Script for Evaluation Q3 - Developing Production Skills

How did your production skills develop throughout this project?

ALEX: Welcome to the Usual Suspects podcast, the film podcast dedicated to the mysteries and puzzles of the thriller genre. This week we’ll be looking at the films of David Fincher and the surge in popularity of Korean thrillers. All that and more to come later in the show, but we’ll kick off tonight with an interview with filmmaker Eliana Brassey who’s here to talk to us about her new thriller ‘Keep’. Hi Eliana, great to have you here.

ELIANA: Hi, It’s great to be on the show.

ALEX: I’m right in thinking ‘Keep’ is your first film?

ELIANA: Before this project started I had not produced or edited a film. I was excited to learn about the relevant skills in filmmaking, digital editing and sound needed to create the opening sequence for ‘Keep’. 

ALEX: So it was a real baptism of fire then?

ELIANA: Absolutely. During the course of the project, I practiced aspects of filming in order to become familiar with camera movements, the zoom function on the camera and even how to turn the recording feature on and off. It was that new to me. After my first few practice shots it was apparent that if I was not careful, the footage could be shaky and I discovered that I could minimize this if I put the camera on a tripod. However, the tripod limited filming from certain angles. Eventually I learned that I could use the tripod for certain aspects of filming, such as the static shots of the phone, and if I held the camera steady I could use it freehand when required. With practice I could take footage from a high birds eye perspective, standing on a chair, to accentuate the vulnerability of the protagonist and also from a low angle so that I could achieve the right look and feel of a shot by the time it was necessary for me to film my opening sequence.

ALEX: How did your chosen genre influence your production decisions? 

ELIANA: As my sequence was in the mystery/thriller genre as part of my pre-production planning, I had to locate the relevant props to create the right mise-en-scene. I found an old telephone from the 1970's with a rotary dial. I then added a simple blanket and a small side table. Other than that, the room was small and empty but with a claustrophobic feeling. I kept the lighting simple and identical and the shots tightly framed to create a claustrophobic atmosphere to add to the tension and confusion. 

ALEX: What about the storyline? That was also influenced by genre right?

ELIANA: I really carefully considered the story line, so that the opening sequence would give only a glimpse of the relevant action to come and give a teaser of the key characters in the film, my protagonist and the sinister antagonist who has taken her captive. As part of my project I watched a number of films in the thriller/mystery genre including The Shining, Donnie Darko, The Usual Suspects, Now You See Me and The Girl on the Train to see how they were produced, but also how they created tension right from the start. I was able to find in each of these films something different to give me an understanding of the relevant conventions to add to my film.

ALEX: Tell me a bit more about the actual filming. 

ELIANA: By using a lightweight digital camera I could use it freehand and on a tripod, which allowed me to shoot the variety of shots I had seen in other thriller films. In addition, I could review the footage as I filmed so I could see if a shot needed to be taken again and also be sure that I had sufficient footage before the editing process. For all of my shots I filmed from multiple angles and distances so I could make the best decisions when editing.

ALEX: What other details did you consider during the production?

ELIANA: The costume of the protagonist was chosen to reflect that of a prisoner. For this reason I dressed my actor in a grey tracksuit, and at the start of the scene she is lying on a grey blanket on the floor in an empty room.  All of this was chosen deliberately, to look as if she is trapped in a room and to add to the thriller aesthetic. The room does not have any of the everyday luxuries and is stripped of anything that would make it look comfortable or like a domestic space. All of this was to create the impression that those keeping her trapped want her to feel uncomfortable until she gives them what they want, and reveal the location of the device that she has apparently taken. 

ALEX: So you wanted to keep information hidden from the audience in the opening scene?

ELIANA: The protagonist had almost no lines and as a result, the audience are kept in suspense. They learn nothing about her, her name, who she is or how she arrived there. In fact, she only says one word when she answers the phone. We see her waking up and looking in pain as if she may have been beaten or drugged. The repetition of "hello" three times, adds to the tension, the audio rising each time she says the word, waiting for a response from the antagonist. The choreography of the protagonist was designed to show in a snapshot how once waking, she was in pain and confused as to where she was. This then
changed to despair once she realised she was trapped, all captured on her face in an extreme close up when she answers the phone. This all aligns with the thriller genre and gives an insight into  the psychological stress of the protagonist.

ALEX: You made some key decisions regarding sound during production. Can you tell us more about these decisions?

ELIANA: The audio was chosen deliberately for the opening scene to almost immediately tell the audience that the genre of this film was a thriller/mystery. The music is scary and makes the audience feel agitated, anxious and apprehensive; exactly how the protagonist is feeling. Overlaying the audio,

added during the editing process with the noise from the telephone adds to the nervousness of the scene and accentuates the mysterious aspect of the situation. And it’s relentless to unsettle the viewer. I thought about adding contrapuntal audio to the scene but decided against it to drive home the message to the audience that this was a thriller and that the protagonist is in serious danger.

ALEX: So, to sum up, how have you found the production process? 

ELIANA: Practising my editing and filming skills during the project really assisted me in creating and finalising an effective thriller opening sequence, but it also helped give me confidence when I did my filming and editing for my second project, the marketing campaign.

ALEX: Thanks Eliana. We’ll be back after the break with a few more questions for Eliana about her new thriller movie, ‘Keep’.