Thursday posting schedule, but as you may recall from my last production blog, we only got through around half our opening and our film review is set to take place this Monday! This was due to a myriad of reasons; however, at the end of the day it boiled down to the fact that my team and I had very tight time constraints given the distance from which my home is from their houses. That's beside the point though because we were actually able to get everything filming-related done today! 

       Having said that, this next statement may come as a bit of a shock to you as I was actually the only one of my groupmates able to film today. I won't say that it was a one-women job though, since my mom and actor (whom I simply cannot thank enough) did help me out substantially. Prior to the arrival of my actor, I reorganized my parent's room to fit with the new reality that the subject would be entering into once they stepped out of the closet, retrieving various objects from storage, such as the bicycle, with the help of my mom. Once that was done, I switched gears and went over to my dining room table to set it up the same way it had been when I met with my groupmates last week. When the subject arrived at my house, my first order of business was to complete the latter half of the refilmed shot-reverse-shot sequence we conducted last time, using my mom's voice instead of one of my teammates due to her availability. Similarly to how we chose to record our subject's perspective of the shot-reverse-shot, I followed through with same logic and consistently filmed from my mother's point of view to ensure that the shots did not come out looking as choppy as they did the last time around. 

    I then transferred over my subject to my parent's bedroom where we promptly began filming the in-closet shots. The first thing we got out of the way was the low angle in the closet where I decided it would be interesting to have some subject to camera interactivity, hence why I chose to film my subject seemingly stepping over my phone. This in turn, establishes the fact that the viewers are but mere spectators, and while they may feel immersed in the storyline, they too, like our subject, are helpless to prevent what unfolds on screen. Within this shot, our actor had to engage in diegetic dialogue with his “mother.” Taking the layout of my home into consideration, I decided that it would be best to position my mom in the nearby bathroom in the hallway adjoining the room we were currently in. That way, while her voice would sound muffled and distant, it would still be within hearing range of the subject and could still be picked up by the camera.

          Following the completion of that shot, the next scene I needed to tackle was when the lights in the closet began to flicker. To do so, I employed the help of my mom to flicker them in the corner of the room so that the timing was correct as I continued to film our actor. The relatively slow flickering of the lights, both the first time and the second was done with the intention of creating a more drawn-out ominous feeling that would serve to disturb our audience. Unlike our storyboard, we chose to create one long, continuous shot in which the closet door remained open to show the confusion on our subject’s face, something that would not be shown in later scenes when the door shuts, and the flickering happens again. The same shot also captured as the subject made a step to emerge from their closet once the flickering had concluded. That way we wouldn’t be leaving our audience completely in the dark when the lights when out (pun intended) and came back on again, as they would be aware of the emotions of our subject at all times and have them reconfirmed once he was brought back into view once more. We then filmed a point of view shot, with panning and tilting included of course, to capture the state of the subject’s room in this alternate universe. This time around, there were quite a few differences, which included, but were not limited to: the change in posters, the messy/orderliness of the room, the confliction in interests between the individuals who reside in different realities, such as their pastimes (biking and playing the keyboard), preference in sports (as seen in the tee shirt on the dresser with a tennis design in the second pan and the football on the subject’s bed during the first pan), and their stylistic choices (the original set-up had more casual, athletic clothing, whereas the second set-up seemed catered to someone with dressier, more refined taste). As you will see later on in my blog, specifically within the film stills sections, I’ve included a side-by-side comparison of parts of both states of the room to make the differences more noticeable.

          As I worked down the list of remaining shots in chronological order, I came upon my next scene, the one in which our subject would lean out of their bedroom doorway. This was probably one of my favorite scenes to film because it looked so natural and organic with the way in which the camera flowed with the movement of the subject and his gaze, shifting with the opening of the doorway. I honestly believe this effect was only achieved because of my deviation from the storyboard to fit the setting of my home (the shot actually forced me to stand in the doorway of my bathroom to make sure I had space to capture everything I needed to in the shot). Said divergence from my team and I’s original plans gave me the chance to use the restrictive nature of medium shot framing to cut out the majority of the name sign on the subject’s door, making it seem as though it is unimportant to the audience at first, but later come into the frame to hold much more significance as a plot device than the audience could have initially imagined.

          The next shot in my filming line-up for today was when the subject is shown once more directly after the aforementioned shot as they pause to shake their head in disbelief and quickly return back into their closet without so much as a second thought. In this scene as the subject enters their closet, a high angle is used. Despite its being very brief and subtle, it is still present representing a dark force looming over him, one that he isn’t aware of, one that will likely come into play once the opening has concluded, and the film has begun. Just as I had done with the flickering the first time, I had my mom click the button in the corner and went on my merry way.

          Once the camera cuts from that scene, a medium long shot is used that captures the height of the closet doorframe, but that quickly devolves into a medium shot as the subject fully enters the frame, still carrying his red jacket of course. When that was done, I was officially in the home stretch! I began by shooting the scene in which the subject uncertainly calls out for his mother, rapidly exiting his room to go in search of her as he hopes that this is the end of the odd situation he had just experienced. The next shot, which captured the subject from the front using a stationary, but zoomed in shot, would zoom out once the subject reached a medium shot framing, a technique that almost acts a replacement for the eeriness that a Dutch tilt would provide, as it creates a detached and distance feeling from the subject within the audience. It essentially acts as a direct reflection of the situation the subject is in as their freedom and safety would always be just out of reach, shifting farther away as he inched forwards and hoped for it to stay. In the same shot, the subject calls out for his mother once more, the sound of fear growing more prominent in his voice. At the end of the lengthier clip, the subject widens their eyes in what one can assume to be a combination of confusion, horror, and plain astonishment as they look beyond the camera at something that the audience themselves cannot see. This when paired with the final and most gut-wrenching “Mom(!)” that had reached the epitome of urgency and paranoia, leaves the audience on the edge of their seat as they will be greeted with the name of the director and the crushing disappointment that there is nothing left to watch.

Since that about wraps up my discussion of what I filmed today, I’d like to share with you some pictures from today. Apologies in advance for the limited number of film stills, it was difficult to obtain any today because of my lack of an on-site and present crew. I would like to note that, despite not mentioning it earlier, I did message my team all throughout the process of filming so that I could receive feedback regarding changes in shots and camera placement, as well as acting critiques so that everything would be the best as it possibly could by the time I was finished with it.

Above is the comparison between the two versions of the subject's bedroom I promised to provide you with earlier. 

In the above image, our actor is pictured listening to me (not pictured, but actively behind the camera), as I tell him about how the next scene is going to be run and proceed to run through it with him right after the photograph was taken.

          All in all, I’m glad that I was able to wrap-up filming today even though my team was unavailable; however, as I’ve said before, I cannot take all of the credit, as without such a flexible and helpful actor and my attentive and involved mother, I don’t think that any of this would have been possible. Therefore, I’d like to extend a huge thanks to the both of them and I feel like it isn’t possible to express that in any other way but with song, and not just any song, but Andrew Gold’s “Thank You For Being A Friend!” (1978).