Final Edit Guilt Trip

Editing Completion!!!

Today we finally finished our Final Cut final edit! it took less time than we thought, but we were still getting used to the new software. we put in titles over the beginning of the film. we also put music over all parts of the film, so there were no gaps, and with the transitions it's continuous, and sounds great. we also did some good effects with the music, such as reversing it for one part, and increasing and decreasing the volume using waves.

Rough Edit Guilt Trip

This is our rough edit. It is not finished as we did not have time to put enough music in, so some parts are a bit quiet. On Thursday we did a viewing with everyone else in our classes' videos being shown, and we got an audience of people to view them. We created a questionnaire, which we posted on survey monkey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/L7XVFKJ and also a printed version which people watching the intros could fill in. This was a great chance to see what everyone else in the class had been doing.
Our feedback was quite mixed, a few people noticed the music, which we will improve on final cut. some people said they did not understand the ending, which after we saw it through their eyes, we realised that it could definitely be improved as it is not really very clear. I think this is because when we did the planning, we planned way too much shots for the time of film we had, as we did not realise timings.
With this feedback we can hopefully do a better edit in Final Cut, to make the music more continuous and the storyline better.

Location

We discussed several film locations, as we all have woods near where we live. Holly said the woods near hers are particularly creepy, and there are several small lanes leading towards it. We decided to film here because of the whole setting, the country lanes and open fields, as well as the woods having some interesting fetures such as a bridge and a swing, which we incorpurated into our thriller.

 Large shadowy tree, leafy ground; good forsound effects, area surrounded by fairly dense trees. We sound the swing, and decided to add it into the film by havin Daisy coming into the clearng and seeing the swind swaying slightly, as if someone has just been swinging on it a gotten off. This adds to the paranoia that builds up during the opening.

The bridge we decided to add into the film as well because it was another dynamic feature to add to the environmet rather than just trees. We also thought this would be a good place for Daisy to trip up as it is a step, as apposed to having trip over a stone or something. Also the bridge has water running under it, a typical thriller convention.


Holly went out and took photos of her area for reference:
http://rhs-hollyf-media.blogspot.com/2010/10/scene-shots.html

Thriller opening

For the last week since we filmed the first part of our film, we have been creating a rough edit on iMovie. This has been very useful as it helped us peice together and organise the film that was ad already, and also it made us realise that we had planned too much for the time limit we had, so we had to drastically reduce some of the clips, and even cut out a few scenes entirely, before we managed to get it down to 1:00 min long, leaving us 1:00 left for the rest of the opening. We also got to play around with some of the effects for the 'creature view' part. we added several transitions, and as a rough edit, i think it looks pretty good. Today we imported the footage from Sunday, and we will begin a rough edit on that tommorow.

 On Sunday we finished filming at Holly's house. This was really successful, although we came across some complications. We began by filming the very last shot, when Daisy sees the cut has gone. We did this because we didn't now how well the 'cut' would wash off. We then went to the woods, a different part to where we filmed last time. We found a large clearing with a big tree, and a swing. We thought this looked quite scary and effective and so we decided to add this into our film. Everything else went well, we were very pleased with how well it went. It started to get dark quickly so went back to te house to film the final scene. We then realised the light outside was different to the one in the first scene we filmed that day, and as this scene was supposed to be morning, we had to artificially create some light. This was fairly difficult, but we can edit the brightness later on.

Filming

Today we began filming for our thriller opening, after completing all planning and research in class. We chose to film at Holly's house because there are some creepy woods nearby that were perfect for filming. As we walked towrds the woods we shot several scenes of Daisy taking the dog for a walk. this worked very well as there we some good landscape shots that show isolation. We managaged to film very well accoringly to the storyboard plan that we devised previously, and although neither Daisy or I had been to these woods before and did not know how well they would work for our film, it turned out to be just right. There was also a stream in the woods which we got a shot of to show running water, a classic thriller theme. we had to stop filming around 4.30 as it was begining to get dark so we will need to finish filming sometime next week but overall i think it was a successfull day as we made a good start and managed to get about 1/3 of the filming done.

Film Planning

Costumes-

Black because it is fairly neutral and normal, and will not stand out, which is what the character is like. A red scarf to signify danger, warning, and concealing something.

Location- http://rhs-hollyf-media.blogspot.com/2010/10/scene-shots.html

Narrow muddy track, looks unused and therefore isolated. No buildings around to show that the character is walking into helplessness, as the audience see there is no one able to help her.

even more unused and desolate track leading towards dark, shadowy, dense woods. the open fields around it makes it look extreemly isolated, as if there is nothing except the grass and the sky. When we film, as is is autumn, should be fairly overcast, which will look mysterious and grey, and also hinting that there won't be many happy occurences, signifying there will be bad things ahapening ahead.

Characters- For the casting, we decided it would be best if one of us plays the main character. This means we all are included in the production of the film, we all know exactly what we want for our film so we can produce exactly that, and it is easier for travel as we all live in little villages a way aprat from each other. As i am not very good at acting, it would be either Holly or Daisy. We decided Daisy would be best because Holly has a fringe covering her forehead, which wouldn't work for the bit where the character cuts her head.

Film Panning

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Film

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7/10/10
Today we began storyboarding our thriller opening using the drawing tablet connected to the computer. We created the images in photo shop, then inserted them into a PowerPoint presentation so we can write notes alongside the drawings, about camera shots and other film techniques. It was quite hard to get used to the drawing tablet at first, so we created simplistic stick-men drawings, but hopefully they still show our ideas for the thriller opening.

Thriller Opening Planning

5/10/10
We were put into groups for our thriller openings. In my group is Holly and Daisy. We discussed lots of ideas, and eventually came up with an idea each.
Daisy's idea was an opening based around a girl biking home after work in the dark and its raining (running water- thriller theme). She is being followed by a car. She speeds up, and so does the car. As she stops, the car slows down to stop beside her. The scene cuts to black for a few seconds, then you see a quick glimpse of the car again, fades to black etc.
We discussed this idea, and about the background information of the girl, who was likable, but shy, works in a pub, goes to college. the character in the car is a drunk for the pub.
Holly suggested an idea of a girl walking her dog in the woods, and being followed by something mysterious. The dog senses something else, barks and runs off, leaving the girl very scared. there are shadows, heavy breathing, and twigs snapping. Then there is a black figure that runs past quickly right in front of the screen. Both these ideas are of the horror sub genre.
My idea was more action; there are four men sitting around a table, playing poker, smoking etc. Then one of then falls out of his chair, onto the floor, dead, after taking a sip of water. one of the other men turns over his cards, revealing a winning hand.


6/10/10
Today we chose which of our ideas we were going to develop further into a thriller opening. We decided that my idea would be too difficult to do, creating the right-looking characters, and the correct setting for that kind of film. We also said that Daisy's idea would also be quite difficult to do, as we don't know anyone that can drive that could do it, and it is also hard to film in the dark.
We then could develop Holly's idea further. We discussed the scene in more detail. We worked on some background detail, that the thing that's actually following the girl is not actually a being, but more of her conscience, because shes done something wrong (that would be shown in the rest of the film as it goes back on itself, a few days before). We began making a storyboard which we will complete next lesson using the Macs.

Preliminary Task

Today we shot our preliminary task. This was the first time we'd used the equipment, so it took some practice. We went to the drama building, where we also found some useful props. We used the tripod, and began filming. We made sure we used lots of different camera angles, such as Long Shot, Close Up, Over the Shoulder. This went pretty successfully, so we went back to the classroom to begin editing. After replaying the tape, we decided that some things could have been better, so we decided to quickly film it again. This went really well, and next lesson we can start editing to create the final product.

Film Terminology

Editing
Film editing refers to the method  of combining lots of shots into a continuous sequence.
To make the flow from shot to another more interesting, we use transitions. These are usually used with continuity systems, which means the flow from one shot to another is as smooth as possible, and therefore specific editing is undetectable. These also apply to sound.
Other editing techniques include fade in & out, slow motion, which can be done during the editing process to make the film run at a slower pace; visual effects, which is computer modified images used with live tape to create things which would either otherwise be expensive, or impossible to create.
An important part of editing it Cutting. This includes techniques such as shot reverse shot, which is two camera angles combined together to create the impression that the two characters are looking at each other. It also includes Eyeline match, graphic match, action match, jump cut, crosscutting and parallel editing.




Sound
A lot of sound effects are added in the editing process, although dialogue is recorded on film.
Diegetic sound is the term for sound whose source is visible on screen to the viewer, such as speech. Non diegetic sound, therefore, is sound that is separate to the action on screen, such as narrative.
Music can be added, during the opening and closing credits, and at points during a film to add another dimension for the viewrs to enjoy.

Film Terminology

Composition

Film composition means how the objects in view on screen are arranged to make the scene more interesting and effective to the viewer. There are several techniques we can use to create a good composition.

Framing; This means to frame the subject of interest with objects in the foreground.  

Rule of Thirds; By imagining that the scene is divided into horizontal and vertical thirds, you have four places to put your subject. Because the subject is now slightly off centre, it creates a more interesting and stimulating scene for the eye to view. This can be used to identify a characters' path as they are walking, or for an establishing shot.

Depth of field; This is the focus of the camera on either the foreground or background (shallow or deep focus). When the camera is focused on the subject in the foreground, the background is blurry. When the camera is focused on the object in the background, the foreground it blurry. In film, this can be used to draw attention to an object in the foreground, while still allowing us to vaguely see what is going on the background.

Focus Pulls; This is similar to depth of field, although it is only used in film as it means to change the depth of field. For example, the scene may begin with a shallow focus, so the subject in front is in focus. Then the shot adjusts to a deep focus, meaning the background is now in view. This is used to direct the viewer's attention from different subjects during the same shot.