Friday 18 March 2011

Final Peer Feedback

we got feedback from the all of the other groups in our class.

1. describe the type of camera work:
establishing shots, panning shots, tracking shots, short duration shots, these were used well but not enough suspense was created but apart from the shot duration shots. POV shots were also included. Good use of handheld shots to increase the sequence pace. the shot of the train shows what was going to happen to the victim.

2. what type of sound has been used?
the sound was sad but intense which showed that they were connected and that he was really worried. could have cut out the noise from the cars on the road as background sound. the soundtrack was good, the speech was brief which created suspense. the sound was good at the start which created the mood for the thriller.

3.  how does the mise-en-scene construct had an impact on the thriller genre?
the location for the tied up scene was typical, rural and out of the way. the mise-en-scene was used well at the begining and the thriller was too light hearted.

4. what editing techniques have been used?
blurry when running which created tension and this used to make

Thursday 17 March 2011

dream-like-reality

opening sequence idea

we have decided to include a clip of ink in water whilst the title of the film and the opening credits are played. this is so that the text on the screen doesn't obstruct any of the actual scenes. we have decided to use ink in water because we thought it gave a mysterious feel and that the contrast between the ink and the water could represent the contrast between dream and reality in our film.
here are some examples:


Tuesday 15 March 2011

target audience

Our film BBFC film classification is 15 so we obviously cant aim film at anyone aged younger. We also think that the film will appeal to younger people than older generations because we feel that younger people will enjoy the feelings of suspense and danger that our film would give. because of the contents our film would involve, we feel that some parents might find some scenes distressing because our film would contain some elements that are very close to reality that some people may have experienced in the past.
15s200-1

Film Titles

The title of the film is a very important aspect of movies. This is because it is generally the first thing the potential audience sees and if the movie has a bad title, people would not want to see it. The film title generally includes some relation to the actual film, from an aspect of the characters to something significant about the location, or if it reflects the films narrative.
Because of the significance of the title, we need to choose carefully so that we grab the attention of the potential audience so that they eventually watch the film.
Our film is a thriller with the sub-genre of crime because of the kidnapping. this means that it would be a good idea to include an aspect of crime or kidnapping into the film title in order to get our audience's attention. During our opening sequence, one of the main features is a dream so we have decided to base our title around this.
some ideas we have had include:
"the dream"
"the midnight thief"
"dream-like-reality"
We have decided that Dream-Like-Reality is the best choice for our film title because it tells the audience that dreams are a factor of our movie while it is still withholds information for the actual film. Also, because of the dashes in the title, it gives the feeling of confusion because the dream and the reality are closely linked in the title and therefore, the same in the movie. We have decided to not use the other ideas because the first one, 'the dream', we feel doesn't give enough information about the film whereas, 'the midnight thief' gives away too much by including midnight, which relates to sleeping and dreams, and thief which relates to the kidnapping.

Friday 11 March 2011

Things to do from 11th march

The only things we need to do is related to editing of our final sequence.
We need to finish editing the sequence according to Amar's feedback. This will take most of the time because we have had to move some of the clips around, amongst other things.
We also need to add things like our production logo, the name of the film and the credits to our sequence. This shouldn't take very long because it is only adding a picture and some text to the final sequence.

Thursday 10 March 2011

changes to script

"the opening sequence starts off with a shot of the dad sleeping uncomfortably in his sleep. because we want to show him having nightmares, the dad will have to be tossing and turning in the bed and looking restless. the next scene is off his ex-wife and his young son tied up in an empty room looking terrified. there is then a jump cut back to then dad as he wakes screaming and shouting which emphasizes the fact that he was having a nightmare. the story then jumps forward in time to the dad running frantically down the street at night. the dad then walks up to a deserted warehouse panting to show that he is tired and worn out from running down the street. we then see the father walking down a corridor with his footsteps bouncing off the walls. after a sudden scream, from the mother in a different part of the warehouse, the dad spins around and runs in the direction of the scream. we then see the kidnapper with the two hostages. the father walks forward slowly to confront the kidnapper and once they are close enough to speak clearly, you hear the dad say something along the lines of "you wont get away with this" then the scene fades and the movie starts."

this is the old storyline that we will be changing.

the opening sequence starts off with two people walking down the street. one of the people then meets another person who then go into a house. the first person waves goodbye then walks off down the same street, into his own house. there is then a shot of a train going past. we then see the first guy going to sleep. the sequence then goes to the other two characters being kidnapped by a new character. the next shot is off a POV of running through the woods. these jump between each other causing suspense. we then see the guy waking up with a start and then see him confronting the kidnapper before the sequence ends.

Amar's feedback

This is the feedback that we received from Amar for our thriller opening.
He said that our storyline was confusing because he thought that it was hard to distinguish between the different characters. To correct this, Amar said to change the storyline so that it makes more sense.
We have also been told to emphasize the feeling of the dream during the middle. This can be done adding various effects and colours to that particular sequence which can be done using final cut express.
 Another way to make the storyline make sense is to rearrange the clips into a suitable order. An example of this would be to change it from; kidnapped - train - bed to bed - train - kidnapped. This way the storyline flows more fluently and adds more suspense and drama to the opening sequence in general.
Another point that Amar made was that the opening sequence was too obvious for an opening sequence. He did however, say that the camera work was good and effective and that it adds suspense nicely.
Overall, from the feedback we received from Amar, the storyline is the weakest part of our thriller sequence with confusing scenes and characters and that the footage that we shot was good and effective for the genre.

Friday 4 March 2011

problems encountered

We encountered various problems during the filming of our thriller project.
one problem we had was keeping the continuity flowing throughout the filming. We solved this by re-filming any scenes that broke the continuity.
Another problem was one that we couldn't help because it was to do with the weather. on some occasions, we were unable to film because the weather didn't match that of what we had previously filmed. Like before, we filmed at a later time when the weather suited us.

Tuesday 1 March 2011

Feedback on Roughcut

This is the feedback that we have received from one of the other groups.
The other group said that we have used a variety of different camera shots. This is good because it shows that we have good camera skills and are able to use the different camera shots to full effect.
The mise-en-scene works well with our genre according to our feedback, but it has been noted that the dad sleeping in his clothes could be seen as unrealistic. To solve this, we could re-shoot the scene but with appropriate clothes or we could emphasize that the dad is very stressed which is the reason for the nightmare in the first place.
The sounds that we have used for our thriller were tense and dark and, according to our feedback, went well with our genre and suited the atmosphere well.


Some points to consider from out peer feedback was:
The narrative wasn't clearly outlined in the rough cut and it needs to be clearer in order to understand the story line.
Another problem according to the feedback was that it was hard to distinguish between the characters. This is mainly due to the fact that we didn't use outside characters and the person acting as the child was a similar height compared to the other characters.
Also, the people who were reviewing our rough cut thought that it wasn't very easy to distinguish what was happening in the sequence. This can be linked to an earlier comment saying that the narrative wasn't very clear, but we hope to solve this when the whole sequence is put together.
Another comment was that the sequence wasn't long enough but of course, once the whole sequence has been put together and edited, it should be of a suitable length.
Another thing to improve is in one of the scenes, there is a slight lack of continuity in that Jake is out of the shot in one scene, but is then seen waving goodbye from a similar position in the next. The main way to solve this would be to re-shoot the scene but this all depends on whether or not we have enough time to do this. 

Some good points given from our peer feedback was the wood location and how we used those surroundings in our shots. another good part was the camera shots we used when the dad was running through the woods. This includes the POV shots and pan shots.

programmes used throughout our project

we will be using a variety of different programmes on the computers.
1. final cut express
Picture 5
this will be used to edit all out footage and to put our final sequence together. we will be using other programmes in conjunction with this, like garageband, to add other elements to our sequence.
2. garageband
Picture 1
this is where we will be making our soundtrack for our sequence. we will use this with final cut express to come up with the final project. we may also use this for other sounds like sound effects and if we want to add narration to the opening sequence.
3. iphoto
Picture 4
this is what we will be using to upload any pictures to the computer from the cameras. we will be using this to upload any written work we have done as well as any still photos we have taken for out sequence.
4. internet - for research, uploading and blogging
Picture 2

Picture 3
this is what we will be using for most of our theory work because of the amount of resources are available on the internet. we will use blogger, for showing our work, flikr, for uploading any pictures we have so that they can be shown on our blogger page, youtube, to research any other thriller sequences and soundtracks as well as showing our own opening sequence. we will also be using a variety of other websites, for the different pieces of research we have done.