Producing the Short Film - Production Journal

The process of putting the short film together revolved around two key points, the television and the house.

The Television

The television is the main code for the film, the television shows us the polarity between scenes, for when all is well and for when danger is imminent. We elected for a CRT television from the late 1990's, which was of course, difficult to get functioning off the bat. Thus, we had to purchase a universal remote from a shop down the road from our college and use adaptors to link my teammate's computer to the television. We would play the footage that we had made ourselves on the computer in iMovie, subsequently turning on the television with the television acting as the display screen for what was playing on the computer. This is how we were able to put whatever image/footage we wanted on the television, even the static effect with the white noise sound effect.

The House

The location that we used for filming the majority of the short film was our teammate's house. Within this house, we filmed multiple scenes in the living room, the kitchen and one of the bedrooms, as well as the staircase and corridor to a lesser extent. The house also served as a code, being light and vibrant when all is well, with over-exposed colours and a light atmosphere. When the mood of the film turned more negative, the imagery instantly became darker, with the red colour emitting from the television signifying critical danger. We utilised windows, doorways and corridors, to keep the audience on edge, wondering what could be lurking in the shadows with the knowledge that our protagonists would be in danger.