FIRST DAY FILMING!!!

Ahhh! We're finally filming. I got my friends Jillian and Sebastian to act in our opening. They're both in drama and are very talented actors which is perfect because the first part of the opening does have to show some chemistry between the young lovers and includes a bit of dialogue. Jillian has also taken this class before, so she understood what we had to do and knows the process. This was helpful because she gave us insight on struggles she went through while she filmed her project, and how she made them work.

We went out to Markham Park and began filming at dusk so it was dark enough to establish that it was late at night, but was light enough for the camera to actually pick up on what we were filming, especially when we want to film the most recognizable shot of the opening; the blood splattering on the window of the car. The lighting actually began to become a problem at some point of the night due to the very little gap between dusk and the sunset.

The location was perfect. We had the romantic teenage-lovers aspect that we wanted, but at the same time we had a very scary trail right on the opposite side, which would be used in the rest of the film.

Once we arrived to the forest, my partner and I had no idea where to start. We weren't even fully sure what we wanted to do or how anything would turn out. We told Jillian and Sebastian what we wanted them talking about on the hood of the car, and they improvised once they got the basic idea of how each character feels about the situation and their role in the film. This is why actors ROCK. It was so impressive watching them just create this fake chemistry in a matter of seconds. Once we got the scene on the hood down, we took it into the car and let it get all sorts of steamy. By the time we got what we needed from the scene inside the car it was already pitch black outside which meant our first day of filming was a success.

We decided to use two cameras while filming the first part (the hood of the car) because it was a very static scene and using many angles/motions throughout the conversation would make it a little more interesting and dynamic. I hope we can actually cut it correctly to make it look fluent. While we filmed a very little part of the scene, when the killer had to lead the victim into the car to distract him, it became darker, So I had to hold four phone flashlights as Kayleigh filmed in order to keep the lighting from before. I had to face the flashlights sideways in order to avoid the glare on the side of the car. We also used the flashlights from inside the car, when we were filming the snogging. That's when the first day came to an end.

Overall our first day was a success and also taught us a lot.

1) Preparation is kind of important. We spent a lot of the time trying to figure out how to do things, how things are going to play out, etc. We also forgot to bring the murder weapon, which is a big deal, provided that this is a murder horror film. We also forgot to take into consideration that fake blood stains almost everything in its path. SOOO this is very important because we wanted to do the blood splattering scene until I realized that maybe my mom didn't want blood stains on her window in her family-friendly SUV. It just doesn't send good a message to the neighbors. So we have a lot of things to think about in regards to how we want to make the splatter shot successful.

2) Considering time. We did realize that we had a very limited amount of time to film, but we did not think that we would be using so much of our time trying to get everything together and having to retake the same shots so many times, changing ideas. If we would have prepared, than our time would have been much more approachable because we would be using it wisely.

3) It's not gonna turn out how you originally expected. We made a lot of sudden changes in the spur of the moment, and also made a lot of improvements while we filmed. Our actors actually helped us a lot and gave us many ideas on things we could have done and how we could have shot certain takes. For example, Sebastian had the idea of the boyfriend using his phone while they talked on the hood of the car, while they go down memory lane, talking about all the fun times they've had together. This was a great idea! It made sense with the age group, it was a real thing that couples do, showing that they really are a real couple, and it seemed to be an effective way to begin the conversation.

Thanks Jillian & Sebastian!