Evaluation Question Seven (Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?)

Evaluation Question Six (What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?)

I have learned how to edit using the editing software Final Cut Pro, the camera shots and angles I need to use to create an effective shot. I also found out how to use After Effects and Garage Band.
 

 

This shows a printscreen of the software we used, this shows the open application Final Cut Express.From this software I learnt how to cut scene together and make them look professional by using fade in or out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We used a HD video camera to shoot our thriller opening, because the video has better quality than a normal video camera. I learnt how to 'rig' and 'de-rig' a camera from the tripod. some techniques i learnt whilst shooting was how to zoom in and out and panning (also actually learning how to just basically operate the camera)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had to use blogger to post our work. I learned how to improve and edit stuff on my blogger.

Evaluation Question Five (How did you attract/address your audience?)

Evaluation Question Four (Who would be the audience for your media product?)

Evaluation Question Three (What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?)

Evaluation Question Two (How does your media product represent particular social groups?) Presentation 1

Evaluation Question One (In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?)

1). Image 1 shows the title of the film opening. We chose the font colour to be red, because red signifies evil, gore/blood and anger. We decided to have a black background, because it fits the conventions of thriller genre (i.e. eerie, death, mystery). We wanted the title to have a potent impact, so we chose the colour red and made it bold.

2). Image 2 shows the setting and plot of where we had filmed, we chose this location because we used a car (without permission) which we had to use to shoot one of our scenes. We think if we ware to re-shoot we would have chosen a woodland, cemetery area.

3). Image 3 shows the costumes we used. in this image you can see a person with a balaclava on, this was used to comply with the mystery convention of thrillers (as the victim's identity could not be seen or revealed).

4). Image 4 shows the editing software we used, we used Final Cut Pro to cut and edit our thriller opening. Examples of editing we used include jump cuts, fade in and fade out.

5). Image 5 shows the effect software we used, we used After Effects to make our tiles and credits. we used After Effects, because it is a professional effect software. We were not fully satisfied with the credits, as we did not have enough time to improve the credits we had to use 20th Century Fox's historic production sequence.

6). Image 6 shows how the thriller sets up. We chose to add a 20th Century Fox's production sequence, to make our opening look more professional (although we are aware that we will not gain any marks for this).

7). Image 7 shows character prop and costumes. this shows the main character holding a gun and wearing thug like clothing which represent him as a thug and the gun complies with certain conventions of the thriller genre.

8). Image 8 shows our production logo. I put this in the opening, because we had done a lot of thriller opening research and found out that they pretty much always have a production logo at the commencement of the film.

Preliminary Task

Preliminary task

Continuity Editing- The techniques used to eliminate interruptions in the story-line of a film. Cuts made during the editing process are masked or covered-up with smooth tranisitions and direct overlaps so that motion, action, dialogue and locations appear realistically with little or no psychological effect.

The Three Camera Shot Rules - 180 degree rule, match on action, shot/reverse shot.

For our preliminary task we had to make a short interview with two or more characters, and we had to use the three rules listed above and below:

- 180 degree rule- The 180° rule is a basic guideline in film making 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. If you crossed the line it make the footage less professional and will confuse the audience, so it is necessary that you think about every shot you are taking.

- Match on Action shot- A match on action shot is when some action occurring before the temporarily questionable cut is picked up where the cut left it by the shot immediately following. For example a person walking through a door. the first shot is a long shot of the subject walking throught the door, and using match on action shot, we place the camera insde that room to show the subject walking into the room through the door. 

- Shot Reverse Shot- A film technique where one character is shown looking at another character , and then the other character is shown looking back at the first character. Since the characters are shown facing in opposite directions, the viewer assumes that they are looking at each other

Student Film Research

Strengths of this opening sequence

- The opening sequence is very good. It is almost professional quality, it is very impressive.
- The film has a twisted opening sequence
- The voice over was a nice feature to add to the film, it gives it slightly more emphasis.
- The rapid change of shots is not very common but for this film it works very well, It just makes the opening sequence that bit longer.

Weaknesses of this opening sequence

- Although the music used is very good, especially the second one used (Chase & Status ft. Plan B), it is not their own music, so it is not original.
- As I have mentioned before, the film is twisted but that can also be a bad thing as some people will lose track and will perhaps be confused.
- The opening sequence mostly consists of seeing the names of the people involved. I would say that this takes up at least 3/4s of the running time.

Conclusion

However the drawbacks bear no weight in contrast to the strengths. Make no mistake about it. This film is quality, it is genuinely interesting, and if I didn't know better, I would suggest that a professional made this. All in all, a very good film.

Camera Shot List

Extreme Long Shot

This can be taken from as much as a quarter of a mile away, and is generally used as a scene-setting, establishing shot. Normally shows an exterior eg the outside of a building, or a landscape, and is often used to show scenes of thrilling action eg in a war film or disaster movie. There will be very little detail visible in the shot, it's meant to give a general impression rather than specific information.

 Long Shot

This is the most difficult to categorise precisely, but is generally one which shows the image as approximately "life" size ie corresponding to the real distance between the audience and the screen in a cinema (the figure of a man would appear as six feet tall). This category includes the full shot showing the entire human body, with the head near the top of the frame and the feet near the bottom. While the focus is on characters, plenty of background detail still emerges.

Medium Shot

Contains a figure from the knees/waist up and is normally used for dialogue scenes, or to show some detail of action. Variations on this include the two shot (containing two figures from the waist up) and the three shot (contains 3 figures...). Any more than three figures and the shot tends to become a long shot. Background detail is minimal, probably because location has been established earlier in the scene - the audience already know where they are and now want to focus on dialogue and character interation. Another variation in this category is the over-the-shoulder-shot, which positions the camera behind one figure, revealing the other figure, and part of the first figure's back, head and shoulder.

Close-Up

This shows very little background, and concentrates on either a face, or a specific detail of mise en scène. Everything else is just a blur in the background. This shot magnifies the object and shows the importance of things, be it words written on paper, or the expression on someone's face. The close-up takes us into the mind of a character. Usually a close up of a face is a very intimate shot. A film-maker may use this to make us feel extra comfortable or extremely uncomfortable about a character, and usually uses a zoom lens in order to get the required framing.

Extreme Close-Up

As its name states, an extreme version of the close up, generally magnifying beyond what the human eye would experience in reality. An extreme close-up of a face, for instance, would show only the mouth or eyes, with no background detail at all. This is a very artificial shot, which can be used for dramatic effect. The tight focus required means that extra care must be taken when setting up and lighting the shot - the slightest camera shake or error in focal length is very noticeable.