What targets will you set yourself for G324 next year – when you make a trailer?

I am very pleased as well as proud of our completed opening, especially despite the multiple boundaries and barriers we came across when filming. I felt that we adapted ourselves as well as our surroundings to a professional environment where we considered all the technical elements when filming.
the preliminary task was of huge benefit to us because it taught us about some of the key continuity editing aspects which were prevalent in our film, Especially teaching us how to create clean match on action shots which were vital with our interaction between just two characters in our movie openings. Relating to not only camera work, but also editing and mise en scene our knowledge, skills and technique improved hugely in the process of preliminary task to the real movie opening, and we feel we also independently worked well to complete a secondary prelimary task with panoramas and draft shots of our location because this helped us to solidify our knowledge on certain camera techniques. Because of only having two characters in our movie, shot reverse shot was extremely important to show their interaction and relationship to each other however a possible target for us next year would be to use this technique more especially when we have a limited film cast because it is effective at bringing relation, intensity and depth to the scene. Relating to this, we also could have ensured we focused more on the final cut of the opening scene and who was purposefully given the prevalence of the final shot. A shot reverse shot of the young girl swiftly followed by the males reaction would have been effective and next year with our studies we could focus on this technique more.
Despite considerate planning of times and locations for our movie opening, we feel another target for next year would be to be more prepared to film when we can rely on the weather when it is exactly how we want it- in our case foggy and dry; not wet and rainy which posed a barrier for our cameras and for our actor Robyn who had to lay down on the wet floor. next year, if we plan ahead more, we could use the weather (and ideas of pathetic fallacy involving the weather) in our movie to make it more intense, supported by the weather, and it would show more control as producers and directors of a movie.
A major barrier was the sound, which is a part of mis-en-scene. This was important as the quality on the camera wasn't the best due to alot of background noises (such as rain) which made it sound fuzzy. Next year we will ensure that the conditions we film in are appropriate and allow us to create a successful film. Also, we will ensure that we are using the correct piece of technology which is suitable for filming to a high quality. As a result of the bad quality, we had to delete all of the diegetic sound and then add more sound effects whilst trying to make it seem natural at specific points (for example the car door and the foot steps). Potentially, this will not be the case next year and we will be able to keep all of the ambient, diegetic sound making it seem more natural whilst adding the odd sound effect, such as a thud, conforming to the horror genre conventions. We also didn't really incorporate original renditions or recordings of sound In our movie which made our movie less independent and professional because we could have created a home foley studio to create sound effects and used a local/known band or orchestra for the soundtrack, next year this would defiantly be a target for us so that we get the exact sound we want not just make do with internet versions.
Lastly, the final target would be filming things more than once. This was an issue as some of the most significant points in the film had minor errors however there were a few which we only filmed once meaning we had to work with it and make changes on the software which may not have looked or planned out as expected. Next year, we will ensure that we have filmed each clip multiple times in order to have the best quality film with no errors.

EVALUATION ACTIVITY 7

MATCH ON ACTION:

The screenshots above are from our preliminary task and our final opening shown in comparison. They both show an element of continuity editing which is Match-on-action which is the technique of one shot cutting to another, from a different angle or perspective, showing a specific piece of action n the scene. We experimented with continuity in our preliminary task with match on action by carrying on the action throughout different camera angles which creates a connection and almost a bridge between shots engaging the audience who will hence focus on the action itself rather than ruining the magic of cinematography by focusing on editing and cuts.
In our preliminary task, we attempted to use match on action multiple times when reaching potential barriers, such as walking  through a door and turning a corner. This element of editing is important as it allows us to capture a moment/shot from two different angles whilst creating a smooth flowing shot which drifts the audience away from the cutting. When doing our preliminary task, we used a GE1080P hand held camera. This was just a basic camera which didn't have a very high resolution or many mega-pixels, this meant that the quality was not the best and some of the footage came out blurry. As shown above the quality was not as good, the close up of the hand was of a decent quality however it was much more difficult to precisely capture the long and medium shots. Again, as shown in the screen capture above, the medium shot of me walking through the door was not good quality and this therefore affected the editing techniques as it was not clear and didn't run as smoothly as expected. Another key aspect of the camera we used was the sound which again wasn't very good quality. From all of the barriers we found when doing our preliminary task, we learnt alot and were then able to make improvements in our final product.
When filming our opening scene, we used a Nikon L180 camera which had a much higher resolution and focus meaning the match on action technique ran smoothly. We used match on action multiple times in our opening; the two screenshots above show this where we performed the technique as the character stepped out of the car. The first shot we used was a medium shot revealing the door as it was opened and the action that was about to be made; we then cut to a close up of the man's foot. This cutting ran smoothly and you weren't actually able to identify the cut as it did not look messy. 

SHOT REVERSE SHOT:
This was another editing technique which we used in our preliminary task and improved on in our final product. It is common that this technique is used during a conversation as we presented in our preliminary task. Although we applied the editing technique in that task, having used it in our final product, i believe that it was not the best that it could have been. As previously said, we used a GE1080P hand held camera which was not the best quality; this meant that the shots were not very clear. Further more, we hadn't used the editing software (Adobe Premier Elements) before meaning we weren't able to create a clean cut which meant that the editing technique was not used to our advantage. However, in our final production, we had alot of practice in both learning the different techniques and also using the editing software. The screenshots above show the difference between our preliminary task and the final product where the quality is much better and how there is clear evidence of eyeline match which is the aim with a shot reverse shot. The aim of this technique is mainly to show the connection between two characters and the direct contact, evidently shown in above in our final product where the male character is looking directly down at Robyn. As well as considering shot reverse shot and continuity editing revolving around this type of shot, we also focused on the 180 degree rule to ensure that whenever there were shots of the girl, or the antagonistic man we never went over the 180 degree line so the camera shots didn't appear scattered and uneasy, we learnt this through our preliminary task as well as keeping to rules of scene geography & the rule of thirds.



Overall, I feel like we benefited alot from doing the preliminary task as it was good practice for later applying the continuity editing techniques to our film. I also believe that this can be further developed next year when creating a trailer. The continuity techniques are very important in film and are things that viewers dont notice however they make the film more effective; and also show the high knowledge that a person has of film and editing.

film voiceover

Voice over:

Our film commences with a production credit featuring our conceived institution- BLACKWIND PICTURES. The appellation ‘BLACKWIND PICTURES’ is conventional of typical horror distribution companies linking to the likes of twisted pictures with its name, and Blumhouse pictures with its grunge monochrome colour scheme. The smear transition and sound motif alongside the institution reinforce the company’s prominence in distribution, an intent we would have for any genuine company independently distributing our film.

A black screen instigates our film, conventional of the majority of horror movies because it gives a pause for the audience to detach themselves from the reality of the real world with the titles and institutions and encase themselves within the fictional world of our film.

The first accreditation for an actor in our movie appears just after a match action shot after our protagonist has descended from the car. The font style remains constant throughout and fits in with the horror colour connotations using only white representative of ashen, morbidity and shallowness. The credits we use also have limited screen time to ensure they do not disrupt our films continuity.

Our favoured camera shots are those that depict the young girls blood stained face- framed twice in our opening with close up shots; one following an eye line match which creates a relation with the characters even more. We especially liked these particular shots because conventionally they pose links to other similar horrors like Annabelle, Orphan and Carrie which use the same camera techniques. The gruesome makeup used as part of mise en scene for the young girls face was curated with a cheap technique, further enforcing the small budget of our independent film aiming to still potentially create a large budget inspired by similar films such as Paranormal activity or attack the block.

 

Some of our credits used appear straight after dramatic moments of the opening such as the girl’s face being seen for the first time, the man walking away from the crime scene intentionally to give eminence and accreditation to the producers, actors and distributers for the intense prominent film and its key moments.

Throughout the film, a chilling ambient sound plays-reinforcing the disturbing conventional atmosphere and giving the film depth. The ambience sounds as if the filming takes place in a desolate area where the sound of the wind is protuberant which is further coincided thuds that give the girls actions and parts of the film focused distinction.

For the scene where our antagonist male is in the car, a warped radio tune hums in the car which is similar to ‘tiptoe through the tulips’ used in Insidious as a unnerving rendition. This diegetic sound links the man in the film with reality whilst the non-diegetic yet synchronous thuds that follow the girls actions separate her from reality and make her presence feel almost unreal and unsettling.

Our purposeful use of natural lighting and the transition in the film from light to dark as an ellipsis of time has been used almost reinforces the transition of life to death for the young girl…a process considered conventionally in many horrors. The darkness also adds shadows to our movie, and by not using artificial lighting and spotlighting our film maintains a more convincing feel.

The technique of assembling our movie opening so our film title comes right at the end imposes further that this opening is designated to be the introduction to a similarly themed course of events throughout the full length movie. Also, it keeps the audience in anticipation throughout…building up tension for the name of the girl and the titles purpose to be revealed. The soundtrack used alongside the title exposure is warped childish music fitting with the child horror based course of events, this music would be a recognisable sound that defines our film and would potentially be used in the trailer as well as the movie itself

film annotations

This short clip is a re-upload of our movie with annotations depicting connotations, direct denotations, ideas of themes and conveyed meaning and general technical elements concerned with our film. We thoroughly annotated the whole movie including the production credits to allow the annotations to directly associate with what is happening on screen in every scene of the film. We created our annotations using the youtube annotations tool which was simplistic to use, rather than adding text in credits form using adobe premier elements.

EVALUATION ACTIVITY 6 What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

KIT WE USED

Nikon camera& Olympus pocket camera:

what I learnt from using it:

when filming, we used one main camera- a Nikon L810, however when we were aiming to film with a handheld, more uneasy or canted angle technique we used a subsidiary camera of a typical pocket camera- an Olympus VG-160. The L810 is a bridge camera, with high resolution and HD and aimed at camera buyers who want a high quality visual, with ease of working it. The camera is not designated for movie filming, hence one of its setbacks is the fact that the sound quality is very poor, however for our film it conveniently captured the scenes we wanted and was easily maneuverer and used with the tripod. another set back of the camera was that it did not have the optional choice function of having an on screen grid which we could have used to help keep to the rule of thirds when filming...however when in the editing process we ensured we stuck to the rule of thirds on the computer. a 3/3 or 9/9 grid on screen would have helped us in filming to ensure we didn't ruin continuity of our film or alter any scene geography. yet another camera technology fall-back was the fact that our camera did not have simplistic aperture or saturation effects to help with the lighting that was highlighting shots in our film. The Nikon L810 includes special features that we experimented with during filming for example its 2FPS continuous shooting and panoramic features, auto focus on film

IPhone 6&6S:

what I learnt from using it:

Although we didn't use phone technology for filming the movie footage itself we ensured we always had an easy method of capturing movie making diaries and any brief interviews with a phone. We also used iPhone cameras because of their 6mp cameras to create panoramas of our location prior to filming, and time lapses of some of our scenes to work with specific frames. With our ambitious intentions for our film, we feel this mobile phone involvement in the filming process would contribute to a marketing campaign for our film because typically film marketing and distribution is now integrated on many vertical media platforms many of which are accessed through mobile social media sites. By posting video diaries, bloopers and behind scenes footage from our iPhone we would grasp a larger audience who would be able to gather an insight about what goes on behind the scenes in a less formal and impersonal level like the movie itself. Our iPhone usage is also showing how by using a simplistic piece of technology like a phone which the majority of people poses- you can be involved in the whole movie making process and share similarities between audience and producers. also, our movie diaries- especially if more frequently posted on our blog would build anticipation and suspense.

tripod:

what I learnt from using it:
the tripod we used was the easiest piece of new technology we had to learn to use for our movie development..after completing our preliminary tasks we were used to how to manoeuvre the tripod and use its levels and levers to our best advantage.

computer:

with instalment of Adobe premier elements, availability of internet access for BLOGGER, YOUTUBE, MOVIE MAKER:

what I learnt from using it:

we have used a variety of computer software in both the production and distribution process of our movie. Firstly- in film production we primarily used Adobe premier elements which we used as the foundation software for our film. The adobe package is the 10th edition with features that made typical editing simplistic. one of the key advantages of this particular software with the frames in a lengthy timeline of our movie because having it split into small frames made it easier to visualise the scenes and fit cuts and editing techniques in. Also, when you wanted to make a cut- a double parallel visual of the following scene came up on screen so you could fit editing exactly to the next scene in order to follow rules of continuity. also a further advantage of premier elements was its difference in comparison to less advanced film making packages in particular moviemaker which I had prior movie editing experience with before. Movie maker has many less effects, transitions, options with sound editing and ability to create variations of cuts.  However, we did use movie maker for more simplistic tasks in our movie making production for example when adding annotations to some of our interviews and using movie maker to edit one of our preliminary tasks to see the difference between advanced and less advanced editing software. In the production process as well, we had to discover fonts and for this used the software '1001 horror fonts' where we found the diedie font that we edited to create the perfect font for our movie with the ability to alter its colourings, saturation, size, style, capitalisation and boldness. Instead of using the availability of fonts on word and Microsoft software we thought this would be more effective because it gave a wider range and variety of text choices. In the production process we also used the YouTube to mp3 software which helped us manoeuvre non copyright online sounds into mp3 files that we could transfer into our movie. YouTube to mp3 was effective because of its fast speed of file transferral, however the only issues we encountered was when some of the mp3 file http addresses didn't work.

In the distribution process of our film we used the software YouTube which is one of the internets most frequently used search engines and most popular video media viewer. YouTube can also be downloaded on windows as an app and even on mobile devices as an app which allows you to watch video clips, share videos and follow and subscribe to short film making channels for example warp films, music video pages such as MTV, blogging pages such as zoellas makeup channel etc. this made YouTube the perfect place to upload our movie opening as well as our interviews and presentations as in addition to its ease of use it is also easy to use YouTube to distribute movies further to other software for example in our case- Blogger. We uploaded onto YouTube also our animatic, so in the end we had a range of YouTube footage which would attract audiences interested in the whole movie making process. Other features of creating our own YouTube channel was that people can subscribe to our channel (although as of yet we have not promoted our page enough to get subscriptions) as well as the software enabling people to 'like' 'dislike' and 'comment' on our movie which is an effective way to gather audience feedback and response. Using YouTube as a method of distribution was a key part of our movie making process because we followed the lead of other popular movie distributors whereby movies such as lord of the rings and divergent were promoted via YouTube with video diaries, teaser trailers and short interviews. By sharing our YouTube videos on other sites such as blogger, our own social media profiles and various other integrated platforms an echo chamber effect is created. In addition to YouTube as a method of distribution the 'blogger'/'BlogSpot' software allowed us to post research, analysis, filming diaries and revision. Blogger was a key participant in enabling us to publish our media studies journey and maintain all of our research and information in once place. Keeping all of our coursework on one online profile was also easy and convenient to use, and accessible on our phones and tablets so the blogging process was of ease to us.

go pro (for trial& prelimary tasks and location shots):

what I learnt from using it:
we didn't learn or develop our understanding excessively with the go pro camera we used because we didn't actually use it for the final cuts of the film, and didn't end up filming any footage with this camera because we thought it was unconventional of horror movies to use such a high resolution high tech camera that was meant to be free handled not put on a tripod. with our research we found out that go pros tend to be used more in action and sport based movies as the go pros main purpose as a general high priced camera is to shoot sporting and underwater action. We did however shoot prelimary tasks with this camera and experimented with its floating and waterproof features. Go pros have a extremely high streaming rate making them indispensable as a point of view camera, however because we did not need point of view shots for our movie just eye line matches we found this was un necessary to use, however we were impressed by the cameras 10fps.

class presentation about our movie opening

This video is a recording of our presentation to the class prior to a showing of our film opening. We spoke about some of our choices we had to develop on within the film making process and spoke about some of the strengths of our film also considering some of the films weaknesses due to barriers we had when filming which we wanted our audience to take into account. Although we had lengthy notes about our film and fitting links into all the categories of filming we considered eg mise en scene, sound, editing...we only read limited extracts from our notes because we didn't want to give too much about our film away or ruin its appeal and horror fantasy world our movie aimed to create. we also wanted to gather audience feedback that was genuine and independent rather than feedback that built on our own personal opinions. To improve our class presentation we could have included a visual, however this too would have given to much about our film away.

examples of usage of sound in our film

Diegetic Sound - this is a particular melody or sound which is realized by both the character and audience so they can both hear the same noise;

for example:-  characters speaking
- sounds made by props/objects
- the weather(rain)

Diegetic sound is one of the most prominent sound types for our opening two minutes, especially by our antagonist when he is walking on the wet ground, when he is listening to the radio in the car and when he hears the girl bang on his window. By integrating the diegteic sound of the drivers footsteps when he is ascending towards the girl he has just hit we had to overcome barriers because we do not have the high tech equipment such as the SONY media software which would help more effectively to discard the muffled and ambient sound in the background.  using diegetic sound has assisted with the continuity of our film because it guides the audience through the film opening more effectively to determine what is going on and as well as this, creates a relationship between film characters and audiences because they can both hear the same thing. if we didn't have the diegetic sound there would be less realism and a gap in our movie. Diegetic sound is often created by the Foley process however we simply used sound effects. 

Non-diegetic Sound - this is sound without visible source (for the audience's benefit)

for example:
- a soundtrack played over the top of a scene or action

Non-diegetic sound is another one of our prominent sounds we have used frequently in our movie opening. the use of non diegetic sound comes into play when the warped childish mobile music plays as the girl is standing by the side of the road, and the soundtrack that is played as the girl aims to stand up from the floor. Music will also play a large role due to its ability to set the scene and conform to stereotypes which will then aid the audience with their understanding, from our example: scary childish movie sets a eerie chilling scene. Due to our inability to use copy-right music, we have to research non copy-right music in detail so that we are able to create musical renditions of our own. without non diegetic sound the movie opening would almost be boring and would not fit the conventions of horrors which often have ongoing sound effects.

Ambient Sound -this is crucial sound in the film often to set an atmosphere for example air, wind, the sea, the sound of birds are all ambience in a film

for example:

although we didn't want too much ambiance in our film as we thought it would make it seem muffled and un-professional we did use it when we showed the man getting out of his car as we wanted to show a change in atmosphere from inside the car to the windy external outside environment. 

Sound Motif - this is repeated sound or music which signifies a reoccurring mood, action or character

for example:
-darth Vader's death march sound motif is repeated in star wars

- sound motif in Jaws to represent the shark approaching

 

Many horror movies use sound motifs conventionally to show the following, approaching or
return of a key antagonist...however although this particular sound technique would have
been conventional in our film, we feel sound motifs can sometimes give away too much
to an audience or foreshadow something that is yet to happen and we wanted our movie
to be surprising and not have a repeated sound in only the first two minutes as this may
bore viewing audiences. Howe also believed sound motifs are only really mostly effective
when used in large well-known serial films, when the sound is repeated in every sequel
and it is recognisable to cult and sequel audiences who will feel part of the movie franchise
with its recognisable soundtrack. an example of film franchises that would use sound
motifs bettwe than our small budget independent film would be James Bond, mission
impossible and star wars...all of which are considered action movies which deterred us
even more of using sound motifs in our movie. we did not think about using a sound bridge,
in our movie because there was technology limitations as well as opening length
limitations..for our movie.

this included video was a tutorial we thought would be useful to help us in the future with sound usage in
our movie making because it guides and instructs its audience through creating Foley sound effects at
home- with household objects. This fits in with our classification of our movie as an independent small
budget movie because we would not be able to afford purchase of computer package purchases of
sound creating software. In this video, some of the prominent sounds the blogger creates are the steps
and thuds used in almost every movie-including our own.