Shoot day. We met in the editing suite to debrief about the day, discussed what we were going to do, how we were going to do it. Due to the different schedules of the actors and the availability of the car, as well as the logistics we decided that instead of filming the shots by different type of shots (as in, wide shots followed by medium shots followed by close-ups) we would film first the flash-backs and then move into the shots where the detectives arrive. We changed our storyboard a bit, adding in the flashbacks in order to create more tension in the thriller, to make it make more sense. This is targeting a wider market range, as well as characterising it more as a thriller rather than a horror (it has more intellectual content rather than effects, while at the same time being easier to understand). While up in the editing suite, we were trying to figure out how to put the knife (a gag halloween costume) in Archie. I had understood that it was going to be in the back of his head, and so thought that we would have to cut off the front part of the knife to fit it in, so I did that and we were trying to decide where to place it in the back of his neck for awhile.
Next we went out to the container to get our set ready because the night before had been too snowy to prepare. We chose to shoot in the container because of the rusticity, and because it was exactly the warehouse-criminal hideout that we were going for, similar to There was not much we needed to change, the miss-en-scène really set the scene for a secret hideout. Charlie and the Simons just had to take out some of the wooden boards from the side of the container to outside so we would have room to film. Simon and I took a beaten-up old orange armchair from the studio for the body to sit on, which really fit well into the dank space. The tarps to cover the body were inside the container already, and the assortment of paint, tools and tubes on the table in the back-left corner were perfectly in place.
After debriefing and setting up the container, we each went to prepare for filming. I went to the costumes office to get the costumes and makeup, for the victim's dead state. We had planned for the detectives to wear black trench coats (of which Simon Wood brought his own and Charlie borrowed from Simon Sandved-Smith) with smart trousers, boots and white button-down shirts as well as black fedoras or homburgs, however we decided that morning that the hats were not a good idea, as they looked too much like English detectives. Instead, we chose for Simon to wear a scarf and both of them to wear gloves to emphasise the dreary weather. Leila brought gloves for Charlie to wear, and Simon wore all his own clothing. Charlie's style was more youthful, targeting the female young adult market, while Simon reflected more onto mainly the male audience in his professional coat.
For the "dead body" makeup, we had arranged for Loz, (head of costume) to come to the set and help us. Loz and I covered Archie's face in pale-yellowy powder and then took some purple putty-like substance and used it to bruise his face, around his eyes. I found this to be really enjoyable, however we didn't get to putting the blood on yet, as we had to film the flashbacks first.
We were lucky enough (or cursed..) that it was snowing on and off all day, which really tied in to the cold filter that we were going for. Instead of white balancing, we experimented with the exposure on the camera to get a bluish tint, to further this notion of being set in Eastern Europe, ominous winter's day. However, the fact that we were filming in the shipping container or outside for the majority of time made it extremely cold, especially for Archie (dead body) who was wearing only a sweater as costume.
After everyone was in costume, the container was ready, and Archie was in makeup, our first shot on our new shooting schedule (before the flashbacks) was to shoot the car coming up the drive and the detectives getting out. We borrowed another teacher's car, an older silver Volvo.
For this shot, Leila was director, Simon was on camera and I was watching continuity. Or at least that's what would have happened had it not been for the snow. Simon reversed and hit the gas, but the car just wouldn't go up the hill. This is when we had the idea to shovel the driveway. Simon and I got out the shovels while Simon backed down the driveway. Once we had cleared two small paths for tires, the car had a bit of an easier time getting up, however it was very jerky and awkward. Because of this, we all agreed to move the car shoot down to the parking lot after we had gotten all the other shots.
We were now getting ready to film the flashback sequence in which Archie is killed, the killer plays with the blood, makes a bloody handprint on the wall and then covers the body with a tarpaulin. Archie's mouth is duct taped shut, in order to have more of a thriller (rather than cheesy horror screaming) effect. Now we agreed that the knife would go straight across through Archie's head, like the gag knife. There was just one problem, I had broken the knife. We began to panic just a little bit, me especially since I was the one who had done it. I grabbed the knife and ran almost swiftly to the editing suite, searching in a frenzy for some black tape. I found some black electrical tape and wrapped it around the knife. It held up quite well, and covered the unrealistic silver part of the knife handle. The team was still a bit annoyed at this inconvenience, but it was fine in the end.
Now that we had the prop knife, I needed to go down to the kitchen to collect the real knife (black handled, silver bladed, specifically). Once we had this, we were ready to film. We first filmed Archie being stabbed through the head. Leila was on camera this time, I was directing and Simon was on continuity. At first we had set the camera up on the tripod, but quickly realised that it would be more interesting to have a hand-held effect. To achieve this, Leila held the camera while Paul (an available teacher) held the knife as the killer. His had was the only visible thing in the frame, as they walked up back and forth, stabbing just behind Archie's head as Archie panicked and tried to scream. Directing this scene was interesting, and reminded me of the importance of calling out "action" and "cut" to the actors, because they have not been exceptionally familiarised with our specific storyboard, and they are trying to convey the concept of the directors.
Next was the blood dribbling scene. Simon was on camera, Leila was directing, while I poured the blood. It was an extreme close-up, which was inconvenient considering how fake the knife looked, so we turned the exposure way down so it would not be noticeably fake. After I poured (next to his ear) we waited still while it dribbled to get the desired effect (slow, creepy, to create suspense). Now we just made a slight adjustment to film Paul playing and feeling the blood around in his hand. This confirmed him to be evil, that he was a bit messed up and strange. We then moved the tripod to shoot Paul's hand pressing the blood on to the wall to create a handprint. This took a bit more preparation, as we only had once chance to get the shot. We had it as a close-up, as we didn't want Paul to actually be seen (he looks much too young and innocent to be an Eastern European drug lord), just his hands. Next, we did a few more flashback shots (Archie's scared face, Paul's legs and arms putting the tarp on Archie) in our same positions as before.
Following the flashback scenes, we shot the detectives. This began with filming from outside the container as the detectives (in a wide shot) opened the massive door and went in. I was directing, Leila on camera and Simon as continuity to begin with, but we switched around almost every shot. The snow in front of the container kept melting as they stepped in, so we kept having to shovel it back on. We then shot them from inside the container, finding the body and searching the room. We made a last-minute creative decision that the murderer needed to have something more interesting than just leaving a bloody handprint. Simon suggested that we leave a note, so we decided that the note would be inside Archie's mouth, under the duct tape. Leila first said that the note needed to be in his nose or hair or ear or something, so we went with putting it actually inside his mouth. The only issue was, what should the note say? Simon Wood contributed, "How about 'Bring on the dancing horses". This was quirky enough that it wasn't cheesy or passé, so we went with it. Originally it's the title of a song:
For sound, as there was a small amount of dialogue in the shipping container, we used a small sound boom muffer because of the acoustics in the container making it difficult to hear. I operated the sound, while Leila directed and Simon was on camera for the last scenes inside the shipping container. This included Simon observing the body, the handprint, peeling the tape of Archie's mouth, Charlie taking the note out and reading it, and finally Simon walking out arrogantly, as he'd already solved the case. We used a long tracking shot to show Charlie pulling the paper out of Archie's mouth with tweezers, to build suspense, This left us free to go down to the parking lot to film some car scenes.
Filming in the car was a much different experience than filming in the shipping container. We didn't want to show the parking lot of course, so we had to film through the window and do a lot of close-ups. Simon discovered that tilting the camera at a high angle not only showed Simon's dominance, but that we could miss out the other cars and only see the sky and the trees. We began by filming outside of the car. I was on camera, Leila on continuity, with Simon directing. We had it so Simon was already in the car, then Charlie gets in. Simon asks Charlie what took him so long, saying that the case was solved, he knew who did it. We weren't sure whether or not to actually have dialogue, but will decide in the editing process.
The external shots through the window were pretty straightforward compared to the shots from inside the vehicle. On the interior, Simon was on camera while I was on sound. We took turns directing from the back seat. It was important to keep the sound near them, especially when the engine was on, but not in the frame of course.
We shot scenes of both them arriving and leaving, which we probably won't use both (just to keep suspense and not have what would seem like an ending) so that we could decide which was better. I think that them arriving would build more suspense and be more interesting, so that we could leave off with Charlie's reaction to Simon saying, "Does it mention dancing horses?"
After this, we had finished our shot schedule! Now, all that was left was to put away the camera, plug in the memory, and return all the costumes and props. Can't wait to start editing!
