directing Short Film - All POV

Hi Guys,

So I'm about to start shooting my first short film in the next few weeks and I've had something that's been bugging me.

The film is a short horror about someone being held captive, they're tied to a table and can't move.

I've decided to shoot the film all from the captives POV, so the film will be one continuous shot (Not one take though). This is, in part, due to budget restrictions, it will allow me to shoot the film on almost no budget as the only thing we will need is the bad guy in shot and a few audio bits happening off screen.

Has anyone shot like this before and can give me some advice on making it look good?

Do you think a continuous POV shot should be used or is horror more effective when multiple angles are used?
 
One idea would be a plan B in advance. Get some extra shots and if the POV the "whole time" is not what you anticipated, you have them. Storyboard it 2 ways. It would not be hard to get all the shots you need since the POV is literally one set-up. Sure it's more production but not to the point of it equaling two. Just an idea.

That's a brilliant idea, I will be doing that!

Now that I'm probably going to be using a GoPro I'll have the 5d free to use for other shots.

Thanks!

The POV, using GoPro, seeing hands and recording dialogue on set instead of in another studio is a great idea all up! But what of the goals? If the character is trapped on top of a table, is it the goal to escape? Or is the goal to beg the villain for life. Maybe there is a sharp object nearby and the person tries escaping when the villain is gone-but the villain comes in and catches the person. So the escape attempt fails-making it an interesting ending of “failure“ to escape. There are many ways to take a story. On another Thread there was talk of “what if you take away all the props, locations and affects and just acted the story on a stage with normal clothes and all, would the story still stand out. Or will there be nothing interesting once all the sets and props are gone?” So just remember that.
This is what a friend once told me to have in a story.
“Past, present, future.”
Whats happened in the past to cause what’s happening now? And whatever events are predicted to come in the future...twist.
so yea, remember, the element of past, present and future is very important.

I think I've got a twist in mind, going to need a bit of a rewrite but I've got enough time to get something together, I'll probably post the final draft here to get some opinions.

If possible, try to watch a TWILIGHT ZONE episode from 1960 called "Eye of the Beholder". (imdb) . This extremely famous episode is based on POV techniques, with a twist ending. Your local library may have it on DVD.

I will do, thanks to @indietalk grabbing that for me!
 
Which part are you mocking...DVDs in general, or the TWILIGHT ZONE.
We watch over 200 DVDs a year, all obtained free from our local library. Nearly every library in the U.S. has a library of DVDs available free to the public. As for the TWILIGHT ZONE, our library has that too. (click here)
 
Oh I believe it. But it's also a 3 second search in google so I saved him a trip to the library lol. They seem to all be on Daily Motion (or a lot).
 
I hadn't really given the ambient sound much thought but it could make a massive difference. I'd love to have the sound of trains thundering past with some dust falling from the ceiling, maybe a bit cliché but I think it would look really good on camera with the right lighting.

It's much more than giving you a visual opportunity. You haven't told us much about your story, but I would assume that your captive wants to escape. The sonic clues - since s/he has (I assume) a limited visual range - can give him/her information about where s/he is (as I mentioned previously) and what might be available to facilitate a get away. The train or passing vehicles are possible transport away from her/his situation. If there is no visible door from his/her POV, where the sound of the door is in the sound field provides a direction for escape or at least provides an opportunity for him to turn his head towards the sound. The sound of flushing toilets or shower run-off indicates that there are other people around; are they enemies or possible allies? Perhaps there are other victims nearby? Build hope, take away hope.

I know that your project is visual, but think about it as if your victim were blindfolded; ALL of the information is auditory. The torturer leaving and re-entering constantly builds tension; the fear of the unknown when you are left alone (especially in the dark or heavy shadows) lets the imagination run wild. The door closing behind your torturer provides relief, the door opening means more bad things are coming. Your bad guy leaves and then there is the sound of blades being sharpened, or a drill, or chopping, or meat saws, or chain saws, or medical equipment or even just very heavy thumps; this provokes terror because the audience and the victim have no idea what's going on, they are just hearing disconnected sounds. Perhaps the torturer is just using sounds to create terror in his victim. Is there music of some kind playing? I can't remember the film (or was it a TV show?), but the serial killer committed his deeds to classical music. In your project the music starting - or ending - means the torturer is approaching. The music choice - if you decide to go that route - could be very ironic, something "happy" while bad things are happening.

The possibilities are myriad, and many good suggestions have already been given to you, but, as I have been preaching constantly, with the limited visual perspective of your story you are going to have to rely heavily on the sound design, and you are going to have to plan it out carefully during preproduction to make full use of it. That way the sounds are purposeful rather than just stuck in as an afterthought.

As an example...

There is a fade-in as your victim regains consciousness. The visuals are out of focus. Ambient sounds are very distorted. Perhaps "memory" sounds, perhaps a distorted version of the torturers music in the distance are there as well. The visuals come into focus. The room is dark except for a few bars of dim light creating ominous shadows. Ambient sounds become less distorted and begin to indicate location. You can hear the gagged victim breathing and making muffled calls. The music becomes more distinct. The victim discovers s/he is tied up and struggles against whatever is binding him/her. The sound of a squeaky chair (or table if the victim is supine) and stretching ropes/straps as s/he struggles. More scary sounds pertaining to what is coming are heard, more ambient sounds; the music stops. The door opens and there is a loud snap as the almost blinding lights are turned on. Footsteps as the captor approaches. The captor leans in and the face resolves visually. "Aaaaaaaahhhhhh; you are awake." The captor turns away and arranges implements on an unseen surface.

The point of my little sketch is that you need to plan the sounds in advance and give them room/time to develop. With nothing more than shadows and sounds you have created an atmosphere of tension and the fear of the unknown in a vaguely familiar location for both your captive and the audience.

Just some food for thought......
 
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DVD at the library, wondering what century @Rayandmigdalia is in :rofl:

:seeya:

;)

The picture and audio are great at my house, if you want to drop in. ;)

TwilightZone.jpg
 
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It's much more than giving you a visual opportunity. You haven't told us much about your story, but I would assume that your captive wants to escape. The sonic clues - since s/he has (I assume) a limited visual range - can give him/her information about where s/he is (as I mentioned previously) and what might be available to facilitate a get away. The train or passing vehicles are possible transport away from her/his situation. If there is no visible door from his/her POV, where the sound of the door is in the sound field provides a direction for escape or at least provides an opportunity for him to turn his head towards the sound. The sound of flushing toilets or shower run-off indicates that there are other people around; are they enemies or possible allies? Perhaps there are other victims nearby? Build hope, take away hope.

I know that your project is visual, but think about it as if your victim were blindfolded; ALL of the information is auditory. The torturer leaving and re-entering constantly builds tension; the fear of the unknown when you are left alone (especially in the dark or heavy shadows) lets the imagination run wild. The door closing behind your torturer provides relief, the door opening means more bad things are coming. Your bad guy leaves and then there is the sound of blades being sharpened, or a drill, or chopping, or meat saws, or chain saws, or medical equipment or even just very heavy thumps; this provokes terror because the audience and the victim have no idea what's going on, they are just hearing disconnected sounds. Perhaps the torturer is just using sounds to create terror in his victim. Is there music of some kind playing? I can't remember the film (or was it a TV show?), but the serial killer committed his deeds to classical music. In your project the music starting - or ending - means the torturer is approaching. The music choice - if you decide to go that route - could be very ironic, something "happy" while bad things are happening.

The possibilities are myriad, and many good suggestions have already been given to you, but, as I have been preaching constantly, with the limited visual perspective of your story you are going to have to rely heavily on the sound design, and you are going to have to plan it out carefully during preproduction to make full use of it. That way the sounds are purposeful rather than just stuck in as an afterthought.

As an example...

There is a fade-in as your victim regains consciousness. The visuals are out of focus. Ambient sounds are very distorted. Perhaps "memory" sounds, perhaps a distorted version of the torturers music in the distance are there as well. The visuals come into focus. The room is dark except for a few bars of dim light creating ominous shadows. Ambient sounds become less distorted and begin to indicate location. You can hear the gagged victim breathing and making muffled calls. The music becomes more distinct. The victim discovers s/he is tied up and struggles against whatever is binding him/her. The sound of a squeaky chair (or table if the victim is supine) and stretching ropes/straps as s/he struggles. More scary sounds pertaining to what is coming are heard, more ambient sounds; the music stops. The door opens and there is a loud snap as the almost blinding lights are turned on. Footsteps as the captor approaches. The captor leans in and the face resolves visually. "Aaaaaaaahhhhhh; you are awake." The captor turns away and arranges implements on an unseen surface.

The point of my little sketch is that you need to plan the sounds in advance and give them room/time to develop. With nothing more than shadows and sounds you have created an atmosphere of tension and the fear of the unknown in a vaguely familiar location for both your captive and the audience.

Just some food for thought......

I'm definitely seeing the opportunities that this could create. I like the idea of thinking of it as though there were no visuals and only audio, makes the process much easier.

I also like the idea of a happy song being played, I've always liked that in horror films, I really liked Insidious' use of Tiptoe Through The Tulips. It does create a really unsettling atmosphere.

Anyone got any ideas on what song would be good to use?

I'm thinking of getting a recording of a child singing a nursery rhyme, that could create some really effective results. Maybe add some distortion to the singing as well.

I'm open to ideas as always.
 
I really liked Insidious' use of Tiptoe Through The Tulips...... I'm thinking of getting a recording of a child singing a nursery rhyme, that could create some really effective results. Maybe add some distortion to the singing as well.

Whatever music you choose will have to be in the public domain or from an indie source willing to let you use it for little or no money. And let your SD/SSE make the initial decisions on how the music is distorted.

I've always been partial to antique music boxes. My parents have an antique Symphonion music box (pre-1900) inherited from my grandparents that uses steel disks. I've always found the sound rather haunting, and most of the songs will be in the public domain. It looks something like this:

s-l1000.jpg


Here's a cool video about a monster music box. The music starts at about 5:57.


It should be fairly easy for a composer to recreate the effect with just about any public domain song using the right combination of soft synths and plug-ins.

There are plenty of indie acts who would love to have their music in a short film. I've been the music supervisor on a number of projects (in addition to my role as SD/SSE) and let me tell you, it can take many, many hours to find the right combination of genre/style, "tone" and quality. And then, of course, you have to get the band/artist to agree to the use of their material.

Again, preproduce the hell out of your project. In your project remember that you will need lots of space for the sounds to breathe and develop (if you decide to go the direction I suggested).

Good luck.
 
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