While shooting we decided to film a lot hand held, to create a fast paced, action, chaotic effect which would fit our action thriller genre and create more tension and suspense. We planed to focus a lot on close ups of the characters expressions and on the action to emphasise reactions. We parked the car at the top of a hill, with the boot open, next to the cargo container, which contained a briefcase, a big metal box and some weekend bags, which made it look like they were on the run, The mise-en-scene was quite empty, suggesting they were hiding in the middle of nowhere. The car was quite dirty and worn, suggesting they had stolen the car and were trying to stay under cover, and blend in. 
We set up our first shot, which was a long tracking shot, to introduce the scene as an establishing shot; we used tracks for this so set these up. I sat on the chair filming the shot, while Camilla (in my group) pushed me; we decided to have quite a slow tracking shot to emphasise the derelict surroundings. We then filmed a variety of shots of the couple outside the car packing up, in the cargo container and in the car. The extreme close ups of Paul locking the container up worked really well, we were especially pleased with these as it was not in our original plan to have the container so we used it to our advantage. 
Another really good shot was of Anna driving away at the end as we made the shot to Paul's level as he is lying, left on the road; the car looks big and she looks powerful from the low angle shot, showing she is the main character and is in charge. The snow was also a pleasant surprise (despite making the roads slippery) as it made the scene look like it was in a cold European country, which made it look more exciting and mysterious. The gun scene between Anna and another actor Tom was also very successful as we emphasized the hand held filming, following them up close, increasing the tension and action. Putting a variety of these shots together quickly and faced paced, when editing will create even more action and drama as the audience are engrossed in the story; which is suitable for a thriller.
For Anna's costume we wanted to make her look serious and grown up but also glamorous and feminine. Her jeans made her quite casual, but her wedged shoes and black fur coat made her look stylish and effortless in her fight scene. We used dark red lipstick on her to complement her pale skin and dark hair, the connotations of red also went well with her character; sexy but dangerous. For Paul, we wanted him to look quite ordinary and causal, not taking any line light away from Anna as he is not the main character, and is soon forgotten about after Anna heartlessly leaves him on the side of the road. Tom wore all black, and a hat to hide his identity and remain as unknown as possible. For props we had a brief case, bags, the car, two guns and the cargo container.
We chose Anna because she likes action acting and was easy to work with, e.g. she did not mind having to jump out of the car quickly onto the floor, we had to use a mat for her to fall on as it was wet and slippy. she also looked perfect for the type of character we wanted; resembling the main character from SALT. She also looked old enough to be dating Paul who is 26. We casted him as he looked sweet and innocent, the audience could relate to his ordinary look.
We used all natural lighting in our opening, apart from a few bulb lights inside the container which just emphasised the shadow of the characters. The natural light was very good as it was light and eerie room the snow; and in part of our filming it did start snowing which also created a nice, spooky effect; this went very well with our thriller genre. In editing we have discussed as a group, that we might change the lighting so it looks early dawn, so the light is dusky and creates an uneasy vibe. This will also show they are on the run as they are leaving really early in the morning, when no one will see them.
When filming we attached a bigger microphone that picked up sound better. This meant that dialogue and diegetic sounds were picked up well, we will emphasise these; such as feet crunching on the snow and car doors shutting, this will create tension and suspense, helping to add to the thriller vibe. 
I really loved filming all day, every detail had to be thought about to make it look professional eg when holding the microphone I made it level with the sound so we could get the maximum quality. We also had to remember continuity; when re-taking shots when Anna got into the car, the car door had to be shut before we started filming the shot again other wise it would not match up. My favourite task was probably filming the tracking shot as I had never used the tracking panels before so this was a great experience and opportunity to get a professional smooth, fluid moving shot. I also shared the job of taking down a few notes for shots that we re-took and how they went, eg good, or too zoomed in etc. We worked really well as a team, we cooperated and made sure everyone had an equal go at filming, in charge of sound, directing the actors, directing the filming by calling out standby, turnover, action, etc. Every action we did was first discussed and agreed in the group before doing it, making sure we were all considerate of each other's opinions. If one of us was not so keen on an idea we would rethink and decide how we could make it better. All in all I am very happy with the result of our days filming and feel we worked to our full potential and gave it everything we had! At the beginning of the day I was doubtful that we would finish filming in time, and we were missing Anna for 2 hours at the beginning as she has a business test; however we got over these obstacles and worked logically, filming parts where we didn't need her first and planning the rest of the shoot.
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