Evaluation Question 7

(VLOG Script)

When reviewing back at our preliminary task it is such a good feeling realising how far we have come in such a short time between the production of our preliminary task and our final film opening. Before we was using basic, standard shots and editing skills and in our final film opening we have produced a high-quality film opening that conforms to our thriller genre codes and conventions.

As a group our mise-en-scene skills have improved tremendously. In our preliminary task we didn’t really focus on mise-en-scene, all we focused on was getting different angled shots and putting them together. However, in our final task we used all elements on mise-en-scene including costumes, props, settings etc. We was able to improve from the large amount of research we took out on the thriller genre and film openings. Much analysis from different films gave us lots of ideas and inspiration to perform in our film. In our preliminary task we stuck to quite basic angled shots, we used 360 degrees rule, worms eye view, reverse shot and close up shot. We failed to use match-on-action shots and shot reverse shot. We noticed this though, so when filming our final film opening we used a wider range of different shots we found out about during our research. This includes shots such as: extreme close up, wide shot, over the shoulder shot, point of view shot, extreme close up shot and many more. Our preliminary task was a great starter for us as it gave us the opportunity to increase our skills later on in our final film opening.

In our preliminary task we used my macbook and used the editing software ‘IMovie’. This uses extremely basic transitions which when editing our preliminary task we believed was very advanced and effective, so when we upgraded to Final Cut Pro X this was actually much more advanced as well as much easier to use as well as allowed us to layer the film, music and voice-over easily as the overlay effects where much easier than IMovie. 



We didn’t use any soundtracks in our preliminary task apart from the diegetic sound in the surroundings of our shots. We didn’t focus at all on sound in our preliminary task as we was so focused on the different shots we needed to use so we didn’t research any soundtracks or dialogue. This again highlights our improvements from our preliminary task to our final film opening as in our final film opening as in our final film opening we was able to add two voice-overs and add effects on them, add a soundtrack and add the bleeping sound at the end of the opening.

In our preliminary task, there was a small amount of dialogue which we used to tell a short story, however the dialogue used hermeneutics code as it created slight mystery for the audience as they didn’t know what the characters meant by this dialogue showing it had a background story. However, it was still very basic and uninteresting for the audience. Furthermore, in our final film we researched into different dialogues and decided to spend a lot of time of the creation of it using mise-en-scene, sound and editing skills. 

Ultimately, in our preliminary task we only used one location which was our school hallway and a small office off of the hallway. This was again because we failed to take much research into different locations. Nether the less, in our final film we was able to experiment with many different locations in order to find the best one for our final film opening which we then went onto using a car and a forest for. This demonstrated our understanding of different locations and how to shoot in different locations focusing on different terms on lighting and camerawork. 

To conclude, I think it is clearly identifiable how much progress our group has made in the relatively short space between our preliminary task and our final film opening. There is even a huge contrast between our first draft film opening and our last one. I think it was the basicness of our preliminary task when we realised we was missing so many different codes and conventions of a thriller that motivated us to take the time to carry out research and produce a much higher standard product. We worked immensely well together as a group, we all had our designated roles which allowed up to produce a really good final product.

Evaluation Question 6

Evaluation Question 5

Evaluation Question 4

 (VLOG Script)

Due to the fact that The Absence is a thriller film, we automatically relate the target audience age with late teens – adults, purely because it takes understanding. However, even some early teens may be intrigued in watching the film to discover new emotions like the feeling of their friend going missing. The majority of thriller film-goers are passionate thriller fans, this is because viewers will not watch a film which they have to think about or will affect their emotions afterwards. Our film isn’t targeted at any specific gender, however research shows that males are more interested in thrillers than women. However, with the protagonists being females, it may attract more female viewers than we expected as it allows them to relate to their emotions.

We have to perform much research when decided on a suitable age for our film. After analysing the BBFC age classifications we decided that 15 was a suitable minimum age for our film. Even though in our opening there is minimal violence, towards the end of our opening Olivia is seen tied up amongst trees which we believe would be frightening for younger teens/children is adds hardness and sadness to our opening. Our film opening is left on a cliff hanger, once the second news report is read out about Nicole then going missing it suggests that there is more violence about to take place throughout the rest of the film. We chose 15 as we didn’t want to cancel out too much audience, 15 year olds + tend to go to the cinema quite frequently as its one of the few outings they can do at that age, there is also a cinema in near enough every town which is why we believed 15 would allow us to have a larger audience and 18 may put people who are even old enough to watch our film off. Our film does not consist of any self-harming or suicide aspects which means that it is suitable for age 15, we say this after reviewing the BBFC age classifications which state ‘We consider the risk of potential harm to impressionable teenagers. For example, dangerous behaviour such as hanging, suicide and self-harming should not dwell on detail which could be copied.” I believe our film will more over educate younger people the dangers of kidnapping and how they can prevent this or go about this.

Evaluation Question 3

Evaluation Question 2

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Evaluation Question 1

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The Absence - Completed Film Opening

Nicole - Character

Final Editing Screenshots

Fade in and out added

 Fade in and out production company logo

 Removal of light effect on dog

 Change in colour and location of title of film 

 Voice over added in over the soundtrack with the soundtrack at a lower volume

 Speed up of the opening car pulling in shot as takes up too much time and the speed makes it more 'straight to the point'. 

Credits for each individual in our groups role

Third Draft Editing Analysis

Editing in our third draft wasn't too major in comparison to our first and second. We changed the font colour of the film title and changed it to a burgundy colour instead of its previous black colour to make it stand out more. We also added a contrast effect onto the first clip of the car driving into the car park to give it more jagged, fuzzy feel from the start. 

Third Draft Edits

Contrast effect on top of the opening clip

 Changed font colour and changed the location to the centre of the screen

The Absence - Third Draft

Editing Analysis

These screenshots of edits show editing that took place in our 1st and 2nd editing drafts. We are still we have used minimal effects in these drafts. There is also a few drafts which we are unsure of so are likely to change different aspects of them by adding extra effects which we feel are more suited and remove effects and clips which we feel do not fit in our film like we had imagined. 

Our Final Footage Edits

    
 
     

The Absence - Second Draft

The Absence - First Draft

This is our first draft for our film opening. We have decided to change the name of our film from 'Cat and Mouse' to 'The Absence' as we just did not believe that 'Cat and Mouse' gave the full feel that we wanted to portray in our thriller film. We think that the title 'The Absence' creates more suspense and anticipation for the audience as they will not know what to expect from the thriller but the title will enable them to realise that slight horror and panic in the title.


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Props

In our film, we planned to use missing person posters to create anticipation in the horror and despair of our thriller. We created this poster and printed 10 copies to scatter over the ground in the forest. We stepped on them and made them look ragged and dirty. We made sure the title 'Missing Person' was bold and eye catching so it would be clear on camera for the audience to see and understand our film opening. 

Editing Showcase

We have just put our film together and we are now currently in the process of editing. We want to make some of our clips slow motion to show the effect of what is happening and emphasize the atmosphere of the moment. This clip below shows the contrast between the normal camera speed and the edit of slow motion over a particular aspect of the film. 



Because our film is a thriller, we do not want to overcrowd our film with effects because it will steer away from the idea of a thriller and people will focus on the effects of the film rather than the atmosphere intended to be made. We will use the security camera effect when using certain camera angles to make it look like Nicole (protagonist) is being watched. The clip below is a demonstration of the effect we intend to use. 



We will be using a royalty free piece of music which we will place over the top of our film, then we put a voice-over over the whole film narrating the film start to finish. We do not have any dialogue in our film apart from the screaming which we will emphasize and remove narration from those parts so they stand out. In order to add this voice-over making sure it all lines up with the film, we will record the voiceover whilst over watching the film on mute so it all matches up and is easy for the audience to follow. We will also add effects which change the saturation of the colour of the clips to create a dull, gloomy feel. However, we was lucky that the weather was dark and foggy on the day as it would be more difficult for us to add effects to make it dark and gloomy if the weather was bright and sunny. The clip below will show how different effects can be used to create different colourings. 

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Narration/Script Development 2

Production Company Name (dissolve) 

Fade in:  Billie (narrating)

This is my story

Rear of car drives in and parks up at Thorndon Country Park.

My name is Nicole Ann Smith. I am a pretty and popular 17 year old. But none of that matters; what matters is; how I am still speaking

Fade to black

Billie Ayres (typography) 

Undoing seat belt, looks at herself in the mirror. Checks if she is looking okay. Gets out phone and looks through twitter. 

This was my mate Olivia

Jody Cook (typography) 

See's tweet urging people to look out for missing girl Olivia. Gets out of car and starts walking her dog. 

She was taken from us

Fade to black

Todd Fletcher (typography) 

She continues to walk. 

By someone... or something

Walks and sees photo on the floor, ahead of her path there is shoe. 

No one knew where she was, or what had taken her

Dog runs off in the distance

But I saw something that day

Nicole trips over, looks up and see's Olivia on the floor tied up with the antagonist standing over her.

That was not human..

Nicole: 

Oliviaaaaaa!!

Nicole gets up and runs away, antagonist chases her. Gets in car, drops keys by feet and sees antagonist in wind mirror. 

Ahhhh!! (Screams)

Test Footage 6 Analysis

Test footage 6 is the corrected version of Test footage 3. By corrected I mean that we filmed the same shot just with the phone camera turned to the side to eliminate the black panels down the side of the video. However, during the few seconds of filming this sun due to the angle of the camera the sun over-exposed the image causing the light to take over the image. Nevertheless, when using this shot in our actual film we will make sure that we eliminate the over exposure by recording the same clip a few times to get the desired and correct one. We also realised that the definition in the extreme close up at the start of the clip was even better than the first time and also allowed the camera to focus on the tree and then on me as we passed the tree. 

 

← Over exposed

Test Footage 5 Analysis

Test Footage 5 was a worms eye view 360 degree shot. The shot consisted of the view of the tall trees with the day light beaming through the top. We liked this shot as a group, because you cannot see anything relevant to the film which would make the audience think and challenge their mind why this shot is there. However, as a group we are still unsure whether to use this shot in our real film as we are not sure if it is relevant to the film and we do not know whether it will fit so we will decide when filming and editing our film is this shot will be inputted. 

Test Footage 4 Analysis

Test footage 4 is probably our least favoured shot, we thought this because the quality of the camera was quite poor in comparison to the other shots we had filmed. We described how the shot would probably be a lot more effective with the use of a professional camera which is something as a group we will probably consider using so it allows it to create this shot at a higher quality which could then actually work quite well in our film. However, the quality of the iPhone camera was just not creating the desired effect we hoped for. Again, we forgot to turn the phone to the side so the black panels still exist down the side of the video. 

Nevertheless, if appropriate equipment used could be a good way of revealing the antagonist. This is because the character is nowhere to be seen behind the tree, then they just appear which is shocking for the audience so we decided as a group it could be a good way of revealing the antagonist to the audience as it would be unexpected.

Test Footage 3 Analysis

Test footage 3 consisted of a full length shot however the shot starts of an extreme close up of a tree in the camera, the camera glides to the left of the tree and becomes a full length shot of me standing their on the phone - looking nervous and looking around the forest. We really favoured this shot as a group because the extreme close up of the tree is such a high quality image and it gives the audience the idea that somebody is watching the character from behind a tree which is chilling and nerve filled for the audience. However, in test footage 3 we again forgot to turn the camera to the side to film so we have again got two black panels down the side of the film. Nethertheless, when it comes to the real thing this will not be the case. 

Test Footage 2 Analysis

Test Footage 2 was a behind shot of me running through the woods. We thought that this was a good shot to use in our film as it gives the audience the idea that the antagonist is holding the camera and chasing Nicole through the woods. This shot creates suspense and anticipation again for the audience as it will interpret that the antagonist is close to getting her which leaves the audience on the edge of their seat. We have decided to use this shot in our film as it is a good shot to engage the audience and also show a clear understanding of how the protagonist (Nicole) feels. In the test footage, we forgot to turn the camera on its side so their is two black panels beside the shot, however when we test our feel footage we will remember to turn the camera to the side or use a camera. 

Test Footage 1 Analysis

Today, Jody, Todd and I went to Shenfield Common which is extremely similar to our desired film location of Thorndon Country Park. We tested various different camera angles and shots that we decided may be difficult when it comes to the real thing. So, to prevent this we used each others different opinions and ideas to discuss the positives and negatives on certain shots we intended to use. 

In our first test footage, it was a close up shot of my feet as they walk through the leave concealed ground in the woods. We discussed this shot and we thought that it was a an ideal shot to use in our film as it does not show too much, it leaves room for the audiences imagination to wonder what the higher surroundings are, who's feet they are, what is behind the trees, what is about to happen? This shot creates suspense and anticipation for the audience as it gives so little away, also the fact the camera is low down videoing the feet could insinuate that the person videoing is scared and of lower status than the character. This is a good shot as it also eliminates light issues as it is low down we do not have the problem is light exposing the scene. 

Practice Shots and Angles

Why film Test footage?

We filmed test footage to gain a clear idea and create a plan of how we will film the real thing. We filmed our test footage over Shenfield Common as it is a similar location to our decided location - Thorndon country park. It has given us a clear understanding of what will work and what will not in terms of costumes, equipment etc. Originally, the antagonist was going to wear a cape but after analysing a similar location we feel it will move away from the thriller genre and could be reviewed as a horror and give the stereotypical antagonist villain look rather than a mind-interrogating thriller. To prevent this, the antagonist will wear casual attire such as a hoodie, jeans and trainers but we will still use white and black face paint to show the clear contrast between him and the other characters. 

We continue to use the desired location of the forest as it shows the antagonist is stalking and following Nicole. This is because the location can hide a lot creating anticipation for the audience as they focus on the objects that the antagonist could be hiding behind. This enhances the atmosphere of the film because of the pre-existing, useful setting. We have also decided to re-writing the script to remove dialogue from the scene and adding narration on top of the backing track. We will use a voice over rather than filming on scene as it will create suspense for the audience and also break the fourth wall. 

Test Footage Compilation with Edits

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Editing Test Footage - Final Cut Pro