My Evaluation Of The Complete Experience

Soon to be done..

Prelim Animatic

Rough Cut

What I would do differently bassed on my knowledge now

• Add more sound effects because i think it would make our piece more entertaining
• Get more / a range of different camera angles
• Add more scenes seen as our opening was quite short 
• Chose more  locations
• Be more organised in terms of both blogging and filming schedule
• add more characters to my initial idea
• Do some video blogs
• Take more behind the scenes shots
• Use more camera techniques in term of ones used to create suspence

Importing and exporting

 The reason why i am blogging about this task is because it is one of the ones that i had found quite challenging at the start of the project, but now I'm showing that i have gained an understanding of this process.

• First of all i had to IN and OUT it and the beginning and the end
• Saved this as Main opening sequence (names of people in my group)
• I then opened up sound track pro
• The sound track i uploaded was inspired by the on in "Enemy of the state"
• I then imported our Opening sequence into the Sound track pro software
• now i was able to move about the music to places were it seemed best
• Whilst doing this i was able to watch our opening in small on the top left had side of the window
• We then saved this as soundtrack for final piece  
• Went back into the final cut pro software and imported the soundtrack for final piece  file from our video drive
• I then muted all other sound that was in our previous opening sequence as we only wanted our new sound track to be heard
• finally I dragged our soundtrack onto the tabs and pressed F13 the screen to watch it bigger and it played with the title sequence.

Introduction to cameras

Today as a group we learned how to use the camera's properly. This included learning how to set up the camera, put the camera safely onto a tripod and using features such as zoom and focus. we were given a task to film someone reading a news paper but whe had to make it more dramatic, using a range of different camera techniques and shots.

Our Final Final Cut

Analysis of thriller watched in class "The Step Father"

In recent times the horror genre has been divided into two paths, the brutally gruesome and the suspenseful. The Stepfather clearly is going for the second category, which would have been fine if it were in fact thrilling as it possibly could be. The idea is strong and the characters are appealing but the movie is missing the one element that might earn it an audience, terror. However it employs a range of codes and conventions which make it a thriller film; this including the use of false plateau. This technique involves deceiving the audience into thinking a dramatic scene will occur, One other example of a technique used in this to build tension is the use of music, e.g starting of with slow sort of airy music and then finishing off with a more up tempo beat, the transition from one sound to another is very important as its aim to catch the viewer of guard in other words surprise/ frighten.

pre final cut

Camera shots

As shot types are an essential part of our piece, here are some of the camera shots we will try and include:

Over the shoulder shot


wide shot


Close up


Long shot


Extreme close up

Thriller sub genres

When making a thriller there are many specific types (Sub-genres) to chose from. here is a list of some of them, along with a brief explanation:

Conspiracy thriller: When a hero confronts a group of enemies who are more powerful than themselves; whose true extent only he recognises. an example of this is Flightplan a 2005 thriller film directed by Robert Schwentke and starring Jodie Foster.

Psychological thriller: When the conflict between main characters is more mental/ emotional rather than physical. an example is Orphan a 2009 American horror and thriller film directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, starring Vera Farmiga.

Mystery thriller: Normally a film filled with suspense, where usually the main character attempts to solve a mystery. an example is Memento  a 2000 American psychological thriller film written and directed by Christopher Nolan

After researching quite a few thriller sub genres the one that inspires me the most is a psychological thriller because usually it is this type of thriller that makes the audience more involved and more intrigued, taking them on a psychological journey of uncertainty throughout the movie.

Structure of opening of Thriller films

There are three basic structures when you notice film openings these are:

• A narrative opening with the titles running thoughout

e.g. The Stepfather & The Shinning

• A discrete title sequence

e.g. Arlington road & Seven

• Titles over a blank screen, followed by the narrative opening

e.g. Donnie Darko & Mezrine

• Stylized editing

e.g. Taking of Pelham 123

Cinema to watch UNKNOWN

I went to the cinema to watch Unknown  it was about a guy called Dr. Martin Harris (Liam Neeson) awakens after a car accident in Berlin to discover that his wife (January Jones) suddenly doesn’t recognize him and another man (Aidan Quinn) has assumed his identity. Ignored by disbelieving authorities and hunted by mysterious assassins, he finds himself alone, tired and on the run. Aided by an unlikely ally (Diane Kruger), Martin plunges headlong into a deadly mystery that will force him to question his sanity, his identity, and just how far he’s willing to go to uncover the truth

Lurpak sequence

The aim of this advert was to sell Lurpak which is the brand of butter. The idea of someone making an omelette sounds very boring however, it was turned into an advert so suspenseful and 'wierdly' kept me on edge to see whether it would fail or cook perfectly. During the first 9 seconds of the advert the lighting is very dark so the audience are wondering what the advert is about which immediately keeps us hooked. The backing track of the advert was quiet slow yet suspenseful.

What I really enjoyed about this was that there were a lot of close ups on the littlest things that we do not really pay attention to when we are cooking so it seems much more creative. This showed me that even the simple things can look reallly inventive with sound effects and really goot ediitn techquies. It somehow looked interesting and suspenseful.

ART OF THE TITLE SEQUENCE

I really like this title sequence because of the glowing effects and the way the close up of the actor is slightly blurred and hazed.We cannot really see his true identity because of the effect which further reinforces that it is mysterious and uncertain. The used of glowing fonts continue to add a weird effect to the sequence. The images are very different to each other and in a way reflect setting or place. The colours appeal the most to me and it caught my eye instantly due to the fire explosions and the misty scenery.

Our new and final name for our thriller opening.

We have finally all decided as a group that 'Imperfections' was our last and final title for our opening. The name sounds good and basically does not give to much away. The name suggest something is not perfect so you could sort of figure out what the thriller is going to be about but not fully sure. 
The name was decided by Temi one of our group members and we were all happy about the title.Our first title was called 'A perfect world' and second was 'Psycho teacher' both of these titles seem to be dull. Also the second one gives to much away as it tells the audience who the crazy killing person is going to be. Epecially when you want a film to build up tension and suspence their is literally no point if the title gives to much away.

Props that were used on our opening thriller

Our group had to bring in some props for our thriler film. The props we used were: an Id card along with an pendent to hold it,books, phone,handbag,a normal bag and weapons in the draw and more.

Final Edit Screen Grab

This is a screen grab of basically the final edit. I didn't personally get to add the touch ups of the titles and soundtack, as i was in lesson. However, Temi from my group was happy to take on this responsibility. This screen grab is of pretty much our final edit. We had the titles and the actaul edit that were finished. All that needed to be added in was soundtrack. I am very happy with watching the result of our film. It came out better then expected, as the scenes were put together so well.  Furthermore, i chose to use this screen grab as you can see the titles, an over the shoulder shot of emily, who was following me and the timeline. 

How To Make Your Film Back and White

I have shown you a screen grab of how to make our film black and white. We thought it would be a good idea to have some of our video in black and white and some in colour, as this is not common

I firstly go into Effects and then i click on video filters, it will then take me to the option image control and then i click on the effect Desaturate. This is what makes the film black an white.

Audience feedback for Rough Cut

To make a positive film we must need some feedback good and bad to see what we could improve on. i went around and asked some people to look at my groups rough cut and give suggestions to what they think would make it better. Nearly all of them said the same thing which was to add a title sequence with titles of the names of the people in the film, who edited sound, who produced it etc...

Some people also said make the scene where the person that gets killed in the film (Lashmi) a little bit longer so that we wait more and the tension and anxiety builds up to bring suspence into the film. This is good as this is what we actually want as it is a psycoligical thriller.Other people mentioned that we should add some scary sounds or just plain tension build up sounds where the sound gets louder and louder, and other sounds.

However their were some things they said they really liked as some mentioned the beginning as they said they liked the way the killer teacher had weapons and a list of people she killed and who is her next target. They also liked the last bit when Lashmi is lying on the floor and the camera starts to zoom up on the id card. In addition they also said they loved the fact that the killer was still alive and not stopped which leads to a clif hanger.