Tuesday, 27 March 2012
Re-editing
As we have received feedback on our first edit of our thriller we are now able to go back and edit the existing footage we have but also include the new shots we obtained in our re-shoot. By re-editing the new and old footage together in a new way we are able to make our thriller more appealing to our target audience by improving the quality and having clear representations of our conventions within the opening sequence.
Monday, 26 March 2012
Re-shoot
For the re-shoot of our thriller, we initially were going to film on our inset day as this meant that we would be able to spend more time filming than our first session, as we would have more hours of light. In order to do this Christian found out that Erin (the actress), was allowed time off in school hours in order to participate in media projects. However, we then discovered that this time period had expired, to rectify this mistake we rescheduled to film on the 13th after school. Due to the limited amount of daylight time this offered us, we chose to re-shoot in Christian back garden which was of a substantial size and had a small wooded area.
Once at the location, Matthew recorder 2 minuets of ambient sound whilst the actor was getting into costume and having her make-up done. After receiving feedback from our first draft, we made the make-up around her eyes darker in order to signify the connotation that the character is dead and make her look more haunting.
When shooting the new shots of the character we ensured that she was doing different things than those previously shot, for instance we had her sitting on a bench and also on a swing. During filming we came across some difficulties, in that from certain angles fences, houses and grass were visible. This was a problem as the shots couldn't then be used in our thriller as the location wouldn't have appeared in keeping with the sequence of shots we already had. We overcame, this and went on to shoot a large variety of shots such as; high angle, close ups and extremes closeups. Within these shots we aimed to create narrative enigma and build tension through the unknown.
Once at the location, Matthew recorder 2 minuets of ambient sound whilst the actor was getting into costume and having her make-up done. After receiving feedback from our first draft, we made the make-up around her eyes darker in order to signify the connotation that the character is dead and make her look more haunting.
When shooting the new shots of the character we ensured that she was doing different things than those previously shot, for instance we had her sitting on a bench and also on a swing. During filming we came across some difficulties, in that from certain angles fences, houses and grass were visible. This was a problem as the shots couldn't then be used in our thriller as the location wouldn't have appeared in keeping with the sequence of shots we already had. We overcame, this and went on to shoot a large variety of shots such as; high angle, close ups and extremes closeups. Within these shots we aimed to create narrative enigma and build tension through the unknown.
Friday, 9 March 2012
1st Draft
Feedback
After finishing our first draft of our thriller we received two sets of feedback the first from Miss and the second, after watching each others thrillers, we each had to make at least 4 comments on how the person or group could improve their work. From the feedback by Miss we learnt that our thriller was a bit boring in the way that there wasn't enough variety of shots used in order to interest and build tension for the audience. This was as the character is vastly seen in long shots skipping, and in addition to this the contrast between the white of the backgrounds on the titles jars with the ambient background of the titles superimposed over the wood footage and in addition to this the initial titles at the start of our thriller didn't read well.
In addition to this feedback given from Miss, our class made comments on areas that could be changed/improved in our thriller;
- some titles were difficult to read
- repetition of 'heart thud' lost its effect
- some shots are blurry
However, we were also given feedback on good aspects of our thriller such as; clear theme of thriller represented, creepy and good character representation.
Evaluation
Having received the feedback on our thriller we are now able to re-edit elements that didn't work such as the titles, but most importantly we have discovered that our thriller lacks variety of shots. Knowing this we shall be able to re-film aspects of our storyboard from different angles in order to make it more interesting to the audience as by doing this it will make our thriller more entertaining but it will also help to create more narrative enigma and contribute in building tension, which is essential in assuring that we have a clear representation of the thriller genre throughout our opening sequence. Furthermore, by getting feedback we have been reassured as to what aspects of our sequence work well and that we have managed to portray the characterisations and themes we wanted within our thriller.
Thursday, 8 March 2012
Editing
In the editing process we used Premier Pro to edit our opening sequence. As we could only edit on one computer we all ensured that we put in the same amount of input to the editing process, by doing this we have all equally contributed to the editing of our thriller and learnt more about the technology in the process.
Wednesday, 7 March 2012
Filming
When filming for our thriller, we all met at Bramcote park (our chosen location) and made our way up to the specific area of the woods that I had identified to be the prime location to film. The first thing we did upon arrival was to record 2 minuets of ambient sound.
Once we had set up the camera for the first shot and set the white balance, we discovered a image option that made all images shot look quite dreary and haunting. We selected this and did a practice shot with the new setting, as we all liked the look it created, one which fit into our themes, we went on to use this for the rest of filming.
We started by capturing the end image on our storyboard, the reason for this is because we didn't want it to be too dark by the time we got to the shot and in addition to this we were afraid that if we did it later our actor would be cold but also it was the only stationary shot of our character throughout the sequence.
To gain more interesting shots that would create narrative enigma, we then moved onto to doing close-ups and also a birds-eye shot. In order to get the birds-eye shot Matthew climbed into a tree and put the camera on a smaller tripod that he had brought along with him. From this angle we were able to obtain a variety of shots that we could use in our opening sequence.
After, we'd done these shots we filmed shots that didn't contain our character. By filming these shots we are able to impose our titles on the top of them at the very beginning of the sequence. Furthermore, we filmed a tilt from the woods up to the sky, this shot will make the audience feel that they are being transported into heaven. This is essential as the story line that we are aiming to portray to our target audience is that our character is dead and in search of closure.
When filming tilts, pans etc. we ensured that we did more either side so that when we cut them down in editing the transitions were smooth. We also applied this to when our character was skipping, again by doing this it ensures the images appears smooth and natural.
Now that we have finished filming our initial shots for our thriller we will be spending our next sessions on editing our shots together in time for our 1st draft edit. Once that has been completed will shall improve our thriller in accordance to the feedback we receive.
Once we had set up the camera for the first shot and set the white balance, we discovered a image option that made all images shot look quite dreary and haunting. We selected this and did a practice shot with the new setting, as we all liked the look it created, one which fit into our themes, we went on to use this for the rest of filming.
We started by capturing the end image on our storyboard, the reason for this is because we didn't want it to be too dark by the time we got to the shot and in addition to this we were afraid that if we did it later our actor would be cold but also it was the only stationary shot of our character throughout the sequence.
To gain more interesting shots that would create narrative enigma, we then moved onto to doing close-ups and also a birds-eye shot. In order to get the birds-eye shot Matthew climbed into a tree and put the camera on a smaller tripod that he had brought along with him. From this angle we were able to obtain a variety of shots that we could use in our opening sequence.
After, we'd done these shots we filmed shots that didn't contain our character. By filming these shots we are able to impose our titles on the top of them at the very beginning of the sequence. Furthermore, we filmed a tilt from the woods up to the sky, this shot will make the audience feel that they are being transported into heaven. This is essential as the story line that we are aiming to portray to our target audience is that our character is dead and in search of closure.
When filming tilts, pans etc. we ensured that we did more either side so that when we cut them down in editing the transitions were smooth. We also applied this to when our character was skipping, again by doing this it ensures the images appears smooth and natural.
Now that we have finished filming our initial shots for our thriller we will be spending our next sessions on editing our shots together in time for our 1st draft edit. Once that has been completed will shall improve our thriller in accordance to the feedback we receive.
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