https://vimeo.com/129393028

This is my final version for my interrogation scene (based on the prose I wrote). After filming, editing, reflecting and reconsidering shot construction, framing, lighting, actor positioning (and many other factors), I am happy with the progress I have made in becoming closer to achieving my vision.

To create a heightened sense of suspense and to evoke the terror of the victim, it became clear through the process of re-filming that I needed to implement tighter framing as well as re-positioning the actor to the left of the garage rather than the center to create the feeling of a closed and confined space. I decided to use minimal shots, choosing from my favourites from my previous versions of this scene.

I liked the tighter framed medium close-up from my last edit and decided to use that as my main shot of the victim, rather than using a wide shot of him. Although I wanted to try and cheat a pan of the captor walking to the victim (similar to the one seen in Casino Royale) I could not get another actor which meant I had to be in the scene and could not test this out. This shot is still something I would like to try in the future. As I didn’t like the previous shots of the captor walking through the door as I found them to be too cheesy, I decided to just film the door opening, implying that someone is entering the room. I also used the shot of the tied hands struggling in this version.

The lighting was a lot closer to my vision than the previous shoots of this scene. I filmed this scene at night and used only one dedo light with a blue gel filter to light the victim. Taking Paul’s advice to position the light more parallel with the victim to create rim lighting gave the effect that everything else disappears into the darkness, which is exactly what I wanted to achieve. The lighting created the intensity and suspense that was missing from the previous versions of this scene.

Through re-filming this scene and trying to figure out different ways to achieve my vision, I have learned a lot about my own method of working. I have discovered that creating what I see in my mind’s eye isn’t necessarily something I can achieve on my first attempt, and that I learn best through reflecting on what I have filmed and then working towards improving it. I have also found that while I was always quite motivated to film this scene (as I wrote it), I also couldn’t quite think outside of the box and needed to really push myself to think of creative ways to approach my framing and camera coverage, compared to filming someone else’s scene.