WELCOME MODERATOR

 ELLIE SMART 

CANDIDATE NUMBER 1859

CLAREMONT FAN COURT SCHOOL 64680

My production team included: Charlotte Coppellotti 1812, Jess Foster 1820 and Millie Wyatt 

My brief was the film opening task: to create the titles and opening of a new fiction film, lasting a maximum of 2 minutes. 

The title of our film is 'Camera-Shy'. It is a psychological thriller exploring the ways in which a stalker infiltrates into Sarah's life, and how the toxic obsession of capturing photographs impacts our protagonist. The ominous feeling that her every move is being captured invades Sarah's anxious thoughts until the threat to her safety becomes very real when she received text messages and notices a camera flash at her bedroom window, highlighting the invasion of privacy. We wanted to combine the typical conventions of a stalker film with star talent and genre difference with a female stalker to intrigue audiences. 

Our film opening can be accessed below:

Personally, I took responsibility for much of the camera work, and assisted with the editing process. 

Camera Work:

For the majority of time in production I was behind the camera. I enjoyed filming the lacrosse scene especially as it allowed me to experiment with different shot types and angles to create a really dynamic pace. I also filmed a lot of the dark room and singing scene, which I enjoyed as I could experiment with different shot types and also utilise lighting to create atmosphere and compliment the angles. 

Editing:

Myself and Millie took the roles of the main editors, we decided that we would have Millie as our primary editor, as it was something she had a talent for. I worked with her, offering advice on different cuts, sound effects and the order of our narrative - making sure the editing process and final outcome ran smoothly. We found it useful to have more than one person editing at a time, as it allowed us to combine creative ideas to reach the best potential result. One challenge was adding a pre-recorded audio of our protagonist singing over the top of the table top sequence, with patience however and a good practise in editing we were pleased with the smooth and professional sounding result. We completed all of our editing on Final Cut Pro, as well as editing in the intertitles. 

Directing:

When it came to directing our performance, it was largely a group effort as we were all present for the  filming of each scene. This worked well for us, as we found we worked well collectively as a group and listened to each others creative ideas, collating them effectively to reach the best end product. We often had a group discussion prior to our filming, however we found the best inspiration when we were actually on set. This was particularly relevant in the filming of the final scene, where the stalker is lingering in the dark outside Sarah's house, as the street light positioning inspired shots with sinister lighting. I loved this as I felt really involved in the process and found it amazing to see the scenes all coming together.

Design:

We used Charlotte's art skills for the planning and designing of the production company logo and film poster. As both were important elements of the production process, we were grateful to be able to use her skills to sketch rough designs and then apply these to applications like photoshop.

In terms of set design and props we worked collaboratively. For example, the photographs used in the dark room scene. Millie shot the photographs, using a cannon camera, and we all helped to print and laminate them as protection against the developing liquid (water). In the filming of that scene, I positioned the props for the table-top sequence, creating a smooth route for the camera, and Charlotte positioned and taped the photographs on the wall.