Coursework Evaluation

My opening sequence follows conventions of real film openings in certain ways. An example of this is when the camera cut firstly to an over the shoulder shot of a newspaper headline, and then cut to a close up shot of the character of the Journalist's facial expression to see her reaction. This is common in many real films and TV programmes including 666 Park Avenue, which is also has similar story lines to my own film.
Choosing title sequences for my film was an easy decision; I decided to use a typewriter effect in order to instantly tell the viewer it was about writing/Journalism. For my main title of 'The Story', I used the same font, however stretched it out slightly and made in black (black having connotations of darkness and horror) to show that the film would gradually become more frightening and sinister. You could suggest that this is similar to other thriller/horror films in which the first opening scenes follow people's everyday life, however eventually, there is a twist. This is what I was trying to achieve with my film.

In my sequence, I had two characters - the Journalist and the Boss. I chose to challenge typical conventions with the character of the Boss, due to the fact people in higher positions tend to be male to show gender dominance. I did not give the Boss the costume of wearing a suit, instead, a skirt and formal top, unlike most media productions. However, the Boss was represented as having more dominance in the scene. I shot the Boss and Journalist in an over the shoulder shot in order to juxtapose the two characters superiority in the workplace. The Journalist was represented as being an amateur in the field as the newspaper headline instantly told the audience that she has made a mistake in her work, giving us a negative impression of her. However the character of the Boss was a complete contrast as she was very professional, making her a binary opposite of the Journalist. Age was also a significant factor of my scene, as my Journalist was a young character, the stereotype is that she would be more prone to making mistakes. Whereas as the Boss is much older, the stereotype is that she would take work much more seriously hence her higher position at work. Overall, the effect of my film was that the younger character was more naive and impressionable and doesn't take things seriously, yet the older character was the complete opposite of this.

The target audience for my film would be teenagers and to those in their early twenties. (presumably 14-15+) as the film would maybe be unsuitable for anyone younger. This is because my main character is a young character and I am unsure it would appeal to anyone older, yet does get gradually more sinister so would be inappropriate to a younger audience. The film would probably appear to those in the A-E demographic, more so students however would possibly also appeal to those of a higher professional status due to the role of the characters. Overall, as my film includes a younger character the target audience is for younger people.

If someone was to distribute my film, it would probably be Paramount Pictures. They distributed the film 'Shutter Island' which is slightly similar to my film in places, the film starts with two detectives talking and then gradually turns into a Thriller, which I was hoping to achieve with my film. The budget of the film was $80 million. The company would possibly distribute my film as it has a similar genre of a Mystery/Thriller.

I have learnt very much about technologies from the process of filming this product. When creating my Camera Guide and Preliminary task, I was unsure how to use Premier Pro effectively, however as I have had the time to practice with it and progress, I feel much more confident. I learnt how to create a split screen for my short montage, 5 months ago I would have had no idea how to do this! I also learned how to edit the shots brightness, I lowered the brightness in all shots to achieve a darker feel. I did find the editing process very difficult in terms of ensuring I had eradicated any chance of making continuity errors, which I feel I was nearly very successful on. I also should have filmed more shots of my scenes in different angles as I was unhappy with some of my angles and did not have any more footage to rely on. Therefore if I was to repeat this process in the future, to make the whole experience easier for myself I would make sure I had about five shots in different angles so I always have a broad choice and to make editing easier. I had many camera difficulties throughout the process of making my film, however this problem was solved as I found a Panasonic HD camera to use which was absolutely ideal. With this camera, I learned how to adjust the camera lens to assure I had clear focus throughout the shots.
Looking back at my Camera Guide and Preliminary Task from the start of this academic year, I can see how much I have progressed in the terms of keeping the camera steady and seamless and I have learned just how important precision is when it comes to filming.
To improve my film in the future, I would include an establishing shot at the start of a newspaper publishing house e.g The News to make it completely clear where the characters worked, and then have the titles appearing before my first over the shoulder shot.

Sound for my film

I have successfully added sound to the scene towards the end of my film in which my character of the Journalist. I downloaded the music from incompetech.com under the section of 'horror'. The sound fitted in very well to my scene as I had it slowly fading in as the Journalist was approaching the door of the warehouse.

The only trouble I am currently having is looking for appropriate music to fit in with my opening scenes in the office. I have looked through incompetech and haven't been successful due to the sounds either being too dark and deceitful or too soft and chirpy, where I am looking for something exactly in between.

I will continue to look for some music and I will keep you posted when I find something fitting.

I have finally finished creating my film, the only thing I possibly need to add is sound at the start in the scenes in the office and to ensure there aren't any continuity errors.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCEv2sKsYJY

Editing Practice - Split Screens

I have almost finished editing my film together, the only thing I have yet to complete is my montage scene. To achieve a good montage effect I thought I would use a split screen. I was unsure of how to do this on Premier Pro so I practiced with my old footage and discovered how to achieve this.

I feel this is effective as it will enable me to create a good seamless montage.

Editing Process

My filming has now finally been successfully completed and I have now reached the editing process of my task. I have Premier Pro CS6 downloaded onto my computer and home which gives me the chance to edit at all times with no problem. I am finding that my clips are so far creating a seamless flow of action.

I have a plan of how I am going to edit together my sequences, I will be creating a montage in which will show time passing as my character is 'looking for a story.' I will do this by cross dissolving the shots of a clock.
                                                                                               

Location Change

I have experienced some problems with filming, including when I can film and where I can do it. I have also had issues with my actors not being available when I wish to film. Due to these problems, I have decided that for my benefit it would be much easier to film at home where I am guaranteed to have a place to film. Also, I will be acting in my film so I can definitely film when I'd like to.

I will be using a bedroom in my house, and in order to make it look more like an office I will clear out anything you wouldn't find in an office; e.g. drawers etc which will not be a problem. I need to make sure everything I use in the mise-en-scene is relevant to an office scenario. 

I will need:

To move a table into the room to use as a desk

A laptop 

Pieces of paper scattered around the table

Pens/Pencils etc

I have successfully rented out all of the equipment I need from the media department and all of my equipment at home is ready to go for me to film over the weekend. 

Filming Process and Challenges

About two weeks ago, I began filming. My props and setting was almost ideal; I used a classroom in college, the one flaw was the whiteboard in the room which made it look more like a classroom than an office so I needed to try my best to avoid catching it in my shots. Then after filming about half of my overall shots, I uploaded them on to Adobe Premier Pro to begin editing; this is where my first problem occured and it became apparant that I had a problem with my camera. This is because the quality of all of my shots were very low, grainy and very pixelated. Unfortunately, I knew that I could not use this in my main task and that I would have to film it all again.

However, I immediately solved this problem by renting out a Canon DSLR 500D camera from the media department. I practiced shots to ensure that the quality would be good and clear and thankfully it was! The next day I started to film again.

The first time I filmed I did not have a script which was a problem as I had to think as I went along about what my actors would have to say next which was very inefficient for them and myself. In order to ensure this did not happen my second time, I made a script with the shot angles next to them to avoid confusion. Again, I filmed about half of my film and I have found it difficult to find anymore filming time due to the absence of my actors. Despite this, they were very easy to direct and remained very professional- they brought in their own costumes which they thought would be appropriate to their roles including shirts and ties etc. I made sure my actors were in the same positions in each shot I filmed to avoid any continuity errors.

The only problems I found after filming a second time was an issue with framing and mise-en-scene, in some of my shots you could see the whiteboard (mentioned earlier). I used long shots which were not suitable because of this and the room looked very much like a classroom instead of an office which was my main worry. In order to resolve this problem I will need to re-film these shots perhaps from different angles to avoid any of these errors which will not be a problem. On a positive note, the rest of the shots I filmed were clear and of good quality. I imported them onto Premier Pro and editing them together which was successful as the shots were very seamless.