Filming
Our fiction film was meant to portray an eerie and mysterious atmosphere and therefore when searching for our site to film we needed a space where it was desolate and possibly enclosed. We found a forest which was perfect due to the shadows cast by the trees and the lack of people within the scene.

Actors
When choosing our actors we needed two well built male actors who could be made to look like members of a mob, therefore when choosing their ‘costumes’, we made sure they were in suits to have a ‘mob or gangster’ members stereotypical appearance.
We did not want our actors to use a lot of dialogue so that our scenes could seem mysterious and therefore keep the audience ‘on the edge of their seats’ and keep them guessing at most points in the opening minutes we produced.
The only makeup needed when filming was when we had the close up shot on the character’s face who had been shot. For this we just used fake blood which we ran down the characters face to show that there had been blood gushing out his head.
We used two actors, one of which was one of my group member’s older brother (Daniel), and the other being the brother’s friend (Robert) who had a background of acting which was very helpful.

Props
The main props used within our fiction film were the dark briefcase, the brown bag filled with money, the gun and a mobile phone. The briefcase and brown bag were owned by one of my group members and the mobile phone seen in one of the close up shots was owned by the actor himself. We bought the gun in a random shop and then painted it black, this gun was good because it was big and bulky and therefore on screen it could easily be identified as a weapon. The brown bag filled which was meant to be filled with money was in fact stuffed with a pillow and then we scattered eight to ten, twenty pound notes on top to make it look like the bag was filled with money.

Filming and Ideas
We wanted to keep the order in which we filmed roughly in the same order we would have the final video. This was in order for us to not back track on what we had filmed and to have the same lighting in every scene. However when filming we filmed lots of different angles and points of view to ensure that we had every single shot possible when it came to editing and the scenes could therefore cut from one to another smoothly. Also when filming we tried to include a variety of different shots to show the scene clearly and to also use the camerawork to portray different ideas. For example we had a low angle shot looking up at one of our characters to portray that he was strong and superior compared to the other character.
When we originally came up with the idea of having a gangster themed thriller we wanted to use three characters. However we discovered that this was not realistic due to the fact that the storyline was too complex and our third actor that we would have used dropped out. As a result of this we had to change our idea for the ending of our opening scene. We thought that the killing off of one our characters at the end of our opening scene would shock the audience and get them prepared for a thrilling and suspenseful film. The main basis of the story we first came up with was still used, for instance putting some ‘evidence’, i.e. the gun, into the briefcase at the start to show that some sort of dangerous or dodgy deal was about to occur in the opening scene. We did not want to make the opening scene too complicated and therefore just the simple walking of our character out of his house towards the other character would be a good opportunity to put some non-diegetic music in the background to create a solemn and ‘spooky’ tone. It would also be a good opportunity to put some titles on screen which is very important when making our opening scene to our fiction film.
There were some unexpected good moments when we filmed the last minute or so of the opening scene. We filmed on a sunny day and therefore the shadows cast by the trees in the little walkway/forest area we used were very effective. Therefore when our character pulled out the gun to shoot, the shadow of the gun was cast perfectly onto a tree within the scene. This therefore highlighted the importance and threat of the gun in that scene. Some more unexpected good moments that occurred was when we decided to keep the ambient sound to show the atmosphere of the forest area. There was a sound of a crow which symbolises evil and therefore in this scene it helped us portray the fact that something bad was about to occur.

Health and Safety Issues
There were not many health and safety issues, we filmed part of our film in a secure house and the other part in a desolate area so therefore there was not a lot of people who could pose any possible threat. However when filming a high angle shot that we were very impressed with and in fact used in our film there was a little bit of a safety risk. One of our group members went on one of the actors shoulders on a high ledge and filmed. However this did not go wrong and no health or safety threat occurred.

Lighting
Within the house when the character was putting the gun into the briefcase and making a call we dimmed the lights in the room. We turned on a lamp which was placed on the desk next to the character which perfectly showed what was occurring within the scene and cast some effective shadows which made it look daunting and therefore would create a suspenseful atmosphere.
When filming outside and in the forest area we used the natural light from the sun. There was a lot of shade due to the trees which ensured that the scene was not too bright. The shadows cast by the trees also gave us an opportunity to highlight the key props within a scene, for instance the gun.

Sound
Diegetic sound used within the scenes was the dialogue said by the characters and the clicking of the briefcase closing. There was also ambient sound used when the two characters had a discussion outside and settled the deal. This was used instead of a backing track to produce an outdoor atmosphere. There was a lot of non-diegetic sound used such as the soundtrack which raised its tempo as the character was getting closer and closer to making the deal. We used some sound effects such as the gun shots when one of the characters shot the other character.

Camera
The camera (Canon XL1S) we used to film the opening scene was easy to carry around. We also used a tripod and some attachable wheels in order for our shots to be still and for our skewing to go across or up or downwards in a perfect line.