Relocation

After encountering many problems at the first location - primarily the weather, I decided to change the site of the project. This came with its own set of difficulties as I needed to find a suitable indoors location quickly and be able to use it more or less straightaway. However, one of my friends who was acting in the film mentioned that he had access to an old barn that he was building his car in. We all went, not sure of what we would find. I liked this location more than the other one, and as we hadn't got much time, we shot then and there. I had to make a few changes to the film but the overall plot remained very much the same.
The lack of light in the barn allowed me to experiment with the exposure levels on the camera which produced interesting effects in the film as you'll see in the pictures.

I think the random objects in the barn added to the feeling of mystery and the fan seen in the bottom right image contributes to the old, rustic appearance of the setting as well as being the only source of natural light in the building, which highlights the characters that are trying to save the girl, while the others are often in shadow.

Tracks

Here are the tracks in use at the location for the Thriller opening. The tracks allowed for steady tracking shots that are not possible through the use of handheld camerawork. I obtained some goods shots in the short time that I had.

Track Construction

After reviewing the footage from my first attempt at filming my thriller opening, I decided that in order to overcome the difficulty of the uneven ground surface I would construct a track that I could raise above the ground. I would then build a platform that would serve as a base for my tripod and camera. This platform would roll along the tracks giving me smooth tracking shots and the ability to film more complex shots.

The tracks and trolley are made out of wood (excluding the wheels) and the tracks are 8ft long which is long enough for the shots I wish to accomplish and long enough that it still fits in my car.

This is a diagram of what I was planning to build and it turned out more or less exactly the same.

This is the construction so far, all that is left to do is to fix the tripod to the platform and join the two lengths of track together.

Director Profile: Michael Bay

Michael Bay           Born 17th February 1965, LA, California

Bay made his first feature film, Bad Boys, in 1995, starring Will Smith and Martin Lawrence. The movie became a success with a total of almost $141million in ticket sales worldwide and generated a huge profit for producers Jerry Bruckheimer, Don Simpson and Columbia Pictures. His follow-up film, The Rock, 1996, starring Sean Connery, Nicolas Cage and Ed Harris won a number of minor awards including 'Best On-Screen Duo' for Connery and Cage at the MTV Movie Awards as well as an Academy Award nomination for Best Sound. 

Armageddon, 1998, was nominated for 4 Oscars at the 71st Academy Awards including Best Sound, Best Visual Effects, Best Sound Editing and Best Original Song. It went on to gross over $550 million worldwide. Bay has collaborated with producer Jerry Bruckheimer for five feature films. 

Michael Bay is probably best known for making large-budget action films including the Transformers films which have grossed more than $1.5billion domestically and $3.5billion worldwide. As of 2009, Michael Bay's world wide box office totals make him the director with the 6th highest gross of all time. 

Genres:

Documentary
Thriller
Action
Short/Commercial

Filmography: (Director)

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009) & Executive Producer

Transformers (2007)                                   & Executive Producer

The Island (2005)                                       & Producer

Bad Boys II (2003)

Pearl Harbor (2001)                                   & Producer

Armageddon (1998)                                   & Producer

The Rock (1996)

Bad Boys (1995)

Awards:

1995 – Directors Guild of America, USA

            Won, Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Commercials

1999 – Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA

            Won, Saturn Award – Best Director – Armageddon

Has received five MTV Movie Awards: Best Movie and Best Summer Movie You Haven't Seen Yet for Transformers, Best Action Scene for Pearl Harbor, Best Action Scene for Bad Boys 2, and Best Action Scene for The Rock. 

Trade Mark Techniques:

Intense slow motion shots of characters

Has the camera moving during most scenes. Very rarely uses static shots

Actors/characters in his films are almost uniformly shot in tight, emphatic close ups, framed under the hairline and above the chin.

Often has over-the-top visuals (i.e. key events taking place at sunset or dramatic events taking place behind actors doing routine activities).

Uses shots of aircraft against a setting sun, especially helicopters (The Rock (1996), Armageddon (1998), Pearl Harbor (2001), Transformers (2007))

Often features a slow-motion shot of an object crashing into, or tumbling towards the camera.

Uses a shot where the camera spins in a circle around characters. (Bad Boys II, Transformers).

Frenetic editing of action sequences.