Production Diary

Production - Diary Schedule:
We shot our film Hell is Around the Corner over the course of a week, beginning on the 24th of October and concluding on the 30th, with an additional two days prior to this to film test footage and essential shots which could not be filmed at a later date, for example, where it required the utilisation of friends' houses.

DAY ONE:

We began filming the conversation that Dammy has with his friend, which is shown directly after the opening credits. We filmed this making full use of the tripod and the indoor microphone. We also shot this with a single lamp, to give an early morning effect, and to create a sense of verisimilitude which would give our film a realistic feel which our target audience could identify with.

We filmed eight takes of this scene, and this was done for a number of reasons. The first was that, during the editing process, we would have a plethora of footage to choose from, and we would not have to settle for a take which did not satisfy us – we would be spoilt for choice for takes, essentially. The second reason was that, as Dammy improvised the dialogue in the opening scene to give it a naturalistic feel, there would be facets of his performance which could not be replicated take after take. Recognising the advantages and disadvantages of this, we were aware certain elements would be lost, but had a faith that we could select the best dialogue from one take and edit this together with another.

Following this, we filmed the opening shot of our film – a pair of bloody black hands. We used a bottle of vampire blood (acquired by Dammy from a joke shop), and we shot this on the doorstep of Dammy’s flat. As this was a key image to our film in order to set the feel and mood, we felt that both of us needed to witness it being filmed, in order to ensure that it was perfect, and that it was not hastily shot and therefore Steven was used during this scene. We filmed three takes of the opening shot, all with different poses, for example, the first take was shot with Steven’s hands positioned flat out and the second was shot with his hands in a claw position. As good daylight was running out by this time, we decided to conclude filming for the day, and we would resume filming Monday. Before we did, however, we applied the vampire blood to Dammy’s coat, as this would be the coat that Steven (the killer) would wear, so that it would be ready in advance for filming.

DAY TWO:

Prior to the filming of any of Monday’s scenes, we acquired an outdoor microphone, as the indoor microphone we had used on the previous day's shooting would not be efficient or practical to use, and would effectively impair or completely lose our sound, which was not a risk we were willing to take.

To achieve a fluid, documentary-style feel, we filmed the over the shoulder tracking shot of Dammy, who then bumps into Steven. We filmed this at least five times,  primarily in order to allow us a wider variety of takes whilst editing, but also because, due to laughter, we were aware that some of the takes were going to be unusable.

Following this, we shot the bloody wallet falling out of Steven’s pocket. This, again, was shot at least three times, in order for us to perfect it to ensure it looked naturalistic and also because this proved rather difficult to film, with the wallet slipping out of the pocket at wrong moments, or the camera not capturing the action at the right moment.

Finally, we shot a single, continuous take of Dammy picking up the wallet, calling after Steven, opening it, and seeing the bloody inside, this extended shot only needing two attempts. This single take, which was shot in a fluid, free style, with continous movement and including an extreme close-up of Dammy’s face, really helped to establish the danger that the character Dammy was in, or was about to find himself in. In order to add a disturbing layer to our film that would disorientate the viewer, this sequence was shot using a range of odd, bizarre, strange angles and unusual camera movements.

Finally, as light was once again was wearing thin, we hastily shot a brief insert of the bloody wallet, and made two medium shot takes of Dammy walking towards camera, with Steven on his trail.

DAYS THREE and FOUR:

On Tuesday and Wednesday, we shot the initial confrontation scene between Dammy and Steven. We made use of the tripod and of the outdoor microphone during the filming of this scene. Filming progressed relatively straightforwardly, save for some incidents of laughing and flubbed lines, which we felt was natural and only to be expected and concluded that it would not hinder the final cut of our film in any major way.

We decided, for the most part, to shoot the conversation adhering to forms and conventions of real media texts, making extensive use of over the shoulder shots and the 180 degree rule, for example. However, in order to put across the disconcerting, disorientating feel that we wanted for our film, we did include some handheld, canted point of view shots, such as the extreme close-ups of both Dammy and Steven and the handheld pan down to the patch of blood on the killer’s jacket.

As filming was nearing completion, we made a decision that, instead of using our originally intended location for the last scene, to use Dammy’s flat-block instead, not only out of respect for the residents living near our original location, but also because this would give us unlimited time to shoot scenes, making the process more relaxed and less stressful.

DAY FIVE:

Friday saw the shooting of the final scene. Initially, we decided to shoot the tracking shot of Dammy entering his friend’s flatblock. It was by a stroke of massive luck that we encountered some children on the estate who agreed to be in our film. It was decided that these children could function as a symbol of Dammy’s impending doom, and we decided to communicate this through showing them laughing and pointing at him. We shot this take twice, and we were extremely impressed with the second take and decided that it would be definitely be included in our film.

Considering that we wanted the last scene of the film to be shot in near darkness, we waited around an hour, having begun filming at 1pm. then continuing again at 3pm. We spent the next two hours hastily trying to get the scenes shot, whilst always trying to maintain professionalism and communicate our message effectively. Though we did manage to get the last scene shot, there were aspects of it that did not appeal to us, for example, we originally envisioned the film ending with Dammy being struck with a hammer, which we had not been able to source. Time and light were also running out, so we settled for the less than adequate alternative of reshooting parts of the last scene at a later date.


DAY SIX (ADDITIONAL DAY OF SHOOTING 1):

During this day, we arranged for the use of a dog which was owned by a friend of ours. If we could successfully capture the dog’s barking in a frenzied, crazed fashion, we felt that we could heighten the scary, chilling atmosphere which we were trying to create. We shot the scene with the dog three times, with the final take being the one we ended up using. This was because the other two takes were rendered unusable either because the filming was botched or because the dog did not react sufficiently. We shot this with the camera being handheld, in order to maintain the fluid, documentary-style feel which we had established in our film up until this point.

DAY SEVEN (ADDITIONAL DAY OF SHOOTING 2):

During this day, we reshot parts of the last scene. Unlike before, we had sufficient light and time in order to get the shots we needed filmed properly. Also, unlike before, we had access to a baseball bat, which we felt was exactly what was needed in order to put forward to the audience the killer’s menacing threat and violent attitude, and to ensure the message that Dammy’s life was coming to a grisly end was hammered home to the audience. Despite a minor problem arising from the fact that the actor that played the killer had in the meantime had a haircut, we decided to overcome this using low angles and to film it in such a way that the audience would not be aware of any discontinuity.

What was newly shot was a reshoot of the line “For a second there, I thought you were going to hurt me,” which was done not only because the angle of the original take was undesirable, but also the sound was poor. Replacing this with a new, low angle point of view shot of the killer bringing down the baseball bat towards Dammy's and, in effect, the audience’s face, allowed us to make the ending shocking and brutal and, at the same time, personal.