Thursday, 14 April 2011
Final Edit
I am generally happy with how our opening sequence turned out, and i feel as though we did eveything that was asked of us, particularly in the current feedback.
After i have seen people watch our final edit i have heard responses such as "that is a lot better" and "it has all come together quite nicely".
Them quotes leave me with a positive attitude. However i do feel myself that if i were to do it again i would ensure that the opening sequence woulf all run a lot more smoothly, especially the music.
Friday, 8 April 2011
Evaluation Draft
• In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
My media product develops the conventions of real media products as they are likely to involve perhaps a villain or a horrible plot/scheme, a sense of mystery, suspense and tension as well as excitement. To be able to accomplish all of these we used a fast colour selector on adobe premiere pro in order to create mystery by darkening everything, making it seem more at night, which is when typically most crimes are committed, and everything is less clear , when being made all that darker.
We also used sound in an effective way in my main thriller to help follow these conventions, this was done by adding a haunted style music in the background which gradually gets louder and quitter, and also stops when there is a discussion about a haunted experience so that the point is able to be got across.
For excitement we used a number of quick cuts and a lot of short fast shots.
An example of anothoer opening sequence that uses numerous, fast and short shots is 'se7en';
However we also challenged them in the way that we did not use a villain, however this suited nicely with the plot as it was a haunted idea of people being on a ‘ghost hunt’ it seemed unrealistic for us to involve a villain, and therefore there were limited characters a part from the ghost hunters themselves, but this meant that for our theme things were able to be better as the more that went on without anything making it do so, the more realistically scary it became.
This idea was also put into place with films such as 'Paranormal Activity 2';
• How does your media product represent particular social groups?
Because my media product is of a thriller genre, it is also a haunted thriller, this means it would represent those who are interested in the paranormal world and those who enjoy to go on ghost hunt. An example of this is that we began with a location wit was provided by my mum, as with her company she does Ghost hunts, and the location given is one that she uses in order to do such an event.
http://www.hauntedhappenings.co.uk/
above you will see a link to my Mum's company in which you will be able to explore the website.
This is the location that we previously used to begin with, and is also used as a location for one of 'Haunted Happenings' events;
http://www.tutburycastle.com/
Haunted Happenings have worked with many film producers in the promotion of newly released DVDs and horror films such as Paranormal Activity 2. The promotions have included prizes of a ghost hunting experience and merchandise associated with the horror industry.
This helps to show the link between Why it would be the social group of people that are interested in the paranormal world and who enjoy going on ghost hunts that a media product such as mine would represent as it involves someone telling their story and showing their story, whilst on a ghost hunt as she describe it as “the most haunting night”.
From the questionnaire results we managed to gather the idea that the age goup most likely to be watching our thriller would be older teens and youn adolescence, we helped represent this within our thriller through mise en scene, for example with clothing and also using actors that are likely to fit into this social group as well, in order to make it more suited to them.
For example, Kristina wore UGG boots, a blue and white jumper, jeans and a coat and Lizzie wore boots, black leggings, a blouse and a thick cardigen. All considered quite casual for this age group and warm.
However it is hard to link the paranormal theme with this social group, therefore the idea of them being on a 'ghost hunt' helps to do this, and makes it all that more exciting.
Also The title of our thriller is simple and catchy, something that younger people are known to prefer but at the same time it gets to the point and staright away suggests to the audience that the triller is going to be one of a paranormal genre.
Part of our thriller is also set in a college, this is something that many older teenagers will be able to relate with as they may go to college themselves. This also helps to make our thriller more realistic, which is what would make a paranormal thriller more scary.
• What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
Living TV is a good example of the type of media institution that are likely to use my product, this is because they are well known to show programs such as ‘most haunted’ which is also based around a paranormal investigation and ghost hunts, and involves a historian name Lesley Smith who is the owner of the location that we at first used in order to do our filming, helping the show the link within the business world. It also has many paranormal discussions and other ghost hunting programs which links well with the style of my media product
Paramount consists of several film labels including, the legendary Paramount Pictures; leading youth brand, MTV Films; the preeminent family entertainment label, Nickelodeon Movies; and specialty film labels, Paramount Vantage and Paramount Classics. In addition, the Studio will continue to release a number of films under the DW label. Paramount also has established distribution deals with iconic comic book creator, Marvel Entertainment and renowned animated film producer, DreamWorks Animation.
The Company’s global business operations include Paramount Digital Entertainment, Paramount Famous Productions, Paramount Home Entertainment, Paramount Pictures International, Paramount Licensing Inc., Paramount Studio Group and Worldwide Television Distribution.
If i were to chose a distributor for our thriller it would have to be 'Paramount Pictures'.
Paramount Pictures Corporation is a global producer and distributor of filmed entertainment, with robust and multi-faceted divisions across all areas including digital, home entertainment, network and cable television distribution, studio operations, and consumer products and recreation. A unit of the leading global entertainment content company, Viacom, Paramount is part of a family of prominent and respected brands including MTV Networks and BET Networks. Paramount consists of several film labels including, the legendary Paramount Pictures; leading youth brand, MTV Films; the preeminent family entertainment label, Nickelodeon Movies; and specialty film labels, Paramount Vantage and Paramount Classics. In addition, the Studio will continue to release a number of films under the DW label. Paramount also has established distribution deals with iconic comic book creator, Marvel Entertainment and renowned animated film producer, DreamWorks Animation.
The Company’s global business operations include Paramount Digital Entertainment, Paramount Famous Productions, Paramount Home Entertainment, Paramount Pictures International, Paramount Licensing Inc., Paramount Studio Group and Worldwide Television Distribution.
They are an American based film company who are very successful and create high grossing films.
These include films such as 'paranormal activity'; which is about a young, middle class couple who moves into a suburban 'starter' tract house, they become increasingly disturbed by a presence that may or may not be somehow demonic but is certainly most active in the middle of the night. Especially when they sleep. Or try to.
It had a budget estimated at $15,000 and you are able to find details of its gross and opening at this link; http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1179904/business
• Who would be the audience for your media product?
When doing my planning we also asked a questionnaire, this was in order to see what type of thriller would be best and who we would be aiming it at, when asked the question ‘What age are you?’ it came accross more or less that all people watch thrillers, not so much young children, however the most popular answer we got was 15-25, I understand that the people selected to fill them out will have an effect on this answer however it was done in a random way.
All in all i feel as though the age group would be 15-25 year olds becdause of the fact that most thriller have age restrictions of either 15 or 18.
Because of the idea that our opening sequence is a thriller this suggests that it should be aimed at an older target audience, due to age restrictions and other aspects.
However when taking all of that into accound and putting it with the results from the questionnaire it seemed as though it was best for us to have a target audience as late teens/ early twentys. and this was all took into consideration when addressing and attracting the audience in which we have chosen.
A similar film to what i have done is 'paranormal activity', this film tends to attract all ages, excluding those under 15 and it has the age restriction of 15, this helps us to realise that we have set our audience correctly as it is similar to those that have previously been released.
Through carrying out our questionnaire it also helped to show that both male and female enjoy watching thrillers, although the majority seemed to be male. I understand that who we actually asked may have an effect on this result however we chose people at random, they were not particularly selected.
All in all i feel as though the age group would be 15-25 year olds becdause of the fact that most thriller have age restrictions of either 15 or 18.
However when taking all of that into accound and putting it with the results from the questionnaire it seemed as though it was best for us to have a target audience as late teens/ early twentys. and this was all took into consideration when addressing and attracting the audience in which we have chosen.
A similar film to what i have done is 'paranormal activity', this film tends to attract all ages, excluding those under 15 and it has the age restriction of 15, this helps us to realise that we have set our audience correctly as it is similar to those that have previously been released.
• How did you attract/address your audience?
When doing my planning we also asked a questionnaire, this was in order to see what type of thriller would be best and who we would be aiming it at, when asked the question ‘What age are you?’ the most popular answer we got was 15-25, I understand that the people selected to fill them out will have an effect on this answer however it was done in a random way. We also understood that with a thriller genre film, it is watched by all ages, however not particularly young. And we discovered that the best way to address any audience would to be to add the correct conventions of a media thriller in order to do so. This involved perhaps a villain or a horrible plot/scheme, a sense of mystery, suspense and tension as well as excitement. To be able to accomplish all of these we used a fast colour selector on adobe premiere pro in order to create mystery by darkening everything, making it seem more at night, which is when typically most crimes are commited, and everything is less clear , when being made all that darker. We also used sound in an effective way in my main thriller to help follow these conventions, this was done by adding a haunted style music in the background which gradually gets louder and quitter, and also stops when there is a discussion about a haunted experience so that the point is able to be got across, and for excitement we used a number of quick cuts and a lot of short fast shots.
We also adressed our audience by ensuring that it was something that they could relate with, like explained in the previous question we ensured that the costumes and actors (all of which you will be able to look at in more detail in question 2) were both their age and made to look relaistic, this is because, with it being a paranormal thriller the more realistic it is the scarier it is.
One of the locations used is in a college common room, this is when the story is being told again giving off a realistic effect but at the same time ensuring that they can relate to it.
The common room used was at George Spencer sixth form.
When doing my planning we also asked a questionnaire, this was in order to see what type of thriller would be best and who we would be aiming it at, when asked the question ‘What age are you?’ the most popular answer we got was 15-25, I understand that the people selected to fill them out will have an effect on this answer however it was done in a random way. We also understood that with a thriller genre film, it is watched by all ages, however not particularly young. And we discovered that the best way to address any audience would to be to add the correct conventions of a media thriller in order to do so. This involved perhaps a villain or a horrible plot/scheme, a sense of mystery, suspense and tension as well as excitement. To be able to accomplish all of these we used a fast colour selector on adobe premiere pro in order to create mystery by darkening everything, making it seem more at night, which is when typically most crimes are commited, and everything is less clear , when being made all that darker. We also used sound in an effective way in my main thriller to help follow these conventions, this was done by adding a haunted style music in the background which gradually gets louder and quitter, and also stops when there is a discussion about a haunted experience so that the point is able to be got across, and for excitement we used a number of quick cuts and a lot of short fast shots.
We also adressed our audience by ensuring that it was something that they could relate with, like explained in the previous question we ensured that the costumes and actors (all of which you will be able to look at in more detail in question 2) were both their age and made to look relaistic, this is because, with it being a paranormal thriller the more realistic it is the scarier it is.
One of the locations used is in a college common room, this is when the story is being told again giving off a realistic effect but at the same time ensuring that they can relate to it.
The common room used was at George Spencer sixth form.
• What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
From the process of constructing this product I have learnt a lot about technologies. This includes a lot of negative as well as positive.
Th positive being that I have learnt how to use a camera and its equipment in an effective way, meaning that I was able to look back on anything I had filmed after doing it and also after making the mistake of not using the tripod throughout the first time of filming I learnt how important it was to use such equipment as It means that the shots can be a lot better quality and less shaky. Also after having the problem of the camera not being charged once getting to the location the first time, and not wanting to waste time, we used a mobile phone (of a good quality camera) in order to get some footage. However this did not go to plan when coming to edit as we could not rotate this footage with it still filling the screen correctly after it being filmed the wrong way round, meaning that it did not fit in with the footage that we got from the camera. Also proving that it is better to use just one camera for all the filming.
When it came to editing, this also had a positive effect as I was not at all familiar with this software but learnt how to use it successfully. Such as; how to import my footage, move it around into the correct places, cut clips, add sound, change the colouring of a clip, how to delete the background sound, how to change the level of the sound and all the simple ways of using the software.
Although this process had a positive effect when it came to what I learnt about technologies, it also had a negative effect. This is because, not everything seemed to go to plan, for example during out first part of filming, the equipment was not used, meaning the camera was not used effectively, this then had to be re shot.
Also with adobe premiere pro, it did not always load as fast as we would have like, crashed on a number of occasions, especially before finishing our first draft, meaning we would lose a lot of work. This helped me to realise that I shouldn’t always rely on such software and ensure that I give myself a few days beforehand, just incase anything does go wrong, which it did seem to a lot.
From the process of constructing this product I have learnt a lot about technologies. This includes a lot of negative as well as positive.
Th positive being that I have learnt how to use a camera and its equipment in an effective way, meaning that I was able to look back on anything I had filmed after doing it and also after making the mistake of not using the tripod throughout the first time of filming I learnt how important it was to use such equipment as It means that the shots can be a lot better quality and less shaky. Also after having the problem of the camera not being charged once getting to the location the first time, and not wanting to waste time, we used a mobile phone (of a good quality camera) in order to get some footage. However this did not go to plan when coming to edit as we could not rotate this footage with it still filling the screen correctly after it being filmed the wrong way round, meaning that it did not fit in with the footage that we got from the camera. Also proving that it is better to use just one camera for all the filming.
When it came to editing, this also had a positive effect as I was not at all familiar with this software but learnt how to use it successfully. Such as; how to import my footage, move it around into the correct places, cut clips, add sound, change the colouring of a clip, how to delete the background sound, how to change the level of the sound and all the simple ways of using the software.
Although this process had a positive effect when it came to what I learnt about technologies, it also had a negative effect. This is because, not everything seemed to go to plan, for example during out first part of filming, the equipment was not used, meaning the camera was not used effectively, this then had to be re shot.
Also with adobe premiere pro, it did not always load as fast as we would have like, crashed on a number of occasions, especially before finishing our first draft, meaning we would lose a lot of work. This helped me to realise that I shouldn’t always rely on such software and ensure that I give myself a few days beforehand, just incase anything does go wrong, which it did seem to a lot.
• Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
When analysing my preliminary task, I feel as though I have picked up a lot of knowledge throughout working on it. This includes the idea of working as a team with people I am not too familiar with, how much planning goes into a task like such and how useful it is, the use of camera, the different conventions that are needed in order for a thriller genre to work well, how to successfully use adobe premiere pro in order to edit our short clip and what I would need to do in order to make my short clip as good as it could be.
When it comes to learning how to work in a team effectively with people I may not be familiar with. This came around by our teacher putting us in groups himself, mixing them in a way which he though meant group had the same variety of potential within it. Being in a group had its benefits, as it meant we all had the drive to do as well as we could and giving all effort, so that we did not let one another down. We also took everyone in our group, which consisted of James Thompstone, Dougie Musson, Stephanie Chawner and I into consideration when looking at the clear abilities of each member so that we could use all of us in the best way possible. We did this by more or less allocating the efficient roles to each member; however we still managed to work with one another well whilst doing so. This helped me to learn that the best way to work within a group is to make sure that each person is used at their full potential, in the best way possible, but at the same time ensuring that we are all able to work together in a group at the same time so everything comes together fluently and at a good standard. I also learnt that by working in a group means that when beginning to plan for the preliminary task more ideas were able to be introduced and more input is given in order to produce more ideas for us to work with, this helps it to make it all that more creative. However I learnt that when editing working as a group does not always come together that well, when editing as it all needs to be done on one computer at a time, and with us being in a group of four, it made things harder for us to all sit around the computer and have an equal amount of control, especially with their being just one mouse to work with, this creates a situation where the work is unable to be shared out in a way which makes things fair unless we were to take it in turns, but that can have the effect of complicating things and resulting in the editing process taking longer than it needs to be.
When it comes to learning how to work in a team effectively with people I may not be familiar with. This came around by our teacher putting us in groups himself, mixing them in a way which he though meant group had the same variety of potential within it. Being in a group had its benefits, as it meant we all had the drive to do as well as we could and giving all effort, so that we did not let one another down. We also took everyone in our group, which consisted of James Thompstone, Dougie Musson, Stephanie Chawner and I into consideration when looking at the clear abilities of each member so that we could use all of us in the best way possible. We did this by more or less allocating the efficient roles to each member; however we still managed to work with one another well whilst doing so. This helped me to learn that the best way to work within a group is to make sure that each person is used at their full potential, in the best way possible, but at the same time ensuring that we are all able to work together in a group at the same time so everything comes together fluently and at a good standard. I also learnt that by working in a group means that when beginning to plan for the preliminary task more ideas were able to be introduced and more input is given in order to produce more ideas for us to work with, this helps it to make it all that more creative. However I learnt that when editing working as a group does not always come together that well, when editing as it all needs to be done on one computer at a time, and with us being in a group of four, it made things harder for us to all sit around the computer and have an equal amount of control, especially with their being just one mouse to work with, this creates a situation where the work is unable to be shared out in a way which makes things fair unless we were to take it in turns, but that can have the effect of complicating things and resulting in the editing process taking longer than it needs to be.
When it came to the beginning of the preliminary task, it became important for us to make sure that we had planned for our short clip effectively so that we know what idea we would be going with and how to get to the best possible result. However this helped me to realise how much we would need to do in order to get to the stage where we were confident with a final idea and direction, this included a mind map of every ones ideas, which was used to show the different ideas that we had and how we could work with them, also looking at what actors may be used, what props we may need, where we would film and any extra aspects that would come into the production of the preliminary task. By doing this as a group it meant that we were all able to give ideas resulting in more after being put together, it also meant that we could make sure we chose one that suited all us after showing all of our creative skills. The mind map I learnt also helped to allow us to see all of ideas clearer and was a good way of elaboration on what would go into our chosen idea. It also managed to bring us a lot closer as a group through the discussion of ideas. Not only did we do a mind map but we then went on to do a storyboard, I realised that this was an effective way of helping us to structure our final idea in more detail including, as a brief plan as to how were to film. By doing so it made the filming a whole lot easier as we knew what we were looking for, also making it quicker for us to do. Input was put in from all members of the group. We then realised that it was important for us to look at other aspects that we may need before filming, this included any props and the best way to use our chosen location, which resulted in anyone bringing in anything they had, such as James bringing in an extra camera, Stephanie bringing in some fake blood and myself ensuring that there was a bag and string for the hostage. This helped to add to the creativeness of out short clip. Planning proved to be very important and useful, helping to make things move a lot more fluently and organised, making us able to get the entire filming done fast, and at the same time ensuring that the piece was as creative as our group was able to put together. I then used this to go ahead and use the same aspects of planning such as a mind map and storyboard in my main thriller as well as looking into more detail on the locations and carrying out a questionnaire, and ensuring that transport in order to get there and back was planned.
As I had not previously had much experience when it came to the use of the camera, this task proved to be a learning curve for me, obviously knowing the basics of how to use it, I also learnt how important the equipment would turn out to be, for example the use of the tripod became very important as it meant that all our shots were a lot less shaky and moving shots such as a pan became smoother. This resulted in me helping to set up the equipment successfully and helping Stephanie to film the main angles. However because James bought in another camera to use, this meant that it could be used as a prop as well as to get good footage for us, this proved to be very useful, however it also had its faults when it came to importing and uploading the footage from his camera as the school system did not recognise it, I learn that if I were to do it again then it would be best to use the same camera but just different angles and shots.. I took all my skills and knowledge that I had learnt in this task and used them in my main thriller by doing most of the filming, whilst using the tripod and ensuring that we got different angles and shots.
For a thriller theme to work I discovered that there were certain conventions that must be followed, this involved perhaps a villain, a sense of mystery, suspense and tension as well as excitement. This was gradually picked up quite naturally straight from the beginning. Our ideas led to Dougie playing the villain of keeping someone hostage. We used a lot of darkness in order to create a sense of mystery; we used a heartbeat within our sound for the suspense, which also helped with excitement when linked with the footage such as James banging around or the action of him being kicked. This was linked with my main thriller as we also used a fast colour selector on adobe premiere pro in order to create mystery and make it all that darker, sound was also included in an effective way in my main thriller to help follow these conventions, and for excitement we used a number of quick cuts and a lot of short fast shots.
When it came to editing, this was also a very large learning curve as I had never previously had any experience with using the software. I learnt many aspects which include how to import my footage, move it around into the correct places, cut clips, add sound, change the colouring of a clip, how to delete the background sound, how to change the level of the sound and all the simple ways of using the software. I used the preliminary task in order to learn it all successfully and took this information so that I could use it for my main thriller, where I did a range of different editing which included all of these.
Everything that I had learnt whilst doing the preliminary task, I ensured that I used effectively when creating my main thriller.
Wednesday, 6 April 2011
Editing 3
Once finishing all the filming that was needed Lizzie and Kristina uploaded the footage and looked at it all just so that they were able to verify that it would be useful and able to be included into our opening sequence. Whilst they were doing so i took the time to find a sound that was similar to the diegetic sound that we had liked, but that had to be turned off so that the natural sound did not clash with the hauntng music that we had included. I found the sound of the birds, but in order to use it it meant that i had to make an account, in which i did. It then had to be downloaded, this raised a problem as the school computers would not make it accessible to download onto them, this meant going onto my teachers computer and downloading it and then putting it onto our T Drive, so that we could then import it into our opening sequence.
We then manged to import all of the clips of the Story being told into our opening sequence, all exactly how we wanted it and where we wanted each one.
With not long left before the deadline of our final edit, we made a list of everything that we needed to do and gave ourself the next day in order to do so. This did not consist of a lot of things, it included, using th fast colour corrector on the latest clips that had been uploaded in order to make sure that the background was not so bright, however we felt that it was important to keep it natural. We also had to add the sound that i had put onto our T drive at the start, and delete the music in the places where we would be talking.
The next day we then went ahead and got on with all the things that we needed to do and wanted to get it done as soon as possible as some of us still had our evaluation drafts to finish, this meant using any free time that we had. However not everything went to plan as the adobe program was hardly working at all on the school computers. This caused a lot of problems, we tried numerous computers just to ensure that it wasnt the computer that we were using, howvere it just kept on not uploading properly meaning that there was nothing we could do on it. This left us with hours of waiting, however this was took advantage of as we got on with our evaluations. Because we were not the only goup having this problem an IT technician came over to try and help, and another hour and a half later managed to get the software uploaded onto our computer, which was slightly slow, but still staying after college time meant we manged to get it all done. However although we got it all finished, our evalutations included, exporting it and getting it onto youtube did not exactly go to plan either, which was another problem with the school network so it seemed also meaning that we were unable to get it onto our blogs in time, therefore we made sure that it would still get marked and went ahead and did it in the next lesson.
Filming 4
After yet another time of finding that our opening sequence is stil not as long as we would have liked, we used time within our lesson to do what was needed, we got ourselves a camera and tripod and found the location within george spencer shool in order to do some more outside shots, this consisted of close ups of Kristina and Lizzie turning around quickly almost as though they had heard something. It was important for us to do close ups as Lizzie had not come in the same clothes as what she filmed in, and this would be too obvious if it were to be noticed throughout our opening sequence. We then enjoyed the effect of close ups as it had an effect of a sense of mystery. We then took this and included it in our inside shots, which was based in George Spencer College, these shots included eyes quikly moving, after editing we decided that the best shot of them walking through the gates was the one that included Louise, therefore we thought that we would use louise for the close up shots as well so that it meant we could still use the shots that we were fond of.
We became stuck, we could not think of any more ideas of different sots that we could include as we had already used such a range. We stopped whilst filming and had a discussion, we discovered that none of us believed that even with more footage to be uploaded we doubted that our opening sequence would become long enough to fill 2 minutes. The idea of having someone telling the story and using the 'ghost hunt' itself as a flashback was introduced, and we all liked it as it was an idea that would use a lot of the time.
Therefore Kristina and Myself went into a free room within college and attempted to get all of the shots that we would need, including both of us talking, myself being someone who wanted to go on a ghost hunt and Kristina being someone who was sharing her experience. Howevere when returning to our lesson we uploaded the footage and came to the conclusion that it was all too boring, it was just the same mid shot with both of us in, so we took the initiative and got Lizzie to do the filming so that we were able to use different angels, this meant that we managed to get all the shots we needed to achieve this idea.
Editing 2
Once getting even more footage, we then used our next media lesson to take advantage of everything that we needed to do, this meant that we decided upon Kristina uploading all the footage so that she was able to get the experience and knowledge of doing so. And me and lizzie looked at anything we could edit in the mean time, up until we could introduce the new footage once it had been uploaded. After we were able to use all the footage we first began by deciding upon which were good enough to use, we did this by watching all of them beforehand. We then included the clips into the places which suited them best within our opening sequence, then cut off parts which had a negative effect when playing them, in roder to make sure that it all ran fluently, this generally meant either cutting the beginning or end of most clips and even possibly sometimes both. This is because our aim is to ensure that out opening sequence consists of a lot of short and fast shots. We then used the fast colour corrector in all places where we thought it was needed still in order to make it look all that darker and ensure that there is no extreme range of lightness. After then watching and listening to the clips with it nearly done, we were still not entirely happy with it, this was because it was too long and even with the sound introduced it mean that any good parts of the diegetic that we wanted were overshadowed by the sound effect that we had introduced.
Filming 3
Again once taking all of our feedback into consideration, we came to the conclusing, that we could definitely do with a lot more good footage that we could use in order to make our opening sequence longer, as it was previously way too short. Therefore we discussed when we were all free to o the filming, however this was then a problem occured that we couldnt all do it at once. Therefore we used the time out of our media lesson in order to do the filming.
We headed straight for Attenborough Church where we discovered that the door was locked again, but this didnt matter so much as we knew that we were mainly wanting more and better outside shots in which we could use. We began by going over any shots that we found werent good enough before, such as the shot at the beginning of the opening sequence involving the grave and the upwards panning shot of the church itself. And also the shot of them walking through the gates, however a problem occred here, as previously there had been Lizzie, Louise and Kristina in the shot, where as Louise couldnt make it to the filming this time, therefore we had to make sure that we were to use the appropriate shots, so it didnt look like anyone had gone missing.
We then thought up some new shots that could be added to our opening sequence, such as Kristina and Lizzie walking towards the doors of the Church, turning around, looking at eachother, holding hands, and then about to step in. An over the shoulder shot of Kristina and Lizzie with the church in between them. And also, them walking up the pathway surrounded by the graves.
All these new shots, involved, close ups, over the shoulder, mid shots and long shots, this was to help show a range of different shots in our opening sequence to go along with the panning and etablishing shots we had previously got.
Thistime round of filming proved to be very useful as wee got more shots that we could use in order to make our opening sequence longer lik suggested and to then go ahead and edit them accordingly.
Once finishing all the filming that was needed Lizzie and Kristina uploaded the footage and looked at it all just so that they were able to verify that it would be useful and able to be included into our opening sequence. Whilst they were doing so i took the time to find a sound that was similar to the diegetic sound that we had liked, but that had to be turned off so that the natural sound did not clash with the hauntng music that we had included. I found the sound of the birds, but in order to use it it meant that i had to make an account, in which i did. It then had to be downloaded, this raised a problem as the school computers would not make it accessible to download onto them, this meant going onto my teachers computer and downloading it and then putting it onto our T Drive, so that we could then import it into our opening sequence.
We then manged to import all of the clips of the Story being told into our opening sequence, all exactly how we wanted it and where we wanted each one.
With not long left before the deadline of our final edit, we made a list of everything that we needed to do and gave ourself the next day in order to do so. This did not consist of a lot of things, it included, using th fast colour corrector on the latest clips that had been uploaded in order to make sure that the background was not so bright, however we felt that it was important to keep it natural. We also had to add the sound that i had put onto our T drive at the start, and delete the music in the places where we would be talking.
The next day we then went ahead and got on with all the things that we needed to do and wanted to get it done as soon as possible as some of us still had our evaluation drafts to finish, this meant using any free time that we had. However not everything went to plan as the adobe program was hardly working at all on the school computers. This caused a lot of problems, we tried numerous computers just to ensure that it wasnt the computer that we were using, howvere it just kept on not uploading properly meaning that there was nothing we could do on it. This left us with hours of waiting, however this was took advantage of as we got on with our evaluations. Because we were not the only goup having this problem an IT technician came over to try and help, and another hour and a half later managed to get the software uploaded onto our computer, which was slightly slow, but still staying after college time meant we manged to get it all done. However although we got it all finished, our evalutations included, exporting it and getting it onto youtube did not exactly go to plan either, which was another problem with the school network so it seemed also meaning that we were unable to get it onto our blogs in time, therefore we made sure that it would still get marked and went ahead and did it in the next lesson.
Filming 4
After yet another time of finding that our opening sequence is stil not as long as we would have liked, we used time within our lesson to do what was needed, we got ourselves a camera and tripod and found the location within george spencer shool in order to do some more outside shots, this consisted of close ups of Kristina and Lizzie turning around quickly almost as though they had heard something. It was important for us to do close ups as Lizzie had not come in the same clothes as what she filmed in, and this would be too obvious if it were to be noticed throughout our opening sequence. We then enjoyed the effect of close ups as it had an effect of a sense of mystery. We then took this and included it in our inside shots, which was based in George Spencer College, these shots included eyes quikly moving, after editing we decided that the best shot of them walking through the gates was the one that included Louise, therefore we thought that we would use louise for the close up shots as well so that it meant we could still use the shots that we were fond of.
We became stuck, we could not think of any more ideas of different sots that we could include as we had already used such a range. We stopped whilst filming and had a discussion, we discovered that none of us believed that even with more footage to be uploaded we doubted that our opening sequence would become long enough to fill 2 minutes. The idea of having someone telling the story and using the 'ghost hunt' itself as a flashback was introduced, and we all liked it as it was an idea that would use a lot of the time.
Therefore Kristina and Myself went into a free room within college and attempted to get all of the shots that we would need, including both of us talking, myself being someone who wanted to go on a ghost hunt and Kristina being someone who was sharing her experience. Howevere when returning to our lesson we uploaded the footage and came to the conclusion that it was all too boring, it was just the same mid shot with both of us in, so we took the initiative and got Lizzie to do the filming so that we were able to use different angels, this meant that we managed to get all the shots we needed to achieve this idea.
Editing 2
Once getting even more footage, we then used our next media lesson to take advantage of everything that we needed to do, this meant that we decided upon Kristina uploading all the footage so that she was able to get the experience and knowledge of doing so. And me and lizzie looked at anything we could edit in the mean time, up until we could introduce the new footage once it had been uploaded. After we were able to use all the footage we first began by deciding upon which were good enough to use, we did this by watching all of them beforehand. We then included the clips into the places which suited them best within our opening sequence, then cut off parts which had a negative effect when playing them, in roder to make sure that it all ran fluently, this generally meant either cutting the beginning or end of most clips and even possibly sometimes both. This is because our aim is to ensure that out opening sequence consists of a lot of short and fast shots. We then used the fast colour corrector in all places where we thought it was needed still in order to make it look all that darker and ensure that there is no extreme range of lightness. After then watching and listening to the clips with it nearly done, we were still not entirely happy with it, this was because it was too long and even with the sound introduced it mean that any good parts of the diegetic that we wanted were overshadowed by the sound effect that we had introduced.
Filming 3
Again once taking all of our feedback into consideration, we came to the conclusing, that we could definitely do with a lot more good footage that we could use in order to make our opening sequence longer, as it was previously way too short. Therefore we discussed when we were all free to o the filming, however this was then a problem occured that we couldnt all do it at once. Therefore we used the time out of our media lesson in order to do the filming.
We headed straight for Attenborough Church where we discovered that the door was locked again, but this didnt matter so much as we knew that we were mainly wanting more and better outside shots in which we could use. We began by going over any shots that we found werent good enough before, such as the shot at the beginning of the opening sequence involving the grave and the upwards panning shot of the church itself. And also the shot of them walking through the gates, however a problem occred here, as previously there had been Lizzie, Louise and Kristina in the shot, where as Louise couldnt make it to the filming this time, therefore we had to make sure that we were to use the appropriate shots, so it didnt look like anyone had gone missing.
We then thought up some new shots that could be added to our opening sequence, such as Kristina and Lizzie walking towards the doors of the Church, turning around, looking at eachother, holding hands, and then about to step in. An over the shoulder shot of Kristina and Lizzie with the church in between them. And also, them walking up the pathway surrounded by the graves.
All these new shots, involved, close ups, over the shoulder, mid shots and long shots, this was to help show a range of different shots in our opening sequence to go along with the panning and etablishing shots we had previously got.
Thistime round of filming proved to be very useful as wee got more shots that we could use in order to make our opening sequence longer lik suggested and to then go ahead and edit them accordingly.
Sound
After taking all of our feedback into consideration, we looked closely at the fact that we should include some music into our opening sequence, as it is generally used to help create the suitable atmosphere depending on the piece. Because our thriler is based on a ghost hunt genre, we came to the coonclusion that we needed music that would creat a haunted atmosphere.
Taking this into account we went onto moodle to look at the suggested website and found a good one that was; 'freesounds.org', we then ensured that we were looking in the correct genre and experimented, with what sounds we though wouls go wel with our opening sequence.
This is a printscreen of the one we thought was best after finding it;
Taking this into account we went onto moodle to look at the suggested website and found a good one that was; 'freesounds.org', we then ensured that we were looking in the correct genre and experimented, with what sounds we though wouls go wel with our opening sequence.
This is a printscreen of the one we thought was best after finding it;
Tuesday, 5 April 2011
Feedback From First Draft
As a class we all watched all groups first drafts, and gave eachother both positive and negative feedback, this is so that each group would know what it was that they needed to do in order to improve their opening sequence.
After watching our first draft in particular, this was some of the feedback, in which we were given;
Because our clip was not the full length of 2 minutes, it was suggested that we were to make it longer, in order to fill that time space out. This could be done by separating our names out into more/spearate credits
Using day for night when eidting our footage as a lot of it was quite late, or just filming at a darker time of day.
Ensuring that all the shots were steady, as some were seen to be slightly shaky still.
Adding sound, inorder to build suspense and tension and to help set a haunted atmosphere, in which will get across the genre of the clip to our audience a lot more.
All of these our group agreed with and knew that these were defintely a part of the room for improvement. And we plan on doing all of this, as well as and after collecting more footage from our new location.
After watching our first draft in particular, this was some of the feedback, in which we were given;
Because our clip was not the full length of 2 minutes, it was suggested that we were to make it longer, in order to fill that time space out. This could be done by separating our names out into more/spearate credits
Using day for night when eidting our footage as a lot of it was quite late, or just filming at a darker time of day.
Ensuring that all the shots were steady, as some were seen to be slightly shaky still.
Adding sound, inorder to build suspense and tension and to help set a haunted atmosphere, in which will get across the genre of the clip to our audience a lot more.
All of these our group agreed with and knew that these were defintely a part of the room for improvement. And we plan on doing all of this, as well as and after collecting more footage from our new location.
Editing 1
Because we had put so much time and effort into the filming, because of all the difficulties and errors that we faced, and having to do it more than once, at different locations, with the first being so far away. It wasn't long before our group had realised we were short on time when it came to the filming. However this could considerably be a good thing, as we all pulled together and used any free time we had, such as free periods in our college day in order to do the editing. I cant say we managed to get it as perfect as we would have liked, but we did what we could in the time we had, and it was not necessarily a bad thing, with it being our first draft it left room for improvement.
We began on deciding which footage was good enough and which we wanted to use. We then looked closely at our storyboard for inspiration. Once we had imported the chosen footage, we ensured that there was a good amount of quick cuts, when it came to transitions, as it creates excitment for the audience and bulds suspense. Fades were also used, in order to create a sense of mystery, these were used in the shot of the graveston and the establishing shot of the Church. Then we decided on how we would want the titles to be, and discovered a font, which well suited our genre, however we originally planned to have the font in red with a black background, but discovered that it looked better in white, especially with the Title of the film itself as we decided to have it ontop of the shot of the candle being lit.
Here is an example of the Title that we had originally planned;
We began on deciding which footage was good enough and which we wanted to use. We then looked closely at our storyboard for inspiration. Once we had imported the chosen footage, we ensured that there was a good amount of quick cuts, when it came to transitions, as it creates excitment for the audience and bulds suspense. Fades were also used, in order to create a sense of mystery, these were used in the shot of the graveston and the establishing shot of the Church. Then we decided on how we would want the titles to be, and discovered a font, which well suited our genre, however we originally planned to have the font in red with a black background, but discovered that it looked better in white, especially with the Title of the film itself as we decided to have it ontop of the shot of the candle being lit.
Here is an example of the Title that we had originally planned;
Filming 2
Because our filming did not go to plan at our previous location, we then made then eventually came to the decision to film somewhere else.
After making mistakes last time, we ensured that the camera we got was fully charged when collecting it, this meant that we were to have no complications when it came to actually being able to use the camera, which also meant the tripod was able to be in use aswell, ensuring that all shot were still rather than shaky like what they had previously turned out as.
We began by going to on of my houses in order to do the inside shots, this meant that all the activities that needed to be filmed and the clips involving the props were able to be filmed, all at the correct darkness, however this meant adjusting the light coming into the room, but turning off the lights and slighty closing the curtains.
However not everything went exactly to plan when it came to the footage we had got, for example, we had got a useful clip that involve Louise, Kristina and Myself quickly turning to look at something whilst sat in a cirlce holding hands, looking as though we were carrying out an investigation, but unfortunately we could see furniture in the background.
It was a good idea that we had previously gone to my house to do the inside shots, as when arriving at the church our group discovered that it was unlocked, therefore this meant we were only able to get outside shots, but using a fully charged camera and a tripod, they turned out good with potential.
One drawback we did have was how light it was outside, this had an effect on the white balance when it came to our footage.
After making mistakes last time, we ensured that the camera we got was fully charged when collecting it, this meant that we were to have no complications when it came to actually being able to use the camera, which also meant the tripod was able to be in use aswell, ensuring that all shot were still rather than shaky like what they had previously turned out as.
We began by going to on of my houses in order to do the inside shots, this meant that all the activities that needed to be filmed and the clips involving the props were able to be filmed, all at the correct darkness, however this meant adjusting the light coming into the room, but turning off the lights and slighty closing the curtains.
However not everything went exactly to plan when it came to the footage we had got, for example, we had got a useful clip that involve Louise, Kristina and Myself quickly turning to look at something whilst sat in a cirlce holding hands, looking as though we were carrying out an investigation, but unfortunately we could see furniture in the background.
It was a good idea that we had previously gone to my house to do the inside shots, as when arriving at the church our group discovered that it was unlocked, therefore this meant we were only able to get outside shots, but using a fully charged camera and a tripod, they turned out good with potential.
One drawback we did have was how light it was outside, this had an effect on the white balance when it came to our footage.
New Location
After facing a lot of difficulties and everything coming down to the decision of whether to go back to the previous location at Tutbury castle or whether to change location, we thought it would be best to change location, to somewhere that is easier to get to in case we needed to refilm more than once. We chose to go to 'Attenborough Church' which actually has some similarities to Tutbury Castle, meaning we would not necessarily have to alter our planning.
The present day church consists of a medieval chancel with North vestry (now housing the organ) and South wall chancel door, clerestoried nave, North and South aisles, South porch, West tower and spire, and West end vestries and galilee added in the 20th century. It is set within a conventional churchyard which is walled and gated on Church Lane.
Props
The props we used during our filming consisted of a candle, in order to be lit when in darkness, this would help to create an atmosphere.
A candle is also used, this is to light the candle.
The ouija board is used in one of our clips where the glass will be moving across it, as if people are actually taking part in an investigation.
The table will be used, when there is a clip of the activity 'table tipping' taking place.
and the glass will be used, in two different clips, one where it will be moving across the table on it's own and another, where it is used with the ouija board.
Risk Assessment
Filming 1
Because of choice of location being an important element when it came to our thriller, it seemed as though we should get there as soon as possible. However with the location being such a good one but very far away, with it taking around an hour to get there and another hour in the car to get back, we felt the need to get there, get as much footage as possible and then return and work with what we have got.
Not all went well, as the afternoon that we were planning on filming, we discovered that when wer had planned to go, it was likely to be too dark, with us not having any lights because we were unable to plug them in anywhere, as a lot of our filming was to be outside and if not outside that in an old castle. This meant that we had to find away of getting there earlier, which resulted in my Mum picking Lizzie and Myself up near enough straight from college that day, along with her colleagues. Another problem we faced was when we were on our way to the location. I found the camera to be on a very low charge, this worried us all the way there and we understood that we may have to use other devices in order to get the filming done. When we got there, we immediately started filming in order to get as much done as possible with the amount of battery that we had. However once the camera had died, we took all the filming equipment inside, in which we managed to find a plug socket so that we could charge it. But this meant that a lot of our time was being wasted and we had the problem of it becoming too dark, so i decided to get some footage onto my mum's phone, which has a good quality camera. We also decided to use this time to get some of the inside footage done, however because the camera was still on charge, it meant that it was difficult in order to use the tirpod, this meant that our shots became quite shaky. Once charged we then got as many outside shots as possible of all parts of the castle at different angles. Once returning from the location we discovered that the shakiness of the shots meant that they would not be good enough to use and the fact the the footage from my mums phone was all the opposite way round to what we had got on the camera and it could not be rotated, without it not fitting the screen like the shots on the camera also, therefore they were something in which we also could not use.
Because of these drawback we learnt that we should ensure the camera is charged before taking it and we should always use a tripod to make sure our shots are still and not shaky.
This meant we had to make the decision to either go back to 'Tutbury Castle', or change the location all together.
Here are some screen shots that were considered to be too shaky;
Not all went well, as the afternoon that we were planning on filming, we discovered that when wer had planned to go, it was likely to be too dark, with us not having any lights because we were unable to plug them in anywhere, as a lot of our filming was to be outside and if not outside that in an old castle. This meant that we had to find away of getting there earlier, which resulted in my Mum picking Lizzie and Myself up near enough straight from college that day, along with her colleagues. Another problem we faced was when we were on our way to the location. I found the camera to be on a very low charge, this worried us all the way there and we understood that we may have to use other devices in order to get the filming done. When we got there, we immediately started filming in order to get as much done as possible with the amount of battery that we had. However once the camera had died, we took all the filming equipment inside, in which we managed to find a plug socket so that we could charge it. But this meant that a lot of our time was being wasted and we had the problem of it becoming too dark, so i decided to get some footage onto my mum's phone, which has a good quality camera. We also decided to use this time to get some of the inside footage done, however because the camera was still on charge, it meant that it was difficult in order to use the tirpod, this meant that our shots became quite shaky. Once charged we then got as many outside shots as possible of all parts of the castle at different angles. Once returning from the location we discovered that the shakiness of the shots meant that they would not be good enough to use and the fact the the footage from my mums phone was all the opposite way round to what we had got on the camera and it could not be rotated, without it not fitting the screen like the shots on the camera also, therefore they were something in which we also could not use.
Because of these drawback we learnt that we should ensure the camera is charged before taking it and we should always use a tripod to make sure our shots are still and not shaky.
This meant we had to make the decision to either go back to 'Tutbury Castle', or change the location all together.
Here are some screen shots that were considered to be too shaky;
Questionnaire
Together Me a Lizzie put together a Questionnaire, we ensured that we got results from as many people as possible, this included any friends and family members, class mates and teachers that were at college with us at the time.
After we had all questionnaires returned, we analysed them all, in order to come to a conclusion as to what our target audience was to be and how we should be presenting our thriller and what style would be best for us to use. This led us to being able to go in the right direction when wanting to put our thriller together.
We then went ahead and decided to show our results in pie charts;
Are you Male or Female?
The results we got for the amount of males in comparison to the amount of females, was nearly equal. However it did show that there were slightly more males.
What age group do you fit into?when gathering the results, we found that from this question, which we asked in order to find out what the best age group would be when setting a target audience. The results show that the most popular age group was 15-25 year olds.
Is the thriller genre a genre which you watch regularly?
The results show that more people that filled out our questionnaire do watch thrillers, mostly just 'sometime'. But more people watch thrillers than the amount that do not watch it reularly.
What sub-genre of thriller do you enjoy watching? (can choose multiple)
The most popular choices were shown to include; horror, mystery and crime. Whereas the rest of the options did not prove to be very successful from the people that filled out our questionnaires. This helps to direct us when finally deciding on the genre of our thriller.
Do you prefer to know the main story line in the first two minutes of the film or be left questioning?
The results show that most people would like to have subtle hints, rather than being able to know the main storyline of the thriller from the opening sequence or than being left completely clueless. This will help us when we come to filming and editing as we will know what to include.
Do you prefer more dialogue in the beginning of the film rather than just sound?
The results show that most people would like more sound than diologue used in the opening sequence, which would be used to build suspense and help set the correct the atmosphere for our thriller genre.
Is there a particular setting which you like a thriller to be shot in? (if yes please state where)
The majority did not have any ideas of the setting they thought we should shoot it, although those that did stated that we should chose one ourselves, and ensure that it is one that builds mystery and suspense.
Are there any particular factors which you like to see in the opening sequence to a thriller?
From this question we gathered many suggestions, these included the idea that we should use a montage of clips, that we should possibly use a range of close-ups in order to create the mystery of where they actually are and also the idea that we should use quick snappy shots, this was in order to build suspence and excitement and to make it feel as though a lot is going on.
Name a thriller you particularly enjoyed watching.We had a range of thrillers mentioned, these included; Black swan, Fight Club, Case 39, Seven, Signs, Cloverfield, and Paranormal Activity.
We understand that our results are like to be influenced by the type of people that we asked to fill them out, and therefore our use of selection may have had a bad effect, However the fact that most of them do watch Thrillers on a regular basis, suggests that we are like to get results that are more useful.
After we had all questionnaires returned, we analysed them all, in order to come to a conclusion as to what our target audience was to be and how we should be presenting our thriller and what style would be best for us to use. This led us to being able to go in the right direction when wanting to put our thriller together.
We then went ahead and decided to show our results in pie charts;
The results we got for the amount of males in comparison to the amount of females, was nearly equal. However it did show that there were slightly more males.
What age group do you fit into?when gathering the results, we found that from this question, which we asked in order to find out what the best age group would be when setting a target audience. The results show that the most popular age group was 15-25 year olds.
Is the thriller genre a genre which you watch regularly?
The results show that more people that filled out our questionnaire do watch thrillers, mostly just 'sometime'. But more people watch thrillers than the amount that do not watch it reularly.
The most popular choices were shown to include; horror, mystery and crime. Whereas the rest of the options did not prove to be very successful from the people that filled out our questionnaires. This helps to direct us when finally deciding on the genre of our thriller.
The results show that most people would like to have subtle hints, rather than being able to know the main storyline of the thriller from the opening sequence or than being left completely clueless. This will help us when we come to filming and editing as we will know what to include.
Do you prefer more dialogue in the beginning of the film rather than just sound?
The results show that most people would like more sound than diologue used in the opening sequence, which would be used to build suspense and help set the correct the atmosphere for our thriller genre.
Is there a particular setting which you like a thriller to be shot in? (if yes please state where)
The majority did not have any ideas of the setting they thought we should shoot it, although those that did stated that we should chose one ourselves, and ensure that it is one that builds mystery and suspense.
Are there any particular factors which you like to see in the opening sequence to a thriller?
From this question we gathered many suggestions, these included the idea that we should use a montage of clips, that we should possibly use a range of close-ups in order to create the mystery of where they actually are and also the idea that we should use quick snappy shots, this was in order to build suspence and excitement and to make it feel as though a lot is going on.
Name a thriller you particularly enjoyed watching.We had a range of thrillers mentioned, these included; Black swan, Fight Club, Case 39, Seven, Signs, Cloverfield, and Paranormal Activity.
We understand that our results are like to be influenced by the type of people that we asked to fill them out, and therefore our use of selection may have had a bad effect, However the fact that most of them do watch Thrillers on a regular basis, suggests that we are like to get results that are more useful.
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