Reflective Analysis of “The Survivors” - Toby Saddleton

Reflective Analysis of “The Survivors”  (Toby Saddleton)

Roles - Co-Writer, Director, Location Scout, Cinematographer

Location

When Filming for “The Survivors”, I liked having the location of the woods as it is a fairly open area and also it is means that there is less noise all around and you can hear the audio a lot easier. The best thing about filming in the woods, it also shows that there is an understanding of horror conventions as it is a common location that is used throughout horror films. One disadvantage of filming in the woods is that it means that you can have a lot of strangers walking in and out of your shots as the Darland Woods (the location we used) has a lot of dog walkers.

Camera Work

The camera work was a difficult challenge to perform as it was only myself and one other member of my group that actually showed up to film the footage that we needed.  Due to this, it meant that we lacked certain equipment, such as a tripod and in result of that we had to use the environment around us to balance the camera on as it then made the camera still and also gave us the shots that we wanted. When filming in First Person it was a bit risky as I was having to run with the camera and whereas the floor was so muddy, there was a few occasions where I nearly slipped over, however as the camera was already rather shaky, it gave a better affect than expected. The use of having First Person is to show the audience the infected’s perspective and it also allows the audience to hear that growl that you tend to hear infected give out. 

Mise – En Scene

For the Mise – En Scene, The Costumes were rather descriptive of each character. The costumes that were worn were good at representing the two characters that were seen in the film. The infected (myself) wearing a white t-shirt and a black hoodie and black skinny jeans and black shoes. This could show the audience about the darkness of this character and the black hoodie makes it harder for the soldier to identify who is actually chasing him, however the audience will understand that it is an infected person due to the fact that the person chasing him in making the infected type of growl. A prop that was quite important to the story was the gun that the soldier carried on him. The use of the blue paint on the gun is so that people know that this isn't a normal type of gun and that it is an air-soft gun; however it still has the same type of movement when fired like a normal gun., Which makes it slightly more believable.

Narrative

The use of having a Point of View shot is so that the audience can feel more intense and engaged with the film. If they see how close the infected person is to getting the soldier then the audience will be more on edge and also try and feel sorry for the soldier as he is trying to survive and is being hunted alive by another person. If he was to be eaten or infected (which happens) then even though the audience don’t know him they might sympathies for him as the soldier didn't deserve to die.  The point in having the long shot when the soldier shoots the infected is to give the viewer’s get that sense of safety and relief from the chase. It shows the gun being shot and the reaction of the infected as he falls over due to the impact of being shot.

Messages and Values

The messages and values that I wanted to give out as a director is that for anyone who feels like being a victim or being targeted, is that you should find the courage to stand your ground and stand up for yourself. In a way the chase in the short film could represent a child being bullied (the soldier being chased by someone who wants to inflict pain on him for no reason).  However sometimes standing up for yourself can also mean you get knocked down again (the infected being biting the soldier) and then you have the difficult situation on how you deal with it, some people overcome it but others let it affect them and then may cause pain on themselves because of it (The solider killing himself as he doesn't want to be infected)

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