Feedback on Rough Cut

Rough Cut Questions:

1) How well have the technical areas been produced? (camera work, editing, sound and mise-en-scene)

2) How well has the genre characteristics been used? can you identify the sub-genre?

3) What do you like about the rough cut?

4) How can they improve the rough cut? and what criticism can you give the group?

Group 1 feedback:

1) Camera work flows well at the start as you see an establishing shot of the old house, then goes straight to someones point of view walking up the stairs showing the inside of the house. The editing of speeding up the shot into the bedroom then being able to see the girl in the bed, makes it look jumpy and edgy which adds to the creepy look. Mise-en-scene is very good, as it is filmed in a old house which would look better than a modern house. The natural sound of the outside is good. Also the sound of the footsteps as the person walks upstairs shows what the character is doing.

2) I think it is a psychological thriller becaquse it makes the viewer think about what is wrong with the girl.

3) I like that it is set in an old hous because it looks more scary. Also the editing of the girl laying in bed is very effective.

4) You could improve by having sound while the girl is laying, moving around to make it more interesting.

Group 2 feedback:

1) Good editing technique. Good establishing shot/transition from old house to new.

2) Sub-genre is clear to identify, but whether it is a thriller or not is still unclear.

3) Ambient sound works well. Speed of certain scenes are effective. Really good editing and camera work.

4) Duration of last scene is too long.

Group 4 feedback:

1)  Camera work is good. Really good range of camera angles. Mise-en-scene has a really good location etc. We really like the overlapping effect in the editing as it adds to the confusion. There is no sound, but once added will add suspense.

2) Psychological as she looks as if having a nightmare. Good use of genre characterics.

3) Really like the editing overlap. Like the different angles used.

4) Walking upstairs at the beginning is too long - slightly tedious. 0.27 seconds it jumps, therefore it could flow better. Otherwise, it is fab!!

Group 5 feedback:

1) Editing transitions are proffessional. Lots of different camera techniques and shots of Annabelle from close ups to medium shots. Also a good use of shaky handheld that created enigmas. Mise-en-scene: Bright and high key lighting indicates the time of day. Costume of Annabelle helps to indicate that she is having a nightmare, which creates realism. The use of ambient sound (birds) also creates realism.

2) From the creeking door i can identify that the sub-genre could be psychological. Minimum used at the moment to portray a psychological thriller.

3) The editing transitions create the eerie illusion. The production logo comes at the beginning as it signifies well to who you are. The ambient sounds of birds are effective.

4) The blending pictures between the new and old house could be in the same angle to keep the continuity as the angles are different.

Rough Cut

Final Logo

This is our final logo. The hand image is quite detailed but making the logo a black and white colour scheme made sure that the whole logo is focused on, including the name of our company. We used this contorted image of the hand because it creates a mysterious appearance and could be linked with any film genre, not just thriller films. The font we used to write "JTMAR productions" creates an eerie display due to its tall and thin features. We decided to use this font instead of the chunky, thick font in our sample as it is easier to read and has a larger effect on the viewer by keeping the writing simple but effective. Similar fonts are also used for other famous logos so we knew that this technique would be effective. The main reason for which we agree that this logo is better than our sample is because the image is ambiguous and leaves the viewer intrigued about what our company is about.  

Analysis on Editing for Other Thriller Opening Sequences

I am analysing the first two minutes of two opening sequences from the thriller films Shutter Island and Black Swan.  I will analyse the editing techniques that they have used, how they are different and how our group could take inspiration from them.

The first film we analysed was Shutter Island. It starts out relatively calm, as the first shots of the titles fade in to each other, there is some text which fades in to the establishing shot to set the scene.  The slow fade that was used in this editing process calms the audience. The first character is introduced through short shot durations which breaks the calming atmosphere. It shows him on a boat clearly having sea sickness. The main cuts that were used were to establish the change of location from the interior of the boat to the exterior. Slow pace editing was used during the introduction from the first and second character while they were in conversation. There is a cut to the next scene which shows a flash back.

Font Analysis

 In order to create the right first impression among our target audiance, we must select the correct font that conveys our psychological thriller theme. We have a list of criteria to follow when looking for this font. Included in this criteria are the following:

• Suit theme
• Cannot be forgettable (instantly recognisable)
• Unique
• Bold and noticable
• Chilling
• Creates an enigma
• Leaves audience on a cliff hanger
• Realistic

We have all agreed as a group that this font is too 'over the top.' It conveys a horror theme, the font appears to be dripping down to create the vision that it is blood. This is far too gory for our thriller sequence as we want a more low key font which holds enigmas, it does tick some of our criteria boxes however it is not unique to us which is a main goal we wish to achieve.

This is a bold font, the problem with this font is it is far too obvious. No enigmas are created and it appears to be more cartoon like than realistic, making it seem more fun than thrilling. This is also not a unique font and would not instantly recognisable as our film logo.

Although this font is truly unique, it does not appear to our group as though it could be suitable for a thriller opening sequence, it could suit a childrens film as it looks quite fun are relatively imaginative, we are looking for something basic and yet subtley chilling to invigorate our audience with a refreshing new look on thrillers.

We have decided that this is our favourite font among all four. It fits our criteria perfectly, its not too 'horrifying' and yet it leaves the right impression and a lasting enigma. It looks edgy and unique as after researching in to different film titles. Although it is more subtle than the other fonts, it still leaves a lasting affect and has the ability to be instantly recognisable.

We looked in to some other thriller titles in order to differenciate ourselves away from what would be our competition in the market.

Sample Logo and Analysis

                               

This is our sample logo. We wanted to steer away from cliche images such as knives/weapons, keys, scars etc. An owl symbolises wisdom, observation, night, death and misfortune. They also have the ability to see things that are hidden in the dark, along with having strong senses. We wanted our groups name to be bold and kept the colours simple and coordinated as it will only appear for a limited time when showing our thriller opening sequence. When looking at other famous logos, most of them had this simple but effective quality such as 'Universal Studios', Dreamworks' and 'Columbia Pictures'.

Although this sample logo is effective in some ways, it made us think of a more improved idea for our final logo. One of the main things we would want to change is the font of our company name. For example in this sample, we realised that if the writing had a black outline, it would separate the text from the harsh background. We could think of more imaginitive pictures that would suit our theme as to some younger audiences it may not be clear as to what the picture is. However, this logo is unique and no other film companies have a similar 'owl like' effect.

Production Process

We decided to take some photographs while we were filming our final sequence. During our production we spent some time changing positions and angles the camera was in. Doing establishing shots of the house meant some experimentation with how far away we placed the camera, the way we shot the house and the position of the camera. We had to repeat the shot to see which one had the best outcome. 

The plot of our opening sequence includes a nightmare our main character experiences. Therefore, in the bedroom scene we spent 3 hours doing as many shot types as we could. For example, high angle, low angle, long shot, close-up, extreme close-up etc. Doing all these gave us plenty of footage which gave us the ability to delete footage if there were errors made. Throughout this process our group discussed different ways we could film. This gave us the opportunity to take everyone's ideas and see which one worked best.

Trialling of Make-Up

We were limited to the special effects we could create with our make up as we were on a limited budget, and so to keep the production costs down we practiced using an assortment of coloured eye shadows and lip glosses to create the desired affect. The make up did not need to be extremely detailed as the times when it was visable on camera, it was at a distance and so it was relevant to the scene but was not made to be a main aspect of our film. We used a suble amount of make up to not go over the top and lean in to the horror category. We kept it low key and realistic, placing small amounts of blended purple and blue eyeshadows below her eyes to create bags and a mixture of purple, yellow, blue, white, black and grey eye shadows to create bruising on her upper arm. To add to the realism, and due to the fact we are ammateurs with special effect make up, we researched into pictures of bruising and took some inspiration which helped our group massively with the colours we chose to use and where to use them.

Within parts of filming, the bruises and scratches on the upper arm had to be covered by clothing as it would have the tendancy to rub and fade/smudge. To protect the make up in this filming, we set it using a 'Firm Hold' hairspray. We worked well with what little equipment we had, and managed to create realisme.

Test Shot (Pan)

Top ensure perfect continuity, we practised on test shots. One of the main shots that features in our opening sequence is a pan which we sped up to create a disturbia element. We played around and tried to use as many shot types in our sequence to make it more enjoyable for our target audiance. Our pan consisted of a handheld walk around the main character, we decided not to use the tri-pod as we wanted a shakey morphed effect which created an enigma once slowed down. We have had positive feedback from our classmates on this shot and feel that  it was successful and so we felt after testing the shot we should include it in our sequence.

Costume Ideas and Make-up

To keep our mise en scene on point we needed to think about how our character Marianne would look. She has to look the part to suit our psychological thriller, her character is a normal girl in a normal location, therefore she had to look like a stereotypical girl. Marianne is a teenage character and therefore we dressed her in trackies and a casual top. Her make up had to be subtle and realistic and so minimul amounts were applied. Above is a selection of the clothes that we narrowed down to choose the main characters costume, we decided on the navy blue trackies and black polo shirt for a casual affect.

Props

We used a limited amount of probs in our sequence, an iPhone, kitchen knife, toothbrush and a glass of water. The glass of water was used to create beads of sweat in the first scene in the bedroom as we did not have a water spray and so we flicked it on our character Marianne's face using our fingers. The phone is a main prop as it shows the audiance that she is home alone, setting the scene and showing no one will hear her cries. The kitchen knife is in the sequence to add an element of fear as knives are associated with death. The toothbrush is in the closing scene, as the main character drops it and it tumbles in slow motion to the ground, leaving a slow echo. We used normal everyday household objects to create realisme and show how they can be used to cause harm.

Location

We purposely set our location in a 1700's cottage to gain a more suitable place for our opening sequence. It worked very well with out thriller theme and gave us an added effect to the mis-en scene. For example, the beams on the ceilings and walls made our location look old which added to the scary ambiance. The rooms we filmed in were chosen to give us the best outcome we could get with our only location. We discovered during the filming process that the doors and floorboards were very creaky. This was great to have for our filming as the ambient sounds were created manually and we could control when we would put them in. It also made the sounds seem much more realistic and gave us scary sound effects to include. As the majority of our opening sequence would be filmed in a room,. We looked at all five bedroom options and took into consideration of the surroundings and the space we needed to film.The bedroom we chose is a small, wooden room which looked realistic for a teenage girl but eary at the same time. The surroundings in this bedroom were a bedside table and a office table which gave us less chance of making errors with the mis-en scene. However, there were some issues that we encountered when filming. These include some unwanted sounds from doors, wooden floors and dogs that were present at the time of the production process. Therefore, we will need to edit these sounds out of our footage to avoid making our opening sequence look unprofessional. 

When our group arrived at this location, we looked around each room we would be using and see if it would work well with our narrative. One of the rooms we were going to include in our opening sequence was the living room as it had the sofa in it which the girl was hiding behind. However, we discovered that where the sofa was placed, it would be challenging to film the way we wanted to from lack of space and lighting. We came to the conclusion that changing our plan slightly from this detail was the best thing to do. We all agreed to have this scene completed in the kitchen. This allowed us to proceed with our pan around the female character and gave us more sound effects to add in which were available in the kitchen. These include the radio fuzzing and the door creaking. The kitchen location was a much wider space which gave us the room and distance that we needed for the filming. 



Animatic

Practice Soundtrack

We created our practice soundtrack using a package called Garage Band. Garage Band is a software which allows you to create unique pieces of music using different platforms of sound and create distinctive effects.

Our thriller opening sequence has a wide variety of overlapping sounds and effects, therefore with our practice soundtrack we experimented with different pitch and depths of sound. For example, it begins with a shrieking effect called 'No Escape'. This immediately would build suspense in the beginning of our opening sequence as the pitch of the piece increases steadily with time. An overlap of sound is added to emphasise this, and is then followed by a loud rumbling which could be work along side a key climax point in our filming. In our thriller we are sure to film a dramatic slam of a door which makes the main character panic, so the next part of the soundtrack is similar to this and would suit it if they were perfectly in time. 

43 seconds into the soundtrack there's heavy breathing which would allow the audience, if they're not already aware, of the further indication of the genre of the film. This sound effect is played for 3 seconds, before dropping to almost silence. This sudden effect would highlight the visual tension in the clip before the first 'No Escape' sound is replayed. 

To conclude the practice soundtrack, there are some distorted industrial sounds which creates an even greater eerie atmosphere along with a realistic edge, engaging the audience.

Using Garage Band became easy to use when we knew how to use the effects. By practicing using Garage Band and making the soundtrack, we got a better idea of what sounds good with our particular genre of film and what to improve next time.