Production Day 1: Hotel Scenes

Because the the scenes taking place in the Hotel were in the evening/night we wanted to start filming at around 6:00pm when it actually started to get dark outside. We told the actors to arrive for 5:30/6:00pm and we got there ourselves to start setting up and blocking out shots at 4:00pm.

Unfortunately because we were using a room in the hotel on favours there was no way to see the room before hand, although Chris had described to me in advance the different sort of rooms the hotel had available. When we got there the room we got was decently sized and I began mapping out where I wanted what i.e.: The Camera and the Actors and movements of shots.

When both the actors had arrived I had a talk with them, describing what order we were filming the scenes in  and where I wanted them to stand and where  the camera would be and what kind of shots we were getting (establishing, close up, mid shot etc.) Then we went for it.

I ticked off the Shotlist as we went along, and used the Marked Up Script as the main point of reference during takes, referring to my Directors Notebook for any changes or additions I had thought up along the way, or had previously written down.

Filming took a lot longer than expected, even though I expected it to run over, but we got everything we needed from the Hotel room and then some. The actors and the crew all stayed motivated and pushed through to get the shots, no matter how many times I wanted it done again. There was one moment when the actors kept laughing in one shot and we must have done 5 takes before we got it right and I insisted everyone take a short break to get back in the zone. We had water and various snacks provided by Chris to munch on during the long shoot. In the end it was very successful first days shoot and I thanked the cast and crew for doing a great job.

Hotel Call Sheet (Production Day 1)

Hotel Call Sheet

(Done by Tom Hesford the Producer)

Production Prep

My preparation for the Hotel Shoot was basically me breaking down each scene in my Director Notebook. i worked out how many shots each scene had and also made side notes on specific shots within the scene. These notes were based on notes I made during the read through/rehearsals on Monday, what worked, what didn't worked and new ways to approach the shot.

This meant that unless anything was written down specifically in my notebook then everything was as per shot list/storyboard. As well as that, on set if I had to make any notes on a scene I had a specific section to add it too, which would make things less confusing for me.

Reshersals

Originally this week we had planned to do the outdoor scenes on the Wednesday and the hotel scenes on Thursday. After some thought I pulled Tom aside and told him that we weren't 100% prepared for the outside shoots so we should push it back to the second production week. As we were technically filming in the final week of pre production I felt we had the time push it back. With that decided we went about rehearsing. Tom had booked a room in uni that had ample space for the actors to move around.

The three actors we had turn up were
Josh who would be playing Ridley
Conor who would be playing Jeffrey
Scott who originally auditioned for Jeffrey

As Scott was eager to play a role we cast him as Richard, the director. That being the case, I was still open to using someone else as I didn't think that he had the right air for the role.

How I ran the session: 
I first got the actors to have a read through of the lines.
I asked whether the lines felt natural to deliver.
We got up to run through the actions.
I told the actors where to stand and gave them queues to execute certain lines and actions.
I checked that it all felt natural and if they had any queries.
I then proceeded with running it through a few times, making tweaks in queues, actions and gestures until it felt and looked right.

I first went through the scenes that involved Richard The Director so that Scott wouldn't need to be waiting around, and then we went through the hotel scenes using the aforementioned steps.

Josh and Conor were very forthcoming with questions and suggestions and letting me know if they had a problem with anything. One instance was in a scene where the action dictates that Jeffrey taps the bed and says "Sit Down" and then Ridley walks over to sit down.

Josh said that he was already moving towards the bed before Jeffrey tells him to sit down and Conor said that it felt weird tapping the bed and then saying sit down.

We ran the scene again with a few changes in place. Josh would just walk towards the bed at the same time Conor taps the bed, cutting the line "Sit Down" I felt  this way worked better because it shows a mental link between the two characters. Josh and Conor also said it felt a lot more comfortable running it that way.

During the session I gave each actor a character to research through watching their show or some clips on YouTube.  I asked Josh to look at the character Will Dancy on Hannibal. I wanted him to analyse how reserved he acts when he is around others, always folding in to himself with an air of haunting in his personality.

I asked Conor to look at The Joker in The Dark Knight. How has complete and utter faith in his beliefs and lunacy. Analysing how he sees through illusions and plays with Batman and can go from cruel to kind.

Research: Hannibal (TV Series)

Our next instalment was a suggestion by Neil, the TV series Hannibal. We watched the first episode and I was specifically looking at Tone and the artistic nature of shots i.e. framing

A lot of the shots were incredibly striking. This picturesque nature was then suddenly disrupted, making you feel unsettled.

This another example of disruption. There is a dead body in the middle of the shot but you are distracted from the five figures moving around, the majority of which aren't acknowledging it.

The second thing I noticed was that the camera focuses on only those that are important within a scene/clip. This means the audience are subconsciously focused on what is happening right in front of them.

Here we are supposed to be more concerned with Wills reaction than Jacks, and so Jack is out of focus.

Will and Hannibal and very subtly the man in the back is out of focus.

Alana and Jack during their tracked conversation are kept in focus and everyone around milling around them is out of focus, that way even though they are in a busy environment, our eyes can never wonder from what's right in front of us, what we're meant to be focusing on. 

The tone of the film was very muted, like you are listing to everything with water logged ears, and then things slowly come in and out of understanding

*After we watched the pilot episode of Hannibal we went through our preproduction material to make sure everything was in sync, and reconfirming shots that he may have been unsure of.

Discussing Sound

Today I met up with Owen who had comprised a list of about 10 sound pieces that best displayed the Tone of the film. From which, as suggested by Neil previously, I went through and picked the ones I liked and why and the ones I didn't and why.

As well as that I gave him the three tracks that I thought I wanted to emulate within the piece

Evanescence - Good Enough

From which I liked the instrumental and haunting sound of her voice and the lyrics seem to match certain aspects of the film. Something like this is what I would like to use during the Theatre scenes I know something similar would be hard to find but it works as a starting point.


Knife Party Rage Valley (VIP Mix) [1:15 - 2:15]

Knife Party Internet Friends (VIP Mix) [1:49 - End]

What I like about these is that I think the party like feel could be juxtaposed to with the killing as it feels out-of-bodyish and something that puts you in a Trance like state which is what I think that Ridley would be in while he was watching Jeffrey.

Once Tim had changed the script and I had gone over it one last time I was going to highlight specific sections that I wanted these sounds to be in for Owen.

Auditions Round One

As this reel only contains a short sections of how I conducted the auditions I'll talk a bit about how I ran them.

First Phase was when they came into the room and I talked to them a bit about themselves. I did this to get an idea about the persons character and if they would fit in with the dynamic of the crew as we would be working in close quarters for a number of days. I also used this opportunity to see how forthcoming they were with information, because when we shoot I need my actors to be able to tell me if some thing feels wrong.

The Second Phase was the actors running through the lines (after a short rehearsal if need be), I would hear them acting it out then give direction of their tones, and let them know what I did like, and wanted them to continue.

The Third Phase was them doing a walk through, this again would happen twice. The first time they would run it through how they thought it should be, and the second time would be with me making tweaks in their actions.

The Final Phase was me sitting with them and just talking a little about what they thought of the character, and to check their availability for shoot days.

We also had our main actor Josh who would be playing Ridley during the auditions (Bar One) and so it gave him and myself to check the dynamic between them as the chemistry would show through on camera.

Research: Characterisation

During our second tutorial, Neil had gone through the script and made a few suggestions in terms of phrasing and deliverance of certain scenes and dialogue as well as the overall tone of the film.

Neil suggested a few research topics for me to look into:

A characters bridge between sanity and insanity: For this I looked at The Joker in The Dark Knight, the way we as an audience would be sucked into what he was saying despite the fact he was a murderous lunatic.

This can be projected into our film by making Jeffreys speech's be make sense, perhaps because he speaks in a completely rational voice, allowing the audience to be enthralled by him, making them feel guilty for almost agreeing with a murderer.

As or character would be killing a few people he suggested A Clockwork Orange, specifically the beating scene to analyse.

Like this clip I aim to keep a distance or at least an out of focus observation of the murder scenes. Something that can be taken from this particular scene is the close up of the side of  Alex's face as he is talking the bum with his cane in his stomach. It makes him seem more eerie, and reckless, like you don't know what they're going to do next. The cane gives the audience a point to focus on an allows us to almost feel the bums pain.

Artificial conversations: The conversations that Jack Torrance in the Shining has with the bar tender Lloyd, and the way it feels like he's talking to himself.



This will be relevant for our film in two ways, the first being the way in which Ridley interacts with Jeffrey as the later is just a projection of the formers subconscious as well as the "fake" way that Ridley acts when he is on stage. I also like [1:12-1:35] where Jack talks directly to the camera, though he is actually talking to Lloyd. It makes the audience feel included in a hauting kind of way, especially as we have not yet met lloyd.

Another factor to look at in The Shining, is how the actor Jack Nicholson goes between being himself and the character of Jack Torrance.

Taken from Making The Shining, although this is Jacks acting technique it's a good point of reference for the character of Ridley to inhibit when he is on stage playing a murderer.

Having a unique element: Such as the thought process between Ridley and Jeffrey, which can be done during the edit ad not necessarily during production. An example of which would be Sherlock's though process on the BBC 1 show.

As I mentioned, I don't want to focus on the kill itself and so therefore can have a "Moment" before it, stopping/pausing time and the action to give focus to the scope of reality the main characters exist between, like with Sherlock's Mind Palace it will exist to the character alone.

Other things that he asked me to think about/ have at the back of my mind as I begin to stitch the film together include thinking about the sound and speed of the film, as it is a thriller so the deliverance of lines and the action can be quite drawn out .

I know have a host of material to consider and suggest to Tom so he can make changes and I can edit it for the final time.

Research: Fight Club

My cinematographer Chris and I are going to be watching a few movies/shows that best emulate the perception of character through camera movement. Our first movie: Fight Club. I chose this film because it mirrors the plot of the film we are making.

Notes that we made during the film and how their connotations can be replicated within our film.

With insomnia nothing is real With this I feel we can show Jeffery (Our Tyler Durden) appearing during Ridley's weaker mind moments such as tiredness.

Flicker of Tyler Durden before his introduction This is something that I never noticed the first time I watched the film and although it's something that doesn't happen in our script I think I would like to include as a safe incase it isn't clear that Jeffrey and Ridley are one and the same. There are allegedly four times that Tyler flashes into frame, of that I caught two.

Invisible line between them I noticed that in the film The Narrator and Tyler dance around each other or stand on opposite sides of the frame.

Tyler Durden wears sunglasses and smokes. The Narrator later duplicates this. It will be good to include something that Jeffrey does that Ridley can later replicate, like a mannerism.

Initial hint that they are the same person as they have the same suitcase What I liked about this clip was The Narrators dazed surprise and Tyler's amused knowing smile. Although I cant have as many hints because it's a short film this subtly was very clever. 

There were other phrases that stuck with me that though I may not replicate, I could use to help emulate the tone of the film.

Who you are in Fight Club is not who you are in real life
Sometime Tyler spoke for me
Tylers words coming out of my mouth

Although these sessions are namely about cinematography, I will also be making notes about the sound and the editing to discuss later with my post production teams.

Meeting the Actor

Today me an Tom met with Josh who was the main actor on our semester one project, where we discussed the best days of the week for filming as well as when he would be available from, just so that we could work within his own Drama deadlines.
We also talked about the auditions we were having the following week and I asked him to come along so that he could read with the other people we were auditioning. That way he could get a feel for the person he was going to be acting off of and I could get a feel as to whether the two of them worked together.

During this process me and Tom came up with a rough guide for filming in the coming weeks

12th Feb - Auditions

25th Feb - Rehearsals
26th Feb - Outdoor Scenes
27th Feb - Hotel Scene

4th Mar - Rehearsals
5th Mar - Theatre Day 1
6th Mar - Theatre day 2

Week of the 10th of March for any extra shots

Location Scouting

Today me and Tom went around town to find the best outdoor locations

We were looking for an alleyway and the entrance to a strip-club as well as this we were looking for an alternative to the Montgomery Theatre which although we could get a discounted rate of, would still cost £100 a day and we needed it for two days.

The Outside of the Stripclub

Although we wouldn't need the interior at all Tom still needed to get permission for us to use it.

As an the alleyways we passed didn't seem to look very menacing we started to consider alternatives such as the subways under the roads. But to get an undisturbed shot would mean we would have to film very late and we didn't think it was worth it, as well as that, from the experience I had of filming under there people would disturb the shots I would want quite frequently. I suggested a park bench, and I knew of a park that wasn't to far from the location of the strip club (as we would be filming both scenes on the same night-weather depending) I picked a bench that had a street lamp near by so that it would make it easier for the cinematographer to get a decently lit shot. The bench for just outside the playarea, which I preferred as the playground in the background framed the shot better than if he was in the playground.

After our walk around town I left Tom to check out The Lantern Theatre which he had tried contacting via email and phone to no avail. I went in and had a chat with the technical supervisor who gave me an email address he said would be replied to. The response I got from said email was that the theatre would be in full use during March, therefore it was out of the question which is a shame because I think it really personificated the tone of the film.

Editing the Script

How I worked with the screenwriter who was also the producer, as that every time he did a draft of the script, I requested to see it, I would then make notes on it and send it back to him for adjustments. This process worked between Draft 3 to the final Draft (7). Here is an example of the process [Draft 3 - Draft 4]

Ridley (Draft 3)

Web Link: http://www.scribd.com/doc/213113824/Ridley-Draft-3

Notes on Ridley Draft 3

Web Link: http://www.scribd.com/doc/213113822/Notes-on-Ridley-Draft-3

Ridley (Draft 4)

Web Link: http://www.scribd.com/doc/213113823/Ridley-Draft-4

Research: Understanding the conventions of Psychological Thriller

To better prepare myself for the project I did a bit of reading about Psychological Thrillers trying to find similarities between the film I wanted to achieve and the ones already in existence.

Chapter 7: Psychological Thriller and Serial Killers and the Motif of Madness;
The general consensus is that psychology thrillers. Consistent themes pertain to reality, perception, mind, questions about existence or purpose, issues or identity, and the deliberations about death. Characters often try to determine what is true and what is not. Perception is distorted, because they misperceive the world around them or because their perceptions are altered by outside factors. The mind itself is a powerful force in  the psychological thriller, and it is often used as a location for narrative conflict. Characters often battle their own minds to reach a new level of understanding of perception. (Page 87)
Sharon Packer (2007), Movies and the Modern Psyche; Praeger Publishers, US

This was the most useful passage I found, as I trolled for facts and information, as it brought up a number of themes that occur in Ridely; Reality, Perception, Mind, Existence/Identity. From this I have an idea of how I want to steer the theme and tone of Ridley, through the shots and as I objectively edit the script