Film 3 – 21/8

For this class, we were asked to shoot some kind of idea or technique that appealed to us, personally. The basic concept that I was trying to explore was someone walking towards something, and being shocked upon looking inside that something. This was inspired by the final scene of Rosemary’s Baby (1968), where Rosemary walks towards her baby’s bed, unveiling it to her shock, asking ‘what have you done to its eyes?’. The key to this scene is the fact that the baby is never actually shown.

So in trying to shoot a scene similar to this, I had a person walking towards a bin and opening it, concealing what is inside, just showing the person’s shock. Upon editing my footage soon after shooting, I realised I was ultimately dissatisfied with the scene. I mainly felt that I didn’t have enough coverage, and the shots that I did have maybe weren’t the best angles. A clear reason for this was a lack of preparation, and the rushed nature of my direction – an unnecessary rush, as I later found out I had plenty of time.

While the lead up to the bin being opened is far too rushed, I do feel that the final two shots, where the bin lid is opened, and the character covers their mouth in fear, are quite effective. Another thing that might’ve also helped with this could be actually watching and analysing the original Rosemary’s Baby scene (I hadn’t actually watched it for some time). Having now done this, I can see how the length of shots and space between Rosemary and the baby is vital to how effective it is in building tension. Also, I find the way she is tracked as she walks to the baby, as well as the P.O.V shot as she moves opens the veil, to both be very effective shots.

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