Shooting flashbacks

Today I shot my flashback footage! This footage will be used in my video as part of the narrative to show the issues within Ben and Elleah's relationship and the steps leading up to their break up. These shots provide the motive for Ben to turn to drugs and alcohol and let my audience see the reason why he is having this emotional break down. 

I decided to split the flashback shots into three separate sections. 

Section 1: 

- The first section shows Ben coming home to Elleah drunk and disorderly. I wanted to try and make it look as if Elleah had been waiting for him to come back home and that she was worried about where he had been. I decided to shoot this section in my living room as it was perfect for the mise en scene of the shot. My living room isn't always the tidiest place but this gives it a 'lived in' feel making it realistic that Ben and Elleah would be living here. Elleah's reaction in this section is perfect for the tone and mood I was wanting to create. As soon as Ben comes in she is up on her feet shouting at him, questioning his alcohol content and looking concerned. She definitely played the part of distressed girlfriend very well here. Ben like wise did a great job at looking tipsy and disorientated, even if he did giggle at certain points. 

 

Section 2: 

- The second section shows Elleah throwing away Ben's alcohol to try and stop his addiction from becoming a serious problem. However, before she manages to get rid of it Ben finds her and they have another fight about it. This again shows the audience the flaws within the relationship and the connection between Ben and Elleah. I am trying to show Elleah as the victim here so that the audience are positioned with her rather than Ben. Whilst I want the audience to sympathize with Ben's struggle, I also want them to be aware of where his own actions have lead him to and why he is in the position that he is in. This was the hardest section to film out of the three as the actors found it hard to react to what was happening. It was also restricting their movement space as I wanted to film the whole thing in the doorway and if they stepped out of the door way the camera couldn't pick them up properly or they ended up blocking one another. 

 

Section 3: 

- The final section of flashback footage is the deciding shots for what will happen between Ben and Elleah and their relationship. I decided that to really emphasize why Ben was overdosing it would be effective for them to essentially 'break up' on screen, rather than just imply it. This section shows the pair discussing their relationship and talking about their problems, but they start to argue more and get heated with each other resulting in Ben storming off and it looking as if the relationship has ended. I think a few of the shots I have for this section do lack emotion and passion from both actors and at times it can look a little flat. But Ben does do a good job of storming past the camera and making it look like the relationship is over for good this time and this certainly helps to link this section to the narrative that follows. 

 

Overall I was very happy with how the shoot went and now I need to start to edit these sections into the rest of my sequence.