Signed Off

We have officially been signed off!! After so much hard work, commitment, re- shoots and over the past 4 months our life being spent in the media block our teacher has finally said that there is no more we can do and she loves it!

We are very pleased with the outcome of our opening sequence, we have alll really worked hard throughout the whole process and we have got on really well as a team

We cannot wait to show our families, friends and to see the reaction at our screening later this week!

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Music: Final Cut

The Music we used for a first edit fitted well with that sequence, however it didn't have the right tempo/feel to it in order to match the second sequence. Therefore to create the desired effect for our final sequence we had to search for some new music.

After hours trawling through the tracks on free play music we eventually found two tracks that when combined fit perfectly with our sequence. 

The music we used creates a long and slow build up, but when overlayed with the second track, the build up became a well constructed action filled piece of music. 

The track we used in our sequence from free play music was called In The Mist

Main Shoot: Shot Log

This was the shot log that we recorded all our shots and takes on during the main shoot. We took turns writing and recording while others helped with filming and sound. I think we used our shot log really well compared to the practise shoot and it really helped us capture footage much quicker. I think we all learnt how important it was to use a shot log on shoot.

Main Shoot: Schedual

Ammendments To Casting

• 
  
  Since our test shoot, we have decided to make an ammendment to the cast, as James' performance on camera was not up to scratch, we have drafted in someone from the school Drama Department.
• 
  
  Alex, the new lead role, has partaken in Drama lessons at school since the young age of 10.He also has over 10 years of drama experience in extra curricula clubs both inside and outside school.
• 
  
  He is currently sitting his AS Drama Exam, and hopes to continue this specialist subject for at least another year and get a full A-Level in the subject. His current predicted grade is an A, which shows he has supreme acting abilities.
• 
  
  I have personally briefed alex on the task, and he seems perfectly comfortable with the role he will be playing. I have also shown him our groups rough edit and OCD symptons video, that we gained inspiration from.
• 
  
  He has agreed to the shooting time and we consider him a reliable and valued member of the team.

Rough Cut of our Opening Sequence

Due to this only being a rough edit, there is no need for titles to be added.
However, the lack of title shots means that there a cuts that look really jumpy as they are supposed to be split by a title shot.
Our Thoughts

• We think that overall we made good progress however by doing our rough cut we have seen vital errors and mistakes and missing shots which we need to improve on in order to make our final sequence better
• We think both actors and actress worked well however some shots can still be improved
• We need to sort out missing shots and make sure they are included next time
• We need to look at finer details-eg OCD actor should have shirt tucked in at all times, shoes on at all times, same pen in each shot
• We like the music choice we have made at the start of the sequence
• We need to change the POV shot from the toaster to the fridge as its not a good shot
• Props need to checked through-pen, toast same colour, butter needs to be soft, 4 keys

Teacher Feedback

•  Like the shed door scene but need to think quite carefully about make up- need to look at fake blood- doesn't look realistic
• OCD- they would know when the news would be on therfore play the news as soon as radio turned on then music plays after when he goes to turn off the radio
• Calender shot-already have the 24th circled? do crosses?
• He needs to switch of the radio

Music

The music that is featured in our sequence is from one of the tracks on the free play music website.
The track is called Abandoned Infirmary (click link for music sample). The track creates an eerie atmosphere and builds up suspense towards the end.
However, the track has been cut and copied across so it fits the desired time while watching the sequence. I have tried my best to edit out the cuts between tracks, and they are barely noticeable, but if you listen closely the track skips a bit in two or three places.

Group Meeting: Editing

• Lots of mistakes
• Continuity errors
• Some good shots
• Need more reaction shots
• Broken continuity techniques
• Background sound
• Burnt toast then the next shot doesn't have burnt toast
• lots of takes-need to cut that down in order to save time

Time:1 hour

Practice Shoot: Shot Log

This again kept all our shots in order and we knew exactly what shot to capture for the editing process. We all took turns recording down capture times and what shots we were using and what shots went wrong so we were not going to capture

Practice Shoot: Capture List

This is our practise shoot shot log. This helped us to know the time codes of each shot and take allowing the editing proces to be quick and easy.

Storyboard

Here are some photos of our storyboard:

We began storyboarding a week before our shoot. We initially did a timeline which we used to then add further detail and it made us think about where we would place titles etc. We used different colours for different types of shot eg-yellow was close ups. This allowed us to see if we were using variation of shots as this criteriria would make our opening sequence exciting and interesting.

We split up the jobs of the storyboarding to make it quicker

-India and James did the drawings

-I did the writing underneath identifying each shot

-Spencer sorted out the order generally helped with all jobs

The process of storyboarding was very long however without doing this I don't think we would have a set idea of the opening sequence. It made us actually walk through our sequence and try and overcome problems

Planning: Shooting Schedual

This is the shooting schedual we produced for the practise shoot. This allowed us to plan each shot and know what we needed to do on the day. We wrote down each shot that was needed and then planned that way in which the shot order would go. Therefore we can now follow this shooting schedule ensuring we get the right shots.

Things to remember

On the day we noted down some points to remember for the next shoot as this was a practise shoot so we were able to learn from it:

• Make Up Wipes
• Black out sheets
• Polaroids
• Cork Board
• Soft Butter
• Butter and Toast needs to be in fours
• No butter on knife before
• Loaf of bread
• Full fridge
• Tuck in shirt
• Pull up trousers

• Overall we soon realised on the shooting day that we needed more time to prepare costume and setting. The shed we were using was full therefore this took us time to clear out and empty. The costume choices were made that morning therfore it took us more time then expected.
• We have now planned that on the next shooting weekend we will all come the night before and prepare all costumes and settings. Therefore clean the kitchen compltely and get the shed prepared. This will allow us to start shooting as soon as we arrive and we will save time therfore we can spend that on making all shots accurate.

Proposal: Second Idea

Our initial proposal was not signed off by Ms. Blackborow. Therefore, we have to create a new proposal with a new idea.

We will try to keep the sequence the same but tweeking few minor aspects to create an overall much better sequence.
Second Proposal - Final Idea

The sequence starts with a steadi-cam shot towards the shed, snaking around the hedge and through a key hole or hole in the door into the shed.

Once inside the shed the camera will sharply drop down and snake along the floor. As the camera snakes through it runs into her feet. There is then an extreme CU of her bound hands and then her eyes. We see her eyes dis-orientatedly rushing round the room looking at photos stuck onto the walls.
The camera cuts away to close ups of some of the photos, as if from her eyes, to reveal more detail of the photos. We can see that they are photos of other girls in her situation. The shots won't be held long, and the cuts will be very tight, in-order to help dis-orientate the audience and bring them in to the same feeling as the girl.

We then play the clip again but in rewind, to take us back through the hole, and down the garden towards the house, but all moving backwards as the shot is being rewound. The shot ends up back through the garden door and into the kitchen. In the kitchen we are introduced to the second, main character.

As we first see him, he will be staring down the garden to the shed at the end of the garden, as if he was in a pyschotic trance. The toaster will then pop, as this happens his mind set and mood will change into a more ordinary everyday character. The camera pans around the entire kitchen and we get a sense of the neatness of everything. However, the room isn't just tidy its obsessively neat. We finally see the guys clothing, which is also pristine.
The man turns and opens the fridge, we get an over the shoulder shot of the fridge as he bends down to reach for the butter, and all we can see is the fridge perfectly organised. Once the toast has been made he sits down to listen to the radio and eat his toast.

As the radio is turned on a song comes to a close, and a news announcment comes on. It describes how the third mystery dissapearance of a third girl took place the day before.

The man walks to his calender, circles a third date. The two dates already circled are representative of when the other two girls were kidnapped. We then get a cut away to a close up of the clock, which strikes eight. The man picks up his keys and walks back through the house to the front door, and leaves. As if any other normal day.
The screen cuts away to the Title of the film then the sequence ends.

Proposal: First Idea

Here is the hand-out we gave out to the cless that went along with our presentation. It offers additional information we may not of covered in the presentation and it gives us the key point to genre, target audience, synopsis and character.

OUR OPINIONS

Ciara:Today we presented our proposal for our final idea. I think it went well perhaps we should have focused on how we were going to structure the proposal more. I talked about the synopsis of the opening sequence and about the target audience

James: I think our presentation went well, we covered all the main topics, including genre, characteristics (OCD), actors/location and the target audience. In my opinion we could of delivered the presentation better, what we were talking about was good but our presentation wasn't structured enough.

Spencer: Today we presented our initial proposal. I think the presentation went well, however we could have included more information on the character and location. Also i feel that we did not elaborate on the plot enough and explain the style of shooting we would use.

India: I thought the way we delivered the presentation was good as wel covered every aspect we needed to, also i think that our handout (see above) was good and it explained everything clealy.

Shooting Location: Orginal Idea

Here are the stills from our First Idea's chosen shooting location. It gives a variety of shots from the four main locations, kitchen, hallway, garden and shed.
However, the quality of some of the shots are not very good as they were shot in the dark. But we will be shooting in the day so lighting problems should be resolved.
Also, the location is still fairly messy, due to it being lived in, but we hope to tidy the location prior to shooting in order to get across the OCD symptoms of our main character.
I have attempted to organize the photos from the location as a walk through plan. Starting at the bottom with the house front, and working your way up, everything is placed roughly where it would be in the actual location.

Research on Titles

When thinking about the placement of credits you have three main options:

• The first is to have basic, bold credits in the middle of the screen, this is the formal option to pretty much get the credits over and done with.
• The second is you could have the credits co-opirated into the actually film, e.g in a poster or replection on a window, this is a more modern way.
• The third is to have them on screen when introducing the actors/actresses, so we know which actors plays which role.

A good example of the first technique to place the credits is 'silence of the lambs'.





As you can see from this video the words are big and bold and right in the middle of the screen, this tells us that what is going ojn in the background isn't that important as they wouldn't be covering up anything that has any significance to the story.


A good example of the second technique is 'Panic Room'.





As you can see from the video the credits are in-corperated into the scene, this is more interesting than the third option and it tells us that the film is likely to either be clever or modern.


A good example of the third technique is 'Diagnosis Murder'





In this example the names of the actors only appear when you can see their faces, when it moves on to other actors then the names change. This is commonly done in dramas.


Conclusion


From the research we have done on the placement of credits we have decided to go with the first technique as it suites a horror film more than the others, technique no. 2 suits action or comedy films and technique no.3 suits TV dramas more than films. However we will not have the words in the middle of the scene as the audience needs to be focusing on what is going on in the opening sequence.

Group Meeting 1: Inital Ideas

•  Forest
• Celler
• Man in car holding photos of girls
• Lightning-either early morning or just as it begins to get dark
• Headlights on car gives most lighting
• Hand held shots of girl waking up in forest and running
• Window of the car drawn up slowly and the girl appraoches
• photos all over a wall
• Girl tied up in corner of room
• Girl really rough and hurt
• Guy looking at watch timing everything
• Guy extremely creepy/scary
• Pervert
• Cigarette in mans hand
• Audience-Horror fans, boys and girl age of 15-30
• man with tools
• Photographs of different girls

Main Idea:
Young girl wakes up in forest she scared afraid she begins to run and sees two headlights brightly shining on a car. While we see this we see small clips of a man flicking through a folder of photos with all different girls and some have crosses through them with blood. She begins to run to the car for help however this man is the kidnapper/murderer who is sitting just waiting for her he times it prefectly adding to the creepiness. she bangs on the window and he slowly rolls down the window and we see how weird he is. The last shot is hand whack the window inside the car with blood all over it and slowly slides it down the window.