2 characters 1 light

The concept for this assignment was to create a one minute film using two characters and 1 light. The camera was handheld throughout, and captured one character’s point of view for the purpose of building an atmosphere of intensity.

The chosen light source was a torch – which directly interacted with both characters – and was used to reveal things hidden in the darkness and create ghost-like reflections.

Sound effects were recorded on location using radio mics, and additional recordings were made (such as footsteps) for foley design. These were the intentionally added in order to achieve the desired effect.

In post-production, a static effect – which both incorporated the visual and audio aspects of the film – was added to help achieve a ‘poor quality’ look that also provided a way of piecing the footage together.

As we filmed the short in a ‘haunted’ part of an old Pub, it was a little terrifying at times. There was little natural light to film with, so we had to ensure that we each had some sort of torch or mobile phone so that we could see what we were doing between takes.

The camera - a Panasonic 151 - was held by one person who used the camera as their POV. Two people acted, whilst the other two members of the team created sound effects by slamming doors and dragging chairs. Most of the film was entirely improvised which meant we occasionally did something unexpected and spooked each other.

Here’s a short vid of the Behind the Scenes – we really couldn't see a thing, but thankfully we’d covered that in the risk assessment.

You can view the finished film here: http://vimeo.com/113023839