Evaluation Q.6 (Audience feedback on youtube)

We've posted our film on YouTube and it enabled viewers to post their thoughts on the Opening of our film.

Here are some comments.

 

Evaluation Q.8

This whole expirience was a learing progress.



Blogging: Blogging was something i had never even heard of and so, it was very beneficial to learn how to post videos, photos and it was also a source of keeping in touch with my group.
JVC Cameras/Filming equipment: Filming our opening has enabled me to gain knowledge of using professional filming cameras as well as the parts that come with it such as spotlights and tripods. I learned how to set up the cameras and insert the memory cards and then eventually put it on to the computers. It became an everyday thing and so I feel as though i know it well.
Apple Mac Computers: Initially i felt old fashion as i did not know how to work the computers as much as others but slowly but surely i learned a lot about its programmes and software such as Livetype and inserting sound.

Evaluation Q.7

We've learned about a range of technologies from the process of constructing our product.


Initially we were introduced to Blogger.com this was extremely beneficial as we were able to post our research of Thriller Openings/Films as well as keep in touch with our group. Blogger also helped us go back and work on our film according to our research.




We also used JVC cameras in order to film our opening. We filmed according to the plan which was up on Blogger.com .JVC cameras were very useful as we then could instantly upload our film on the New Apple Mac Computers and start to edit.

Technologies were used in order to edit our opening after filming it with the JVC camera. We used Final Cut Pro in order to choose the clips of which we believe that we needed. We then used Soundtrack Pro which enabled us to insert sound of which fitted in with the editing we had done on Final Cut Pro. We then put our rough cut on Blogger.com  And when we were sure we were finished after hearing feedback and improving the opening, we put it on YouTube.

Evaluation Q.4/5

DEAD-LINE is an independent film on an extremely limited budget and so therefore it will need as much publicity and distribution as possible.

A way of doing this is by uploading the film on Youtube. Youtube has a daily view base of 54% in the UK alone and so we decided to upload our film on youtube.

We decided to inco-operate the traditional "word of mouth" with the upload on youtube and so told people to go on it.

Facebook was also beneficial as it enabled us to post status' aswell as posting the video on peoples wall's so that their friends can watch it aswell as themselves.

In less than a week we were able to obtain 116 views aswell as comments from viwers, many of which we didnt even know!

Websites such as IMDb.com (The internet movie database) are well known for advertising new films so if we needed some publicity we would post details of the forthcoming movie on this website.

Furthermore, our film has recently been uploaded on a video site called 'Vimeo' this has enabled more audiences to watch our opening. As well as ensuring security as in order to watch our film you must be a member. This way less people would copy our idea or download the film illeagally.

Moreover, a screening in a small cinema in North London. Approximatley 200 people will be able to watch our film in the cinema,

Lastly, 200 copies of a DVD with our film will be given , so people at home can watch our film and even have people over to watch it.

We didnt have the million dollar budget as the well successful film AVATAR had, due to its money it was able to have many sources of advertisment such as:  The MSN HOMEPAGE TAKEOVER

 Homepage takeovers offer a "one of a kind" roadblock of a film product on a well visited website.It enables a company to recieve

Massive brand exposure for your brand, product or service , and Excellent marketing tool for driving awareness for new product launches

Evaluation Q.3

The idea of an ideal viewer for our thriller film is thought to be a female as it is a Romantic-Thriller Genre and also, in her mid-twenties.
Below is a made up character of which i have created in order to represent the thought of character for our film 'DEAD-LINE'

 Beth Horton is 24 years old and just completing her course in university. She enjoys subjects such as psychology in which she can study the human mind especially those of which are unstable.

She loves social networks and even has her own blog where she reviews physiological thrillers. Her favorite films are Black Swan and DEAD-LINE.

When she watches films like DEAD-LINE she often goes online or meets with fellow students where they discuss the film asking questions kike - 'what made her do this?'  and 'who made her like this?'

Evaluation Q:2

The act of normality like the main character did in the movie stepfather represents a particular social group of curious university graduates aged 24 and over

  In our psychological thriller it is evident that the character cares about her appearance, this is shown when she re-applies her makeup. Furthermore, the character continues to do what she may do on a 'normal' day such as putting on shoes and fixing her hair. This really represents her severe mental instability as there not only is there a dead person in the same house as her, they're in the same room as her! Normal people may feel guilty or even frightened for what they have done. But not this character.

                                                                        

The act of 'normality' has been inspired by The Stepfather  (2009) The character is carefully changing his appearance and then goes on to make breakfast knowing that he has just killed an entire family and they are laying on the floor in the same room as him!!!

Evaluation Q.1

The idea of a black screen with white writing establishing the people involved in making the film is used in SE7EN is used in our thriller opening also.

Close ups of the main character doing something or picking something is also used in both our film opening ans se7ens film opening.

In both our film and Se7en we ensured that the title of our film was placed at the middle of our opening rather than the beginning or end.

In the beginning of both se7en and our film opening, we used a supporting company "presents..."

                                            

     

(body PARTS rather than the whole body)

                                                       ( members  of cast stated)

   

DIFFERENCES

While our film begins with an establishing shot so that the viewer acknowledges the location of the film. The open of Se7en doesnt do this.

 

We used Serif Fonts While Se7en Used Sans Serif fonts

While the character in our film cared a great deal about her appearance and was a female character, in se7en, the face of the character is not shown and it also conveys a scruffy and viloent man from the beginning.

Evaluation Q6: Audience Feedback!

Today we had an audience feedback session. We played our thriller opening and got everyone to comment on it both on paper and on camera. After the clip had ended we began a small discussion on what worked and what did not in our thriller opening. Here is the recording of the discussion:

A Wordle of the audience feedback session

FINAL CUT: (DEAD LINE- Opening title sequence)

Here is our finished opening title sequence for 'Dead Line'! 

Rough Cut for 'DEAD LINE'

This is a rough cut of the first 2 minutes of our movie 'DEAD LINE', it does not have sound or title sequences and the editing used in the rough cut does not match the editing used in the real FINAL clip as we decided to change a few things. 

The Editing Process: Print Screens

Here are some screen shots of us editing our clips, adding sound and title sequences to them.

Editing the thriller opening on Final Cut Pro

Editing the sound on Soundtrack

The finished sound for 'Dead Line'

Issues filming for thriller opening for 'DEAD LINE'...

As we had to re-film we could not afford to pay for the same room we had before for the previous film in the hotel. After watching back the clips on 'sinful wings' we decided to change quite a few things and needed more clips. The location was in the home of one of our group members. We used this person's room because she had laminated flooring which we really wanted to use as we thought it had worked well when we filmed in the hotel room. 


So as we arrived to the house we were all just taking about how to film and getting ready etc. When getting the camera and equipment ready we saw that the memory card for the camera was missing as we had left it in college. We tried to get hold of a memory card but we were unsuccessful. We asked neighbours as college was significantly far away from the location, but we could not get hold of one and were forced to go back to college. 


We made our way back to college to collect memory card then went back to the location and filmed, which took us about 2 hours. This time we made sure we had enough clips, so we filmed each part 3 or 4 times to make sure we had enough clips.

Music Choices...

The music in a film plays a very big part. The music emphasis an action. This also suggests the genre and sets the mood for the film before it is fully watched. Automatically when we hear a scary sound in a film we quickly think that it is going to be scary. A unique opening of a thriller movie that really inspired me of the music and sound is in 'The Stepfather'. At the beginning we hear the children singing 'Silent night' and we hear the music behind it, then it switches into a dark slow creepy odd sound when we see the people layed on the floor. Which at first we think the man is all innocent until we hear the bad music. I Think this is a clever way because it does not give much away and puts the audience in been confused in a way in what to believe if the guy is innocent or not.

As this really inspired our group we thought of putting a childish song at first to match with the character and then slowly change it to something very dark, slow and creepy.

Music Choice

Watching other thriller films I've seen that many of then have a peice of music throught the film with sound effects to really emphasise an action.

In the opening of The Stepfather (2009) The character switches on children singing 'Silent Night'  howver, the sweet angelic song is embedded with odd creepy music which portray the characters sick twisted mind.
As it is asthough he targets something innocent and makes it mortifying.

PLACE THE OPENING OF THE STEPFATHER HERE


In the movie 'HIDE AND SEEK' I saw that there was a creepy piano instrumental throughout and maybe the use of string instruments. As the film goes on , the music gets louder and faint voices of the characters re heard but you can still hear the music.

(HIDE AND SEEK 2004)

Music plays a big part in not only thrillers but all movie openings as it suggest the genre and sets the mood for the film before it is fully watched .

TITLE IDEAS

Because we have changed some of the concept of our initial idea - Sinful wings
we decided that the title does not go very well with the concept of our film as we did not use wings in our final film. And also we thought it sounds less appealing when said aloud.
the creative minds of my group  enabled us to find many ideas to choose from such as:
ROOM 3
DEADLINE
RED LIPS                                                                                                  
                                                  

                                                       And so may more.

Our final decision for our title is....
DEAD LINE as the characters door number is '33' and it will made clear at the end of the film.

It is important to not give away the film with the title as the storyline of the film will be predictable and therefore, less enjoyable.

SALT IS AN EXAMPLE OF A THRILLER TITLE THAT DOES NOT GIVE AWAY THE FILM FROM JUST HEARING THE TITLE.

 BY JUST HEARING THE TITLE SALT, MANY PEOPLE WILL BE CONFUSED AS TO WHAT THE FILM IS ABOUT AND WHY THE WORD 'SALT' HAS ANY RELEVANCE.
'SALT' IS THE SURNAME OF THE MAIN CHARACTER IN THE FILM. AND IT IS ABOUT A CIA AGENT... NOT ABOUT CHIPS!

ESTABLISHING SHOTS

An establishing shot in film establishes the context for a scene by showing the relationship between its important figures and objects.It is usually  a long shot at the beginning of a scene indicating where, and sometimes when, the scene takes place. Estalishing shots usually use famous landmarks such as; NEW YORK CITY and the EIFFEL TOWER.




We've an establishing shot in our film in order to show the audience where exactly the character is. In this case, she is in a house in a 'posh' area. We then zoom in to a window implying that the character is in the room. There is then a match cut of the character inside the building.

(PUT ESTABLISHING SHOT OF OUR FILM HERE)

An establishing shot is usually short at about  three seconds - however long enough for viewers to acknowledge the scene.

In the film :Wake in Fright  it pans over the vast desert landscape of Australia, with unsettling music to convey that the desert is a dangerous place. it lasts for about half a minute. An establishing shot of this length would be wearisome if it is placed after the film had started, because by then the film should have been established.

(Wake in Fright     Establishing  shot)

Examples of Match-Cuts!

This year in As Media Studies we looked at various edits, but one of the main ones used in and throughout our thriller opening is a 'match-cut'. We have them at the beginning when the character picks up the pills, picks up the glass of water and puts it down, picks up the lipstick and puts it back on the table, picks up the brush and throws it on the table again.
Also when the girl turns around and drops the scarf, we cut straight to the scarf landing on the ground. We have taken this from 'The Stepfather' and ' Se7en' movies, because we believe that match cuts are more common in thrillers, and it helps keep the audience alert. 

Music Choices!

In terms of music and sound we are undecided when looking at music to play throughout the clip, however for small things such as when main character throws the make-up brush on the table or when she walks across the floor of the room in high-heels we are clear that we need to find sounds to represent the sounds these actions actually make. 

Editing progress!

Today, 17th of March 2011, we began editing the clips we have from the previous day we went out filming. We have not had a chance to finish editing the whole movie but we have done a rough-cut of it and feel that at the moment it is going quite well. 

And the 'rough-cut' is up on the blog, it is one of the more recent posts! 

We Re-film!

Yesterday, 16th of March 2011, we did not have the chance to blog as we were re-filming our thriller opening. We had a few issues on the day with equipment, but we did end up filming and we made sure we had enough clips (which was one of the problems we had with our previous filming) and made sure that everything turned out the way we needed it to for a successful edit and end product.

We filmed the same actions from different angles, as we would like to include match cuts. We think that match cuts are key to give the viewer awareness of the characters surroundings. With match-cuts the viewer may feel as though we are showing them a lot, but we only want to show the viewer a little part of what there is, show them enough for them to want to keep on watching and not too much for them to know fully what is going on. We were concerned at the beginning with the amount of information we are giving viewers, we felt as though they were not really going to understand the story, that's why we thought it necessary to re-film. 

When reading this blog and our posts on our movie, some people may not find that the storyline is very strong. We do feel however that most student films tend to have too much of the story in the opening two minutes. If you watch any thriller that is out in the cinema (e.g. The Stepfather, Se7en), the opening two minutes is not supposed to show too much or include too much information or being set in various different places, there tends to be just the one place. We felt that with the research we had done that this would be a good idea for an opening and although it may not tell much of a story, it is only supposed to be an opening. 

In conclusion, we felt filming went quite well specially with all the issues we had faced with equipment and the problems with the clips the first time we had filmed. We got all the shots we needed and after editing we feel that it will turn out quite well. We have used all the research and knowledge from the last couple of months and we have tried to put it into our filming.