Rough Cut

This is our first draft of our opening sequence

Audience Reaction- Rough Cut on Prezi


Audience feedback- Class

Today as a class we took some time to get reaction from our fellow classmates. We sat around as a class and devised questions as group on what we wanted to find out. My group divided it up into Camerawork, Music, Titles, challenging conventions and other general points.

Camerawork

Good

• Good variety of shots that make the story easy to follow. Especially the low angle shot of the protagonist in the bathroom and the high angle shot of him walking on the road. 
• The shots for each scene were appropriate and allowed us to see the characters emotion. Also allowed us to spot any important features such as the blood on his hand.

Improvement

• Shake of camera before entering the building is unprofessional and distorts the audiences view of the film.
• Shot reverse shot is needed in order to make the exchange between the two characters more realistic. Also there needs to be a cut to another image while they are talking.

Music

Good

• Original and well constructed music. The fact that you did not add pre-made Imovie songs made it look authentic.
• Background sound in exchange of dialogue makes it hard to follow the conversation.

Improvement 

• It is important that your Non- diegetic sounds like the alarm clock sync in perfectly or it makes it look a tad 'tacky'

Titles

Good

• You added Imovie ones whihc are ok for now.

Improvement

• There were non and they need to be added. The title of the movie came up as a separate frame on a Imovie background and that is a shame as you have worked hard to make it look original.

Challenging conventions

Good

• Murder and blood make it look and feel like a thriller film.

Improvement

• Cuts are too slow

General points

Good

• You have grasped the general aspects of a thriller and it genuinely looks like a thriller

Improvement

• Scripting is bad, 'killer is on the loose'
• Acting needs to be sharper as the supporting character doesn't look a genuine character in the film.

Preliminary task

This is my groups preliminary task


Evaluation

Filming the preliminary task was a good learning curve for me personally and also for my group. We learnt a great deal. We learnt how to use the equipment we would be using such as cameras and dolly. It was tough to start off as I believe we underestimated the difficulty of the task. The filming wasn’t too bad as we keep the scene as simple as possible. However the editing was the toughest part. We ended up cutting a minutes worth of clip time in order to make it as smooth as possible. It was difficult as for many of us it was our first time using iMovie and some of us struggled with the timings. Although we all had a same image of what we wanted the finished video to look like. Another point to improve on in our final piece was the mise-en-scene of the video, while not of great importance now it will in the final piece. There were some amateur mistakes such as boxes lying around, bags on tables in the frame and also students nearby. We have taken this into consideration and already organised the props and look of our set before filming. Furthermore while not a qualified actor I believe my performance as 'misbehaving student' could have been better. I’m aware that we will not be graded on quality of acting but if there are any flaws in our final piece it will divert the attention of the drama and intensity we are trying to create. I was nervous and sometimes looked at the camera, so it’s important that I learn from this and improve.

On a positive note, we worked well as a group with everyone pulling together in order to create a preliminary task. Everyone did something and we all took responsibilities from any mistakes and tried to learn from them.

Shooting schedule

A shooting schedule is a projected plan of each day's shooting for a film production. It is normally created and managed by the assistant director, who reports to the production manager managing the production schedule. Both schedules represent a timeline stating where and when production resources are used.

This is an example of a professional shooting script-


From taking a look at this shooting schedule we have noticed the level of detail you must go in order to achieve a high standard. Although we dont have soo much equipment and staff it is still important to make sure that everyone knows their roles clearly. This will allow us to be more efficient with our time. Furthermore

This is our groups first draft shooting schedule for our opening sequence-
Shooting Schedule

Animatic storyboarding

In animation and special effects work, the storyboarding stage may be followed by simplified mock-ups called "animatics" to give a better idea of how the scene will look and feel with motion and timing. At its simplest, an animatic is a series of still images edited together and displayed in sequence. More commonly, a rough dialogue and/or rough sound track is added to the sequence of still images to test whether the sound and images are working effectively together.

This allows the animators and directors to work out any screenplay, camera positioning, shot list and timing issues that may exist with the current storyboard. The storyboard and soundtrack are amended if necessary, and a new animatic may be created and reviewed with the director until the storyboard is perfected. Editing the film at the animatic stage can avoid animation of scenes that would be edited out of the film. Animation is usually an expensive process, so there should be a minimum of "deleted scenes" if the film is to be completed within budget.

Often storyboards are animated with simple zooms and pans to simulate camera movement. These animations can be combined with available animatics, sound effects and dialog to create a presentation of how a film could be shot and cut together.

Examples

Storyboarding

Storyboards are graphic organizers in the form of illustrations or images displayed in sequence for the purpose of pre-visualizing a motion picture.

A film storyboard is essentially a large comic of the film or some section of the film produced beforehand to help film directors visualize the scenes and find potential problems before they occur. Often storyboards include arrows or instructions that indicate movement.

Alfred Hitchcock's films were strongly believed to have been extensively storyboarded to the finest detail by the majority of commentators over the years.

Storyboards for films are created in a multiple step process. They can be created by hand drawing or digitally on the computer.

If drawing by hand, the first step is to create or download a storyboard template. These look much like a blank comic strip, with space for comments and dialogue. If a director wishes, more detailed and elaborate storyboard images are created. These boards tend to contain detailed information and convey the mood for the scene. These are then presented to the project's cinematographer who achieves the director's vision.



Alfred Hitchcock's Pyscho shower
scene storyboard


My first draft storyboard

While my stroyboards do not posses the professional look of the Hollywood storyboards it still allows me to visualise what our groups opening will look like. I have learnt about all the requirements that a storyboard needs. I have added a picture, description and shot number. Im proud of this as a first draft. However i will be re-drafting these in the near future and will be hoping to add much more detail. Hopefully i will be able to add actual still images that will make filming much easier.

Shooting Script

A shooting script is the version of a screenplay used during the production of a film.

When a screenplay is approved for production, the scenes are assigned numbers which are included in the script alongside the scene headers. The numbers provide a convenient way for the various production departments to reference individual scenes.

Page numbers in a shooting script are handled in a similar way. When revision pages are distributed, the page numbers must flow sequentially into the pre-existing page numbers. For example, if page 10 is revised such that it now occupies a page and a half, the revisions will be distributed on two pages numbered 10 and 10A. These two pages will replace page 10 in the outstanding drafts. Conversely, if pages 15 and 16 are shortened such that they now occupy a single page, the revisions will be distributed on a single page numbered 15-16.

When a numbered scene is split across pages, (CONTINUED) appears at the bottom of the prior page, and CONTINUED: appears at the top of the subsequent page.

Script revisions are marked with asterisks in the right hand margins of the revision pages. When many revision marks are present on a single page, or within a single paragraph or scene, the marks may be consolidated into a single mark. For example, if all the lines in a given passage of dialogue are marked, the marks can be consolidated into a single mark appearing alongside the name of the speaker above the dialogue. In the case of scenes, this single "consolidation mark" appears alongside the scene header. For pages, the consolidation mark appears beside the page number.

This is my draft fist attempt at writing a shooting script

Shooting Script

Mise-en-scene

Mise-en-scène is an aspect of a film production, in visually artful ways through storyboarding, cinematography and stage design. When applied to the cinema, mise-en-scène refers to everything that appears in front of the camera and its arrangement—composition, sets, props, actors, costumes, and lighting. Mise-en-scène also includes the positioning and movement of actors on the set.

Key aspects of mise en scène

Set design

An element of "putting in the scene" is set design—the setting of a scene and the props there in. Set design can be used to amplify character emotion or the dominant mood of a film, or to establish aspects of the character.

Lighting

The intensity, direction, and quality of lighting have a profound effect on the way an image is perceived. Light can emphasise texture, shape, distance, mood, time of day or night, season, glamour; it affects the way colors are rendered, both in terms of hue and depth, and can focus attention on particular elements of the composition.

Space

The representation of space affects the reading of a film. Depth, proximity, size and proportions of the places and objects in a film can be manipulated through camera placement and lenses, lighting, set design, effectively determining mood or relationships between elements in the story world.

Costume

Costume simply refers to the clothes that characters wear. Using certain colors or designs, costumes in narrative cinema are used to signify characters or to make clear distinctions between characters.

Acting

There is enormous historical and cultural variation in performance styles in the cinema. Early melodramatic styles, clearly indebted to the 19th century theater, gave way in Western cinema to a relatively naturalistic style.

If we look carefully at the settings/locations in this extract it goes some way in telling us what the film will be like. The costumes and accents allow us to depict where they are from and what type of background they stem from. This is a simple opening that tells us so much.

How to make fake movie blood

Ingredients- golden syrup, water,red food colouring and flour
This video will show you how I made the fake blood

Sound

In the film industry sound can be split up into two different sections. Diegetic and non-diegetic sound.

Diegetic sound
Is sound that the characters can hear as well as the audience, and usually implies a reaction from the character. Examples of diegectic sound include;

• Voices of characters;
• Sounds made by objects in the story; and/or like heart beats of a person
• Source music, represented as coming from instruments in the story space.
• Basic sound effects, e.g. dog barking, car passing; as it is in the scene
• Music coming from reproduction devices such as record players, radios, tape players etc.

Non-diegetic sound
Is sound which is represented as coming from a source outside the story space, i.e. its source is neither visible on the screen, nor has been implied to be present in the action. Non- diegetic sound examples include;

• Narrator's commentary
• Voice of a powerful being
• Sound effect which is added for dramatic effect
• Mood music
• Film Score

Non-diegetic sound plays a significant role in creating the atmosphere and mood within a film.

Very commonly diagetic shift occurs from one to the other, for example when characters are listening to music, then start dancing and the music becomes non-diagetic to indicate being 'lost in the moment'.

Examples of Non-Diegetic sound

Camera work

This post will contain commonly used camera angles used by the thriller genre.

Shot Reverse Shot

Match on action

An action commenced in shot A is completed in shot B, or an action in shot A is mirrored by an action in shot B, for example when we cut from character A in location A reading a letter to character B in location B reading the same letter.



180 degree rule

The 180° rule is a guideline that states that two characters in the same scene should always have the same left/right relationship to each other. If the camera passes over the imaginary axis connecting the two subjects, it is called crossing the line. The new shot, from the opposite side, is known as a reverse angle.


As a group we are aware that these are the simplest and most essential conventions of any film. We are confident of embedding all of these conventions in our opening sequence. We will practice using all of these in our preliminary task and seeing what aspects are easy and what needs more time and work to make sure its fine.