Making of: Day 1

locations: apartment, parking garage, in between buildings

On the first day that we filmed, it took a bit for us to get the hang of it and realize exactly how to organize ourselves and the order in which to film the scenes. We met up at the parking garage at around 4pm, and filmed there as well as around the area and in my apartment until about 7pm. It took a lot of trial and error until we finally figured out how to film in an efficient way. One of the challenges was fitting Edi's (the main actor) style of running to what we wanted. To fit our opening we want the protagonist to seem very scared and agitated, and basically to look like he's running for his life. Edi had to find a way to portray that realistically and without getting hurt. Along with this, it was a bit difficult to actually figure out how to position the camera, whose camera to use, and in which order to film these scenes, but after a couple of test shots and discussions, we were able to start getting some realistic shots that we're proud of. We changed up a couple of sequences of scenes, so we didn't stick exactly to the script, but for the most part the script was pretty realistic as well as achievable.

We did have one more major, last minute change that happened when we saw the staircase in the parking garage. It was much gloomier and mysterious looking than the one we originally planned on filming in, in the apartment building. So we decided that when "Hunter" leaves his apartment in the beginning of the opening, he actually finds himself in the stairway of the parking garage instead.

We're very happy that we discovered this and decided to make the last minute change because it fits the vibe that we're going for much better than our original plan. I'm glad we were able to think quickly and agree on new ideas and adaptations to the script as I feel that that's what makes us a good team.