Our Final Cut:
We made several changes from the rough cut to the final cut. The main thing we had to change was how long our media text was, in the rough cut it is 2:10 this was 10 seconds over our target time. We managed to cut down the time in the final cut to exactly 2:00. We moved the films title sequence from the front to the back of the extract, we did this because we felt that the opening seconds didn't have enough action in and would have already turned the audience off.
We made several changes to the murder/serial killer sequences. Firstly we changed them to night time, using editing software, then secondly to black and white. We felt this created several good effects, it made the scenes appear more darker like they were originally intended to be. The black and white also creates an interesting effect, it adds emphasis to what is happening in the text forcing the audience to take notice of it. We have added the sound effect to the text. In the opening few scenes you can hear a storm, this creates a very dark atmosphere which is the effect we were looking for. The sound effect of the alarm clock has also been added. Background music is also playing over the detective scenes as we felt they contained less action than the opening few.
If we could change anything in the production it would be the some of the continuity errors. The two biggest errors were when the serial killer is stabbing the victim the blade changes hands. The other is also during one of the serial killer scenes, during the knife scraping Ellen's handbag appears out of nowhere. We tried to correct this in editing as it appear in two shots. Once of them we could the other we were less successful so the handbag remains.
Overall we were are very happy with our final production, we think we worked well as a group - communicating properly and sharing and improving ideas for the storyline, storyboard camera angles and in editing.
Wednesday, 31 March 2010
Sunday, 21 March 2010
Rough Cut
Our Rough Cut:
We finished editing the rough cut. There is no added sound and the clips are edited together roughly. This is because the rough cut is just meant to give you an idea of what the finished text will look like. As Katie wasn't at the filming she did most of the editing. We had to change some of the shots from our storyboard around. These are the shots that are in the rough cut that differ from the storyboard.
The first change we made was to move the over the shoulder blade cleaning shot around. We did this because we felt it looked better and created a better atmosphere this way. We then changed the angle we filmed certain shots at, for example in the shot were the serial killer is moving Polaroids around, this was originally an over the shoulder shot, we changed this though as it was easier to film from a different angle and represented what we wanted to better. This is because you can only see what is on the Polaroids slightly creating an air of mystery. Following this shot is another change we made. Instead of zooming in directing from the over the shoulder shot we filmed an over the shoulder shot of the serial killer holding the Polaroid. This is because with the zoom effect the detail would be lost and the screen would become blurry and would break the audiences immersion in the text. We also changed the some of the shots during the murder scene, this was mainly because of the location. We were limited to were we could film these shots and so changed the angles from the storyboard. We felt though that this worked in our favour as it created a better effect. We took out the scene were the serial killers face is shown as we couldn't disguise it well enough for his face to remain a mystery. This again we feel worked well as the shots we put in stop you from seeing the serial killers face, which was the effect we wanted to create.
For the detective scenes, we only changed a few shots. We removed the one of the detective yawning as this slowed down the text to much. We also added an extreme high angle shot, in were the detective is buttering toast. This may seem like a weird shot choice but we feel it works quite well. We also removed the shot of the detective walking out of the house, this was because of several reasons. The first was because we didn't film it exactly how we wanted it to and the second is that it slowed down the text to much, creating a negative effect we felt. We also added a few extra shots when the detective is opening the case file.
There will also have to be several changes from the rough cut to the final cut. The first has to be cutting down how long the text is, at the moment it is 2:10 this is 10 seconds over the allotted time and needs to be cut down to 2:00. We are also moving the 'The Final Cut' title sequence from the begging to the end. Some clips will be cut down and edited together better as well as having sound effects like thunder and the alarm clock added in. The begging scenes with serial killer and the murder will also have to be made into to night time shots. This can be done with editing software. We are also considering adding a black and white effect to the same scenes. Music will also be added to the detective scenes, we are still looking for the right piece of music a the moment.
We finished editing the rough cut. There is no added sound and the clips are edited together roughly. This is because the rough cut is just meant to give you an idea of what the finished text will look like. As Katie wasn't at the filming she did most of the editing. We had to change some of the shots from our storyboard around. These are the shots that are in the rough cut that differ from the storyboard.
The first change we made was to move the over the shoulder blade cleaning shot around. We did this because we felt it looked better and created a better atmosphere this way. We then changed the angle we filmed certain shots at, for example in the shot were the serial killer is moving Polaroids around, this was originally an over the shoulder shot, we changed this though as it was easier to film from a different angle and represented what we wanted to better. This is because you can only see what is on the Polaroids slightly creating an air of mystery. Following this shot is another change we made. Instead of zooming in directing from the over the shoulder shot we filmed an over the shoulder shot of the serial killer holding the Polaroid. This is because with the zoom effect the detail would be lost and the screen would become blurry and would break the audiences immersion in the text. We also changed the some of the shots during the murder scene, this was mainly because of the location. We were limited to were we could film these shots and so changed the angles from the storyboard. We felt though that this worked in our favour as it created a better effect. We took out the scene were the serial killers face is shown as we couldn't disguise it well enough for his face to remain a mystery. This again we feel worked well as the shots we put in stop you from seeing the serial killers face, which was the effect we wanted to create.
For the detective scenes, we only changed a few shots. We removed the one of the detective yawning as this slowed down the text to much. We also added an extreme high angle shot, in were the detective is buttering toast. This may seem like a weird shot choice but we feel it works quite well. We also removed the shot of the detective walking out of the house, this was because of several reasons. The first was because we didn't film it exactly how we wanted it to and the second is that it slowed down the text to much, creating a negative effect we felt. We also added a few extra shots when the detective is opening the case file.
There will also have to be several changes from the rough cut to the final cut. The first has to be cutting down how long the text is, at the moment it is 2:10 this is 10 seconds over the allotted time and needs to be cut down to 2:00. We are also moving the 'The Final Cut' title sequence from the begging to the end. Some clips will be cut down and edited together better as well as having sound effects like thunder and the alarm clock added in. The begging scenes with serial killer and the murder will also have to be made into to night time shots. This can be done with editing software. We are also considering adding a black and white effect to the same scenes. Music will also be added to the detective scenes, we are still looking for the right piece of music a the moment.
Sunday, 7 March 2010
Filming
Before we could start to film any of our media text, we first had to create a shooting schedule.
We produced this, which shows what days we are filming; what scenes we are filming; who is doing the camera work; who is directing and who is producing. We decided to alternate these jobs so that everyone could do each one at least once.
We started filming on the Tuesday the 2nd of March. We filmed the scene in which the detective is waking up, getting ready and going to work. This is where we ran into our first problem due to unforeseen circumstances, Katie was unable to be at the shoot and thus her mums house was unavailable. Thankfully my house was available so we used this. I took over the role of camera man and Ellen became the directer/producer.
We managed to film all the scenes we wanted to. During filming we had an idea for a shot that would be quite interesting so we filmed this as well. We used several props in filming these scenes, these were; an alarm clock, some toast, a knife and butter, a toaster and Ellen's car.
The next day, Wednesday the 3rd we filmed the murder scene. We found the location with no problems. This allowed us to film quickly and effectively. Unfortunately Katie wasn't available to film again so I took over the role of camera man and Ellen took the director/producer position again. We managed to film all the shots we wanted to without any hiccups.
We used fake blood during the murder scene, we made this by combining glucose syrup and red food dye plus some water to get the correct thickness. To allow us to apply this easily we used a water sprayer.
This created a good effect as it added a lot of realism to our film. As shown via this photo.
We used props again in this scene. One of these had to be a knife for the serial killer to stab the victim with, obviously this is a massive safety concern. To bypass this problem we used some thick cardboard covered in tin foil. This meant that we could effectively show someone getting stabbed without causing any harm. The props we used were; a dark jumper; the fake blood; a scarf and a fake knife.
As we finished earlier than we planned we had time to film some other scenes. We filmed the detective work scene. We were able to use the receptionists office at our college as his work area. As is had been doing the camera work for all the other shoots Ellen and I swapped places, she did the filming and I became the director/producer. We managed to film everything we wanted to.
We only used two props during this scene this were the case file and folder.
We had originally planned to film the serial killers lair scene on Friday, however we had time, the camera and all the props we needed to film so we decided to. We filmed in an old shed located on our college as this seemed a suitable place as it had an eery to it. As the actor we used for the serial killer in the murder scene wasn't available I acted as stand in, this wasn't a problem because it meant I could direct/produce quite easy and Ellen took control of the camera again. As the serial killer was wearing a hood and covering his face with a scarf it meant I could act this out and not cause problems with continuity. We used the fake blood from the murder scene to cover some cloths with, this made them appear blood soaked and that they had been that way for a while. We also covered the fake knife used earlier in the fake blood making it look like it had been used recently. We used several props within this scene, these were; a dark hoody, a scarf, a fake knife, a second fake knife, a blood soaked cloth, a second blood soaked cloth, some Polaroids and some gloves.
Overall I think filming went well and Ellen and I worked effectively together with our actors to produce the media text.
We produced this, which shows what days we are filming; what scenes we are filming; who is doing the camera work; who is directing and who is producing. We decided to alternate these jobs so that everyone could do each one at least once.
We started filming on the Tuesday the 2nd of March. We filmed the scene in which the detective is waking up, getting ready and going to work. This is where we ran into our first problem due to unforeseen circumstances, Katie was unable to be at the shoot and thus her mums house was unavailable. Thankfully my house was available so we used this. I took over the role of camera man and Ellen became the directer/producer.
We managed to film all the scenes we wanted to. During filming we had an idea for a shot that would be quite interesting so we filmed this as well. We used several props in filming these scenes, these were; an alarm clock, some toast, a knife and butter, a toaster and Ellen's car.
The next day, Wednesday the 3rd we filmed the murder scene. We found the location with no problems. This allowed us to film quickly and effectively. Unfortunately Katie wasn't available to film again so I took over the role of camera man and Ellen took the director/producer position again. We managed to film all the shots we wanted to without any hiccups.
We used fake blood during the murder scene, we made this by combining glucose syrup and red food dye plus some water to get the correct thickness. To allow us to apply this easily we used a water sprayer.
This created a good effect as it added a lot of realism to our film. As shown via this photo.
We used props again in this scene. One of these had to be a knife for the serial killer to stab the victim with, obviously this is a massive safety concern. To bypass this problem we used some thick cardboard covered in tin foil. This meant that we could effectively show someone getting stabbed without causing any harm. The props we used were; a dark jumper; the fake blood; a scarf and a fake knife.
As we finished earlier than we planned we had time to film some other scenes. We filmed the detective work scene. We were able to use the receptionists office at our college as his work area. As is had been doing the camera work for all the other shoots Ellen and I swapped places, she did the filming and I became the director/producer. We managed to film everything we wanted to.
We only used two props during this scene this were the case file and folder.
We had originally planned to film the serial killers lair scene on Friday, however we had time, the camera and all the props we needed to film so we decided to. We filmed in an old shed located on our college as this seemed a suitable place as it had an eery to it. As the actor we used for the serial killer in the murder scene wasn't available I acted as stand in, this wasn't a problem because it meant I could direct/produce quite easy and Ellen took control of the camera again. As the serial killer was wearing a hood and covering his face with a scarf it meant I could act this out and not cause problems with continuity. We used the fake blood from the murder scene to cover some cloths with, this made them appear blood soaked and that they had been that way for a while. We also covered the fake knife used earlier in the fake blood making it look like it had been used recently. We used several props within this scene, these were; a dark hoody, a scarf, a fake knife, a second fake knife, a blood soaked cloth, a second blood soaked cloth, some Polaroids and some gloves.
Overall I think filming went well and Ellen and I worked effectively together with our actors to produce the media text.
Tuesday, 2 March 2010
Storyboard extented
After finishing the animatic we noticed that we hadnt included any music in it. This is not typical of the Thriller genre, or the Detective genre. If we look at the video of 'Inspector X and The Eternal City' we can see that in the opening scene music is playing in the background
If we also look at an extract from 'The Dark Knight' There is also music playing in the background. We then felt it was important to include it into ours to stay truer to the genre. This is our finished animatic with music included, we have also animated some of the stills slightly so they are more accurate to what we want to accomplish. The timing of the edits has also been edited to the length of the scene instead of every two seconds. This adds a better and more accurate feel to the animatic.
If we also look at an extract from 'The Dark Knight' There is also music playing in the background. We then felt it was important to include it into ours to stay truer to the genre. This is our finished animatic with music included, we have also animated some of the stills slightly so they are more accurate to what we want to accomplish. The timing of the edits has also been edited to the length of the scene instead of every two seconds. This adds a better and more accurate feel to the animatic.
Friday, 12 February 2010
'The Final Cut' Storyboard
We first constructed our storyboard on paper. We then scanned the individual sheets into the computer.
We then edited these in Photoshop and imported them into the video edting software and produced our animatic. We created the title sequence for 'Eradication Films' and 'The Final Cut'.
We then edited these in Photoshop and imported them into the video edting software and produced our animatic. We created the title sequence for 'Eradication Films' and 'The Final Cut'.
We then combined the titles and the still shots into a short animatic. later we added sound to this.
Evaluating the animatic. The added sound i feel worked quite well, although in some cases low quality sound files were used but i feel this unoticable. Also many of sound added in the animatic are infact diegetic sound and there for would not need to be added in the final production. Sounds like the thunder storm however would be, i feel this sound works very well as it creates tention very well and is an easy effect to create.
All the transistions in the animatic are fades however in the final peice the majority will be cuts. Fades were added in the animatic to create and easier effect on the eye and cuts were quite sharp.
This animatic shows the thriller genre very well as it shows how the tention is built with the use of the thunder storm and over the shoulder shot of the serial killer. The thunder storm plays for all of the high tention part of the animatic and stops abruptly when we are introduced to the detective. This realises the tention built up in the first scene. A common technique used in other thriller films such as the 'Dark Knight'.
Producing the animatic has helped us prepare for the shot in several ways. It has given us a better idea of how certain shots and the sound effects will be, and if the effect created is the deisired one. Also a better timing in the shots has been achieved as some shots were orginally too short or too long.
Saturday, 30 January 2010
The Final Cut
After researching the thriller film genre we decided to name our film 'The Final Cut', this seemed an appropriate name because one of the main characters in our media extract is a serial killer who uses blades to kill his victims. After we decided the basic idea for the film last week, we assigned each other jobs to do to assure the success of our media extract these are:
Camera Work: Joe
Director: Katie
Storyboard: Ellen
Costume/Props: Ellen
Location: Joe
Audience: Katie
Sound
Titles
Key Shot
‘The Final Cut’ titles. Rain fades in – thunder storm starts.
Serial killer cleaning/sharpening knifes. High tension music, Cleaning/Sharpening, Thunder storm. Over the shoulder shot.
Picks up Polaroid’s of victims, starts to look through them. Thunder storm, Diegetic, High tension music. Over the shoulder shot, tracking down to the Polaroid’s.
Victim just about to be killed. Victim screaming, Knife swinging, Thunder storm, High tension music.
Tracking two shot of the murder.
ECU of detective waking up. Diegetic. ECU
Alarm goes off detective slams hand down on it and wakes up. Alarm, Hand slamming, Diegetic. CU
Detective comes out of house, get into car and drives to work. Diegetic. Titles. Tracking/Pan shot of car pulling out.
Case file on desk of victim in flashback, picture of dead victim at crime scene. Diegetic, Speech. Tracking shot round the back of the detective.
Detective starts to notice a pattern between several murders – Signature left by the serial killer. Diegetic, Speech. Close up of the detectives face.
Location
Serial Killers lair: A garage
Serial Killer:
Dark clothing
Dark Hoody
Two knifes
Dark gloves
Fake blood – Corn Syrup, red food dye.
Suit
Briefcase
Car
Murder Victim:
Fake blood – Corn Syrup, red food dye.
Clothes
Misc:
Alarm clock
Case file
Coffee mug
Picture frame with detective’s family
Bloody cloth
Breakfast items; toast, toaster etc...
Polaroids
We also looked at what our target audience would be if the film was released. like most other Thriller films ours would appeal to the ages 15-24 as this is the main cinema going age. As our film would classify as a 15 in the UK this would be the minimum age ours could appeal to. The detective element to our film would hopefully interest an older generation of viewers who are not just interested in a high action film but also one that makes the viewer think, which is what hopefully our film would achieve. Both genders would be drawn to the film, although men more so than women as this film will contain some scenes of violence. We would aim this film towards those interested in crime dramas like 'Law and order' but also those interested in high action films like 'Crank'. Detective films such as 'The Maltese Falcon' we thought were to far away from our story line although ours is about the relationship between a serial killer and a detective, therefore we chose not to draw inspiration or consider its target audience as a substantial one. We also looked at the target audience for 'Se7en' as this is probably the closest filmd to ours in terms of genre and style. In this film the realtionship between the serial killer and the detective is explored and developed which is similar to our. Our taget audiences would therefore be similar. Our primary audience would therefore be males between the ages of 15-24 that are interested in detective/action thrillers. Our secondary audience would be the over 25's and females.
Friday, 22 January 2010
Research of the Thriller genre
For our media project we chose the Thriller genre. Our idea is focused around a detective and a serial killer he is chasing. The film will focus on the battle him and the serial killer have, ruining his marriage and his social life in the process. The victims also feature in our media text with a series of flash backs from the serial killer before and during the murders, and the detective afterwards at the crime scene.
We first looked at films like 'Se7en' and 'The Dark Knight' as they are very popular Thriller films.
We soon released however that the Thriller genre encompasses a massive spectrum of films such as, suspense thrillers, action or adventure thrillers or sci-fi thrillers such as alien. these are just a few of the genres that Thrillers can become, so choosing the right film to take notes a draw inspiration from was difficult. Films like 'Vertigo'and 'Friday the 13th' were others we originally looked at but didn’t meet our sub genre. We did however learn a lot about how to build suspense up successfully with the use of dramatic music and a varying length of edit.
As our Thriller was a Horror/Detective Thriller we had some trouble locating similar films we did however find to on you tube, these were 'Transfixed Theatrical' and 'Inspector X'.
We finally settled on a few ideas for the general feel of our film. We decided that our opening sequence should feature low key lighting creating a very dark and eerie effect. Hiding the serial killers face is also a priority as this builds up tension in the audience as he remains anonymous. High tension music will also feature this is the one thing all thriller films have in common, this builds up the suspense and tension in a scene. Like most other thrillers there is high emphasis on the silent parts of the films, as this also creates a sinister effect.
We first looked at films like 'Se7en' and 'The Dark Knight' as they are very popular Thriller films.
We soon released however that the Thriller genre encompasses a massive spectrum of films such as, suspense thrillers, action or adventure thrillers or sci-fi thrillers such as alien. these are just a few of the genres that Thrillers can become, so choosing the right film to take notes a draw inspiration from was difficult. Films like 'Vertigo'and 'Friday the 13th' were others we originally looked at but didn’t meet our sub genre. We did however learn a lot about how to build suspense up successfully with the use of dramatic music and a varying length of edit.
As our Thriller was a Horror/Detective Thriller we had some trouble locating similar films we did however find to on you tube, these were 'Transfixed Theatrical' and 'Inspector X'.
We finally settled on a few ideas for the general feel of our film. We decided that our opening sequence should feature low key lighting creating a very dark and eerie effect. Hiding the serial killers face is also a priority as this builds up tension in the audience as he remains anonymous. High tension music will also feature this is the one thing all thriller films have in common, this builds up the suspense and tension in a scene. Like most other thrillers there is high emphasis on the silent parts of the films, as this also creates a sinister effect.
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