Innovation

Innovation

Hey!! Welcome back...today we're talking about our struggles and how we fixed it! 

    There were certain ways in which our film opener needed certain angles and shots. Even though we did not have access to professional equipment, it allowed us to play around with objects around the house. There were a countless amount of shots that required a cameraman, this is because everyone had to be in frame. Though, we fixed the problem by setting up our own tripod! It was extremely creative and all of us were proud of it! It consisted of a swivel chair at the bottom set with 3 boxes, a book, and a tea case, basically anything flat we could find. The swivel chair (being able to rotate 360 degrees) allowed us to easily adjust the angle of the shot. Definitely not a traditional tripod, but it was perfect and creative.

    To account for other shots, we also did not utilize traditional equipment. However, the cameraman would be one of the group members since the shot would only consist of a few people at a time. For example, there was a POV shot, and instead of asking the actor to film, we placed another person behind her to reach the camera over to their eye level. This was definitely not traditional however it worked out!

 

Updated Storyboard

 Updated Storyboard

Welcome back! You'll notice that I already had a post called storyboard, however, this is an updated one! Prior to filming we needed a gist of what we were going to film. However, there were changes made during the film process that requires a new storyboard to be created!

So...I present to you our new and refreshed storyboard!

    To start, we made changes to the characters, as we did not have a separate server. Originally, we were not going to show the food being prepared and just have the conversation with our friends. However, we re-evaluated and realized the preparation was an important part. So, instead of everyone sitting down at the table and one server cooking, we all gathered in the kitchen together. We decided to do this because we wanted to emphasize the friendship and warmth feeling, before the change in mood. Additionally, we tried to include more diversity in shots and angles. So, for the first poison scene, we did a point of view shot where the camera man stood behind the actor. It was extremely tedious but hilarious to film. 

    Now, after the preparation for decorations and meals, the friends finally sit down to enjoy. Originally, our story was going to have a physical fight scene, however, we found this to be unnecessary. In order to still inflict conflict, it starts with Tatyana eating the grilled chicken after Tiffany mysteriously tells her to. She PASSES out on the floor which causes us to panic and blame each other. Additionally, we included my character calling the police, but at the end it is revealed that I had the poison bottle in my pocket. We made that specific change since it made the whole opener tie together.

Overall, I am proud of our changes and it made our film opener way better.

Group Dynamics

Group Dynamics

Welcome back!! Let us discuss the group dynamics.

    So far, it has been going very well! Most of our group members have been on top of their work. Although some responsibilities might be more weighted, we discussed the roles as a group and everyone seemed satisfied.

    To start, we all discussed the main plot but Zadie and Tatyana came up with the grand scheme of it all. A HOLIDAY DINNER. Leading to our final group project that we are all proud of, thanks to their wonderful idea! Zadie also created the title sequences and as a group we discussed which fonts to use and which color looked the nicest. Our group chat is a massive factor in how we communicate in a well manner. Additionally, Tiffany was glad to purchase any props that were necessary to carry out the ideas we needed to convey in our story. With means of editing, we all shared the same Premiere Pro project, so that we could all work on it together! The team project option is a great feature on Premiere Pro, it has allowed us to have better communication even if we weren't physically together. 

    As for me, we all utilized my camera and house to film. This was fine by me as it created a smoother process. My house was the closest in proximity to everyone, and it worked for me since I didn't need to leave my house!

Becoming Voice Actors?

Becoming Voice Actors?

I am so glad you're back! Let's talk about some editing to cover.

    We have all worked on the editing process together, however, my groupmates might claim that I am the main editor. Although I am completely new to Premiere Pro, I have put in the effort to watch YouTube videos when I come across an idea that I want to apply. It was easy enough to assemble all the videos and adjust them to my liking. It is helpful to have groupmates that are well-equipped with knowledge of Premiere Pro, so whenever I have unique questions I know who to ask! However, while editing the videos I came across a few problems with the sound. 

    To elaborate, this includes not being able to put the music on beat. It was really difficult to put the clips on beat, I believe this is because there was a certain technique I was not aware of. However, as I said, my groupmates are always there to support me to lend a hand. Moving forward, there was issues with the dialogue as well. I wished for the dialogue to be a bit more clear, however, it was muffled and background noises were prominent. Since the dialogue was important and we wanted it to look professional, we agreed to all meet up in order to carry out a voice over! We wanted to achieve this by utilizing mics. Where would we get such things? I was talking to my friend and I noticed she was using these tiny lavalier mics...it was perfect! She was absolutely nice enough to bring it the next day in order for us to temporarily utilize them. However, the voice-overs may seem a bit unnatural due to our lacks of experience. But, as always, we will try our best.

    Thank you! See you all next time.

Lighting

Lighting

Hey you're back! Today's topic is...LIGHTING! All well-made films deliberately use light and shadows to create mood and guide the viewers' attentions. 

   To clarify, we did not have access to professional lighting, however, to the best of our capabilities we utilized what we could! It really was not the biggest concern that we did not have access to professional lighting. This is because the lighting style we already had was perfect! For example there was practical lighting in which used the chandelier in the dinner scenes, creating a warm atmosphere. Another example would be the beginning scenes of the door entrance, the sunlight was used as a natural lighting. Now, the lighting choices we made were to add to the mise en scene. 

    Within our film we planned to have a shift in mood, and we would convey that shift mainly using the lighting. At first, we would utilize high-key lighting to ensure a positive, jolly look! Then, a sudden twist of events would cause the lighting to shift from high key to low key. To create that first atmosphere, we made sure to use lights that conveyed that cozy holiday warmth. The artificial lighting are mainly chandeliers and ceiling lights. For the dinner table, we wanted to use the candles for practical lighting. However, we decided not to in order to decrease the risk of any danger on set. Later on when the mood changes, we turn off the light switches to dramatically shift the lighting to low key. To illuminate certain objects, we used the lights from our phones.

    Although if there was a bigger budget to acquire better lighting, we would have used less of my grand chandeliers, and the light would've illuminated us more! Another option could be to utilize the chandelier along with other lightings to create a 3-point effect, ensuring that we had key, back, and fill light. However, even though we did not utilize professional lighting, it all worked out since our lighting style fit so well! 

    Well, tune in next time!

Editing

Editing

Heyy! Today I will be discussing our editing process.

    Directly after filming our film opener, we decided to knock out two birds with one stone! Let's get straight to editing this film since we were all already together. My group decided to use Adobe Premiere Pro since everyone already knew how to use it. By everyone I mean Tatyana and Zadie since they both had certifications (impressive!). It took a while, but after the software finished downloading we were ready to start editing! It was difficult to navigate at times, but my team was right beside me--ready to help.

    Now, lets discuss the video effects we used. We wanted to include the blinking effect for one of our point-of-view shots. Specifically, it is the shot where Tatyana falls to the ground after being POISONED. To put the viewers into Tatyana's mind, the blinking is added to show that she is slowly losing consciousness. This essentially added a sense of urgency! The second effect used was the 'blur effect' which was essentially added to the blinking effect as well. This layering of effects created a professional looking scene that we're all quite happy with! Furthermore, the transitions we used were mostly jump cuts in order to convey the passing of time. We also used jump cuts since it ultimately looked nicer by cutting from angle to angle. This was used when my character was shown opening the door for each person coming in. Before this scene, we had also used a match-cut (picture shown below)! We were actually very proud of how this turned out since it was almost perfectly aligned. The scene is first shown with my hand opening the oven door, then it cuts to the door opening! 

    Furthermore, after my groupmates had left, I continued editing. My teammates had left me to be the primary editor since all the files were on my computer. If I am going to be honest, it became quite frustrating to edit since I was so inexperienced. But with a call of a phone, my teammates were there to help--which I was really grateful for! For instance, I had constant problems with the sound--whenever I extracted the music to gather alongside the clips, there would be no audio. Although, my groupmates were also confused, they decided to just edit the music clips in CapCut! This made it way easier. Another problem we ran into were the clips that refused to show up. There would be instances where the clips would show up, but then disappear. Ultimately, we found out it was because my computer was exhausted from holding that much storage. All I did was simply delete some unnecessary files, that's it!

    Well, that wraps up our first editing day...some rough patches...but stay tuned because we'll improve!

Title Sequence

 Title Sequence

Welcome back! This is our title sequence.

   There were many factors we considered when deciding on our title sequence, as it is an important factor in setting the tone. For example, even though it was a Christmas themed title, we didn't want it to be fully jolly-- it needed some underlying thriller elements. We went over various ideas for the name, however, we ultimately decided on 'A Red Christmas' because it included Christmas but emphasized the word 'red'. The color red can be associated with passion and love, however, it can also mean violence and anger (which is exactly what we were going for!). The way that colors can have alternate meanings worked out perfectly for this specific title. We also thought about coloring the font green since red and green are traditional Christmas colors! Although, by itself, we noticed it looked out of place since green is associated with health (the quite opposite in our film!). Additionally, we chose to use a black background for the title to be displayed on because black is associated with death and negativity. So, along with the red it would create a sense of suspense and urgency in the audience. 

    Zadie was the main font editor and we all scrolled through the HUNDREDS of fonts that PicsArt offered. We wanted a mysterious font that was also attention-grabbing, maybe setting off a sense of suspense in viewers. Some fonts we looked over seemed too bubbly/happy and others looked too plain. After looking for a while, we decided to go with a font called, "Trade Winds." Which is shown in option 4! Overall, I believe the font we chose was attention-grabbing and fit the atmosphere of our film. 

    Thanks for tuning in! Have a fantastic day. 

Option 1:

Option 2:

Option 3:

Option 4: 

Option 5:

In addition to these fonts, we also had another top contender! A completely unique font… my handwriting! I created this with my own handwriting and used ProCreate to create the color changing effect. We were initially planning to use this! However we wanted to go for an underlying ominous tone— in which this font had just looked too jolly. Here it is!

Sound

Sound

Hey!!! I'll be talking about the sound in our project.

    Sound is very important in storytelling especially in film. It can build tension, set the mood, and emphasize the tone of scenes. First let's talk about the music we used (non-diegetic). For our particular film, we wanted to emphasize the holiday mood so we started searching for the right music that sounded nice. We followed the links that were provided by our instructor and followed the instructions to discover copyright-free music. After searching for a while, our team collectively chose "Canon and Variation." It has a classic Christmas essence to it that we all felt had a sense of warmth to it. 

    Diegetic sound is sound that is heard within the film world, instead of solely for the viewers. Within the scenes, we barely muted anything and kept everything that was captured on tape. Dialogue was a large aspect of this. For various scenes we tried to highlight some sounds that might have been hard to hear. For example, when Tatyana was choking, it was difficult to hear the audio--so we added echoes and heightened the volume (this could be linked to non-diegetic sounds). This was done to add more realism and draw the viewer into the suspension of the scene. As for non-diegetic sound, we were thinking about editing in a voice-over. But not just any voice-over, it would be a narration of the murderer's inner dialogue. However, we decided to take this out due to the suspense factor. It would be too obvious for viewers after hearing the voices!

    As for the editing, we have found that software like Adobe Premiere Pro, iMovie, and CapCut have been very useful. We divided the work amongst each other based on availability. So if I had a chance to work on it then I would, if I didn't I would easily text the group chat about my absence. Moreover, Tatyana and Zadie were well acquianted with Adobe Premiere Pro, so the more in-depth work would be given to them. Tiffany and I focused on finding sound effects and emitting certain sound clips. Additionally, since we used single-system audio capture (meaning the sound is recorded along with the camera) it was a bit difficult to adjust the different types of sounds. For example, my family was home, it was six o'clock, which is the primetime to cook dinner. As you may guess, there were a lot of unwanted sounds that we thought could be easy to edit out. But...I think we need improvement on that. Overall, though, I love the music choices we used!

    Bye for now!

 

Day 1 of Shooting

 Day 1 of Shooting

We had our first day of shooting :)

    To be honest, I knew going into our first day of filming, things would not go according to plan--that's because our plan wasn't well thought out. There was a lack of preparation and a lot of improvisation. The plan was simple at first, everyone was to meet at my house at around 4:30 PM on January 4th. It was actually very difficult to set this date since in the middle of winter break, everyone is spending time with their families. But eventually we set on January 4th! Also, at 4:30 PM we would have time to set everything up and discuss the scenes before the sun started to set. 

By the time everyone arrived, we were behind schedule due to my camera saying...no more storage! And without an additional SD card we decided to transfer all my files to the dusty-old laptop. Well, that dusty-old laptop started to heat up and take way too long. It took over thirty minutes to load and save but everything worked out fine, just a bit short of time. In the middle of waiting, we realized we needed an extra camera operator. The only person we knew that could help us was our friend Kayla! She was coincidentally near by and we decided to call her up-- she arrived as soon as possible! 

Additionally, there was many problems with the camera shots and angles. Although Kayla was a wonderful person to work with, she was not well-acquainted with the materials since she was not in our classes. It took a bit of effort and a little more time [than needed] to teach her what angles conveyed what and how to zoom in. We had to keep filming over and over again until we got the right shots, but still I wasn't completely satisfied with all the scenes. Overall, we just took up a little too much time as it started to become past everyone's curfews. 

We ran into various other problems and decided it would be best to re-film another day. But we learned that this day was not a waste, but a learning experience! If we had not messed up entirely this day then we would have just gotten closer to the deadline, with a terrible film. 

Stay tuned for our better filming day!

Some fun photos:

BECON TV

BECON TV

Hey guys welcome back! Recently a super film-passionate guy from the local BECON office came in, let's discuss that.

 Wow! I hadn't realized how passionate someone could be about their field. Some people are specialized in their field just for the money, however, this guy was different. It was eye-opening, the way he told us that the film-industry wasn't how it looked on screen, fun and enthusiastic. But it was quite difficult, but he seemed to still love what he was good at. He continued to show us various student films to encourage us to pursue the film industry! They were all very inspirational and well-made. For example, there was a film about two friends flipping a coin... it was only TWO SECONDS, but it still had a plot! It made me realize that the film opener my team and I were working on could be much improved. 

    He was very helpful-- he described many opportunities that we could take including the FREE equipment that were open to rent. In order to rent his company's equipment, we needed to follow their Instagram @shortcutstvshow, and then message them asking for equipment! It was as simple as 1,2,3. He even had some camera equipment with him including professional lights and detailed cameras, that could capture a singular tear drop falling. I thought this generosity was very kind, and it would definitely help students who are passionate about the film industry. We were even posted on the Instagram!

    Following up on this guy's valuable information, I was informed that an event called "School Duel" was hosted by them. So, of course, I attended it! School Duel is a competition between two schools in which they are asked trivia questions from Greek mythology to pop culture! We were shown a tour of the building including the green room, control room, and the never-ending hallways of offices. The control room was filled with buttons and switches attached to cameras 1...2...3...and so on. It was all very fascinating to see what goes on behind those television cameras!

Supporting Characters

Supporting Characters

    Hello! Today I will be discussing the supporting characters that play in our film opener.

First, supporting characters are the ones who support the main character and help drive the story forward. In our film opener, there are three supporting characters, played by Zadie, Tiffany, and me!

Zadie:

    All of our characters are quite different in their physical appearances. To start, Zadie is a little lady, standing at 5'2", with long-dark curly hair and deep-brown eyes! Her costume contains light blue jeans and a dark blue baby doll top as well, she is also covered with gold jewelry to top it off. The plates that are switched can be associated with her character, symbolizing her pickiness for food. Additionally, she has a bubbly personality and some could say she is the life of the party. Although she likes to make a joke every now and then, she is a pretty confrontative person. Someone who will directly address their problems and stand up for themselves. In the beginning of the opener she seems to have a positive mindset, however, after the events that take place her psychological state turns into turmoil. Her motivations are shown during the argument, where she fights with Tiffany. 

Tiffany:

    Next, Tiffany has oak-brown eyes, long wavy-hair, and is a little taller than Zadie by a few inches (5'3"). We dressed her in a blue diamond-knitted sweater, a black top underneath, grey pants, and finally topped with a festive Santa hat. She seems to always have a cool and gentle composition, but at the turning point of the film she seems to lose her cool! Initially, she would be more of a passive communicator, staying silent when things shouldn't be said. However, when Zadie initiates the first argument after Tatyana passes out--Tiffany is forced to defend herself. 

Christy:

    Last but not least, Christy (me!) is not afraid to stand up for what is right, especially when being protective over her friends. She is 5'6" with long, straight dark-brown hair, and dirt-brown eyes. Her outfit in the opener includes a festive Christmas sweater, light-wash jeans, and gold jewelry. This all contributes to her bold personality. In the beginning of the opener she is seen to be having a jolly time, but at the twisting point, she gets very determined to figure out what happened-- further emphasizing her bold nature!

Color In My Project

Color In My Project

Let's talk about the usage of color that is used throughout the project!

    Personally, when I watch films I find that the colors play an important factor in conveying emotions. It is a powerful tool to evoke mood, represent themes, and more! Different colors can symbolize various objectives and create a certain atmosphere within the film. Filmmakers can use characters' costumes to display colors, or just the overall set. Now, let's dive into how we utilized color in our project.

    In order to convey the holiday feeling, we included red and green, and some accents of gold! For example, I wore an ugly Christmas sweater that was primarily red and had tinsels of gold. With the props, much of the table was covered in red such as the Santa hats and candles. Red can represent energy, passion, and power. While green can represent health and environmental awareness. However, when these two colors are combined along with the visuals on screen, they take on a new meaning. Essentially, the colors contribute to the Christmas mood when watching our film opener. 

Additionally, we made sure to include warmer hues to mirror a similar atmosphere that the holidays give us. The sense of nostalgia and comfort are essential when talking about the holidays. On the other hand, warm hues can create an active response, invoking passion or aggression in the viewers. Similarly, this also reflects our dramatic scenes that include arguing.

    Furthermore, gold was also thoroughly used throughout the film, but in smaller amounts. For example, the costumes consisted of gold jewelry instead of silver since we wanted to bring out the warmer feelings of Christmas. Personally, when I think of silver it is a more distant and cold color. But when thinking of gold--it is more full of life! Gold symbolizes wealth and luxury--although our budget was low, our small hints of jewelry could still help symbolize this! Additionally, gold is associated with wisdom which could explain the personality of some of our characters. Take Tiffany for example--she was wearing gold hoops, explaining her poised demeanor. 

    Thus, colors are universally important factors to take into account when filming. This is evident from the ways in which the colors we used invoked certain emotions. Thanks for tuning in, bye!

Main Character Analysis

Main Character Moment

Hey everyone! Let's dive into the most important character in the story--introducing...TATYANA!

    So... out of all of our characters, we chose Tatyana to be the star of the show! She has an average height of 5'3" and she is decked out with brown, from her curly hair to her auburn eyes. That brown hair is swooped into a neat low bun and her face is enlightened with gold accents. This includes her gold hoop earrings and cross necklace, the necklace emphasizes her faithful nature! We carefully dressed her in a red-long sleeve shirt paired with ocean-blue jeans--we wanted her to be stylish but still holiday casual. As for the props associated with Tatyana, we could take the small bottle of poison. This is a MAJOR props that is related to Tatyana as the whole premises of the film opener is centered around her getting poisoned. This may suggest to readers Tatyana's naive nature, and how she always finds the good in people--a trait that most protagonists have. 

    The costume that Tatyana wears consists of red symbolizing danger, and blue symbolizing her calm personality--contrasting with the hazardous environment she is put in. The poisoned plated chicken is related to all of the characters, however, it is mostly Tatyana who is greatly affected by it. The action of her getting poisoned can symbolize her serene and naive nature. 

    In order to stand out as the main character, compared to the rest of the characters, she keeps to herself while not involving herself in arguments. This illustrates that she has a more passive way of communicating rather than active like Zadie and Tiffany. As the film opener opens, Tatyana is shown with a big smile on her face! Showcasing her high spirits...this only changes when the poison is ingested. Her whole personality changes from content to bewilderment. 

Costuming

Costuming

Welcome back!!! Let’s talk about wardrobing.

    Costumes in film are more than just wardrobe choices, they’re an essential part of storytelling, giving the audience an instant glimpse into a character’s personality. For our project, we knew the outfits had to reflect the relaxed, festive vibe of a holiday dinner. In this case, Christmas. The challenge? To create the perfect balance between formal and casual! 

    For my look, I went full holiday spirit with an ugly Christmas sweater, blue jeans, and some gold hoops.

    As for the rest of the crew: Tatyana, our lead, wore a classic combo of blue jeans and a red long-sleeve shirt, paired with a sleek bun and gold hoop earrings, topped off with a gold cross necklace. Zadie kept it simple yet stylish with light-colored jeans and a flowy blue shirt with white detailing. Comfortable yet classy. She kept her hair down, adding some flair with gold hoop earrings and a layered gold necklace. Finally, Tiffany mixed it up with grey jeans, a black top, and a plaid blue cardigan, finished with a playful Santa hat and her hair down.

   Each of us picked outfits that felt true to our characters' personalities and together, our costumes helped paint the picture of a group of friends just gearing up for a low-key Christmas dinner. Nothing extravagant, just some family friends 'casually' enjoying the holiday spirit. 

Preparing to film

Preparing to film

Hey! I'm thrilled to show you the next step of our filming process.

Before we start filming, there were a few things that we needed to consider. To start off, there were easier adjustments we could make such as the shots and angles. Obviously, it would be better to prepare for the shots, however, during the filming we could adjust according to what we thought fit in the moment. However, there were also challenges to consider which included the noise and sound quality. This included the unwanted background noise, not being able to hear the dialogue that was necessary to hear!

1. Actors

The actors included four (including me) of my amazing, aspiring-actress, classmates! This included Tatyana Augustin, Zadie Garcia, Tiffany Hu, and of course me! We all are going to play a similar role, that of a family friend. However, Tatyana will be playing a specially important role. The person who causes a disruption amongst the family, as she collapses to the floor. We also decided to cast one of us as the waitress that is the main culprit. However, only the torso is ever shown, minimizing confusion amongst the viewers.

2. Costumes

To fit the occasion of being a holiday dinner, we wanted the costumes to be festive, with formal flare to it! For example, I planned on wearing an ugly Christmas sweater to further emphasize the holidays. The rest of my actors would wear warm clothes that were red and green. As for the waitress, their outfit would be more formal.

3. Props

To find props, we all would utilize items from around the house since everything is already decorated. Since it is a dinner we obviously needed plates, utensils, food, etc.. More importantly, our poison bottle will actually just be a perfume bottle that is labelled. To accentuate the festive vibes, we will place holiday garlands, pine candles, elves, and more! For some comedic flare, the food on the dishes are going to be replaced with food ornaments!

4. Locations

For convenient reasons, my house was the best suited to film in. For the film's main setting we occupied my long diner table, it is perfect for sitting multiple people. With my house being the closest to the nearest hospital, it would be quick to get a shot of that location.

5. Dates and Times

After spending time with my family during the well-needed winter break, we decided to meet up the weekend when we were all available. We planned to meet on January 4th in the morning. Since I would have been busy during that time, I rescheduled for the evening at 4:30. However, this would work out perfectly since dinner time is usually at the same time of sunset! There were some troubles with planning this out, we all have different schedules but we manages to work it out! 

6. Film Equipment

For our film opener, we thought we would use the cinematic feature on our phones. However, after scavenging through my messy drawers, a camera was located! It has various settings that would probably guide the film opener into a more professional look.

Thank you for tuning into another post by yours truly! I will continue to be excited about sharing this process with you guys. See ya!

Initial Storyboard

 Initial Storyboard

Welcome back! Today I will display our storyboard which consists of our film's overall layout!

I am excited to share the forward moving of our filming process!

    We all gathered together to discuss the overall storyline, keeping in mind that ideas could vary as we filmed. As we were brainstorming, we took in account the time of year it was. With the holidays coming up it would be convenient to utilize decorations for props, costumes, and setting! Also, with family finally being able to gather around during this special time of year, drama could easily emerge. Although it is dramatic, we wanted it to be full of laughter and convey comedic feelings to the audience. Using genre hybridity, the various types of genre can reach out to a larger audience! Furthermore, we thought that drama might be a bit bland. So, we further included a twist of thriller, with a character getting poisoned! 

    To start off, the first scene will consist of a tracking shot with the plates being prepared. To create a unique effect, we wanted to implement a POV shot by setting the camera on top of the plate as the food is getting set on it. As the setting is in the kitchen the lightning will be high-key while being very festive with Christmas sound ambiance. Moving further, the dining room will be filmed while the family and friends gather around to laugh and talk. Instead of a key light, more practical lights will be used such as candles, making the lighting more subtle and lowkey. Moving onto shot #3, it is seen that a person walks into the frame that is filled with a dish of food. Side note, we decided instead of real food, we would use holiday ornaments to signify the festive mood, additionally adding comedic vibes. In shot #4, it is further shown that a bottle of POISON is secretly sunken into the dish. The atmosphere of the film started off jolly, however, this particular scene had caused the mood to shift. From jingling bells to mysterious and tense music, the sudden twist would definitely entertain the viewers! Also, shot #5 is a tracking shot that follows the mysterious waitress with the MYSTERIOUS food! Additionally, shot #6, shows a wide shot of the dinner table, showing everyone conversing. In shot #7 the camera follows the fork as it is placed into the character's face, displaying a close-up to capture the small details. Following the next scenes, there is an unsettling atmosphere as the camera tilts into a canted angle. As the character further chews their food, the jolly Christmas music and chattering all dissolve into muffles. Transitioning into shot #9, the character continues to cough uncontrollably while an overhead shot from above continues to zoom out, displaying the rest of the characters running towards her. This film opening will be filled with panic and worrisome faces as the character is carried to the hospital and the poison-culprit is never caught.