AS Media Studies Blog

 Here are some bts and bloopers from out shoot

  On the fourth day of shooting, Abeer couldn’t be there, but Lyla and I still executed the dolly-in shot flawlessly. We kept Abeer in the loop by sharing various angle shots online for her input. It was a fantastic collaborative effort as we figured out which angle was the winner, showing that great teamwork can happen, even from a distance.

The third day of shooting was going pretty well and felt quite relaxed, but, of course, something had to go sideways. We needed  a black box to pair with the red heels to create that perfect horror vibe. Abeer managed to bring one along, but it had this shiny golden brand name plastered on the lid. Thankfully, Lyla had the remaining acrylic paints we used earlier stashed away, so we decided to paint it black. As you can imagine, the paint took ages to dry, even after we tried everything, waving the box around like crazy and cranking up the fan.  When it came time to film, I easily got through most of the scenes, but then came the last shot. We needed to fill the box with the red heels, and that’s when Lyla dropped a bombshell on us. She completely forgot the heels in her car, and her mom had taken the car an hour away! There was no way she could make it back in time, so we realized we’d have to give up another day for shooting just for that one shot.

On the second day of our shoot, Lyla and I made our way to Maryam’s house, where Abeer had already taken care of all the preparations. We didn’t waste any time and jumped straight into filming. The first scene we tackled was Cynthia entering her apartment, which was a key moment that needed some careful attention. To capture it perfectly, I filmed from several angles. My main goal was to align the table, where Cynthia would set her things down, with the rest of the space. It was crucial to get that positioning right not just for visual continuity, but to create a genuine sense of space. I had to ensure there was enough room for Lyla to move naturally in front of the camera without disrupting the flow of the scene. By adjusting the framing and camera angles, I was able to achieve the composition I wanted, ensuring the shot felt balanced and seamless as she passes by. Once we finished filming Cynthia’s entrance, it was Khadeeja’s turn to become Lilith. This part of the shoot posed a bit ...

As soon as we arrived at the apartments we had selected, we hit a few snags. The biggest issue? We couldn’t find the red high heels that our lead actress needed, no matter how hard we searched. To solve this dilemma, we opted to paint a pair ourselves. What seemed like an easy fix turned out to be quite time-consuming, taking up a significant part of our schedule.   Meanwhile, we had our actress start her makeup to prep for  the shoot. Transitioning to the filming phase,  our focus shifted to establishing a dimly lit, suspenseful atmosphere that would enhance our horror narrative. The hallway's basic lighting fixtures, mainly standard light switches, provided a unique opportunity for us to get creative. By experimenting with these switches, we fine-tuned the light levels to create the low-key lighting effect we were aiming for. This experience really emphasized the importance of being adaptable and inventive with the resources available to us in order to achieve the cinem...