This post will cover all the things related to the Preliminaries, how these were brought to action, what were the necessary steps needed to turn the narrative into a reality and all the successfull incarnations that occured.
PRELIMINARY 1 - INTRODUCTION TO THE SUBGENRE
This media text revolves around our Protagonist on his first kill. This is clearly represented by the lack of equipment & murder tools. The goal is to introduce a prequel like setting to the audience, so they can get a glimpse of the character and the whole storyline. Furthermore this serves as sort of s teaser so that the audience can get attracted, and moreover connect with the character, emotionally.
The purpose of this preliminary project was to explore and showcase how we plan to delve into the chosen genre for our main production. It serves as a foundational piece, not only giving us clarity on our creative direction but also setting the tone for the audience. By referencing iconic shows and films like Dexter, Breaking Bad, and Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, the aim is to draw inspiration from their narratives and psychological depth. These references help to establish a connection with viewers who are familiar with these titles, creating intrigue and setting expectations for the kind of intense storytelling we are trying to conujure. The detailed sequencing of the drug-making process and the carefully designed title are intentional choices. Together, they provide subtle yet clear hints about the themes we’re working with. These elements weave a sense of mystery, blending seamlessly with the overarching genres of crime and thriller. This combination is designed to captivate the audience, pulling them into a world that is as enigmatic as it is suspenseful.
The editing process was rather easy, due to the experience I had in thi field. I first compiled all the relevant clips together, then added a Fade-In transition at the start and a Fade-Out transition at the end.
"Colour grading parts of the clips"
After that I got into some serious colour composition, Since the whole mood was warm I increased the contrast to make dull colours pop out more. Moreover I played with the exposure and brightness to hide the background of the whole set. Furthermore, by increasing the saturation and playing with the vibrance, I got a good pop out of the colours in the frame. Before colour grading I also added cinematic black bars in the whole video; which the name suggests adds a ciematic and aesthatic look to the whole sequencing.
I also added many sound effects and a soundtrack too for more immersion. I blended the sound effects with the background music to add a more Inductive feel to it. Moreover I also added letterboxing to give a more professional look to the whole project
PRELIMINARY 1 DRAFT
LIGHTING, ACTING & CINEMATOGRAPHY
For Silent Toxins, the lighting was instrumental in establishing the tone and mood of the film. I applied warm, low key lighting throughout the project to establish a moody and intimate setting that captures the psychological tension of the story. Shadows were employed to conceal some things like the background while other things were brought out to add to the mystery and suspense. The warm color gave a feel of decay and hazard, and perfectly complemented the preliminaries dark and eneven tone.
The acting in Silent Toxins was done by my father, who had wealth of experience derived from his early career as an actor. Through his hands as a means to express emotion rather than controlled use of the facial muscles, his performance lent texture to the silent story. Even without dialogue, he was able to convey anger and power solely through body performance, an indication of skill and knowledge about screen presence.
The cinematography was crafted with precision to enhance the psychological thriller tone of the teaser. Close ups and extreme close ups were greatly prioritized to get minute details such as how the protagonist feels while reaching for something or walking. This enhanced a greater emotional bonding between the character and the viewer. The composition and framing were also minimalist and clean, letting the audience see only the clues and the emotions and nothing else. Coupled with the warm low lighting, the cinematography produced a tense and atmospheric visual style that complemented the dark theme of the story.
MUSIC/AUDIO USED
EQUIPMENT
For the equipment, due to unfavourable circumstances, I couldn't use a professional camera. But the upside was that I had a phone capable of shooting in 4k; The Samsung A51. Moreover the downgrading from 4k to 2k was a personal preference due to the bitrate and exporting issues. For the lighting I decided to use a simple warm spotlight and a simple tripod for the phone to be held in. For the editing phase I used my laptop, Dell Latitude E5420 (2nd Generation). I understood that it was not capable of doing tidious tasks like editing but upgrades like an SSD and 16GB RAM helped. Furthermore, I used Wondershare Filmora as my editing software, not because it was light on my device but also due to the fact that I had a lot of experience making projects with it. "The next preliminary was also shot using the same equipment, voiceovers were recorded using a phone."
PRELIMINARY 2 - PREQUEL (CHARACTER INTRODUCTION #2)
BEHIND THE SCENES
In addition, this turned out better then expected, not perfect, due to the fact that I had no equipment when I was shooting it. I was out of town and had no control over the endless waterfall of time, so I hastily came up with this. Putting a bunch of magazines and books together to create a makeshift stand, and using a small glue bottle to hold the phone, I came up with this single shot.
"Compiling the clip and other voiceovers"
Coming to editing, I used Filmora 12 once again. I first added the main clip to the timeline which was initially 4 mins long, but I trimmed it down just enough to match the voiceovers. After that I added the background sound of rainfall and lowered the amplitude. This served as a Diegetic sound, as it was audible by the protagonist.
For The sound effect of "coming through the phone", I first rediuced the frequencies below 500Hz to -18. After that the ones above 2k were lessened to approximately between -16 to -18. This gave the voiceover of the doctor a low key effect. After that it was simple, I used a T.V Static sound from when the phone is picked up, and extended it till when the phone is hung up. I also decreased its amplitude so that it doesn't mix with the rain sounds. Furthermore, I also colourgraded the clip to get that enigmatic and eerie vibe by lessening the highlights and shadows, whilst also fidgeting around with the white balance. Moreover since the vanilla A51 doesn't support manual video settings; like setting the focus; so I used Manuel Camera DSLR Lite for this.
LIGHTING, ACTING & CINEMATOGRAPHY
In this hastely made preliminary, not only was lighting employed for a visual distinction but also to symbolize the fractured nature of the character's mind. A single point light source of a very bright white illuminated the setting, delivered via a low key lighting arrangement that created deep shadows within the frame. This tension between the bright light and dark surroundings mirrored the inner turmoil and disorientation of the protagonist. The harsh white of the lamp emphasized the flatness of the shot but served to build a tense, sterile mood consistent with the psychological tone of the voiceover.
The voiceovers in The Plead was done by me, as I played both the surgeon and the therapist. Acting two different characters using only audio meant that there had to be subtle but distinct vocal changes to distinguish between the rational, calm tone of the therapist and the unstable, pleading tone of the surgeon. The fractured performance was intended to depict the psychological fragmentation of the lead character, as he admits the doppelganger has come back. The grounded and measured reaction of the therapist is in contrast to increasing tension in the voice of the surgeon, providing emotional depth to a visually inert scene.
Cinematography in this was minimalist but highly deliberate. The whole film consists of a single uninterrupted close up shot of a lit lamp. This static framing was employed to center the viewer attention solely on the voiceover and its emotional significance. The lamp, shining in the middle of the frame, becomes symbolic of clarity, hope, or maybe even obsession. By refraining from panning and cutting the camera, the cinematography compels the viewer into a contemplative, near-suffocating arena, replicating the trapped psyche of the character. The immobility also generates an aura of discomfort since the voiceover is laid against a field of visual silence.
MUSIC/AUDIO USED
ALl SOUND EFFECTS AND BACKGROUND SOUNDS ARE TAKEN DIRECTLY FROM THE WONDERSTOCK STORE IN FILMORA 12
PRELIMINARY 3 - MOVIE POSTER
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Making a poster was a rather heinous process for me due to the sheer remakes I had to do. First I decided to make A Me & Myself Poster, but the end product was not upto the standard so I had to scrap it. Then I made some drafts and a final version for the poster of the short film, under the "Three Musketeers" but again disaster struck. So in the end using the experience and the concepts, I ended up making a minimalistic yet intriguing poster for my short film.
(Unused) Me & Myself Poster
EX - Movie Poster - Draft 1
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EX - Movie Poster - Draft 2
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INSANITY Movie Poster - Draft 1
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The first draft of the folder was similar to the final product, apart from the attracting catch line I added on the top. The reason for the rejection of this draft was because it was too straight forward and didn't let the viewers mine the attention grabbing ores. Moreover, I took a huge inspiration from Dexter & The Max Payne Movie, so combining both the aspects of their respective posters, I came up with this. The black and white, minimalistic, silhouette type theme is directly taken from the poster of The Max Payne Game. Whereas The closeup shot, of our main character is taken from the posters of Dexter. The combination of both the ideologies gives a suprisingly competative result, as it shows the lifelessness and void feelings the short film potrays. In addition It also conveys the mystery factor to the audience which I was attempting to craft.
Moreover, I used Photopea, an online, replicated version of photoshop. This was due to a few reasons, one because I was editing on my laptop and photoshop would lag a lot, compromising efficiency. Secondly "because I was editing on my laptop", as it was portable and could be taken anywhere, again not compromising efficiency. Moreover I have a lot of experience running photoshop and this was clearly a free replica.
BEHIND THE SCENES
"Putting the text overlays; adjusting the colour, font; bold/italic"The image of the teenager in the poster was generated by using CHATGPT, and also a coupple of tweeks in the facial structure and shading. The conventions here I used was the colour red, which symbolised death and certain doom. Moreover the blank expression of the character gives a sense of uncertanity, nullness and just pure "Insanity".
PRELIMINARY 4 - SCRIPT
I wrote a script for my fourth package because I had little time left before the submission deadline. It follows the story of a young teen, due to his incompetency, loses his brother in a kidnapping. This huilt makes him fall of the cliff of sadness and void, leading to him taking his own life. This whole script was written as a "What If" for me personally; meaning that for the main project if the script needed to change, then this was a reliable substitute.