Throughout this unit, I have been making clear and important decisions which have influenced the final outcome of the project. From the original scene, I have made differences in every aspect of pre-production, production and, post-production using prior knowledge and research of what a director does to make this project my own vision and to evolve it into my own piece.
In the initial stages, I watched the scene and envisioned how I would do it differently in my own head. I captured the narrative and importance of key elements so that they would not be lost and to ensure I was keeping the pieces that were needed to make it true to the original but from this, I was able to develop, heighten and recreate something that looked and felt like it was my own version.
With locations, I wanted to change this from the original. I decided that I was going to change the characters class from a lower/ working class to a more middle/ upper-class background. I did this as I felt it would add more intrigue by what was happening on screen. Charlie Brooker's episode deals with a particular crime that I feel to some extent would add more mystery if the character was from a middle-class background, whos lives are seen as more stable and less problematic. I wanted to project that people from middle class and upper-class backgrounds deal with problems that are not just about money or embezzlement, but also more serious crimes. Reflecting this, I wanted to show her class by choosing a large house that was modern to reflect her wealth. The house we used I feel was ideal and really showed this. I also wanted a location that would be good to work with blocking wise as well as to emulate the shots I had imagined. The rooms I chose to work in for the scenes were spacious allowing room for tracking shots but also had elements of narrow tight corridors and alleys that connected these larger rooms to help with tension and give a claustrophobic feel.
When looking at casting, I wanted this to be as good as it could possibly be. I wanted the protagonist to be the right age and to deliver the ability I was looking for. After looking through lots of showreels and experience, I settled on Claudia. She was the perfect age being in her early 30's as any younger may not have been as believable. I also didn't want to go too much older as this may stray too far from the original. I made sure before hiring her that her acting was going to be what we needed and I feel this paid off as she really carried the part well throughout the piece. She took direction really well and knew the process of a shoot day.
When it came to shooting I wanted to make sure I added my inspirations into the piece. The original is shakey, bleak and handheld. It has a very British feel to it. I wanted to change this and make everything smooth, static and American looking creating a flow of movement throughout. I chose to do it this way because I felt it matched the background of the person I was telling the story about but also it took the production to a completely different level. Everything looked really slick and created a sense of the slow building horror that was about to be unfolded. With production design, we used a Pistol replica gun for the outdoor scenes instead of a Riffle replica as I felt this created a more refined look and contributed more to the American tone. There was also the costume that emulated this aswell going from a tracksuit to blue jeans, a white vest top and, an oversized shirt.
With the outside scenes, I didn't want to lose the fluidity of the shots. Most of this was going to be really difficult on a track and would be very impractical like going down stairs or trying to roll a camera on gravel. I opted to use a drone as this did not use a surface to move and could still give me the type of movement I was after to marry up with the other shots I had previously got. Although it took a bit of time and practice with the new equipment, I feel it was vital to making sure the shots would continue to be smooth and fluid.
In post production I wanted to ensure that the pace was kept slow and suspensful through most of it and then fast on the chase scene at the end. I worked with George Nicholls to ensure that it was hitting all the right areas and that the sound design was really effective for heightening the atmosphere. I also advised the D.O.P of the type of tone I wanted the film to look colour wise and she took these ideas into consideration to come up with a style of her own that really brought the film its own style.
Overall Im happy with the choices I made and feel they were all key to making this production my own version of the original sequence. I have kept the narrative very similar but added elements and a complete change of style that fits my own vision for the piece.
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