MAJOR-PROJECT UNIT: (Research) Filming a 'Car Hit' Scene

Something I did not test in the pre-production unit was the logistics behind filming the van hitting the dog - before performing the testing in this unit, I thought I would conduct some research into how similar style productions film similar scenarios to see if this provided any better ideas of how to film this.

The Office

This clip shows how The Office tackles a scene in which someone hits something with their car - in this case, it is Michael hitting Meredith with his car. I picked out the important frames of this scene which work to convey the idea that he has hit her. Due to having a larger budget to make stunts like this safer, The Office were able to use a panning technique to display Meredith rolling onto the car bonnet to clearly display what has happened. However, due to having a lower budget, meaning the same safety measures cannot be put in place, we will not be able to show anything getting hit as it will not be safe to do so. Also, as we are supposedly hitting a dog in VET-MAN, this would not be big enough to roll on the bonnet, rather it would roll under the car - therefore, I need to shoot the scene in a way that suggests that this happens when, in actual fact, nothing has been hit.

The following clips display the shots when Michael is driving, when he realises Meredith is in the road and begins to break and his reaction to having hit Meredith.

The thing that aids this scene the most and makes it more believable, is the sound design involved. As the fine cut editor, this is also my job to work out. The sound design of this clip is made up of Michael's reaction to seeing Meredith which is in the form of a shout, the screeching of the tires as the breaks are being applied and the sound of Meredith hitting the car in the form of some thumps. I feel even without seeing Meredith hitting the window, the camera jolt and Michael's stunned reaction to hitting Meredith (when combined with the sound design) make it convincing that he has hit her with his car.

I will test using this method in the test shoot by filming someone with a medium closeup / closeup from in front of them (so that their facial expressions and reactions can be seen). I will then jolt the camera when the character is supposed to have hit the dog.

This same method will then also be applied in the production itself with Tim driving the van. I will film him in a medium closeup / closeup shot then jolt the camera after he has reacted to seeing something in the road. I will then follow this with a reaction shot from both him and Luke. In the edit, I will then add the sound design of the tires screeching and a dog whimpering to indicate that a dog has been hit.


It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia

This clip shows how It's Always Sunny tackles filming a scene in which someone gets hit by a car. This is a much more simple way of filming it as it mainly depends on the sound design and reactions of the characters as you do not see the character getting hit. However, it is filmed from an angle that won't be possible for VET-MAN - in this scene from Always Sunny, Dennis reverses into Charlie so this can be shown through a wide shot as Charlie would be positioned behind the car (so obviously wouldn't be seen by the camera) - in our scene, Tim is driving forwards so we wouldn't be able to use a wide angle as you would see there is no dog being hit. Instead of focusing on the camera use within this piece of research, I am focusing more on how the sound design makes it convincing that Charlie has been hit by the car (although I will briefly discuss the visuals used to accompany this sound design).

The rush of the character to get away helps to build up to Charlie being hit. When Frank appears in front of the car - this causes Dennis, Dee and Mac to react in shock (shown through a medium three shot) and think quickly to get away from Frank. They choose to reverse away (shown through a wide shot) in order to escape Frank, however, in doing so, they hit Charlie (shown through the same wide shot). Prior to Dennis reversing into Charlie, as the van is moving swiftly backwards, we hear Charlie shout "Dennis stop". This is followed by the sound of something being hit (in the form of a thump) and the sound of the tires screeching to a halt. This is then followed by Charlie shouting "Dennis you son of a bitch".

As previously stated, whilst I will not be drawing inspiration from the method this is shot to inform my decision of how to film our dog hit scene as it will not be possible to film a dog being hit from a wide shot without the dog be visible- I will be taking inspiration from the sound design. Studying this clip has shown how the sound design can make something convincing even when you cannot see something being hit. As I said following the research into The Office, I will use sound design in the form of Tim shouting in reaction to seeing the dog in the road, the sound of something being hit, the sound of the tires screeching and the sound of the dog whimpering in reaction to being hit.

This will be put into practice in the test shoot and then again in the shoot day in which scene 3 is filmed.