call sheet day 3

How my opening sequence is different from my script

I tried to make everything as similar to the script as I possibly could. The top shots where Shreya opens the chits were difficult as it was not only an uncomfortable position for my hold the cameras from but the slightest wrong nod by Kuhu( my actress) would mean we have to reshoot. we had many retakes and tried to add a new shot where she throws the boxes on the floor but it did not look good so we had to change it. I ended up following the script scene by scene to avoid last minute problems.

second day of shoot

This time we made sure there were no delays and that we would start on time. I started with giving Kuhu a pep talk and an idea of what Shreya will be currently feeling. This helped her get the emotions right and allowed me to capture it. There were many times when I had to stop her and explain the emotions I need. She portrayed it well. I wanted to get a crying and shivering emotion for scene 7 but Kuhu was unable to do it so we changed it to a still, frozen and paralysed situation. we spent most of our time figuring out the lighting for the scenes.

call sheet day 2

call sheet day 1

call sheet day 1

First day of shoot

Today is the first day of shoot and I'm super excited about it. I called for the camera and lighting equipment half an hour before the shooting time. We were supposed to start at 7:30pm as we need to show it is nigh time. Due to the actor's personal issues, the shooting started an hour late. Today we just need to shoot the extreme close ups and close ups so it didn't take much time but something as silly as turning the key and keeping the bag on the stand took a lot of retakes. Not a lot of acting was required as it was mainly the objects and highlight of details in the film.

Rehearsal. new changes

I Definitely wanted to have one full fletched rehearsal of the opening sequence for my actor as this is the first time she is acting and I want her to know exactly what to do when we shoot it properly.

I told her to carry the props such as heels and a sling bag so she could act as if it was the real shoot. I did all the scenes with her and explained her the positions. She did all the scenes as though we were shooting for the main thing. Now I have an idea about how my opening sequence looks like.
 I also wanted to check the lighting variations to see how and what could I do to set the right tone.

This helped me as now I know exactly which angles to shoot from, what kind of lighting to use and how much time it could take to shoot this.
I forgot to shoot a scene where the girl gets a message on her phone of her back which now I will make sure we don't miss as the timing completely changed due to the mistake. 
I will need to sit down with my actress and figure a proper schedule because when she came for rehearsal, she could only stay till 2 hours. This forced me to shoot in a hurry and scenes ended up being rushed even though it was just a rehearsal.
 I have asked her to give me next weekend to go over the scenes once again so on the day of the shoot, she and I both know exactly what to do. 
The outfit, accessories and makeup is decided now which luckily she wore on the day of the rehearsal as it didn't look as good as I wanted it to that day. The changes are now made. I am ready to shoot the final opening sequence.

This helped me get a practice of how to and which angles to keep my camera at. I have realised that I need more small scenes and need to avoid taking a long shots.
rehearsal video-  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1V3eA0Ofcv-AbUdb1pH5teHetVdPK5F7r/view?usp=sharing

Set design

the room is shown clearly in the last scene where the stalker is standing behind Shreya so I had to make sure it looked big and spacey. This is where she will be sitting.

I did not have to make any big changes except get it cleaned because it will not be that visible.

The door and the stand are shown more in the film than any other location.

When she gets out of the house to check who rang the bell, this will be the setting.

The closet- Im using a smaller closet which is next to her main closet to show that she chose a more lowkey hiding place for her boxes. I will put in blankets and some shirts to show that the closet is not being used that much.

Highlights of opening sequence

The most interesting scenes of my opening sequence -
when she reveals that she has more similar boxes hidden in her closet. This shows that she has been stocking up the 'gifts' from the stalker.
When she reveals there are messages hidden in the boxes which mix-and-match to a clue. This shows that the stalker liked playing games with her.
When she gets a text of her own back which indicates he is standing behind her in her room. The last shot which reveals he is behind her creates an intense atmosphere.