Evaluation Part 7: Reflection

Evaluation Part 7: Reflection

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Initially when I started my media production with my Prelim task I had little experience in the editing techniques that needed to be used in order to make my footage seem professional. With my Prelim task i used editing to the best of my knowledge to make my footage look as good as it could be. I applied a variety of effects such as colour correction and de-saturate on final cut, as well as adding credits to the opening of the footage to show that it was my Prelim task. Furthermore my skills in use of the actual technology that was used for filming was moderate. I had little experience in camerawork and filming before carrying out the prelim task and this led me to improve my skills following up to the film production task. Whilst working on the prelim task I enjoyed many things. I enjoyed learning about how to edit my footage as well as how to shoot the right angles and get the right camera movement for certain shots. I also enjoyed engaging ideas with my group in order to make our prelim different from other groups. I especially enjoyed my acting role within the prelim and helping to come up with the short story ideas for it.

From the prelim to the final film production I learnt many things and improved my skills both in editing as well as conducting filming. Through watching tutorials and being given guidance I learnt a variety of editing techniques as well as how to use other editing programmes such as After effects and Live Type as opposed to always using Final Cut. Through studying in class and watching other tutorials and research, I learnt what sort of camera angles and movements were used in conventional thrillers in order to encode things for the audience to decode from the sequence. My camerawork skills developed and my understanding of what angles to use or what shots to display in my sequence improved as well. Whilst working on the main film task I enjoyed many things. I enjoyed working with my group and putting forward production ideas to make our thriller appear different to others but still abide by the conventions that these thrillers have and develop upon them. I also enjoyed the actual filming part of the production work. Being out with my group pitching ideas to our main actor and actress as well as having some fun whilst filming was a great part of the task. I also think that we worked well as a group sharing our ideas and thoughts effectivly thorough blogger or by email as well as each contributing and playing our own individual roles to the production of the film. e.g my role was as editor of the footage.

There would be various things that I would change and do differently if given the opportunity to do this task again. Firstly I would maybe change the plot of the story but still keep to some of the ideas that we came up with, primarily the idea of a voodoo doll inflicting damage on a female victim as this isn't what is apparent in conventional thrillers/horrors but the ideas of a female victim does stick to this convention. For what I would change for example I would change the location that we set our production in. Instead of having a disclosed isolated location where our victim is alone I would make her location more open in a busy place such as a high street or in London to show a juxtaposition. Despite the fact that she is no longer isolated, she is still a target.

My final reflection on this whole task is that my skills have greatly improved since working on the prelim I have developed my editorial as well as my camerawork skills. Moreover I have worked efficiently with my group and we all have contributed great ideas which has led to the final product of our production film.

Evaluation Part 6: Technologies: Prezi Presentation

Evaluation Part 3: Institutions

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

My thriller film was produced to target a mass audience rather than a niche audience. People who are of the C, D social class bracket would be part of this target audience as it would be content that they are used to watching e.g conventional thrillers that they have seen previously. My thriller film may not appeal to those of an A, B social bracket as it wouldn't be content that they are usually use or accustomed to. Furthermore this film would be primarily targeted at males over the age of 15 because of certain content within the film. it would be primarily targeted at males as males tend to be attracted to thriller/horror films and are able to engage more with them. Females may tend to feel squeamish around certain content that is shown in horror or thriller films this is why my film may not a appeal to a large majority of females.

To say what sort of thriller my film is similar to is hard to say. My film is unique in its own rights as an adaptation of voodoo hasn't been illustrated in many mainstream thriller films. However in terms of it's conventions and features it can be said that my film is linked to the crime, mystery thriller Se7en. My film has taken lots of inspiration from this film including the credit font and style as well as the variety of close up shots used on objects of significance. Furthermore the use of lighting that is used in the first scenes of the opening sequence has given inspiration as ti what lighting I would use for my film. It can also be said that my film is similar to the thriller Saw. The enigma codes that surround the Jigsaw puppet gave me inspiration to surround the voodoo doll in enigma to make the audience question it's place in the narrative at first thought. The film Se7en was released September 22nd 1995 and was produced by Arnold Kopelson and Phyllis Carlyle the film was distributed by production company New Line Cinema. Below is a clip of its opening sequence showing the credits that my thriller film took inspiration from.

The other film I took inspiration from was the Saw franchise the first Saw film was released January 19th 2004 (sundance) or October 29th 2004. There have been 7 Saw films and a remake of the last one in 3D. The Saw films were produced by Gregg Hoffman, Mark Bugg and Oren Koules. The film franchise was distributed by production company Lionsgate and Studio: Evolution Entertainment and Twisted Pictures. Below is a clip extract from Saw VI showing the enigma around the doll which I took inspiration from for my thriller film. Saw VI was released October 23rd 2009 and was distributed and produced by the same production company and people.

My film would be produced by an independent company for various reason. Firstly my film would not be deemed as a big budget film therefore it would be out of interest for a major production company to be involved in. However because it has a unique story centred around the theme of voodoo this may engage a larger production company to taking interest in this film making them want to be involved in directing it. But in general terms the my film would mostly be directed by a independent lower budget production company.

Evaluation Part 2: Representation: Prezi Presentation

Mise-en-Scene

Mise-en-Scene

Antagonist (Ellis) 

• Dark toned clothing - mostly black or grey. Hooded jacket, baggy clothing: maybe dirty and torn as well. This magnifies the thriller genre. 

• The main props would be the toolbox, a knife and a doll - these are all main factors of the action (the attack scene), creates a very sinister and tensional atmosphere. 

Victim (Danielle)

• Formal or office clothing, light tones - Printed shirt, leggings, handbag. This is a contrast to the clothing of the antagonist. 

• A car and a handbag are the most important props for the victim as they are key elements of the attack scene

Evaluation Part 1: Forms and Conventions Prezi presentation

Title Creations:

Here are some photos taken when we was creating the title sequence for our opening sequence. We used a tutorial that we found on the internet, that showed us that we could use the stroke effect in adobe after effects. We created it by typing the title, "Innosense", then drawing lines in the centre of each letter using the pen tool. Then we used stroke to make these larger to fit the entire letter, and then following the tutorial to finish the effect.

Colour editing for opening sequence:

Colour editing for opening sequence:

Logo-Initial Logo Ideas:

Logo

Initial Logo Ideas: 

Although creating a logo was not a part of the coursework requirements, we wanted to create a logo to bring more life to our production company 'Tourniquet Productions'. This allowed us to play around with the name and the ident.

Teacher and peers review so far:

Teacher and peers review so far:

Checklist of what to improve on: (teacher)

• Add in the shots of the doll (and fast cuts of i.e: hand, feet, arm, body, legs), perhaps use shot reverse shot, match on actions 

• Sync the times on the clocks to 8:10am

• Use a more non diegetic sound - sound effect of an alarm clock

• Add some slide transitions (mainly at the start and end of the sequence)

• Insert the film title 'Innosense'

• Make sure that there is cross cutting (shot of the female character, then the antagonist/the doll)

Checklist of what to improve on: (peers)

• Good use of credits and creative indent.

• Good use of camera angles and shots to illustrate thriller components.

• Suspense takes to long to come in certain shots. Fluctuating suspense.

• Music stops in certain places makes it hard to create a suspenseful atmosphere

Credits layout inspiration:

Credits layout inspiration:

With these credits from Se7en we have taken inspiration from the layout of them. The way the actors and the crew are credited is how we intend to credit our actors and crew. The way the title such as the producer is in bold then the crew responsible is written highlights their role within production and clearly shows what they did. We have also taken inspiration from the animation on the text used as well as the actual font which is like a chiller and represents to the audience that the film is a thriller. It almost looks like the writing has been scratched into the black background which gives a chiller effect.

Props for the filming of our opening sequence:

Props for the filming of our opening sequence:

Danny and Natalie with Voodoo doll.

Voodoo doll to ressemble our victim

Natalie showing the theatrical blood that we are going to
use to show the blood scar on our female victim after
she is attacked.

Filming our female victim:

Filming our female victim:

Interior of the car where our female victim gets attacked

Scene showing the cut on our female victims face after she has been attacked

Natalie with our female actress

Our female actress Danielle Fletcher

Scene when our female victim realises that she has been attacked and screams out in shock.

Final Cut Credit Editing

The screenshots above show us using Final Cut to edit our credits. We have put the credits within the footage so that in certain scenes the characters make the footage disappear. An example is the alarm clock or the foot above. When the character steps of the bed her foot gets rid of the credits and when she goes to turn off the alarm clock the credits disappear. We have also been using after effects to edit our credits into the footage.

Masking editing on after effects

The screenshots above show us using After Effects to add credit text in a part of our footage. We used masking to hide the text in at the beginning of the footage then when our actress rolls over she uncovers the text that is on the pillow. We used this effect to make our credits look more creative and professional. We also stuck to our font of DECIBEL that we are using throughout to convey our thriller.

Spider diagram planning

This is our ideas for the name of our production company that we would use for our indent. We eventually decided on the production name Tourniquet Productions

Spider diagram of ideas for various key points. Such as where we would set our opening sequence. The lighting that we would use in certain scenes the props we would need and the attributes that we wanted our performers and actors to have.

Location Change

Location Change

After using a standard location for our villain's dungeon we found that our shots didn't come out as well as we would have liked.

We then decided to take a look at other locations and we came up with our ideal location for our villain's "lair".  The lair should be dark like a cellar or a basement because it reflects the character himself, he is dark and secluded. It also gives a sense of fear for our audience because it makes them ask questions of the villain. A dark small room is equal to the character because it blocks out the outside world which is what our villain really tries to do.

Call Sheet - Innosense

Call Sheet - Innosense

Important Contact Numbers:

Filming Crew:

Danny Coughlan (Editor) - 07706155133

Billy Edwards (Editor) - 07766112736

Josh McIntosh (Camera Man) - 07585801688

Natalie Gardner (Organiser) - 07974543256

Actor/Actress:

Danielle Fletcher - 07881226984

Ellis White - 07957010940

Emergency Numbers and Address:

Sutton Police Station - 02086431212

6 Carshalton Road, Sutton SM1 4RF

St Helier Hospital - 02082962000

Wrythe Lane, Carshalton, Surrey SM5 1AA

Beddington and Wallington Fire Station - 02085551200

19 Belmont Road, Wallington, Surrey SM6 8TE

Camera Equipment:

Item	Source
Camera (Cannon 600d) x1	Carshalton Boys Sports College, Media Department
Memory Card x1	(CBSC Media Dept)
Tripod x1	(CBSC Media Dept)
Sound Pole x1	(CBSC Media Dept)
Battery Charger x1	(CBSC Media Dept)

Props and Other Equipment:

Item	Source
Alarm Clock x1	Home
(Create) Braille Sheet x1	Carshalton Boys, Art Department
Newspapers x2	Shop or Home
Stationary (Scissors, pens)	Home
Printed images (of the victim) x3	Home
Handbag x1	Home
Objects in bag i.e keys, tissues	Home or Shop
Car x1	Home
Voodoo Doll or Doll	Shop or Home

Screenshot of LiveType editing

 Above are screenshots of us editing using LiveType. We chose to use LiveType as it enables us to chose a text unique to our thriller. Furthermore it allows us to animate our text with a sort of chiller or suspenseful movement which reflects our thriller. The font that we stuck with to animate was Decibel as it really helps to convey a modern thriller.

Screenshots of editing through after effects

The above screenshot show us editing part of our footage. We used after effects to edit this part of our footage as we wanted to make the text look as if it was embedded in the stair banister. We wanted the credits to stay on the screen as the scene progressed of our actress walking down the stairs. The camera tracks to the text as if it is part of the original camera footage. This makes it look as if the text is stuck on the stairs as a 3D image. We used this unique text to illustrate a modern thriller as the text is Gothic and bold and is easy to read for the audience. After effects worked for this piece of text and we intend on using after effects to edit more of our footage.

Edit feedback and review:

Edit feedback and review:

Whilst editing today our group got feedback based upon the footage that we had and what we had edited. We were informed that of the footage we had, some of the shots, we very good and conveyed what we wanted to illustrate from our thriller. However we were told to re-organise where we had positioned certain shots as it was repetitive of just one character. So we have now got a shot of the female character then followed by a shot of the villain who is targeting her. We are doing this to add more of a sense of enigma as well as to show the audience a strong contrast between the female victim and her male tormentor.

To further signify our story and plot we are going to have split second embeddings of the dolls face as our thriller is focused around the idea of voodoo. The immediate pop up of the doll will confuse the audience and give a sense of enigma. However as the sequence progresses the audience will find out how the doll is linked to the female character and how they both tie in with the male antagonist. This is our progress so far of our editing of our opening sequence

Opening sequence editing progress

These are screenshot of us editing our footage of our opening sequence. Here we are adding colour filters to make the room appear a certain colour to give a dreary sense on the audience. We have also been working with different fonts to use for our credits to fit with the footage. Through timed editing we have been able to integrate the credits at certain points and make them disappear when a certain event happens in the footage. The screen shot above shows the girl throwing her feet off the bed. Before she does this the credits will appear and her feet will get rid of the credits making it look as if she has stomped them away. We have also been working with after effects to integrate text into the footage to make it look like the text is embedded in the walls or on the stair banister.