Blog : Preparing to film

                                                                    Filming Aspects

 1. Actors

One of the first things that we had to think about when we finally decided on our story line was who we needed to 'recruit' to play out these parts. Choosing actors is a difficult process because actors are what bring the entire story to life and can make-or-break a movie. Our story line follows teenagers, which makes it a lot easier for us as we can ask some friends to help us. Currently we have decided that the four of us in the group (Amaya, Aleena, Sofia, and I) will definitely be acting the main roles. The fact that we are all friends to begin with will make it more realistic and believable when we play a close-knit friend group on camera. The rest of the actor choices are not yet finalized. 

2. Costumes

The costumes in our film we decided should match with our plot. The main part of the opening is the group of teenagers having a sleep over, so we decided on matching pajama sets. It is also set in this time period, so the clothes and accessories will correlate with some fashion trends of today. The narrator will be wearing a black glove in the other scenes to add suspense and mystery. 

3. Props

Props are a very important part to any film because they help develop the story and make it easier to understand. Props can also add another level of depth by including symbolism by using specific props in stories. We include a few props including a burning letter, and polaroids, but the most important one is the deck of cards. The deck of cards symbolize death, help foreshadow what will happen and show the roles of the characters in the game. In our title sequence they spell of the word "MAFIA". The cards being upside down and in a dim lit room also add to the suspense and symbolize that there is a secret and mystery that no one knows. 

4. Locations

Location is an important thing to consider because it can really pull a whole story together and add a sense of realism and believability. Throughout our whole film opening we only have two locations: the sleepover house and the backyard with pool. The majority of the opening will be at the sleepover house as that is where the game is played, the polaroids are taken, and almost the whole title sequence is filmed. The pool and backyard is the second location where the first death will occur. It is only a small scene and will go by quickly. 

5. Dates and times

We found deciding when to film was very difficult because of winter break. Many of us had vacations that took place at contradicting times. This made filming over winter break simply impossible. Therefore, we decided on the second and third weeks of January. This works out for us because we will have just come back from break and have no big exams to study for. Therefore, we will have additional time to work on the filming. The time for filming the inside "sleepover house" part is not an issue as we can close curtains to make the room dark. The outside pool part though, will need to be filmed at a later time to capture the ominous and mysterious vibe. Thankfully, during this time of year the sun sets around 5:30 pm, making it easier for us. 

6. Film equipment 

We will use a variety of equipment when filming. This will depend on the specific scene and actor speaking. For the bigger scenes we plan to reach out to SHORTCUTS TV to borrow some professional equipment such as Steadicams, shotgun microphones, and lavalier microphones. For the underwater scene we plan to use Sofia's GOPRO and an iPhone for some smaller shots. We decided that we would reach out to get professional equipment because we all agreed that the last thing any of us wanted was for our film opening to look cheap and made by a kid.