Review of test shoot

I think our group's test shoot was quite successful. We tried our best to complete it under the constraints. I think the storyline in the opening sequence conveys the idea that the girl has been hunted and the biker killed her in the end.
We shoot in many different camera angles and movements such as POV, low angle, tracking and pan shot. So we edited these different compositions’ shots together with simple cuts while editing. This can avoid the pace length to be too long, the fast pace length also helps to build the nervous atmosphere.

In addition, we added a lot of sound effects which can help to create the horror tension, such as the motorcycle revving soundtrack that emphasise the danger is coming. The opening sequence ends by a jumpscare which shows the genre of the film and also engage the audience more. However, the test shoot also reflects many things that we need to improve for our final shoot. The biggest problem now is the opening sequence is too short, we need to add at least 1 more minute.

Considering that our main focus this time is on the second half of the scene so the beginning part is very short. I think we can add more plot in the beginning, this can also better render the girl's situation and the quiet before danger. We didn’t shoot the hot-wire scene because of the limitation of the props but we can definitely add this scene in our final shoot. Furthermore, we decide to add a scene that the girl is treating the wounds when she hides into the car. The wounds can also hint the thrilling environment. Next, we want to build up more tension when the girl is hot-wiring the car. We can add a very faint motorcycle sound first, then the girl may become alert, but soon the sound disappears again, and the girl relaxes after thinking she is auditory hallucinations. But suddenly the revving sound of the motorcycle rang again, and the sound was even louder, which showed that it was approaching the girl fast. Through this repeated soundtrack detail we can create more tension to the audience and make them more engaged.

Moreover, although we’ve tried several camera compositions, we can still developed more. According to my independent research, we can add some shaky camera in the running sequence when the motorcycle sound gets louder and closer. This can give more impact to show the intense situations and the panicking emotion of the girl. Also, we shoot the running sequence in a handheld way and next time, we can run with the actor during shooting. This can make a better and more natural effect. Obviously we didn't use ‘professional’ actors and sound effects for the test shoot. For the final opening sequence, we need to find better sound effects such as the screaming at the end, or we can find someone to dub which will make the effect more real. In addition, we can shoot extreme close up of the terrified facial expression in the final shoot, the zoom in shot can creat more impact. The last problem is about the lighting.

In the shed scene, there wasn’t any windows or lighting in it which means if we closed the door, the shot will be completely dark. So we changed the plot line and leave the door open a bit, and the final effect was actually quiet good as the dark lighting conveys the horror atmosphere. But this reminded us that in order to waste too much time in the final shooting, we should confirm the lighting source of the scene in advance. The lighting should be dark but we can still see the details of the facial expression or the setting clearly.

Overall, we all really enjoyed the test shoot, it gave us an idea of ​​the final shoot and revealed a lot of things we need to improve. We'll keep most of the shoots which what well, for example the low angle shot of the biker raise the weapon to kill the girl, the point of view of the girl and the revving motorcycle sound effect. Then we make changes that can be improved to ensure the final opening sequence will be better, like we will add more scenes in the beginning and also shoot in more camera compositions.