Production: Filming 'TOXIC'

Below is the video documentation of the filming process of our two-minute opening.

    

Planning: Filming Schedule

Planning: Props Update

Unfortunately, although we have ordered the props for our film opening weeks in advance to the deadline, we have heard nothing of their delivery. All that has arrived are the work gloves that are a part of the Killer's costume. As such, we are going to have to make do with what we can get, and hope that the mise-en-scene looks as effective when we come to film our opening.

Mr Henton has ordered a UV bulb for us to use with a desk lamp, so hopefully we can continue with the planned lighting (we are also 100% sure we'll be able to use a coloured source of light in addition to the UV); because it is low-key, this may reduce the negative effects that having improvised costume and props may create.

Planning: Shotlist

This is the first draft of the shotlist for our opening: we might have to changed in the filming process due to circumstance (e.g. our ideas being too complicated for our filming abilities), but this is what we have planned. 

 

Planning: Considering Mise-en-Scene For Your Opening

COSTUME: 

When it comes to costume, we first and foremost went for practicality and the nature of the circumstances. The killer will be working with a lot of dangerous chemicals, so he has to be wearing a gas mask and protection goggles. Instead of conventional, see through ones, we decided to use ski ones - they reflect all the images (which may be a disadvantage when filming, but we will try to figure something out), dehumanising the killer even more than the eerie gas mask. He will also need protection gloves, which we decided to keep yellow, just like the air filters of the gas mask. The Killer will be wearing a tracksuit (adidas, ideally, since it's the most popular brand right now and it is likely to exist in the future). 

   

The character of the victim will be planned in less detail, as most shots will be close-ups on certain aspects of his body and, as a dying victim, he will not need to portray as much exposition or personality through his choice of dress. However, he will need to indicate that he is of a high class, and so we will keep this in mind whilst choosing his costume.

PROPS: 

Our opening will require a considerably large amount of props. Our list includes: 

• animal stickers (specifically pig) - the killer sticks one on his mask at the end of the opening
• scraps of paper/receipts 
• Schweppes - which will act as the main glowing chemical
• food colouring
• artificial foam - for the murder scene
• an iPhone
• a pair of bright headphones
• a bowl full of fortune cookies
• flasks - the type does not matter, as long as they look scientific
• all the scientific equipment we can get  
• a 'conspiracy theories' type corkboard 
• a sharpie/highlighter - so the killer can cross out the pig
• animal photos (the zodiacs) - to put them on the corkboard
• a mirror 
• the sign 'TOXIC' 

In the search for scientific equipment me and Emma have visited the science department; they agreed to lend us some flasks and general science oriented 'stuff'. Additionally, they have given us some great suggestions for safe and impressive looking experiments we could use in our opening (plus, we have also found out that we could borrow a smoke machine from the school, so filming one of the scenes would be considerably safer: since we have thought about using solid carbon dioxide, which is not the easiest to handle). 

Planning: Location Planning

We needed an industrial looking location, so we considered using a warehouse for our workshop and bathroom scene. Immy found a local warehouse and her and Emma managed to get the keys to it from the owner. The floor is exactly what we were looking for (polished concrete will reflect the lighting in a great way) and the main hall is very spacious, so we can easily set up the workshop. The vehicles will be gone by the time we film and we already know that there won't be any time restrictions when it comes to the day of filming; thus we will probably end up using that warehouse as our final location for the opening. 

   

   

  

  

   

   

 

Since we will have to use special lighting as a part of our setting (which kind of counts as location as well), we have also looked at various sources of coloured light available to us. There is a lamp with coloured filters available for us in school and we are also looking at purchasing a UV lamp, so that we can use it for the glowing Schweppes shots and to make the scene more eerie and futuristic looking in general. 

Planning: Casting

Technically, our opening contains two characters. However, because the face of our victim will never be shown to the audience (and only certain parts of their body will be used in the shots), we decided that it was only necessary to cast the killer.

The character is mysterious and calculating: he lacks empathy for his victims. However, he is not completely emotionless. There is an element of sympathy to him, as he lost his parents at a young age (which is a part of his motif). A defining character trait of his is his love for classical music - thus why Danse Macabre will be playing in our opening. Additionally, he does have an element of quirkiness and humour to him - that's why some of the scenes in our opening will not be as dark and eerie as the rest.

Below is the footage of the auditions we held for the role of the killer (courtesy of Emma's iPhone). Because there will be no dialogue in our opening, it was purely a physical test; after only two auditions, though, we felt that we had found our killer. Although Ashley was very enthusiastic and  enjoyed the role, we as the directors felt that he was too 'happy' and didn't fit the image of a toxin murderer, even by just the way he walked. Sam, however, seemed to get into the role immediately, and understood his character from a very brief description. His dancing was also awkward and goofy, exactly what we were looking for, but not to the point of being over the top, and taking away from the sinister nature of the production. Additionally, it was clear that he felt comfortable in front of a camera, what was an important aspect of our decision.