Above is a slideshow of some of the pictures ou group took when filming our prelim video. It shows the camera placemen and the setting of our short segment.In the video we see the two actors myself and Nashala. We see Meleha who is the one filming and ipek who the one behind the camera. We found it extremely hard to get the camera completely straight but with some work managed to get it straight. Another difficulty we had whilst filming was the editing we had a few rough bits but we managed to sort it out to make the clip run smoothly.
Below is a slideshow of the prelim piece we did as a group. We had taken pictures whilst filming each part of the film. The main location used was the kitchen where we had props such as mugs, kettle, cooker etc.
Prelim slideshow
The above image is of the main location used which was the kitchen where we had props such as , mugs, kettle, kitchen appliances etc.
In our group prelim, we based our story around an everyday situation where a mum decides to tell her adopted daughter that she is going to marry another man, and shows how the daughter reacts to this.
To make this prelim film more of a thriller, with the decided title 'kitchen karma' further action would be added to the plot. The daughter may decide to turn badly to the situation and may decide to get rid of the new husband in the kitchen the same place she found out the news. The kitchen could be the main place referred to in the film.
When edited we had to put the clips into order and 'in' and 'out' it so irrelevant parts were cut out making it flow without any mistakes whilst filming. Making sure that there were no spaces between the clips on the sequence bar to give a better look to the scene and adding fade in and fade outs at the beginning and at the end of the scene to give it a smoother start. If digetic sound and titles were added it will create more suspense in the drama piece and indicate when tension is created.
Overall our prelim was an improved attempt in making a film than that compared to previous filming work we have done at the beginning of the academic year. We have played around with different shot types and learnt about the 180 degree rule (by not braking it) and the prelim contained a match cut which was one of our main requirements. To improve further more before we film our real opening to the position the camera straightly with and without the tripod in use to gave an even angle. Doing this prelim has also made me more familiar with the editing software. final cut, so when editing our film it will be a much easier process to do.
In our group we decided to do a prelim film based on a situation where a mum decides to tell her adopted daughter that she is going to marry another man, the daughter isn't happy with the news and reacts in a shocking way. The task we were set to do was to prepare and plan to make a pre lim film which had to be based around a thriller using certain convention such as mise en scene. To make our prelim film look and give certain aspects of what a thriller has we decided to name the film 'kitchen calmer'. The title involved the word kitchen, this was because we see the main location used was the kitchen, which therefore made sense to refer to it in the title. The way the title is also presented and where it is placed will also give clear representations of a thriller opening. In the prelim film later on we see the daughter may decide to turn badly to the announced situation of her marrying another man. The outcome of this could turn out badly, as the daughter is finding out the news in the same place where her biological farther was dismissed. Once we had finished our prelim film, we then went onto editing the footage we had taken to do this we used final cut. When editing We inserted the folder which contained all the footage of the work filmed. We then organized the clips into the order we filmed allowing the process of editing more easier to access. The ‘I’ (in) and ‘O’ (out) buttons were significant allowing us to shorten and cut out any mistakes that were made whilst filming. Whilst editing we had to make sure that there were no spaces between the clips of the sequence as this caused jump cuts making the editing seem quick and unrealistic. To make the sequence look between we made sure there were no gaps, then we added fade in and fade outs at both the being and end of the scene giving a smother start and end to the sequence. The film shown below is of the prelim film without sound and titles added, once the sound and titles are added it will create more suspense and create tension to the viewers watching.
Re-editing of Arlington Road
The above clip is our reediting of the clip arlington road we were told to re edit it to see how well we understood film openings and how they looked. We were testing where the different credits went to see how close we were to the original film opening. In this film Arlington Road a 1999 American drama/mystery film tells us a story of a widowed professor who suspects his new neighbours are involved in terrorism and he becomes obsessed with foiling their terrorist plot. We had to reedit the opening to Arlington road to see if we understood where the vital parts of a film opening go; cast name,director,production company and all the rest of the credits in the beginning of a film.
We have brainstormed a few ideas in our group for our thriller opening. We began thinking about characters, and came up with the idea of a young girl, who may be crazy or possessed. This character will do horrible things, perhaps hurting or killing people. We are also thinking about why she does these things, we might make our character mentally ill, or maybe have a ghost involved, which will give our thriller opening a supernatural element. In my opinion, I really like the idea of having some beyond our world, like a ghost involved in our opening.
When making our thriller we need to make sure that we make it in a way that will make sense to the audience,so for that reason we will obviously make a storyboard, an plan the making of our thriller accurately, so that when it is completed, it is a good thriller opening.
There are many examples of intertextuality in films.
In Shrek, there is a character which is a cat, who is called Puss in Boots. The character is a intertextual reference of the character Zorro, who is the main character from the Mask of Zorro and is played by Antonio Banderas, who also voices the character of Puss in Boots.
Tangled has i=an intertextual reference to Rapunzel, who is a a character from the fairytale.
The Rushes is a two minute thriller opening made by previous students. I like the style and the editing of the opening film its very mysterious and makes you want to watch it further to find out what was going to happen next.
The Rushes-Previous Students Work
Structure type used:
The structure used for this opening is discrete. It is filmed in the night which gives it a dark, eerie feel. There are many jump cuts for example from a long shot of the moon to a close up of the moon giving it a fast pace feel. The whole film gives the audience no script like a straight forward traditional opening would, but grabs you even more to figure it out, like the opening of Arlington Road.
Effectiveness of the titles used and the order they come in:
The way the titles are introduced is very imaginative and effective, they are made to look like is part of the mise en scene of the room as the camera glances over the typed papers. The titles come in a conventional order with the director first, producer second, cinematographer, writer, editor and the music last. The title of the film comes at the very end but is done it a way that doesn't make it look like a trailer.
Here are some stills of the titles
Use of mise en scene:
The mise en scene of this film opening is very dark, confined and leaves much to the imagination. The first takes are filmed in a park at night where we see grass, the moon a camera and a car. The following takes sees a garage type setting with large green doors with silver locks. The props include the video camera, the parts to connect it to the TV and the TV itself. The lighting is always dark and ill lit that the audience sees very little of this.
Here are some stills of the mise en scene
Camera Work:
The camera work shows a varied amount of angles and distances. There is a range of close ups to long shot, showing a good knowledge of different ways the camera can be used.
Here are some stills of the different camera views
Editing and stylised effects:
There is much editing to the opening, there are many jump cuts and fast sped up motions to give a feeling of a confused trail of thoughts. These types of editing create a stylised effect to the scenes they had filmed and gives it a more edgy sense.
Here are some stills on the jump cuts of the editing
In lesson we got given the a scene from Arlington Road which was cut up and muddled up into the incorrect order. Our task, to put the scene into chronological order by using the editing software Final Cut.
After putting the scene in order we then had to put titles on top of the clip, including the director, producer, the cast and so on. When adding the titles we had to consider the colour of the font used, the font style and typeface itself, the position of the font and the size of the font.
Here is the ordered scene with some added titles
About the clip:
This clip is taken from Arlington Road. It has been re-edited to give it a different opening from the one in the actual film. The titles show the director first, the producers and some cast names. The title comes about half-way through the clip when the character looks up to a blurred sky and disappears when the view is back to the street, which I thought look effective.
To improve on this opening sequence more additional titles will be added such as the editor, music by, cinematography and so one. The transitions of these titles i would also improve so instead of sharp cuts between them it would have faded in and out to fit the blurred style of the scene. I would have also played around with the title furthermore on the actual scene to find out the best positions for them. Though overall this is a good first attempt with adding titles and a exercise I gained much from.
Here is the final outcome of our remake of the Collateral clip. This features the footage that we filmed in our outside location and the process of editing we did afterwards.
Final Product Stills
Here are some stills of the final product showing the transitions from one scene to another after the editing process using Final Cut.
In class we were given a preliminary match cut exercise. We had to create a sequence in which a person opens a door then shares dialogue with another character. In order to prepare for this as a group we decided what plot we were going to use and the type of sequence, e also had to think of the bases behind the dialogue.
Before planning a film a story board is essential as it allows you to create an outline of the ideas you will like to include. Creating an outline of a storyboard help us think ahead of what the film will look like once it is finished allowing us to work out an order for the sequences. In the lesson we had time to discuss what we wanted to be in the storyboard allowing each member of our group participate in what they wanted in each scene. Doing this aloud us all to note down what we wanted with the image and description of the shot we would use and where it will be set. Planning a story board aloud us to put down what we were going to do so that when we start filming we were able to get on with the task rather than plan what we were going to do.
When planning our prelim we created a storyboard which helped us outline the key parts we were going to act and focus on. The storyboard aloud us to see what the two characters would be doing and to also show the positions the camera will be taking to film this. As shown below here is a storyboard i drew up to demonstrate what will need to be done in the prelim brief. Looking below the illustrations helped us see clearly where and when it needed to be filmed.
Once we finished drawing up our storyboard as shown above we then took pictures individually which was then uploaded to Final Cut. Once all the single images were uploaded we then put them in order from start to finish. We then put the clips in order so it created a small animated film when played altogether. Below is a short animatic of the prelim storyboard made.
Prelim animatic storyboard Final Cut slide show
Overall this task was very useful in being able to practice filming a timed sequence. We were also able to practice drawing and illustrating a storyboard which we followed when doing this. This will later on help us plan for the opening of our thriller as we will have a clear idea of how to create and illustrate a story board.
A brief of the prelim was to create a sequence in which a person opens a door then shares dialogue with another character. To prepare for this as a group we figured out a plot for this type of sequence and the basis behind the dialogue.
Planning
When planning we created a storyboard to follow what the two characters would be doing and to also show the positions the camera will be taking to film this.
Storyboard
Here is the storyboard I drew up to demonstrate this planning process we had done, in regards to the prelim brief.
Animatic
After the drawing up of the storyboard, we then took pictures of the scenes individually and uploaded them to Final Cut. We then put the clips in order so it created a small animated film when played altogether. Here is the prelim animatic for group 17.
PRELIM ANIMATIC
Above is the story board for our prelim clip
Its the storyboard and the shots we took . The storyboard shows our planning of the different close ups and reverse shots. We found it hard to relate the storyboard into actual film
Below i have collected a variety of opinions from people. This aloud me to see what people thought about thrillers and what they will like to see that hasn't yet been used. Looking at the views of peoples thoughts we see that most would like to see a twist that usually happens in films like sherlock. Gathering feedback from different people aloud me to see the different points they were making and allowing our group to think of the ideas that have been put across. This will allow our thriller to be interesting and different from existing thrillers.
Looking at existing thrillers, most people agree they are boring and predictable. The feedback i gathered from Facebook aloud the views of what they will like to see and what could make a thriller different and interesting to existing ones.
Looking above i have print screened a question i had asked to people on Facebook and the comments that i had received.
Overall to conclude this information that have gathered was helpful allowing me to see what people will likes to see and what they find more interesting and appeal to my target audience.
