Constructing the Production

Whilst we were constructing our media piece we were constantly changing our idea around, we began our project with an opening sequence that involved a driving scene. The driving scene was made up of a lot of still shots that showed the car moving down the hill and then shots from inside the car of Sam looking out , we decided that these shots were not good enough as they did not flow well when put together and the camera use wasn’t very good. For e.g. there was a shot of Sam looking out the window but it was from behind his head and not only did it not flow with the sequence the shot was moving around too much and we could not keep the camera still, this then led to us cutting out the whole sequence and starting it again. When reconstructing the very opening we decided to start with an establishing shot of the hill which was taken from above a motorway bridge about a mile away from the hill, we decided to include this shot because it would show the audience were about our film would be taking place. This shot then leads to another establishing shot of the road which pans from left to right giving the viewer a full view of the road and name of it. I feel the effect of it works really well because the music is quiet during these scenes and begins to pick up as we go to a shot of Sam in the car driving to wards his home up the hill, this then flows into another shot of the car from the outside which shows the car moving away from the camera further up the hill and manages to make the two shots look as if they are continuous. These shots then place the audience ready to see a shot of Sam in the car because they can perceive it from the fact they have seen Sam driving the car up the hill, this shot then prepares us to see the shot coming up of the Monk in the woods which is taken from the same clip but it is cut in the middle and another shot from outside the car is included between them, at first we thought we would loose some continuity but once it was put together we realised it worked ok. The shot of the Monk in the woods is meant to act as a point of view shot from Sam this is represented by keeping the camera as close to his eyes as possible and the camera would then effectively follow the movement of them. These shots were then followed by a pan shot of the car going past which was then followed by a mid-shot of the car going towards the house then another shot from in front of the car as it parks up next to the house. These shots together represented the hill as a haunted place from the inclusion of the monk in the woods and the eerie road which has no other houses or cars and the obvious woods surrounding the house giving the audience the opportunity to predict what they think will happen.


From the establishing shots that had been filmed earlier we decided that we then wanted to go into the nightmare because the audience now know about the location, the main character and the Monk so they are anticipating something that could happen. To begin the sequence we start with a high angle mid shot of Sam asleep of Sam sleeping. To film this we had to set up the correct lighting in the room and position ourselves so the movement Sam made did not affect our filming. In this shot we begin to play the suspense movement to add effect to the nightmare as Sam roles around in his bed. This shot then cuts into a shot of the Monk in the woods with a series of quick cuts of the monk to build up the suspense, when we first saw the clip we felt it was not dramatic enough so we had to try out some affects on it, and after trying some of them we decided that darkening the clips and changing them to black and white to make it more dreamlike and more effective. These shots then cut back to Sam in his bed except this time the shot has zoomed in more on Sam’s face this is meant to have the affect of Sam being more affected by the dream as it goes on. In the shot we kept the lighting the same and try to keep the continuity from the previous shot of him in the bed. We then go back to another shot of the woods this time though it is meant to look like a point of view shot from Sam as if he is in the woods being chased or possessed by the monk. Once again the clip cuts back to Sam in bed this time it is a mid shot and it shows Sam getting more agitated by the dream, and from this shot it cuts back to the monk in the woods this time he is within a fenced off area with just a tree inside it, this could represent a haunted location etc and gives the audience suspicion to feed on. This time when we cut back to Sam asleep we are filming him from a low angle to the side of him, the lighting is still dimmed and the continuity from the last scene is still there, this then cuts back to the monk still under the tree however this time we can just about make up the monks appearance and this is done to make the audience feel as if the monk may be human but the uncertainty is still there. This cuts back to Sam panicking in bed you can see worry on his face just before it cuts back to another shot of the monk however this time it is a close up of the monk and you can clearly see a crucifix round his neck. This clip is quickly followed by a cut to Sam from a high angle leaping towards the camera with the lights still dimmed down and cuts to another shot of Sam this time he has got out of bed and stretching in front of the mirror, in this clip we purposely made it so you couldn’t see the monk in the background and you cant see him till Sam has walked of this was purposely put in to help build tension to do this we did an over the shoulder shot and made sure that we could not be seen in the reflection. This cuts to a close up of the mirror were you only see the monk in the reflection of the mirror. These shots were put together to create a relationship between both Sam and the monk, it shows the audience that the monk is now linked to Sam and gives the audience that extra thing to think about and builds tension between the two.

The next sequence of events begins with Sam walking towards the forest in this scene we can see only a footpath ahead of Sam and nothing else, this then cuts to a clip of a possessed man running into Sam and in the same shot the dramatic music begins to play. This then cuts to a steady cam shot were we track the possessed man running; this is the 1st time the audience is introduced to the possessed man heading towards unknown destination. This is followed by a long shot that still involves the possessed man running and pans back across to see Sam chasing him these scene both establishes the fact Sam is chasing the possessed man and how far ahead the possessed man is in order for the next scenes to make more sense. It then cuts to an overhead shot of the possessed man running underneath and is then shortly followed by Sam chasing after him. This clip cuts to a clip of the possessed man running towards the edge, it cuts back to Sam lookin around for him to build a suspense to whether Sam has enougth time to stop the possesed man jumping off the edge. This cuts back to a shot of the possesed mans shoes ready to jump off the edge, it then cuts back to Sam catching up with him Sam attempts to shout at him but he is too late and you see a point of veiw shot as the possesed man jumps off the edge. It cuts to a crow flying off and then to Sam picking up a crucifix left by the monk. This then makes the audience feel that there may be answers to who this monk is.