Preliminary task 1 - Planning

The Interrogation

This is our first Preliminary task and our first film of the year. In this film we had to use the conventions and techniques of Match on action, Shot reverse shot and 180-degree rule.
We had to follow the theme of a thriller and thus decided to go with an interrogation as our plot hence the title. In our short clip, we have the main characters Mr Pink and Mrs Donavan. We decided to pursue a theme of light vs dark and the tone of heightened tension.


Initial Plan:

The initial plan was created by me and max after a quick brainstorm. We knew that we had to use the theme of a thriller and thus chose an interrogation where one character is clearly dominating the other. We made many changes to the basic plot and to characters later on, as we made progress through cutting scenes for time or the changing of the cast due to time differences
   1)    Miss Donavan (Izzy) gets dragged by 2 henchmen (Tina&Rhys) cut to scene POV duffel bag to opening of door

2)    Henchmen push Miss Donavan on too chair -> dialogue

è Mr pink comes from shadows gun in hand smacks Miss Donavan in head, cut to scene of falling to landing

è Slowly climbs back up to the chair

3)    Mr pink sits down clicks finger pulls out pink handkerchief wipes gun, puts on the table, the bag comes off  match on action. Cut to scene of bright camera shot shaky pov of Donovan, pinks body slightly visible but the head is completely white. Cut to scene of over the shoulder shot of Donavan face tears, bruises cuts, act blinded & confused dazed due to not seeing light in a while

4)    Dialogue(pink), blue comes up serves water cleans table dialogue(Donavan) pink smacks table water spills over blue shocked retreats back into shadow. Dialogue (pink) Donavan spits in retaliation, pink clicks fingers henchmen come out of shadows pull Donavan back into shadow pink straighten jacket swipes shoulder push the chair in, walks off into shadow camera follows. 

Roles:

Key: M= Max
        V= Vernnon
After finalising a basic plot, we then moved on to who would do what role in the making of this film. In this, we played off our individual skill sets and set our roles to the skills we know we have and are capable of using.


Script:
For this preliminary task, I was in charge of the script. At first, I had a made a script based on our rough plan.

For the first draft of the script click here.

This first draft was changed a lot as we progressed on with the planning of our storyboard, realising that one of the characters (Blue) despite his minor role had an individual shot that was just unnecessary and thus we decided to cut him and I made the changes to the script respectively.

For the second draft of the script click here.

With this second draft, we used it to shoot 2 scenes however we realised that many of our cast had clashing schedules and thus we had to cut another character (2nd henchmen) who did not really have a big role in this film and we also had to change the cast around. We also had to change it from henchwomen to henchmen.

For the final draft of the script click here.

For our final draft, we finalised it as our finished script and we used it for the filming of our short film. The changes mad really helped our film, as we were able to have more time to film more important scenes and fewer characters, meant fewer actors we had to worry about and also helped decrease filming time.

Overall, what the main characters Mr Pink and Mrs Donavann say, did not change throughout the drafts and finalisations as I felt the dialogue itself, despite having only 2 sentences being exchanged, they really conveyed the theme and tone we were going after. May it be the change from addressing Mrs Donavan to just Donavan, shows the anger coming from Mr Pink and the potential familiarity between the two characters.

Shot list:
For the shot list, it was Max's job to identify the time needed for each shot which we actually helped establish together however he solely identified the different shots we would use for each scene and he also listed the different props required for each scene, which gave us a quick and easier reference for each scene.

Talent:
The picking and establishing with the talent was my job and at first, we had five characters: 

• Mrs Donavan (Isabelle Managh)
• Mr Pink (Tristan Holland)
• Blue (Joshua Leaman)
• Henchmen 1 ( Rhys Holland)
• Henchwoman 1 ( Christina Low)

Throughout the process, we had to cut all the actors and the characters of the henchwoman and blue. and now we were left with just three characters.

• Mrs Donavan (not established will edit when done so)
• Mr Pink (Teacher Marcus)
• Henchman (not established will edit when done so)

Equipment:

I was in charge of organising what equipment we would be needing for our shoot and at first, I had put down 3 cameras but I then changed it to just two, one for active use and one as a backup.

Location:

Max was in charge of scouting and the decision for a filming location and at first, we steeled for the double classroom however after our major overhaul in changes, he decided that the double classroom was next to classes and a common walkway and thus, would naturally be very loud and noisy. It was also too big and there were too many unnecessary signs and sources of light and thus we decided to change and use the salvation room which was significantly smaller but more practical and quiet.