Action!

Last Minute Revisions 

The night before our scheduled filming day, one of our lead actresses changed her mind about wanting to participate in the film. This led my film partner and I to quickly look for a replacement so that our timeline for completing the film would not be delayed. Thankfully, we had another friend who fit the role very well because of her ability to act with ease and willingness to contribute ideas for her character – crisis averted!

First Filming Day Vision & Mis en Scene Details

Going into filming, my cinematographer and I wanted to get through at least scene one of our film. Scene one is a very long take for this film opening: 25-30 seconds. Due to this long duration, we wanted to solely dedicate at least one filming session to ensure the quality of our film. First up was getting our actress in position to play the role of Abby, a teenager suffering from a drug addiction. We used eyeshadows from makeup pallets, specifically purple and red hues, to create dark under the eyes and an irritated nostril area as planned. Above all, we wanted her to look tired and not at all put together, which also included brushing her hair in the opposite direction to add volume to it and appear 'messy.'

A photo of the completed look of our actress playing the part of Abby, taken from the Nikon Coolpix S3700 camera used for scene 1.

The process of getting our actress ready was taken on the same camera used to create the scene. We decided to use the camera's 'warm light' filter as seen in the top and bottom photos to film the long take. It adds associations of comfort and nostalgia that the saturation level has, which then should contrast with the following scenes intended to imply that Abby has passed away since the start of the video; the absence of life = lifeless color and diminished personal aspect of the filming style.

Scene Changes

Initially, scene 1 was always going to have a panning establishing shot across the room the girls are in to showcase the setting that would later again be shown in scenes 2 and on. But we wanted to create more foreshadowing details that would establish the narrative that Abby passed away and make the editing process for me less difficult to transition between the scenes.

An example take of how Pam appears to struggle with turning on the camera and realizing it is already recording, increasing the natural feel of this 'home video' between friends.

As she is playing with the camera's zoom feature, the all-black clothing on the bed is a focal point before going onto Abby. This was added in to foreshadow the funeral outfit Pam will be wearing in the following scenes. The camera intentionally moves off her face to convey that Pam is caught off guard when her friend turns around, as she looks unwell. Adding elements that will be shown in later scenes will benefit the clarity for when I straight or jump cut takes to resemble 'flashbacks'/different time-periods between scene changes.