Production exercise and other developments

I have finished my production exercise. I decided to experiment with lighting in my one, and so I used two professional lights and a large torch in order to try to create isolated areas of light. I also used coloured gels to create different colours of light in order to see how it affected the shadows and overall look of the piece. The subject that I shone the lights on was my bag on a chair, as it is motionless and opaque and therefore would cast a shadow and it would be easier to see how shadows can be manipulated if the subject remains motionless.

I found that the lights were good for creating dim light that had strange shadows, and the torch was good for creating small spots of light and strangely-shaped shadows. I also discovered that I could use gels on the torch, and that I could combine two gels to create a darker colour.

I have created a rough storyboard. The text is a bit more detailed than the images, as I cannot do detailed drawings. However, the descriptions of the shots and locations on the storyboards and scripts along with the rough sketches give a decent image of what is happening.

For my actual project, I have confirmed actors and locations. I have three actors, and seeing as all three will never be on screen at the same time, this means that if I need anyone to help operate equipment, there will be someone there. 

The locations are: my friend's house (she also plays the dead person), the street outside the house, and Abney Park Cemetery. It might be difficult to make one house double as two, but only one room of one of the two houses in the film is shown as opposed to more of the main character's house, so if one room was designated as the Friend's house and the rest was the house of the main character, this might be possible.

I have nearly all the props. I have also discussed costume with the actors. There is no designated 'look', but I told the person playing the dead character that she might want to select a single outfit to wear that she would not be too upset about getting fake blood on. I have managed to obtain some fake blood, but I still need a photograph and some flowers. I will be obtaining these within the next two days. I have discussed filming with the actors, and we have decided to film over the next two weekends on Saturday evening and Sunday during the day.

I have also begun to investigate how to create the strange noises mentioned in the script. I know that I will include whispers and I will be working on short recordings of myself talking to try and see how I can distort these to create the desired effect. I have also been investigating other ways of creating strange noises, and I have found one by feeding my electric violin through a phaser and echo effect and adding distortion, then playing a harmonic in the wrong position of the string. This creates a strange, uneven squeaking noise.

I will upload my storyboards as soon as possible.