Once we had reviewed all the footage it was time to edit and put it all together. We knew that we all had to edit at least one section of the opening and tried to do this effectively. I was able to take part in a lot of the editing myself and overlooked most of the editing process. I found that most of my group also did this which was a good way of working as we were able to give opinions on all the different shots so that we were all happy with the finished product. However, some members of the group did not do as much or chip in as much with the editing as others. The editing process on the whole took quite a while. This was because we had filmed a lot of footage for example different angles and shot types. Therefore we had to sort through them all and decide which ones to use and how to use them. This takes time to make sure it is all fluid. We also needed time sort out our match on action shots as they take quite a lot of time to get completely right. I found the most difficult part was keeping continuity between shots. Also making sure that the story was portrayed clearly and effectively. The match on action was also very hard to get correct however, once done it really complemented the piece. Something that we did during the editing stages was the soundtrack for the opening. Me and Ashley focused on this as we have experience working with sequencing programs and making music on the computer. We wanted the music to create a mood of mystery and unease. We also wanted something that we could fade in and out of the piece so that you could hear the dialogue clearly. We feel that the soundtrack created does this well and it added an extra touch that realy made it feel like a thriller. Overall the editing process went very smoothly and we feel that we were able to produce an effective thriller.
Shanice x
Monday, 16 February 2009
Uploading and Reviewing Footage
Once we had finished filming it was time to upload our footage onto the computer and begin the editing stages, however before you edit you footage you must review it all, name each shot and discuss which ones are god and could be used and which ones can be deleted. We uploaded our footage off our tape onto final cut pro and started reviewing. As we went through each shot we named them to make it more practical when it came to the editing stage. We also colour coded them for the beginnng of our piece, middle section and ending. As we were looking through the shots I found that we had little continuity issues, something that it was very important we addressed and made sure we did not include them in the final piece. I began to take notes of small things like this that I noticed to make sure that we remembered to rectify issues similar to this. Also our fears were confirmed when we watched the shots from the bedroom as some were just to dark and were not able to be used in the piece at all. This was a real disappointment, however gave us something to think about for next time. Once we had watched all the footage and organized it accordingly it was time to start the editing stage.
Shanice x
Shanice x
Diary of Filming Day
We all arrived at our location on the day of filming. We had previously decided that we were going to try and film everything on one day so had created a schedule to follow. This schedule stated in what order we were going to film our shots which would give us some stability and help us with our time management. The first thing we did was split into two groups to get things done more quickly and efficiently. Two people were in charge or organizing the set and preparing the pros and two people were in charge of setting up the camera and talking to out actors about what they would have to do in each scene. This really helped us as a group and I feel was a time when we shoed good teamwork. If I were to do this project again I would definitely use this method again. Once we had fully set up we started filming our first shots of the outside scenes. Unfortunately our male actor had to leave by a certain time so we were unable to shoot the outside scenes later on in the day when it was dark, however we pulled through and filmed some good shots from different angles. We then moved onto the inside shots and the dialogue between the father and daughter. This was filmed in the dining room to make it look like she had been doing her homework before he walked in. After these were complete we started to work on the door slam scene. This caused us some difficulties as we found it hard to get the timing perfect. We ended up having to keep doing shot after shot to keep it continuous. Once we had mastered that we started to focus on the upstairs scenes. This is when we encountered our biggest problem, the lighting. We found that in our main bedroom where the most important scenes were going to be filmed, the light was incredibly dim. We tried every avenue we could think of to try and generate some more light in the shots. After lots of effort and little change, we decided we going to have to just film the shots and hopefully change the lighting during the editing stages. Another problem we faced was filming the close up of the pictures. This was because we were either zooming in too fast too quickly or not zooming in enough. We found a way to sort this out was to do a couple of practice shots until we got a feel for the camera and how fast and far we wanted to zoom in. This really helped us and in the end we were able to get some good shots. Finally we moved onto our last shot in the computer room where the daughter is typing the name into google. I decided to add an extra touch by putting the chosen picture next to the screen and we felt like this really added to the shot.
When decided who did what shot we decided to play to each others strengths and make sure it was even so that one person was not doing all the filming and the others were just standing around. I also came up with the idea that if u were not filming a shot you would go set up and think about the next shot to save time and make sure we were working efficiently. This worked very well as we ended up finishing on time and we could move from shot to shot fluidly. Overall the filming day went very well and I feel that we worked well as a team. However, if I did the project again I would check the location for vital factors like lighting to make sure that we come prepared for all problems that we could face.
Shanice x
When decided who did what shot we decided to play to each others strengths and make sure it was even so that one person was not doing all the filming and the others were just standing around. I also came up with the idea that if u were not filming a shot you would go set up and think about the next shot to save time and make sure we were working efficiently. This worked very well as we ended up finishing on time and we could move from shot to shot fluidly. Overall the filming day went very well and I feel that we worked well as a team. However, if I did the project again I would check the location for vital factors like lighting to make sure that we come prepared for all problems that we could face.
Shanice x
Production Schedule
Production Schedule
12:oopm- Arrive at location and begin setting up the set and camera
12:30pm-Have group discussion and finalize what different shots we want to include in our piece.
12:45pm- Start by filming the outside shots of car pulling in drive and father getting out of car. Also do shots of father coming into the front door. Take all these shots from various angles and views to create variety.
1:15pm-Start the dialogue shots between father and daughter in dining area. Take from different angles around the room and test different lighting. Once finished male actor can leave.
1:45pm-Do solo shots of daughter doing her homework to use as filler between shots.
2:00pm-Door slam shots from different angles
2:40pm-Do stair shots of daughter walking up the stairs
3:00pm- Bedroom scene of daughter looking through the wardrobe. Take from different angles. High and low shots. Close ups on pictures as she finds them.
4:00pm- Closing scenes of daughter in the computer room on google. One close-up shot of her typing the name and one ambient shot to add diversity and contrast.
4:30pm- Pack up equipment and leave location.
Shanice x
12:oopm- Arrive at location and begin setting up the set and camera
12:30pm-Have group discussion and finalize what different shots we want to include in our piece.
12:45pm- Start by filming the outside shots of car pulling in drive and father getting out of car. Also do shots of father coming into the front door. Take all these shots from various angles and views to create variety.
1:15pm-Start the dialogue shots between father and daughter in dining area. Take from different angles around the room and test different lighting. Once finished male actor can leave.
1:45pm-Do solo shots of daughter doing her homework to use as filler between shots.
2:00pm-Door slam shots from different angles
2:40pm-Do stair shots of daughter walking up the stairs
3:00pm- Bedroom scene of daughter looking through the wardrobe. Take from different angles. High and low shots. Close ups on pictures as she finds them.
4:00pm- Closing scenes of daughter in the computer room on google. One close-up shot of her typing the name and one ambient shot to add diversity and contrast.
4:30pm- Pack up equipment and leave location.
Shanice x
Actors and Costume
Actors
When choosing our actors we considered 4 main things:
Do they suit the story/ brief?
Could they pass for father and daughter?
Do they act?
Will they be willing to give up their time?
All of these were very important factors in getting the correct actors for out thriller. After watching and researching Thrillers I noticed the the actors play a big part in how the film makes you feel and react. IT a part is cast badly you tend to focus on that and not on the film and story itself, a mistake we did not want to make with out Thriller. The brief was an older man, preferably between 35-50years old who looked and came across like a typical, respectable father in suburbier. We also wanted a 14-16year old girl who looks like your average teenager. One of our friends steped in to play the daughter and fit the brief perfectly and now we were faced with the challenge of finding a suitable man to play her father. Luckily on of out group members actual fathers agreed to play the part for us.
Costume
Father- The father should be dressed in a suit with smart shoes and preferably have a suitcase or briefcase. He should look like he has just arrived home from work.
Daughter- The daughter can either be wearing her school uniform or comfortable house clothing like tracksuit bottoms and a t-shirt so that it looks like she has been at school that day.
Shanice x
When choosing our actors we considered 4 main things:
Do they suit the story/ brief?
Could they pass for father and daughter?
Do they act?
Will they be willing to give up their time?
All of these were very important factors in getting the correct actors for out thriller. After watching and researching Thrillers I noticed the the actors play a big part in how the film makes you feel and react. IT a part is cast badly you tend to focus on that and not on the film and story itself, a mistake we did not want to make with out Thriller. The brief was an older man, preferably between 35-50years old who looked and came across like a typical, respectable father in suburbier. We also wanted a 14-16year old girl who looks like your average teenager. One of our friends steped in to play the daughter and fit the brief perfectly and now we were faced with the challenge of finding a suitable man to play her father. Luckily on of out group members actual fathers agreed to play the part for us.
Costume
Father- The father should be dressed in a suit with smart shoes and preferably have a suitcase or briefcase. He should look like he has just arrived home from work.
Daughter- The daughter can either be wearing her school uniform or comfortable house clothing like tracksuit bottoms and a t-shirt so that it looks like she has been at school that day.
Shanice x
Location and Props
Location:
When looking for a location I had a very specific image in mind. I pictured a big house with a large drive and lots of different rooms to film in. The house also had to look like it was in a respectable area and preferably has lots of space so we could film from different angles and get a wide variety of shots. The perfect house I knew of that fit this brief perfectly was my uncle’s house. He agreed to let us use his house, which was one major battle over with. We discussed what days we preferred to film on and then discussed it further with my uncle until we found a day that worked well for us as a whole team.
Props:
After looking into our idea and finding our location it was time to decide what props we would use in our thriller. Although we did not need any big props we did need lots of smaller ones that added extra touches and pieced the story together these included:
1. Homework books and a pencil case for when the daughter is doing her homework in the opening shots.
2. A small box for the pictures at the back of the wardrobe.
3. The actual Polaroid pictures of the girls, at least 7 different girls.
4. Computer for her to use google in the closing shots.
5. Dining room tables and chairs
6. Car for the father to pull up outside the house in the opening shot
Most of these props were easy to come across and I was able to make sure they were at the location before filming day. However, the Polaroid pictures caused a problem, as we could not get hold of a Polaroid camera. We discussed just using a digital camera however felt like the use of this particular type of picture would add something to the piece and did not want to leave it out. Finally I was able to track down an old Polaroid camera from a family member and we could go ahead with the idea. After i had found the camera i went out with ashley and we took pictures of the girls for the project. This was the only time I felt like we did not necessarily work well together as a team as I felt like it was put on me to get a camera and pay for the film. This is something I would reconsider if I were to do this project again.
Shanice x
When looking for a location I had a very specific image in mind. I pictured a big house with a large drive and lots of different rooms to film in. The house also had to look like it was in a respectable area and preferably has lots of space so we could film from different angles and get a wide variety of shots. The perfect house I knew of that fit this brief perfectly was my uncle’s house. He agreed to let us use his house, which was one major battle over with. We discussed what days we preferred to film on and then discussed it further with my uncle until we found a day that worked well for us as a whole team.
Props:
After looking into our idea and finding our location it was time to decide what props we would use in our thriller. Although we did not need any big props we did need lots of smaller ones that added extra touches and pieced the story together these included:
1. Homework books and a pencil case for when the daughter is doing her homework in the opening shots.
2. A small box for the pictures at the back of the wardrobe.
3. The actual Polaroid pictures of the girls, at least 7 different girls.
4. Computer for her to use google in the closing shots.
5. Dining room tables and chairs
6. Car for the father to pull up outside the house in the opening shot
Most of these props were easy to come across and I was able to make sure they were at the location before filming day. However, the Polaroid pictures caused a problem, as we could not get hold of a Polaroid camera. We discussed just using a digital camera however felt like the use of this particular type of picture would add something to the piece and did not want to leave it out. Finally I was able to track down an old Polaroid camera from a family member and we could go ahead with the idea. After i had found the camera i went out with ashley and we took pictures of the girls for the project. This was the only time I felt like we did not necessarily work well together as a team as I felt like it was put on me to get a camera and pay for the film. This is something I would reconsider if I were to do this project again.
Shanice x
Idea Development
After many long discussions we were able to come up with 3 main ideas for our thriller. These were:
We considered the pros and cons of each idea and found that some routes we would want to take were just impossible in the time frame and budget we were working with. Also we considered what location we could use for our thriller as that was a main factor that affected which idea we chose. For example, for the third idea we needed full reign on an empty building our house to film in. This building would have to be completely trashed for it to be realistic and unfortunately this wasn’t viable. We also wanted to do something that had not necessarily been done many times before and felt that this was the case for the second Horror and Mystery idea. Therefore we decided to go for the first idea. We thought this was a very good idea as it has not been done too many times before and we thought we could really put our own spin on it. We also were able to think of possible props, actors and locations very quickly. We thought that this idea could be very interesting both for us to film and most importantly for the audience. Psychological Thrillers can be very gripping and full of mystery and suspense so we had to think of a way to incorporate these vital elements. As this was my idea I tried to think of different avenues we could take in order to make it believable and still include those thriller elements that were very important to the genre. We decided to set in a middle class family with a nice house, nice car possibly a dog to set the scene of a normal ‘happy’ family. We had to think of possible transitions to tell the story correctly and came up with the idea that the daughter is doing her homework when her father returns from work. We wanted there to be a very distinct divide between the authority of the parent and the respect given by the daughter because of this. We then came up with the idea that she needs to take her birth certificate into school the next day but before she knows it her father has popped out again. She decided to have a look around her parent’s room and whilst shuffling above the wardrobes a box falls down and out falls all the pictures of the girls. She then types one of the names into google to figure out what is going on. Once we were happy with this idea, we started thinking about props and possible locations and actors. We decided to give each other set roles and things to think about before filming day began. I focused on props and the location.
shanice x
- Stalker and psychological themed thriller where a young girl is sifting through her fathers things and comes across pictures of girls with their names and addresses on the back. She then types the names into google and is shown missing person reports connected with these women.
- Horror and Mystery Thriller where a daughter of a middle class family is home alone and puts on her old family videos, however during one of the videos it cuts out and shows a horrific murder involving a family member.
- Drama and Action Thriller where an ex cop wakes up in a strange building that has been trashed, but all the windows and doors are locked. He has cuts and bruises all over him and he seems to be alone.
We considered the pros and cons of each idea and found that some routes we would want to take were just impossible in the time frame and budget we were working with. Also we considered what location we could use for our thriller as that was a main factor that affected which idea we chose. For example, for the third idea we needed full reign on an empty building our house to film in. This building would have to be completely trashed for it to be realistic and unfortunately this wasn’t viable. We also wanted to do something that had not necessarily been done many times before and felt that this was the case for the second Horror and Mystery idea. Therefore we decided to go for the first idea. We thought this was a very good idea as it has not been done too many times before and we thought we could really put our own spin on it. We also were able to think of possible props, actors and locations very quickly. We thought that this idea could be very interesting both for us to film and most importantly for the audience. Psychological Thrillers can be very gripping and full of mystery and suspense so we had to think of a way to incorporate these vital elements. As this was my idea I tried to think of different avenues we could take in order to make it believable and still include those thriller elements that were very important to the genre. We decided to set in a middle class family with a nice house, nice car possibly a dog to set the scene of a normal ‘happy’ family. We had to think of possible transitions to tell the story correctly and came up with the idea that the daughter is doing her homework when her father returns from work. We wanted there to be a very distinct divide between the authority of the parent and the respect given by the daughter because of this. We then came up with the idea that she needs to take her birth certificate into school the next day but before she knows it her father has popped out again. She decided to have a look around her parent’s room and whilst shuffling above the wardrobes a box falls down and out falls all the pictures of the girls. She then types one of the names into google to figure out what is going on. Once we were happy with this idea, we started thinking about props and possible locations and actors. We decided to give each other set roles and things to think about before filming day began. I focused on props and the location.
shanice x
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