- We wanted our production to increase in intensity as it progressed and to slowly build up tension, so our cutting rate increases as the production goes on. It opens with a shot of over 10 seconds and has shots of less than a second in duration towards the end of the production
- The opening shot is the longest not only to give a somewhat emotional scene some weight but also to establish atmosphere in the fog and cemetery, and the period setting evident in the protagonist's costume
- By first introducing the church with a low angle shot of the altar, the location is immediately established as an intimidating and dangerous place, which first introduces the sense of dread
- The same shot of the protagonist looking at the note in her hand was used both inside and outside the church to create a sense of continuity between both locations
- Broadly we relied on long takes to build up tension initially. The most ominous shots with pivotal elements in them, such as the candle being whipped from the altar, are often longer than necessary to build a sense of anticipation
- By match cutting the mid shot of Cat's hair being raised with the tight close up of her of face showing her reaction, not only generated tension, but also gave the scene added significance by directly showing her reaction to what was happening. This was something we had not done up to that point in the opening, her previous reactions had been shown indirectly, such as her shoulders raising when the candle was pulled from the altar
- Towards the end, the main action shots, such as the protagonist being slammed into the pew in front, uses a very short take which is supposed to evoke a sense of shock in the audience and reflected the protagonist's sense of panic
- We had to debate how to cut the closing shot of Cat getting dragged down the aisle. Harry and Mia were in favour of cutting between Cat getting dragged and a close-up of her face that made the blood and her facial expression particularly visible while also masking Cat pushing herself of the pews to build momentum. I argued that the cuts between the close up of Cat's face and the mid shot of Cat being dragged was too jarring and looked cheap, but upon asking Mr Fiveash for a second opinion we decided on Harry and Mia's idea because the jarring cuts actually worked well within the scene and added to the tension
This is our timeline. Note: This is without all of the titles put in, only the title of the opening is here, the final cut is longer than the picture shown as a result of this.
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