Editing Lessons:

Editing Lessons:

 

 

We began our editing lessons by becoming re-acquainted with Final Cut Pro, as we had not used it since filming our prelim task. After uploading out footage we began by re-watching it in order to title each piece and place it into a specific bin. By naming each piece of footage it has made editing easier because we can directly access a specific shot or piece of action without having to go through each clip. We separated the footage into a 'hanging bin', a 'business man bin' and a leaving everything we didn't think we would use in a 'rush bin'. This has made it easier to edit the two scenes together as we can match shots and follow the action much more simply.

 

 

In our first lesson we only managed to sort out our footage as this took considerable amount of time due to the numerous number of clips we had. We then mentally began to put the clips into an order, with the aid of our story board so that next time we could begin placing the clips in order. 

Research into order of opening credits

Harold and Maude:

This 1971 American black comedy film has similar aspects to our thriller.

The Opening Credits:

• Paramount Pictures is the first title shown thus indicates what film company produced and distributed the film.
• There is a long pause before the title of the film comes onto screen, and the film title is in a small font and is placed at the bottom of the screen. The stark contrast between the white font and dark background allows the audience to notice the title. The fact that the title is in a small font implies that this film is quite an understated and subtle film.
• The next title show names of the two main actors in the film; Ruth Gordon and Bud Cort. These actors are well known to those interested in films and both have large followings. These titles are being put at the beginning of the credits in order to entice the audience while also letting them know who is in the film.
• The next titles are of the co-stars in the film, again letting the audience know who is in the film and allowing the audience to make a judgement on the film, based on the actors in it.
• The composer and performer of the music in the film is then acknowledged. As Cat Stevens is famous and well renowned this shows that the music will be a key part of the film.
• The director of photography, camera, costume, make up are then highlighted, again implying that these aspects of the film should be recognised.
• The producers are then recognised along with the editors.
• The director, Hal Ashby, is shown last therefore portraying his importance in the film.

No Such Thing:

This is a 2001 Drama fantasy based in Iceland.

The font is small and white at the beginning and moves across a dark screen therefore allows the audience time to register the film company.

• The first credit is of the film institution and the production company; United Artists Films, American Zoetrope
• The next credit appears later on, and states who the film is associated with; The Icelandic Film Corporation and True Fiction Pictures. This allows the audience to understand who helped create the film thus allows the audience to make a pre-judgement on the film.
• The next credit is of the director - Hal Hartley. This allows the audience too recognise the director and therefore may give insight into how good the film will be.
• The rest of the credits come towards the end of the opening scene and they are not interspersed between parts of the film. The credits are still against a black background, but there is far more movement and white spirals are bringing the credits across the screen. This allows the audience to take an interest in the credits and have time to read them clearly.
• The main actors are listed first, this shows the audience who is in the film thus allows them to gauge the skill of the actors.
• The title is given next, and is slightly larger font in order draw attention to it.
• Some co-stars are then listed, along with the make up, costume, production designers and editor. These are less interesting to the audience so are therefore placed in the middle of the title sequence.
• Hal Hartley's name is then shown again in order to emphasise him as the director.
• The spirals that are moving across the screen become more visible so that the audience can see that they are more to do with atomic structures, thus hinting that the film has supernatural qualities.

Reservoir Dogs:

Another member of my group dissected Reservoir Dogs, and here it is:

 Reservoir dogs' opening titles start with the actors in a café. The first title that comes up shows the audience that the film is directed by Quentin Tarantino. Quentin Tarantino is a very well known director, who is said to have 'created a movie genre of his own' according to the New York Times. This is effective as it would lead the audience to make a pre-judgement of the film.

The next titles then come when the actors leave the café and begin to walk down the road as a group. The sequence then cuts from actor to actor while the name of each actor comes up when the camera is focused on them. This allows you to associate the actor with a name rather than having to guess. This also shows a well respected cast of lead actors as they are the second titles shown.

After all of the actors are named there is a wide shot filming the back of them all as a group where the next titles come up. Firstly 'are' is seen and then 'Reservoir Dogs'. This is effective as it groups the whole cast together under one name.

There is then a list of the remaining actors and crew such as casting, music supervisor, costume designer, editor, etc. This is short and happens fairly quickly which leaves the audience enough time to read them and take them in but not enough time for their minds to wander.

The last credit is then the name of the producer which shows the importance of the producer. The whole way through the titles are plain yellow text which is effective as it does not draw attention away from the actors. The titles are simplistic which makes them clear and easy for the audience to read. The only time the titles change is when the film title come up in capitals which draws attention to the title of the film.

Shoot Day

Thriller - Write up of shoot day

Shoot Day

Our shoot day was on the 22nd January and overall was very successful. The day before the shoot we prepared the props in order to ensure that we could start shooting as early as possible the following day. We constructed and printed off the document needed by the business man, and collected the Bible and cross necklace for the young girl. Also, we made sure that our actors could definitely be a part of the shoot and had the necessary costume. On the day of the shoot we left school at 9:30 as we had to shoot the hanging in daylight while also allowing time for the drive to my house. I was very excited as we left school, but first we had to double check that we had all the equipment. We made sure that we had the camera, tripod and sound equipment. For this part of the shoot we did not need any lighting equipment as we were using natural light. I felt well prepared for the shoot as we had created a very detailed story board thus we all had a clear idea of what we were going to film.

When we arrived at my house we had to overcome some problems that had arisen. However, before we started we had to prepare the area in order to shoot. We moved a bench so that it was underneath the tree thus the girl could use it to sit on and read the Bible and also jump off. Also, we had to find a good rope that was strong enough to hold our actor while also being realistic in the fact that she had found it in her house. In the end we tied two ropes together and this worked very well. As we were filming outside the studio it did not take long to prepare the area and we were happy with the way it looked as it was very natural and fitted well with our concept. The first problem was that we had not been able to use a harness for the hanging due to safety risks thus we had to come up with alternative shots that would portray the hanging but without using a wide shot. Therefore we concentrated on close ups of the feet and head. But in order to create the idea that the girl had jumped, fallen and then slightly retracted we had to use slightly unconventional methods. First we tried having our girl actor hold onto the ends of the rope we had thrown round the branch and then lift her knees up and then drop back down. This proved very difficult as it required extreme upper body strength and she could not sustain it for long enough so that it looked accurate. Therefore we had to think of other alternatives. Finally, we decided to place our actor (Annie) in a swing. This meant she could lie on her stomach, while me and another member of our group lifted her legs up and swung them down. This proved effective as it gave the sudden falling effect, as well as the slight jolt up and then due to the swing, the feet were left swaying therefore giving an accurate idea of the feet dangling. The other problem was that, due to not having a harness, we had to come up with creative ideas for shooting the head. We had to be very careful when we filmed Annie with the noose around her neck and we always had a member of our team very close to her so that if she slipped she would not actually hang herself. As we didn't have a harness we filmed the head in extreme close up before and after the 'jump' so that we didn't have to fake any neck movement. This seemed to work well as the noose and the facial expressions are the only part that you can see. 

Once we had filmed the hanging sequence we transferred back to school so that we could film the business man sequence. Here we had to use lighting equipment so that the lighting was balanced and didn't cause large shadows. Again we were not filming in the studio, so we did not have to prepare the bathroom, except to remove anything not part of the scene from behind the door so that it would not been seen during a wide shot. In the corridor, we had to ensure we did not get any signs that were on the wall as this would have ruined the atmosphere and immediately signified that we were filming in a school. A few problems arose here but were quickly rectified them. Firstly, we had only printed off one document thus once our business man (Adam) had signed it we could no longer use it, even though we wanted to film the scene again but from a different angle. To overcome this, we put a blank sheet of A4 under the contract and filmed close enough so that we could see the writing of the contract and Adams signature but not the A4 paper. Also, as we were filming in a busy corridor which is part of a boarding house, we had many problems with other sound becoming part of our sequence. Therefore, we had to film many shots a few times so that we had the right sound. The bathroom scene ran without any problems, except we had to ensure that the camera did not leave a shadow in the sink but this was easily solved as we moved the light so that the shadow could not be seen.
 

During the shoot we did not all have individual roles that we stuck too but instead we switched around so that everyone had a go. My main role however was coming up with ideas of where to shoot and directing what Annie should do, but our whole group contributed to this as well. A member of my group has previous filming experience and thus he was more focussed on using the camera, but we all operated it and were part of it. Our other member, Holly, did the majority of the sound work therefore worked with both Annie and Adam equally. Leading up the shoot our group did have many conflicts over ideas but on the shoot day it ran reasonably smoothly and everyone seemed to know their place. We did not have any arguments and we worked well as a team and I hope this continues while we are editing.

The most successful part of the shoot, in my opinion, was the hanging scene. Here we really had to think on our feet and easily could have turned out awful, but it didn't. As a group we thought up new ideas and applied them to our concept so that they worked well. Also, as we had a lot of open space to work with we were able to do a large number of shots which was exciting to do as it meant that were using all the skills we had. I am looking forward to seeing how the scene cuts together and whether the close ups of the feet and head are a enough to convey the idea that the girl hanged herself. I wish the corridor scene had gone slightly better as we were only able to get a limited number of shots due to the size of the corridor restricting us. Also, as the action in this scene was small we had to think of different shots that would be effective without 'over filming' the piece.


I thoroughly enjoyed the whole shoot, and because we were filming three entirely different sequences I was able to learn a lot more as we had to apply different skills to each scene. What I learnt the most was that you should not expect to stick closely to your story board, but instead use it as more of a guidance. This enables you to have  vague idea of what you are filming but allow room for new ideas or changes to the original concept. Therefore, in my next shoot I will remember not to rely so heavily on the story board and this will make the shoot more successful as it is easier to come up with new ideas while you are in the moment of the shoot. 

Updated Costume List:

 

 

Updated Costume List:

 

 

 

Young Girl:

 

- Black Dungarees

 

-Cream t-shirt

 

- Nike's

 

- Hair in plaits

 

- Cross necklace

 

- White socks

Location for Thriller

Location

 

 

We have decided to shoot our thriller in 3 locations:

 

1. The corridor in one of the schools boarding houses

2. The toilets (access to a sink)

3. A tree in my garden

 

Following the development of our story we may film some gravestones (also in my garden) in order to add to the theme of religion and churches.

 

 

 



Change of plan to our Thriller

 

Change of plan

 

 

 

Our shoot day has been scheduled to be the 22nd January and with our shoot day approaching we have had to finalise and change some of our ideas.

 

We have finally decided on a strong link that will tie both the politician and the young girl together. The politician is having to destroy numerous churches in order to make way for a new government programme of building, and the young girl, who is his daughter and has a strong Christian faith is so devastated and tormented by this she hangs herself in protest.

 

Having finalised this link, we had to edit our storyboard so that we had some shots that conveyed this plot change. For example, we have decided to zoom in and focus on key words printed in the documents, such as "demolish" and "churches"  in order to allow the audience to gather some idea of what the papers state. Additionally, we have added many close up shots of the girl wearing her cross and reading the Bible before she hangs herself, in order to imply that this is the reason for her death.

 

 

 

 

 



Shooting Schedule

 

Shooting Schedule:

 

 

 

8:50am - Prepare equipment (camera/microphone/light/costume/props)

 

9:30 - Leave school and go to my house

 

9:50 - Set up equipment (move props in position/allow actress to change into her costume)

 

10:30 - Start filming the hanging sequence

 

1. Film the hanging shots first (neck/feet)
2. Film the Bible reading scenes
3. Film preparation of the hanging

 

12:45 - Go back to school for lunch

 

1:45 - Go back to my house to continue shooting the hanging scene

1. Film the walking to the tree shots
2. Sound (footsteps on grass/path)

 

3:00 - Go back to school to shoot bathroom scene

1. Film washing hands as a mid shot
2. Film washing hands as a close up
3. Film any necessary extra close ups (hairdryer/soap)

4:30 - Film corridor scene

1. Film corridor scene
2. Film close up of contract
3. Film leaving the building

5:30 - Pack up equipment and tidy up props

New Storyboard for Thriller

New Storyboard

 

 

We have developed our storyboard considerably since our first draft. We had to alter and change many of our ideas so that they fit together to form a flowing sequence. For example, we realised that we could not just cut straight from a large segment of the politician to another large segment of the girl, but instead cut short clips together to suggest the idea that both events were taking place simultaneously. As well as this, we refined shots so that we had a specific idea of what we wanted to create. For example, we worked on the washing hands sequence for a long time, until we were satisfied that we had the right combination of shots. We also realised that there were gaps in our sequence, such as the fact that the girl needed to jump off something to hang herself. Therefore, we had to introduce her carrying a chair and multiple shots of her standing on the chair in order to build suspension.

 

I am happy with the way our storyboard has turned out because it shows that we are beginning to finally pure our ideas together.





Prop List for Thriller

Prop List:

• Rope (noose)
• Chair/stool
• notebook
• a biro
• official documents
• gold pen
• envelope
• desk
• block of soap
• watch x2
• Bible



Costume List for Thriller

Costume List:

 

 

Male Politician:

 

- plain white shirt

- tie

 

-black suit trousers and jacket

 

-polished black shoes

 

-watch

-belt

-ring (signet)

-handkerchief

- cufflinks

-neatly combed hair

- Beige overcoat

 

 

Young Girl:

 

-mom jeans

 

-baggy t-shirt

 

-big woolly knit cardigan

 

 -converse

 
-colourful bright socks

-hair  in plaits with a headband 

-watch           

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       
 

Character List For Thriller

Character List:

 

 

 

In our thriller we only have two characters present.

 

 

Male Politician:

- Around 40 years old
-5ft8
-English
-Fair short hair
-Well-built



Young Girl:

-16-17 years
-Blonde
-Small