Tricky Shots

A list of tricky shots that we will be trying during production of VIRAGO and how we will try to achieve them. Some of these shots as well as others may be tested and posted later on the this blog. 

1. POV shot of Eddie's Sacrifice/Suicide:

We will be attempting to recreate this high angle POV shot from Wes Anderson's 2001 comedy-drama The Royal Tenenbaums, whereby blood begins to pour down somebodies arm. To make sure that we can achieve this shot, I will make some tests with my own camera prior to us shooting the film. If the test is unsuccessful, we will have to use a different shot that shows the same gore but from a simpler perspective. Perhaps just a simple close-up or infer what is happening through a long shot or even through the dialogue of the script paired with a shot of blood pouring into the bath.

 

This shot from The Royal Tenenbaums.

2. Birds Eye-view shot of Eddie Asleep at Table:

We will also be trying to achieve a ceiling-high Bird-Eye View shot of Eddie as he has a nightmare while sleeping at the kitchen table of his home. Imagine this iconic scene from Stanley Kubrick's The Shining where Jack Torrance is doing the same thing but the scene will be shot looking down at him as oppose to looking straight at him. Again, tests will be done to make sure that this is possible. Should it not be, for inter-textuality, we will shoot it the exact same as this scene from The Shining.

This scene from The Shining.

3.  Tracking shot of Whiskey Bottle Falling Off Table

Furthermore, we will attempt a shot that will track Eddie's movements as his arms strike out during his nightmare and hit his whiskey bottle off the table and onto the floor. Imagine this scene from Andrei Tarkovsky's Stalker where a child causes the glasses on the table to move with her mind but with a faster, more violent movement of the character, bottle and the camera. Should this be impossible to do, we will have to block the scene in such a way that gives the impression of the bottle falling off and breaking than actually showing it. Test shots will be done for this also.

This scene from Stalker.



4. Close-up shot of Elizabeth's First Appearance

Lastly, we will also be testing this close-up shot. The difficulty here does not lie in the ability to film it but more in the tone the shot may connote. For example, this classic shot from Buster Keaton's 1922 sketch Cops (which we are trying to recreate with a zoom in/out of Elizabeth creeping through the bannister of the stairs) is used for comedy as oppose to the horror impression we are trying to create. If the tone of the shot does seem out of place for our horror/thriller film, we will have to film it in a different way. Perhaps an extreme close-up of the eyes coupled with a few medium shots that hide the face. Tests will not be done for this one because we will try out different shots in the actual production of the film, also making it time-effective.

This shot of Buster Keaton in Cops.