Day of Shooting | Film Opening Sequence

The day had finally arrived on 15th February 2013. We met at 11am on Bolton Road in Atherton next to our location. We firstly familiarised ourselves with the surrounding area and inside the old mill and began to set up the equipment which Anthony had brought (camera equipment and props).

We filmed our first scene on the main road, Samantha helped to direct Anthony following the script and I (Jake) did the filming. We filmed Anthony's walk to the old mill numerous times and from different angles - we would then cut between these during the editing process to make it seem continuous. This lasted till 12:15pm in sync with our shooting schedule. 

Samantha directed both myself and Anthony with regards to particular shots she wanted and also the things that Anthony should do. Whilst filming in this location, an ambulance drove past which we managed to get on camera. We decided that we would use this in our opening sequence.

I managed to film from a number of different angles in order to cut between when editing. Also whilst in this position, I managed to get various shots of the old mill which was next to us - to be used in the opening sequence.
(Filming of a low angle demonstrated below)

Shooting Anthony as he walks toward the old mill.

Shooting Scene 2 - Anthony's Entrance 

At approximately 12:15pm, we immediately began filming the second scene of Anthony breaking in to the abandoned building. Again, the angle was alternated when filming this sequence a number of times. We filmed the shots outside, the shot as he enters the building and the door closes, and also him turning on the light switch. 

In position ready to shoot Anthony's entrance form a high angle.

Anthony's entrance from around the side of the skip. 

This shot would be used to show the door closing from outside once he's in. 

Filming Anthony as he 'breaks in' to the abandoned building. 

The door which Anthony would enter. In order to close the door from the outside, Samantha had to stand behind the door, out of view from the camera, and use her arm to bring the door slowly shut. 

Shooting Scene 3 - Interior of old mill

After a lunch break, we began shooting the next part of our film opening sequence. The interior was quite dark so we decided that extra light would be needed and so turned on a light in the distance so that Anthony's face could be slightly seen. 

The darkness of the interior.

Preparing to shoot the inside scenes where Anthony would use his torch to guide him through the darkness.

Samantha stood next to me as I began to shoot the interior scenes involving Anthony. We decided on a combination of close-ups and long shots to convey Anthony's curiosity as well as showcasing the vast size of the abandoned mill.

The small lights within the abandoned section of the mill helped to give enough light to reveal Anthony's face. As they weren't the brightest lights, they still left us with dark shadowy areas which is exactly what we 

wanted to make the location look scary.

We decided that we would get a series of POV shots as these are common in a lot of horror films. It puts the audience in the position of the main character and helps them to get a more realistic view of what the character is experiencing. Samantha used the camera to obtain these POV shots and I told her what she needed to do with regards to the camera and lighting with the torch. 

We continued to film the interior scenes where Anthony explores. In order to create the large crashing sound within our video, there were a pile of old boxes with rubbish in them in one of the areas where we were shooting. As I filmed Anthony walking, Samantha kicked the box which managed to create a large crashing sound. The size of the room helped the sound to echo and the footage once viewed back was effective.

Shooting the final scene - Anthony climbing into the hole

 
The hole in the wall was in another location within the mill and so we moved to this location after we had all the footage we needed from the other location.

Preparing to shoot Anthony climbing into the hole.

Anthony whilst in the hole.

After finishing the filming of Anthony climbing into the hole and screaming, the shooting was finished. I decided to re-record his screams on my phone just in case which would ensure they were much more louder and dramatic than the original scream captured on video which we realised when looking back at the footage.

We had now finished!