'Red Run' Rough Cut 1

DO - This is LS29's first rough cut for the Red Run film opening. The feedback that Sam and I received made it clear that the red action figure used as the killer wasn't appropriate for the slasher genre that we are attempting to achieve and that instead we should use a doll like in the Child's Play films. I will look for a new doll, preferably a child's toy. However, Sam and I need to focus on keeping the doll part of a red theme to avoid having to change the name of our working title this late. Also, I think that the lighting in the shots is too bright and that it would be more suitable to the slasher genre if the lighting is darker. As well, obviously the rough cut doesn't have a good ending and Sam and I are still deciding which ending to go with; we like the idea of having another doll that looks scary, however kills the other doll and saves the teenage boy. We will have another rough cut up on Thursday with both endings so that we can receive feedback as to which one to go with. Some other feedback that we received is that the electrocution of the action figures at the beginning is good but would be better with sound effects

Filming

 DO'C - Filming

Last night, Sam and I did some more filming towards our rough cut video. We re-filmed the movement of the action

figure (doll) and of the action figure entering the room and walking around on the other side of the door. We filmed 

this by turning off all of the lights in the room in which we were filming, placing the camera on the floor, looking 

underneath the door into a room where the light is turned on. I then control the doll, moving it's legs to make it look 

as if it's moving and walking around on the other side of the door. Watching this back, Sam and I think it looks good 

but Sam forgot the battery for his camera so we had to use an iPod camera which obviously didn't work as well and 

the quality wasn't as good. However, we are still happy with how the filming went as we think it looks realistic as if 

the action figure really is walking around on the other side of the door. We will definitely re-film these shots using a 

better camera though.

When filming, we also filmed the action figures hand pushing open the door and then walking in; this was harder to 

do because we had to be very careful how we filmed the shots as we had to avoid filming my hands which were 

controlling the action figure. We did this well but it was made harder by the fact we were using an iPod camera 

because it wouldn't go on a tripod and the shots are most likely going to be very shaky which isn't good at all; this 

is even more reason to re-film these shots and Sam and I will do so tonight and tomorrow, using better cameras!

At this stage, we are still behind on filming and should have already produced a rough cut video including all our 

practise footage and a basic idea on what happens in our film opening. We haven't filmed all of our idea yet and 

haven't filmed the whole of the opening. We will have this completed though within the next two days.

Practise Filming

DO'C - Practise Filming


Today Sam and I filmed some practice footage to test some of the scenes from our slasher film opening. In our film opening which involves a killer doll, similar to 'Child's Play', the doll is attempting to kill a teenage boy with the boy desperate to escape, he sprints through his house until he's stopped by the doll jumping and grabbing hold of his leg causing him to fall down the stairs. To film the boy falling down the stairs, Sam and I put two mattresses down the stairs to make the fall comfortable and filmed from the top of the stairs, making sure that the mattresses weren't visible because if they were, it would be obviously how to shot was filmed and it would lose its effect. We didn't film the shot where the doll grabs onto the boy's leg but as he's holding the boy's leg when he falls down the stairs, we tied the doll around the leg making it look as if he was holding onto it, causing the boy to fall. Obviously at this stage of filming, the shots aren't as good as they could be and there are definitely some things that will need to be changed to improve them. Sam and I will upload our practice footage to Vimeo and embed it on our blogs so that others can watch it and give us feedback, helping us to learn what we've done wrong and what needs to be done to make the shots better.

We also filmed some practice footage of the doll's feet moving in light underneath a door; this was easy to film as I could control the doll's movements whilst Sam filmed and after watching the footage back, it looked good and we were happy with it but we know it could be better and the shots will be uploaded with the footage of the stairs scene so that they can be reviewed and analysed, giving Sam and I feedback to make the shots better.

Sam and I are also planning to film on Saturday, by then we will have gained feedback and we will be able to use it to improve on what we've already filmed. We will film the shots that we've already filmed before but also film some scenes that we haven't yet filmed. We are doing the filming in my house although we're setting the scene in a different house which is big and Victorian, making the setting scarier and more suitable for the slasher genre.

The mattress used to cushion the fall down the stairs.