First Lesson - Filming our Thriller

For this practical, we had to record and edit out own Thriller clip using up to 12 shots and some props. In our first lesson we were put in to groups. My group consists of Susan, Lipi and Amrita.

Each group was given a camcorder and we had to watch a presentation of using it. We learned the basics e.g how to insert a tape and how to manually focus. We also learned the responsibilities, what not to do and what to do when using the camcorder.

After the demonstration clip, me and my group created a storyboard. As a group, we decided me and Susan to act while Lipi and Amrita recorded. We also used a table, two chairs, a deck of cards and a gun as our props. This was effective as it emphasised the thriller being a bit 'gangster'.

Our clip begins at a low angle and slowly tilts upwards to Susan's body to show the audience that she's the main character and in this case, the killer. Then, there was an over the shoulder shot as she was about to sit down. This help to see Susan's view. The extreme close up of the deck of cards presented the two characters gambling and the extreme close up of me and Susan's face showed our serious expressions. There was also a close up of Susan pointing straight in front of the camera to help build suspense as it was recorded from my view. The shot recorded from Susan's view, of a close up of me clearly showed i was scared, with my mouth wide open and my arms held high. The last part of the sequence was an over the shoulder shot of Susan throwing the gun on the floor whilst i was lying dead. This was effective as it created suspense and makes the audience wanting to see more. Unfortunately, we couldn't record the way Susan killed me because it's only a practice and we didn't have what was need e.g. fake blood.